Almost two years later, on the evening of January the 20th, 2008, the pair became engaged.
On par with the course of their relationship thus far, it happened rather unexpectedly and untraditionally.
After attending a friend’s art opening, Natalie and Frank shuffled through the cold to Lit
for another friend’s birthday karaoke celebration. Lit is a cave-like venue in the east village,
equal parts dicey and fun, chock full of individual memories both good and bad for the pair.
They arrived far too early for the party, so they took to an isolated booth in the back room,
Lynch-esque curtains and a H.R. Giger piece beside them. Cue conversations, existential musings,
and eventual mutterings, where Frank went on a long-winded tangent about wanting to settle down.
Without any premeditated plan, Frank stated that he’d marry Natalie in a heartbeat if he could.
The conversation quickly escalated, and after a bit of nervous prodding,
he officially asked, while Heart’s ‘Magic Man’ blared in the background.

In short, she accepted, and the pair soon descended Lit’s infamously precarious staircase
to sing some canned karaoke, senses atwitter. For those curious, Natalie sung The Motels’ ‘Only the Lonely’
and PJ Harvey’s ‘Down By the Water’ while Frank sung Devo’s ‘Girl U Want’ and ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ by Pixies.
The evening wound down quickly from there, and on a whim, the pair hit a local pizza joint.
In the process, they procured two separately beautiful quarter rings (and a monkey!) from machines outside.
Now, as silly as that may sound (with or without the monkey), Natalie’s disdain for expensive jewelry
and love of toys and kitsch made for the perfect engagement ring.