The Proposal

It’s official! We’re engaged! As usual, S enjoyed teasing me while being romantic throughout the whole ordeal. All day I suspected that there would be a proposal because he was dangling it in front of my nose and yet, when he asked, I was still so surprised and speechless and felt happier than tears or words could convey. I’m not sure how that even happens or if that even makes any logical sense - but it’s true.

The story of our proposal starts with a bottle of wine.

This past September a boss of mine gave me a very expensive bottle of wine. S and I were so surprised and excited with the wonderful gift. We never spoke about our expectations for the wine so I thought we would open the bottle in October when my busy season was over but S had something different in mind. The problem was that he kind of hinted that the “something special” he had in mind might be a proposal. So, starting this past October, a proposal has been on my mind CONSTANTLY! And let me tell you … it’s torture.

Last November we traveled to San Francisco. Every day leading up to the trip I thought that maybe we’d get engaged in San Francisco. Every day while in San Fran I thought - maybe today. But no.

Then I thought maybe over Thanksgiving.

Then I thought maybe in early December when we visited his family. Or at the Precious Moments Chapel that is on the way to St. Louis.

Then, shortly before Christmas, S’s apartment flooded. And sadly that, too, was a perfect proposal opportunity in my mind. S called me out to the area with the washer and dryer to point out that thee was water all over his floor into his second bedroom and a portion of the living room. I had Mitzi over at his apartment so before he could call apartment maintenance he asked that I take Mitzi to my apartment so that he didn’t get in trouble for having a pet in his unit. While walking past the laundry room to take Mitzi out I noticed that there was an empty water pitcher on the dryer. I knew from earlier that there had been water in that water pitcher and somehow between S’s apartment and mine I had decided that he was definitely going to propose. In my mind he had poured water all over his carpet to get me out of the room and that when I returned he would have flower petals everywhere and would be waiting for me to appear so that he could ask me to marry him. Therefore, I spent some time at my apartment fixing my hair and putting on some make-up. When I returned I was ready for the big moment but instead I saw a frantic S stomping on towels in the living room staring at me asking “what took so long?” Oops.

Still undeterred, I thought maybe he would ask over Christmas.

Meanwhile the wine bottle had not moved an inch or rotated by any degree (trust me, I stared at that bottle every time I walked in or out of my apartment). I was losing hope but still couldn’t make myself stop thinking that maybe my birthday would be the day.

The night before my birthday was an emotional roller-coaster. S had made a big deal out of his birthday so I was paying him back in-kind. I spent several days talking about how I needed a present to open when I woke up the morning of my birthday and didn’t stop guessing where our dinner reservations would be (he had mentioned about a week before my birthday that we already had dinner reservations). The night before my birthday S started to crumble. I was going on a rant about how I couldn’t wait to wake up in the morning and see my present he had bought for me and he started to look worried. He said that he felt bad because he hadn’t had any time to prepare and that by talking about it I was making him feel horrible. Disheartened, I tried to lighten the mood by saying that we had dinner reservations and that was good enough. Except then he said that he didn’t really have the reservations but he knew where we were going to go and he didn’t think it would be a problem getting dinner reservations on the day of. That’s when I got really sad. I felt like I was going to literally get nothing for my birthday. All this build-up and all these hopes and it was going to be for nothing. Depressed I decided to go read a book to get my mind off of all the disappointment.

I guess S could tell I was sad, how could he not, and realized that he might have gone too far. He grabbed the laptop and sat down next to me. Not one to pry (HA!) I was watching what he was doing the whole time and when he got to a beauty salon website I started feeling guilty. I thought that I had guilted him into buying me a present online the night before my birthday because I had made such a big deal out of a morning present when birthdays really shouldn’t be about the gifts. To my surprise I realized that he wasn’t buying me anything, he had already bought something! I had a massage, facial, and manicure package waiting for me at a local salon. I cried. A lot because I was so happy that he had remembered me and my birthday!

The next morning S said that the restaurant was a BYOB type and that he thought we should bring the bottle of wine. Heck yea (I knew that meant a proposal)! Twice that morning he reminded me to set the wine aside so that we wouldn’t forget it. If only he knew that it wasn’t possible for me to forget that bottle of wine (which I now suspect he knew). Unfortunately, when I went to set it aside (just to make him happy) it was missing! S tried convincing me that I must have misplaced it but I never believed that idea.

After work we met at my apartment before heading out to dinner. When I got to my apartment there were a dozen pink roses and a present. Inside the gift bag was some beautiful pink stationary with my name on it (I still write to my former neighbor and I was in need of some stationary). On the way to dinner I mentioned to S that we still hadn’t found the missing bottle of wine and he said he’d help me look after dinner but it wouldn’t be a problem as long as we found it before Valentine’s Day (WHAT?!?@*^%%$). I was still hopeful that the wine would come out during dinner.

Our dinner was at Eddie V’s in uptown. At the restaurant, the first menu we received was the wine list. Trying to mess with S I asked the waiter if this was a restaurant where we could bring our own wine. Not surprisingly the waiter said “no” but then lectured me on the type of restaurants that do allow you to bring your own wine. That wasn’t exactly a highlight to the evening. I still thought the wine bottle would magically appear but after the meal was over I gave up hope on the wine. When the waiter asked if he could select my birthday dessert my focus changed. I thought that he would pick a dessert that had my ring in it!

The dessert was a banana’s foster which I had never tried before. It was a small cake with some bananas and a caramel sauce on top served with two different ice creams. In chocolate on the side of the plate was written “Happy Birthday” which was beautiful (but not as pretty as, say, “Will You Marry Me?”). I was leaning in looking for my ring when the waiter lit a cup filled with liquid on fire and poured it ALL OVER MY DESSERT! The sweet treat was delicious but any ring would have been permanently damaged. Good thing it wasn’t in there.

Finally, I decided that I was just going to have to wait for Valentine’s Day and I spent the ride home self-motivating myself and telling myself that I had a great birthday even if we weren’t engaged. After dinner we stopped by his apartment and when he opened his apartment door I was blown away by the sight in front of me. His apartment was spotlessly clean with red rose petals leading from the doorway to his dining room table. On the dining room table was a vase with a dozen pink roses, a large golden-wrapped present, and a handwritten note. Inside the box was the missing bottle of wine, two wine glasses, and at the very bottom of the box was the ring.

I had months before the proposal to figure out what I would say when the “big moment” arrived and in my mind I would be giddy, laughing, and beautiful. In reality I was crying, blubbering, and had mascara running down my face for two hours but was happier than I ever imagined. I said yes and it was the best birthday ever!!!