I am so excited for you to meet Ian and Conor. I had the pleasure of meeting them about two weeks ago near the museum campus for their engagement shoot.
Ian is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan (though he was born and spent his early childhood in Hartford, CT). He came to Chicago in 2003 to attend Loyola University and has been here ever since. Conor is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He moved to Chicago in 2007 after graduating from Notre Dame.
How did you meet?
We met in an acting class at Black Box Acting here in Chicago, where we both now teach.
Who made the first move and who talked to who first?
Well, we met in an acting class and so we first got to know each other when the whole class would go out for drinks afterwards. After a few of these group outings it was Conor who asked Ian out officially (as in just the two of us).
What does you favorite date night consist of?
We have a tendency to be quite the homebodies. We have a ton of recorded Jeopardy’s saved up on our DVR and love to come home, cook dinner, and watch Jeopardy together with a glass of wine.
What are your plans for the summer? Anything fun?
We both have a pretty full teaching schedule at Black Box through the summer, but we’re hoping to take a weekend to visit Ian’s family in Michigan as well as Conor’s parents in New York.
Also, we should probably start planning our wedding…
How did the proposal happen?
To bring it back to Jeopardy… We can be quite competitive and have had to resort to writing down our Final Jeopardy answers and revealing them after everyone has had a chance to answer. On the night Conor proposed, he had pre-written a Final Jeopardy “answer” that asked Ian to marry him. We exchanged answers, Ian saw the proposal, and said yes! Conor had some champagne and roses ready and we celebrated.
(For the record…Ian got the question correct, Conor did not. It was something about Slurpees and 7-11).
What do you both do for fun, hobbies, interests?
We’re both actors. Ian is also a photographer (mostly actor headshots) and a yoga instructor. Conor is also a writer, a painter, he and does the marketing for Black Box. We like to cook and have friends over. We love spending time by the lake in the summer (although we’d love to be able to get over there more often)
If you could take a vacation together anywhere in the world completely paid for where would it be and why?
Conor: Hong Kong. Because I’ve never been to Asia and I think it would be really cool to explore that part of the world.
Ian: Somewhere warm with a beach. I’d also love to explore more of Europe.
Favorite color?
We both love blue.
Favorite Food?
We love Chipotle (we’re actually thinking about having them cater the wedding)
If you had to choose three words to describe your relationship what would they be?
Fun, Warm, Light-hearted.
If you had to describe each other what three words would you use?
Ian: Conor is funny, smart, and charming.
Conor: Ian is stubborn, adorable, and intelligent.