Apparently, another thing that was not exactly memorable was Robyn's name.  "Shiny Shirt Dan" is a Gainesville legend, and so Robyn had no trouble with his name, but after running into Dan at Speakeasy (a local bar) more than a few times, Robyn realized he had no idea what her name actually was.  When she asked Dan about this, the best he muster was, "Of course I know your name... you're the little professor."  When pushed to guess her name, he guessed, "Audrey."

A week later, Robyn and Jen saw Dan at Speakeasy -- again -- and they asked if he remembered Robyn's name.  Jen gave a multiple-choice quiz, asking if the name was Susie, Audrey, or Robyn.  Dan said, "Audrey, that's right! It's Audrey!"

When Dan started asking people about Audrey the next day (July 4, 2004), all he got were puzzled looks.  He asked Jen for Audrey's number, and she happily obliged, but when Audrey's voicemail said "Hi, this is Robyn...", he began to catch on.  Robyn listened to her voicemail later that night, and she laughed as Dan expressed his dismay that Audrey had been lying all this time.

That voicemail led to repeated phone conversations, emails, and finally, a first date on July 18, 2004.  Dan was pretty sure of the name by then, though sometimes he still wonders.

How We Got Engaged

Robyn was facing a rather monumental birthday on July 15th, and Dan told her that he was taking her "somewhere within driving distance" for her birthday weekend.  That "somewhere"  turned out to be the Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island, which is a small, secluded barrier island just north of Jacksonville.

Dan told Robyn that the dinner reservations were for 8:30, and right before dinner, he suggested she open one of her birthday  presents.  He said, though, that the present came with a preamble, and before she knew it, he was down on one knee with a ring, asking her to marry him!  She said "of course."  Dinner reservations were actually for 9:00pm, so Robyn had time to call her parents, who knew about all of this ahead of time and who were waiting by the phone.  We also had time to stop by the concierge, who helped us devise a way to make the ring fit!

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the beach, getting terribly sunburned, and using the ring to get free champagne out of the Ritz Carlton's staff.

About Robyn

Robyn was born near New Orleans, but she grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania and then York, Pennsylvania.  She went to American University (in Washington, DC), and then received her PhD in psychology from Princeton University (in New Jersey).   She moved to Gainesville right after graduate school, and she currently teaches (and researches) consumer psychology in the marketing department of the University of Florida (hence, Dan's attempt to call her the "little professor").   Robyn roots for the Gators when in Gainesville, but she must confess that she cheers on LSU and the hapless Saints out of a sense of family loyalty.  Strangely, Robyn, not Dan, is the one who is involved in several fantasy football leagues.

Dan was born in Silver Springs, Maryland, but he moved to Cape Coral, Florida when he was ten.  He moved to Gainesville to attend the University of Florida ... let's just say "many" ... years ago, and he forgot to leave.  Dan graduated from UF with a degree in industrial engineering and also an MBA.  He is part-owner of a human resources software company, MindSolve.  No one really seems to know what they do other than "something with computers."  Although Dan isn't much of the sports fan (having never watched a regular season NFL or NBA game), he does a pretty good job of religiously tailgating for the Gators.  Dan also enjoys, and is nationally-famous for, wearing shiny shirts.  Contrary to popular belief, Dan does not play Ray's brother on Everyone Loves Raymond.