In August of 2020, we matched on Hinge, started chatting, and decided to go on a date. We had drinks and chicken tenders while sitting outside at the Druid in Inman Square, Cambridge. After a few months of getting to know each other, we became an official couple on New Year's of 2021.

We both were accepted into PhD programs in Boston and were so happy to be able to stay together in the same city. In those first few years, we traveled from Italy to the Pacific Northwest to Delaware, and while in New England we enjoyed exploring Cambridge (where we both lived) and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In May 2022, we moved into our cozy apartment in Bay Village, Boston. A couple months later, we adopted our dog Cody from a shelter in Houston.

On December 21, 2023, we went on a walk through the beautiful Wave Hill estate in the Bronx, NY. With the background of the Hudson River, Ben got down on one knee and proposed. Afterward, we went back to the Lipkins' house, where we were greeted by Emily's whole family. Together, the two families celebrated with dinner in New York. A few weeks later, Ben planned another surprise - an Engagement New Year's Eve Party in Boston with many of our close friends from near and out of town.

Years into our relationship, we discovered that on St. Patrick's Day in 2018 we were both at the Blue Leprechaun in Ann Arbor, MI. Emily was visiting her brother at University of Michigan at the time. We both celebrated Michigan making the buzzer-beater game winning shot during March Madness, not realizing our future spouse was in the same bar.