Saturday, December 5 is a day I will remember until the day I die. It is the day I got engaged to the most amazing man I have ever known! And I was completely taken by surprise!
Joe was supposed to meet my parents and me at Grand Central Station Saturday morning. About 30 minutes before we were leaving to meet him, I got a text that said that he wanted us to meet him at the 86th & Broadway subway stop instead. I honestly thought someone had the wrong number at first - I knew that Joe wouldn't be striking out on his own in NYC! He had never been there before, so how could he possibly know something we didn't? When I realized it really was Joe, I texted him back this huge text message - Are you sure you want to meet us there? How are you getting there? Do you even know how to transfer at Grand Central? What do you want to show me? What is going on?? haha. He just said that he wanted to show me something, and to stop asking questions. :)
All the way to 86th & Broadway I was wondering what could possibly be going on. Did he meet someone on the train who told him about a must-see spot? Was he meeting a friend of ours and wanted to surprise me? I'll admit the idea of a proposal glimmered in the back of my head, but it didn't last long because we had talked about the possibility in the past and agreed that it would have to be put off for a little while longer.
When we got to the Subway stop, I saw Joe walking toward me with a grocery bag in his hand. He handed my parents a map and told them to meet us at the map's location in 30 minutes - that he wanted to show me something in private.
My parents walked off, just as confused as I was (or, as I found out later, just my mom was as confused as I was), and Joe took my hand and walked me down the road. I kept asking him questions, but he just kept quiet. After a couple minutes, I realized we were heading toward trees and I assumed it was Central Park. He said it wasn't (no surprise that I was all turned around). We got closer and I saw this really cool park with bike trails that ran along a body of water. As we walked along, suddenly I realized where I was at. Riverside Park!
Now, here is a side note for those of you who don't know me as well as others. Have you ever fell in love with a movie that other people may have found cheesy, but you absolutely adore it and could (and have) watch it hundreds of times? Well, that movie for me is You've Got Mail. At the end of that movie, Meg Ryan realized that Tom Hanks is the person she has been talking to online when he asked her to meet him and his dog Brinkley at the 91st Street section of Riverside Park.
When we got to the spot, it was like deja vu - I've watched that movie so many times I feel like I've been there, but I haven't. It was very cool. Joe brought out some champagne and raspberries from the grocery bag he had been holding and said he wanted to do something memorable for our first trip together to the city. Only then did I realize he was wearing his suit! It had been covered up by his new coat and I didn't realize it at first. He seriously looked so handsome. At that point I figured that was it - and I was very impressed with that! Well, after a few sips of champagne, he looked at me and said, "Should we make this even more memorable?", dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him!!
I of course started crying and said, "YES!!!" and it was so cool because all these joggers and people walking their dogs kept passing by us, smiling and telling us congratulations. It really felt like I was in a movie.
Moments after he popped the question.
91st Street section of Riverside Park.
The ring! The most perfect, beautiful ring - nothing could have fit me better. :)
After a lot of hugging and kissing and "Oh My God!"-ing, we walked back to meet my parents, who were waiting for me at the COOLEST cafe in New York City - Cafe Lalo, which also happens to play a huge part in the movie You've Got Mail. On the way to the restaurant, Joe let me know that he had asked my dad for permission, and also let him in on the whole plan! This whole time my dad had known what would happen, and kept his mouth shut while I was so confused as to what was going on. He never gave anything away, and usually that man cannot keep a secret! I remember him saying "oh, is this pretty unusual behavior?" when Joe switched up the plans on me. I was all YES and never did I suspect that he was just playing with me, totally aware of what was actually happening.
So when I got to Cafe Lalo, I walked in and asked my mom if Dad had told her what was going on. She said no, so I showed her the ring. She totally lost it, and couldn't believe my dad hadn't said anything. I guess during their walk to the restaurant, she was saying, "Oh, maybe he is going to propose!" and my dad kept saying, "wow, you have quite an imagination!" haha! My dad is so sly!
Champagne toast at Cafe Lalo.
Outside Cafe Lalo
I couldn't stop smiling all day, and couldn't stop looking at my beautiful ring. I know it shouldn't feel all that different being engaged when you've been with someone for years, but it really just made me feel all warm and fuzzy. :) Which was good, because it got COLD as the day went on.
We walked around Central Park and Rockefeller Center that day and once it started raining, we went shopping and stopped often for warm drinks. That night we had reservations for an off-broadway play called "The Perfect Crime". As we were walking out of the subway in Times Square we looked up and it was snowing!! I mean, come on, it just couldn't have gotten better!! The first snow of the season, the day we are engaged, in New York City! Amazing!
Times Square
The play ended up being pretty good. It was a really small theater and we had really good seats. Although they had fake guns in the play and when it went of the first time, I jumped a mile out of my seat and spilled my wine all over my brand new coat. Typical clumsy me. ;)
Waiting for the play to start.
We went back to the hotel once the play was over and poor Joe fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. He hasn't been sleeping at all lately. I thought it was because he wasn't feeling good... turns out it was because he was nervous about planning a very special proposal!
What a day - like I said, one I will NEVER forget!
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