WE BUILT A PLAYLIST BEFORE A RELATIONSHIP

It didn't start with a date. It started with a song. In my profile, I had mentioned my love for a slightly obscure indie band. In his first message to me, Mikhail didn't just say he liked them too; he asked me what I thought of the bass line on their third album's closing track. It was a question so specific, so nerdy, that I knew I had found a

I've always considered myself pretty pragmatic, not easily moved by grand romantic gestures. But there's a difference between a grand gesture and a genuinely heartfelt one. I discovered that difference on a Tuesday night, during a video call with a man I was getting to know. Dmitri was a musician from Saint Petersburg. We'd connected on sofia da