Big Question Day

This morning I woke up around 5:15am. While misha9874 was still asleep, I snuck downstairs and retrieved the bouquet of dozen roses I had hiding in a trash can in the basement. It's difficult to hide things with her around. Placing them on the night stand next to her along with a card so she'd wake up to roses, I tried to crawl back into bed without a sound. Unfortunately, she's not as deep of a sleeper as I would have hoped. She smelled the roses and woke up right away.

We've been talking about getting married on July 7th, 2007 (7/7/07) so today would be our -1 year anniversary. Last night, she had talked about going into Boston during the day and I informed her that she wouldn't be doing that since I had a day of activities planned. She was fine with that - she loves presents and surprises, but was so excited there was no way she was going to be able to go back to sleep. It was insanely early so we tried, but by 7:15 we were heading out to Bickfords for breakfast.

Bickfords wasn't part of the plan but was fine since lunch would be a long time away. Afterwards we came back home and relaxed, and I packed the car for the rest of the day. A little after 10, we got in the car and I had programmed the itinerary into the navigation system so we just followed the directions as a surprise to where we ended up. A few blocks before we arrived, she realized we were going to Tower Hill Botanic Garden.

Tower Hill was where we had gone on our second date and one of our favorite places together so it made sense to return there. I grabbed my camera backpack and we wandered around the gardens seeing what was blooming in July. Eventually, we ended up at the bench where we had our first kiss. It overlooks a valley and hills and is a nice romantic spot. We sat down and after a bit I told her it was time for another present.

She's been expecting me to propose to her for quite a while, but we had agreed a long time ago to wait until we had known each other a year which would be August 12th. However, she knew that I had bought the ring so she's been second guessing every special trip we take. I reached into the bag and pulled out... a book.

For the past month or so, I've been pulling together photos and stories and quotes of everything misha9874 and I have done together since we met and laying it out into a book. I wanted it to look good so got advice from my scrapbooking friends, amymarr and criminalgrace. Before we left for New Jersey, I sent it out to be printed and bound and it had just arrived on Wednesday. Usually I get ideas and they never turn out as cool as I envision. This time, the book far exceeded my expectations and I couldn't wait to show her.

We read through the book and she got more excited every time the page turned, remembering all the things we've done together. 25 pages worth. There was, however, a surprise ending to the book. She turned to the last page spread to see today's date, a photo of an engagement ring on the left and a photo of me on the right. In the photo, I was wearing the same outfit I was currently wearing, at the same spot we were at, kneeling and holding the ring. When she looked up, I was imitating the photo. What can I say, I wanted to have the book as up-to-date as possible so nick_44 had helped me take the photo a few weeks earlier. Thanks, Bro. (View the book 3.7MB PDF)

I've liked the idea of a puzzle wedding ring since I first saw them at King Richard's Faire back in college. For people who haven't seen one, it actually comes undone into four linked rings and there's a trick to putting it back together again so you can wear it. When we started talking about getting married, I showed her some and she liked the idea. So I picked out the ring part, she chose the diamond shape, and I ordered it from Crystal Realm. It was handmade by Norman Greene to my specifications and it came out great.

So I'm on one knee posed like the picture in front of her, and before I could pop the question, she was bouncing in excitement and said, "Yes, yes, yes." I still asked for posterity. What seemed like the next few hours on the bench were a blur of squealing, kissing, holding hands, crying, and re-reading the book. I took this as a positive reaction.

It was lunch time, and as we walked back to the car, misha9874 pointed out a couple having a picnic in one of the gardens and how cute it was. I asked her if she wanted something light for lunch and she agreed. When we reached the car, I said it was time for another surprise. I opened the back of the car to reveal an antique wood and leather trunk I had gotten from my aunt and uncle a while ago. It was designed to sit on the rumble seat of a Model A or T Ford, and looked nice in the trunk of my hybrid. I opened it to show her it was for picnics.

We returned to the gardens and had a spread of sandwiches, yogurt, and a bottle of sparkling white grape juice. It was so nice out, I couldn't have asked for better weather and perfect for a picnic.

Afterwards we went back to the house, and took some photos of the ring for her to post in her LJ and e-mail to people, and read through the book several more times. She called her mom to tell her the news and her mom was thrilled. When we went out to lunch with her mom earlier in the week, I had asked for her blessing so she knew it was coming soon.

We dressed up for the evening and at 5:45 we headed to ARTSWorcester where they were having an opening reception for an exhibit I had two photographs in. It was a huge exhibit and misha9874 got to show off her ring to the director and they both turned into giddy schoolgirls for a minute. I have a feeling this scenario will repeat itself for a while. While we were looking around the gallery, a man came up to us and told us there should be a picture of us on the wall because we make a stunning couple. I'm not sure what prompted that, but it was flattering.

For dinner we went to TiNovo which I've been wanting to go to for a while. I had stopped by yesterday to make reservations. It's a huge old house so all of the dining rooms are small so it doesn't get too loud. The decor is amazing as well with fancy rooms and impressive woodwork.

First, they brought out the bread. It was fresh from the oven and served in a bowl made from a huge cracker. Part of me wanted to taste the bowl but it seemed inappropriate. We got the Caesar salad, which they make right at the table. Very fun. When the waitress moved the bread bowl to make room for the salad, a corner broke off. After she left, we tasted the broken pieces. =^) It tasted like a saltine cracker, but a little sweet.

For dinner, I had the Double Cut Stuffed Pork Chop: Spinach, gorgonzola cheese and caramelized onion stuffing, pan seared. Creamy polenta, grilled asparagus, anisette glace. misha9874 had the Land and Sea special: 14oz boneless ribeye au poivre, 2 pan seared shrimp in a tomato garlic sauce served with shallot and garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. When they brought out the plates, it looked like art. And it tasted amazing as well. We made sure not to eat all of it so we had room for dessert - a chocolate mint glacée on a tart apple sauce, and strawberry chocolate tiramisu. One of the best dinner experiences of my life.

All in all, a great day. Perfect weather, everything went as planned, amazing dinner, and now I'm engaged. Wow.