Engaged!

I’m engaged!!! And I need to write it all down before I forget all the details.

The 1st picture with the ring... to send to Andy to tell him the news!

So some background:

Paul planned a date night. We had his nephew’s 2^nd birthday party on Saturday from 2-5 and then were going to have dinner in the city followed by a broadway show. I didn’t know where we were eating or what show we were watching. It was all a surprise of sorts.

Saturday Morning:

Saturday we woke up bright and early around 7:30AM. We had planned on heading to the park to go bike riding/skating since it was going to be beautiful out. Instead we lay in bed talking while waiting for the fog to clear up. We talked about the rest of the day, the weather, how excited I was to ride my bike… and then he points at my ring finger and says, “If this finger got chopped off, like if someone cut if off right here (pointing to the last knuckle) where would you wear a ring?” I didn’t know why he was asking, but him asking me this didn’t set off any flags, we are random this way. I answered, “My right hand I guess.” He then finished by saying, “That’s very European of you.”

We continued our meaningless banter about who knows what where he’d throw in random I love you’s every now and then. This is not uncommon … he does this when in a particularly mushy mood so again, no flags.

He then said, “If I were to ask you to marry me, would you say yes?” I of course said, “Yes.” And again… talk talk talk… until I feel him sleeping a ring on my finger which so happens to be behind my head. What did I do? I said “Are you for real???” And he smiled and said, “Will you marry me?” To which I said, “YES!” but apparently I’m the only one who heard it.

This was followed by hugs tears and kisses… oh and laughter. Apparently I can do both at once.

After the excitement started to wear off, I tried calling my family… all of which did not pick up the phone so I made breakfast… Banana-Berry Pancakes… one of our favorites!

Saturday Afternoon:

So we took showers, packed some fancy cloths and were off to see my Grandma. We got to her house and were informed by a neighbor that she went to the Catskills with my Uncle. Not wanting to tell her the news over the phone, we waited… we’ll go there tonight and let her know.

We then went to Paul’s Mom’s house to let her know (she knew he was going to ask but didn’t know when). She was with a client but he soon left. Her reaction was melancholy at most. She had a solemn “congratulations” for me but then only talked about not losing the ring and to get insurance for it as soon as possible. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed… even discouraged. I was hoping for more of a warm welcome or at least a heartfelt hug. Instead I got a sad face talking about insurance and my responsibility over not losing what her son spent so much on. I tried to ignore it and hope it was because she was having a hard day. This I did already know. So I sucked it up, put a smile on my face and we were off.

Off to go back home because Paul forgot our show tickets.

After finally getting all the information necessary and while I was going home to get the tickets, Paul went to the bank to get Jaxon a savings bond for his birthday, but the bank was closed … bah!

So off to Staten Island we go … and what a nightmare that was… TRAFFIC TRAFFIC TRAFFIC! But at least my Mom answered the phone and I could chat with her for a little while. Turns out, everyone (except my Grandma) knew for about a month that he was going to do it and had the ring, but they didn’t know when. Good job to them for keeping it a secret!

Once we got there, I didn’t say anything. No one really noticed but after a while it was out and everyone knew (with the help of Paul’s Dad) and I was getting hugs left and right. I truly love Paul’s brothers and sister. They are amazing and I can’t wait to call them my brothers and sister! Besides, I’m a firm believer that you can never have TOO MANY siblings!

We left the party a bit late, unable to tear ourselves away from his nieces and nephews, but it wouldn’t have mattered.

Saturday Night:

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic! It took us nearly 2 ½ hours to get into NYC… needless to say, we missed our dinner reservations and though they held our table, we’d never make it to WICKED in time. Yes, that was the surprise show, and I’m so grateful. Especially since he paid a premium for the sold out show. By the way, the show was GREAT!!!! I highly recommended it!

So as you can imagine my stomach was VERY angry. I hardly ate anything all day anticipating the feast awaiting me at 6PM. I sat quietly hoping the rumbling in my belly wouldn’t over take the show… and it didn’t but what it was able to do was alter my ever happy mood. Anyone who knows me knows that I CAN NOT BE HAPPY HUNGRY! I became cranky, impatient, nasty, and sad. And my pumps gave me blisters. Ugh I JUST WANTED FOOD! Oh and I was very sleepy!

So we got in the car and went to French Roast… a spot we love on 85^th and Broadway… one of “our spots” from our UWS days. And being that it was 24 hours – we knew it was a sure thing. Needless to say we stuffed our faces leaving NOTHING on the plate. I think I even ate the garnish and I was once again happy with the world… except of course for the 2 WASPY women sitting to our right. They had the most depressing conversations (suicide/death/illnesses) and loudly! The weirdest part is they were appalled that I was paying for dinner; they even hovered over my hand to try and see the bill. What psychotic people! Ugh.

So homebound finally at 1:30AM… I was so tired!

Waiting to go to the show... which was AWESOME!!

Sunday Morning:

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Yep that was my alarm going off at 6:30AM! It was time for the Heart Start Walk in honor of my Grandpa. IT was nice… with my family and Lori. It was a great event and we were REALLY happy to do it! But Paul had a soccer game and we were apart.

Fast Forward

Today, Monday 2:50PM

My ring is being sent back to get resized. It so happens to fit on my thumb. For the record I am a size 7

YEY TO LIFE, YEY TO LOVE, YEY TO US!

Tapered cathedral setting

Solitaire - beautifully simple

Side view

Asscher Cut in a Cathedral Solitaire

Good Job, Pauly!