Jolene and Tom met at the Meadowlands Arena in July 2004 at a Sheraton New York summer outing. At the time Jolene worked in Convention Services and Tom worked in the Systems Department as summer intern. They caught each other's eye on the bus, but were never formally introduced. They hung out in the same group that day, but never "talked" and went their separate ways.

About a month later Jolene's computer mouse malfunctioned so she called Systems to request a new one. After about 6 rings Tom finally picked up. She recognized his voice immediately.

Jolene: "Hi Tom!"

Tom: "Hi, uh, who's this?"

Jolene: "It's Jolene! Remember? From the Meadowlands?"

Tom: "Oh! Yeah, uh, hold on." Supposedly he was very busy (and nervous) and the only one on staff. He kept her on hold for a very long time.

So, Jolene ordered a new mouse and the next day she had a brand new Dell mouse on her desk with a note that says, "Have a nice day - Tom, Systems." She immediately emailed him to say thank you and thus began an email conversation that lasted for 2 days and finally a request to "sightsee together." They hung out for a few weeks, not really dating, but on October 6th, 2004 - 2 days before he was leaving for Poland - Jolene and Tom had a 'real' date that ended with a long kiss goodnight... Let's just say it was love at first kiss.

October 20, 2005 - Sal Anthony's restaurant in Little Italy, NYC

Tom planned to have dinner with Jolene in Little Italy, NYC. Jolene was slightly suspicious because Tom didn't usually make dinner plans, but since he was no longer working (he was moving back to Poland), Jolene figured he had free time to plan dinner. He told her that his friend Luis from the Sheraton knew the manager of a restaurant on Mulberry St. and he promised Luis that they would check it out.

Jolene got out of work late and met up with Tom at her apartment. He was calm and any suspicions Jolene had earlier that day were gone. He also wasn't in a rush to go to dinner. They even spent a half hour on the phone arguing with some .com regarding a car part Tom ordered. They finally went on their way and could NOT find a cab anywhere, but when they did, Tom called the restaurant to say they were running late and requested that we sit inside instead of outside because it was a bit chilly.

When they arrived at Sal Anthony's, Tom greeted the Manager as if they knew each other for years. He seated them at a cute little tablein the corner and had a delicious dinner. Everything felt so comfortable until it was time for dessert... Tom said that the Manager was picking dessert for him so Jolene decided to do the same.

So... the waitress comes by with 2 dessert plates. She places Tom's downfirst (a delicious cannoli) and then Jolene's... not a cannoli, but a napkin covered plate with pink rose petals. Jolene, of course, freaked out and asked, "Why is there a napkin over my dessert!?" Then Jolene found out. The waitress removed the napkin and uncovered a blue velvetring box with the most beautiful ring she has ever seen. Tom walked to her right side, got down on one knee and proposed. With teary eyes and a kool-aid smile Jolene said "YES!"

They've been giddy ever since and are so excited for their special day.