It's a Kind of Funny (Raya) Story

Back in 2017 I received a heart eyes DM from an elusive Jon Tietz. He had no photos on his account and all his tagged photos were of celebrities. I ignored the request and went on with my chaotic lifestyle. I had just adopted an eight week old puppy and was trying to house train her, while living on a 5th floor walk-up (a true one bedroom apartment in the Lower East Side that I paid $1800 for, t’was the best of times) so I had my hands full. He asked a mutual friend to set us up but my friend advised him at the time, “Bro, you’re not her type” — which to be fair, in that current moment felt like an accurate statement. Disclaimer that this was during my era of dating unavailable soccer players, adulterers and men without bank accounts… so he was not wrong. Thankfully, I have since seen the light.

A sunset drive in our old SL. TBT to Jon’s green hair. Many different hairstyles, very Libra coded.

Two long term relationships, a term of celibacy and a move to the West Coast later which consisted of an eat pray namaste awakening of no booze, no sex and a new me — I hopped back on the dating apps. Lo and behold, there he was again, but this time I could actually see what he looked like. We texted a little and dare I say it even spoke on the PHONE, unlike all the other dry Raya interactions I was having in app. We had a special kind of chemistry that made me wrap up all my unfinished business before my next NYC trip. Editor’s Note, I was still living in LA at the time but was sorely missing NYC and tbh the men in LA just weren’t for me… that’s a story for another newsletter!

Sorry to my friend Anaa who happened to be on Facetime with me — “This is Tietz” Strong opening.

I arrived into New York on a Monday night and we had planned to meet later in the week but didn’t wait to wait… so we met up later that evening. What started as a last minute “Meet me in 15 minute at Tompkins Dog Park” ended in late night sushi at Takahashi and a walk over the Williamsburg Bridge. It was a serendipitous evening that left us both knowing that we had found our person (ew, I know) even if it meant figuring out the distance.

1// New lovers 2// My friend Jessie hanging a picture before Jon came to visit me in LA for the first time because she insisted my apartment was not ready ha 3// A suitcase lifestyle aka excessive laundry == long distance collateral damage

We’ve been pretty much inseparable since our first date. Funnily enough when I look back now, I realize that we never had the “what are we” conversations… it was always (thankfully an assumption felt on both sides) a candid flow of back and forth with not much time apart, until Jon ended up in LA a few months after.. and two years later we were back in New York, like we never left but this time with a little extra baggage ;)

Two crazy kids with a selfie stick eloping in Vegas

Has it always been smooth sailing with no bumps in the road? Absolutely not. Right now we’re tasked with the challenge of finding time in our relationship that isn’t centered around the baby. We are trying out this 777 rule, I will report back on it’s success (and of course if you have any thoughts/ feedback/ or even jokes on this or any of the above, please write me in the comments — I will chat back!)

1// Marrying a man from the Midwest 2// Wearing Jon’s varsity jacket back in the early days (Ladies, wear his clothes to show him whose boss jk) 3// Jon potentially questioning if he made the right decision 4// Our foster pup Sonny, shortly after this I was told that we weren’t allowed dogs that we couldn’t keep 5// A sexy NYE in Cayman,

Frankie is almost 14 months and we still haven’t taken a holiday alone. One of the drawbacks of not having family in the city but we are working on making this happen soon. Fingers crossed

A throwback to LA, a time when we had consistent Vitamin D

This little story time was prompted by Jon’s recent podcast on the greatest podcast of all times, Throwing Fits!!!!!, in which he gave a rare glimpse into our personal life. As a man who is very private, it was very warming to hear his perspective on how we met, our first date and more. You can listen to that here — and prompted me to do my own little rendition of this. I hope you all enjoyed some never been shared before piccies of our life together. I would love to hear from you all, so send me a little note in the comments if you have thoughts, questions, a good pickup line or a funny joke. I’ll take it all. Until next time, thank you for stepping outside with me. Ciao for now ax