On Friday, June 22, 2007, Craig was on a small, unofficial pub crawl with a friend visiting from Chicago. The Bitter End was on the list, but after the Coast party, the group seemed to want to go to Peddlars. Craig had no interest in going to Peddlar's, so he went to the Bitter End alone and would meet up with the crew at the next stop.
On this very same evening, at this very same time, Tanya and Julie Folk were sitting at the Bitter End for some drinks after the Coast party.
Craig arrived at the Bitter End to find a pair of girls sitting at the end of the bar, and one of them was in his chair! "His chair?" some of you might be asking, "How often did this guy go out downtown to have his own chair? Should we speak to Tanya?" you may continue to ask. We will neither confirm nor deny that Craig spent enough time to have earned a chair at the end of the bar. Like Norm from Cheers, only slightly more athletic.
So yes - there was a girl, Tanya, sitting in his chair. Craig stood at the end of the bar talking to a friend for a bit, until Julie got up and went to the bathroom, at which point Craig sat down and asked Tanya if she minded if he keep her company until her friend got back.
Craig introduced himself, and they started chatting, and by the time Julie returned, there was no separating Craig and Tanya. Thankfully, Julie gave a very early stamp of approval and headed home leaving the newly aquainted couple to get to know each other. Since then, they have been completely inseparable!
In November of 2009, Tanya was celebrating a special milestone in the life of any young woman. She was turning 30! Craig and Tanya decided to book a weekend in New York City to celebrate. Some friends, Kevin & Kathleen Dolan, and Melissa MacInnis & Gianluca Cairo came to meet them to join in the celebrations.
On Saturday November 7th, The group then met up with Matt McGuire and Maha Markabi for a wonderful breakfast at Sarabeth's. After breakfast, we decided to walk back down through Central park. It turned out to be a beautiful day (in the twenties), and we spent a good 5 hours in the park.
Near the end of the walk through Central Park, Craig asked Tanya to come with him, because he wanted to get a photo of her on a footbridge he had seen earlier that morning. Craig positioned Tanya on the bridge and then asked her to marry him. This was such an exciting day for Craig and Tanya!
Much thanks has to be given to Kevin and Kathleen, as they brought the ring through customs for Craig, as Craig was afraid that customs would search him and find the ring in front of Tanya, and he was not looking forward to having to propose there, and then figure out the logistics of future anniversary trips to the customs interrogation room of JFK Airport!
That night, they all went to Buddakan restaurant in Southwest Manhattan to celebrate. Many bottles of champagne and many plates of delicious food arrived and were cleared, and everyone had a great night. The trip was an amazing time and the surprise was genuine to Tanya!
Now, it's your chance to help write the next chapter in Craig and Tanya's story. They hope you will be able to join them on their wedding day - Friday, the 13th of August. Please feel free to browse through this site to find out more information about this special event!
