With a breath taking skyline, sunsets over the Delaware river, historic beauty and timeless architecture, Philadelphia boasts a picturesque setting for falling in love. With the diversity of the city and variety of establishments falling in love in Philadelphia is as easy as any fairytale story, and the Inn at Bowman’s Hill has brought you this local love story of Philadelphia’s love birds Lauren and Rachel.
Lauren and Rachel
All great romances begin as beautiful friendships, just like Lauren and Rachel’s relationship did. Many lasting romances begin when one would least expect, which is the case with this local love story. Both Lauren and Rachel had recently ended serious relationships and were feeling a little broken hearted last December when Lauren returned to the Philadelphia area after living in Washington D.C. and unexpectedly met Rachel at a holiday party, she was invited to by a mutual friend by the name of Chris.
“The girls were dressed like elves, but one in particular stood out to me – Rachel – and not just because she’s about 5’10” and was definitely the tallest of all the ladies. Chris had casually mentioned Rachel before to me – that she was a server, that she was gay, and that, like me, she was newly single, so I knew “of” her, but that was my first encounter meeting her. You could say it was an instant attraction – she smiled, and I knew I was in trouble – her perfect smile made my heart skip a beat.” As told by Lauren.
As with most budding romances of this generation, Lauren and Rachel became friends on Facebook and exchanged phone numbers via private messages. The following week a snow storm hit the Philadelphia region and Lauren invited Rachel to get snowed in with her at Chris’ apartment. Conveniently Rachel and Chris were working together at the Northern Liberties Green Eggs Cafe location and made a blustery trek through the city after work to Lauren. As Lauren recalls, “We became inseparable over the course of the next few days – adventuring all over South Philly in over a foot of snow, staying up late drinking and talking and laughing.”
They immediately became inseperable, finding a true friend in each other, and later more than just a friend. Rachel describes the whirlwind of those early weeks:
Making Shadow Love
“I recall countless nights of fun, drinks, and lots of talking. I had no idea how I felt about her yet, but knew that I had definitely found myself a new great friend. From then on we were pretty much inseparable. I was always finding reasons to stay over Chris’ apartment when I knew that Lauren would be there. I wanted to ask her out, but was afraid to put myself out there. People began to ask if we were dating because we were always together, so we coined the term “faux dating” – which basically means that we will hang out but not go on actual dates.”
Photo courtesy of Tim Becker of Baaanng.com
Lauren and Rachel spent New Year’s Eve together, where they shared their first kiss. Unfortunately it was a kiss heavily influenced by alcohol as many New Year’s kisses are, and both pretended it didn’t happen the next day. It took a few weeks of suppressing their true emotions for each other , fighting the fear of rejection and healing their previously broken hearts, until Valentine’s Day when Lauren really got the ball rolling. Lauren had presented a gift bag to Rachel as a thank you for being such a great friend and making her move back to Philly as smooth and painless as possible, even making it fun while she was living with her parents and unemployed. Lauren truly appreciated the fact that regardless of not being a (self described) great catch at the moment, Rachel faithfully encouraged her, motivated her, befriended her and loved her, unconditionally.
“It wasn’t until Valentine’s Day when I realized that our friendship was something much more. Lauren had given me this wonderful gift bag, full of all things that I loved. I thought it was incredibly sweet and thoughtful, especially because we have only known each other for a short time. That evening, we were hanging out with friends and sitting around the table in the kitchen. I couldn’t help but focus all of my attention on Lauren. The way she held the attention of everyone in the room when she spoke. I felt like I was instantly in a fog and my thoughts were all confused. I couldn’t figure out what was going on with me. It wasn’t until the next day when I told my friends what she had done for me for Valentine’s Day that it hit me, and I realized I was in love with this girl.”
Their relationship became official on April 2, 2011 and has blossomed into a beautiful story of true love. Lauren recounts those first couple months her and Rachel were officially girlfriends:
“Those few months before we started ‘officially’ dating were a whirlwind of spending days together when she was not working, constant BBM’s, late night conversations over vodka/sodas, and falling asleep next to each other on an air mattress in Chris’ living room. (It wasn’t until later she told me I was a bad “cuddler” – only because I was afraid to get too close to her at that time.) People began to ask us if we were dating or a couple, and we denied it. First she thought things were moving too fast, then I did, but we finally both agreed that we needed to stop trying to suppress our feelings and just let things be. We made it “official” on April 2, and I can say with certainty that Rachel was and continues to be the brightest spot in my life.”
At the heart of every great romance lies true friendship
Today Rachel and Lauren look forward to a long and happy future together. Hopeful that one day the state of Pennsylvania will legalize same-sex marriage and allow two soul mates, who found one another in the great city of Philadelphia, to get engaged and marry one another in the city where they met and fell in love and live happily ever after.
You too can share your love story with Philly Happening. Submit your story about how you found true love to centercity@phillyhappening.com.
[box] This Philadelphia local love story was brought to you by The Inn at Bowman’s Hill, an exclusive Bucks County Bed and Breakfast Inn located just 2 miles south of the town of New Hope, PA, across the scenic Delaware River from Lambertville, NJ. This beautiful New Hope Bed & Breakfast Inn, perhaps more akin to a boutique hotel, is the only 4-Diamond lodging in all of Bucks County and enjoys a serene location alongside the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, a 100-acre Bucks County nature preserve surrounded by mature woodland. The Inn at Bowman’s Hill provides the perfect setting to celebrate engagements, anniversaries, honeymoons, intimate weddings, commitment ceremonies, birthdays, girls’ weekends, and babymoons all year long. Check out their last minute deals and weekday specials.[/box]
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