Getting Hitched: The Proposal

Love in the grass. Me and Dan in San Francisco this past April.

I was stoked last week to share a little bit about our wedding day and ceremony! Truly, there's nothing a new bride loves so much as sharing the deets of her big day: not for the bragging rights of being married (because who does that nowadays? Didn't Sex & the City teach us anything about the fun and freedom of being a single gal? Live it up ladies!) but for the pride in having survived a months-long period of planning, negotiating with family members, the constant nagging feeling of having forgotten something, the endless consultations with bakers, caterers, florists, and ugly-linen suppliers. The steady stream of emails from The Knot trying to sell you snowflake-candle wedding favors for your September wedding. Sigh.

But more on that another day.

Today I'm excited to bring you the story of how Dan proposed to me back in 2010. For the friends and family who have heard this story 17,000 times, get ready for story number 17,000 and 1. And for the folks who haven't heard it yet, get ready for the cheesiest, girliest writing you are ever likely to read on this here website. It's downright frilly. Read on.

❤     ❤     ❤ 

It was Wednesday, December 15th, 2010. Dan met me at the subway station to walk me home to our apartment after my day at work. I noticed that he had dressed awfully snazzy for the occasion, but I chalked it up to the fact that we were celebrating our one-year anniversary, and had plans to go to a neighborhood restaurant for a romantic dinner later that night.

We got home to our apartment, and I took off my coat and shoes as usual. After changing into my own snazzy outfit, Dan called me into the living room and said he had something for me. So I ran in (whee, presents!), and saw a big rectangle covered with pink tissue paper.

I opened it up, and inside was a beautifully written letter from Dan explaining how he had fallen in love with me on the very first day we met, and detailing all of the reasons why he loved me even more now. My smile beamed from ear to ear. At the very bottom of the letter, he had written:

So . . .

And I turned the page over expecting to read more. I flipped it over a few times and must have had a very confused look on my face, because all of a sudden, Dan was down on one knee holding a ring in his hand and asking,

Will you marry me?

And, of course, I said YES! 

Then we jumped up and down and almost knocked over our Christmas tree.

I got this photo of the restaurant from Flickr because my computer crashed, like, the day after we
got engaged and because I didn't back up my files I don't have any photos of the evening anymore.
Sad face. Lesson: back up your files, folks.

Later, we did go to dinner (at Locale Astoria - literally downstairs from our apartment at the time. SUCH a great little spot) and had Champagne to celebrate. Poor Dan was still so nervous from proposing that he could barely eat. Practically everyone at the restaurant - from the waitstaff to the other diners - congratulated us. 

Of course, one of the most fun parts was telling all of our family and friends. The next day at work I could barely function: it was all I could do not to squeal with giddiness every ten seconds!

The proposal was truly a blissful moment for both of us and now we are flying on the magic carpet of love and eternal wedded happiness, and the carpet is made of pure gold, scented with lavender, and feeds us a never-ending supply of vegetarian lasagna with crispy edges because everyone knows the corners are the best part.

Have a good weekend! Bye!