A natural match
“He seemed very light,” she recalled. “He embodied levity, optimism and happiness.”
The two started dating in November 2012.
“It was a gradient, over-time development,” she said. “We realized we were very simpatico.”
The two went on their first date at Of Love & Regret, a restaurant in Brewers Hill.
“It seemed so natural,” Michelle said. “It didn't feel like a date. It just made sense. I felt very giddy.”
They became “very serious” by the beginning of the next year.
“He always makes me laugh,” she said.
The couple live in Highlandtown with Michelle's daughter, Chloe Kim Zinchenko.
The day didn't go exactly the way Greg intended — he had planned an elaborate outdoor proposal that was thwarted because of rain. Instead, he improvised and asked her in their home.
“He likes to plan things and be in control of the situation,” Michelle said. “But all his plans were moot because of the rain. He proposed as I was putting laundry away. It wasn't at all how he had been envisioning.”
Michelle said she suspected a proposal was coming, but she didn't know when.
“I came home. I dropped my daughter off to spend the weekend with her dad. [Greg] seemed very nervous. I knew something was up,” she said. The two were scheduled to go to dinner at Charleston in Harbor East that evening.
“I started doing some laundry,” she recalled. “He came and cornered me in the closet. He told me how he felt about me. He talked about how special we are together.”
Then he got down on one knee and revealed a box that contained the ring.
“His voice was shaking. His hands were shaking,” Michelle said. “This is a person who can talk to thousands of MDs and Ph.D.s and not get nervous at all. One of his special gifts is his ability to talk to anybody.”
Charm City Cakes made the three-tiered cake — one buerre noisette layer and two carrot cake layers .