❤️ Finding Love In Unexpected Places

Welcome to the first edition of our “Love Letter” - written from the cozy Meet Cutes NYC Headquarters (AKA our stuffy and crammed NYC apartment). We're grateful to have this opportunity to connect with you and share heartwarming love stories with a dose of inspiration and advice from the hundreds of couples we interview every week.

As promised, we are excited to present the rom-com worthy love story of Kristen and David. Over thirty years ago — expecting nothing more than a paycheck — Kristen took a day job for the Christmas season, but it turns out, fate had other plans. Read the interview below to see how an unexpected series of events helped Kristen find true love in a hilarious way.

Can you tell us the story of how you first met and your initial impressions of each other?

David: So I was a manager — what they called the “white flower” at Macy's [Santa Land] and Kristen was one of the elves. And I honestly had always been in love with redheads. Kristen, still is of course, was beautiful and had incredible red hair. And so she went to go take her ID picture and I came up and I said, “hold on, let me just fix one thing.”

Kristen: I was on line for my ID picture and [David] messed up my hair. I just like crimped and fussed and fixed it for my picture and he totally messed up my hair and I was like, “what?!”

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What did you do on your first date?

David: I may or may not have looked at her employment records to see what her home address was and it turned out to not be too far away from where I lived… and so I used to take my dog for walks around her neighborhood [until we “bumped” into each other].

Kristen: A couple months after we “bumped” into each other [on my block], I ran into him at the deli… I said, “why don't you come over for dinner?” So he came over for dinner, but I was just, honestly, I thought it was just like a friendly colleague. The whole day I was a nervous wreck. “Oh my God, what if this guy thinks it's a date? And I'm not thinking it's a date. Is it a date? Is it not a date? I don't know. Is it a date?” I was a nervous wreck. And then he came over for dinner.

David: To be fair, I'm a guy, so I'm not having any of that conversation at all in my head. I'm getting dinner, beautiful redhead, do I care?

Kristen: [After dinner] he kissed me good night and like the world went away. I have never, to this day, had a kiss like that.

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You told us you’ve been together for 31 years and married for 29. What’s the key to a successful relationship?

Kristen: Laughter and respect! And I always say, the fine print in the marriage certificate says “I’m always right”!…But anyway, he says funny things, they just tickle me. He just tickles me. It's just funny. Yeah. I can't... It's beautiful. It really is. Yeah.

David: And every now and then she makes me laugh.

Kristen: Yeah, if I make [him] laugh, it's like, whoo-hoo, I make him laugh!

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What’s your best memory together?

Kristen: Our daughter’s birth and our honeymoon in Ireland together.

David: The first thing I thought of was our dinner in the South of France [29 years ago].

David recalled how Kristen was dangerously “hangry” that night, so they ended up choosing the next available restaurant out of desperation. It turned out to be an upscale place that unexpectedly became a rowdy party as the night went on. According to David, some of the wives there were twirling their napkins while dancing on the tables and chairs. It sounded like a hilarious time, but we really wanted to highlight a touching statement:

David: Every time I throw her into this unplanned environment, we have the most awesome time ever… Sometimes the best comes from that unplanned, right? And honestly, if you think about our lives and some of the things we've done together, almost all of our top experiences [have been unplanned].

Meet Cutes NYC: Kristen and David's relationship is a testament to how embracing life’s surprises with open arms can lead to adventure, joy, and love and serves as a reminder to keep an eye out for humorous situations; they just might lead to the something beautiful and meaningful.

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