Our Proposal Story

'Hold the phone! When did this happen?,' you may be asking yourself.  I have written pretty openly on this blog over the past few months about hoping for a proposal, and I feel so blessed that I am actually sitting down to write it now {since, let's face it, my productivity at work this week has been completely shot}.  So, let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start:

We went to my aunt and uncle's house in southern Virginia from early Saturday morning to Sunday morning.  We had an awesome time hanging out with my family, including two of my aunts, my uncle, my cousin, her boyfriend and roommate, and my parents.  I continued my annual Memorial Day Weekend tradition of getting sunburned to a crisp, thanks to this exceptionally long winter we've had {and a subsequent lack of Vitamin D exposure}.  At the end of the day on Saturday, I went up to the house to take a shower, leaving Dan and my dad alone on the dock.  A part of me thought that Dan could be discussing marriage with my dad, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.  After my shower, I walked back down to the dock and switched places with Dan, who then jumped in the shower himself. I hadn't been seated for a minute before my dad looked me in the eye and said very matter-of-factly, "So, Dan was talking to me about asking you to marry him." 

"DADDDDDDD," I groaned, "you weren't supposed to TELL me that" {all of this while laughing}.  My dad felt really bad afterward, especially after my mom chided him for being clueless.  What can I say? I'm obviously the man's first child! I wasn't actually angry at all, because of the fact that Dan and I had discussed marriage so extensively.  We proceeded to have an amazing dinner.  Picture this: a screened-in porch to protect us from bugs and a large, family-style dinner with lots of laughter and great conversation, all taking place mere footsteps from the river.  It's like a story written in summer heaven.  This is not at all relevant to the proposal story, but it just speaks to my perfect summer evening: being surrounded by family and friends, enjoying yummy food and lots of stories and laughter, preferably in close proximity to a body of water.

Anyway, Dan and I got on the road relatively early on Sunday morning so that we could enjoy the day in DC.  When we got home, Dan ran to Whole Foods to "pick up beer" while I showered.  When he arrived home, I asked which kind of beer he had gotten, and he was nondescript, answering simply, "a wheat beer", which is unlike him {he usually tells me exactly what kind he has purchased}.  He had carefully orchestrated our plans for the evening, having made a reservation at Zaytinya, one of our favorite restaurants and one of the places on our bucket list {although, at this point, we should rename it the "to do again" list}.  Typically, when we're making a dinner reservation, we'll pore over Open Table and make the reservation together, but he insisted on doing it.  He also suggested, before we left for dinner, that we grab dessert afterward and walk over to the Tidal Basin.  I was starting to get seriously suspicious at this point, because the guy is NOT a planner.  This seemed a little fishy…

We had a wonderful and delicious dinner {seriously, I have never not left Zaytinya without a happy tummy} and headed to Red Velvet to pick up cupcakes {our first choice, Crumbs, had already closed for the evening}. We walked over to the Tidal Basin and looked out onto the Jefferson Memorial as we inhaled our cupcakes.  The weather was perfect, not yet hot and humid enough to be truly oppressive, and the sun was threatening to begin setting. We sat on one of the park benches and just talked, and it was so lovely to be taking in my favorite spot in all of DC with my best guy.  There were a lot of people around, and Dan only increased my suspicion by looking several times in either direction.  I was onto him at this point! When it became clear that there was not going to be a break in the crowd, he suggested that we walk over to a slightly more secluded area so as to "get a better view."  It was there that he told me how much he'll always love DC because it is where he met his wife, then launched into a list of things he loves about me.  He dropped down on one knee and produced the most beautiful ring I have ever seen, asking me to marry him.  I was crying, so made the poor guy sweat it out for a minute while I composed myself, before answering, "YES!" as enthusiastically as I possibly could.  The next few minutes were filled with kissing, hugging, marveling at the ring, and staring at each other in disbelief because WE WERE ENGAGED! It was the most perfect, special proposal that I could have asked for, perfect for our relationship and the type of people we are.  We couldn't stop smiling, the biggest, goofiest smiles you've ever seen.  We hopped in a cab and headed home, where Dan produced the bottle of champagne that he had picked up on that Whole Foods run {in his defense, he did also buy beer}.  Being that we are in our interim apartment now and have very minimal kitchen supplies, we chilled the champagne in a kitchen pot with an ice pack and what little ice we found in the fridge's ice-maker.  Yay for resourcefulness!!!

We took our time and enjoyed our champagne before calling our immediate families to break the news, which, we agreed, was perfect, allowing us some special time to ourselves before letting the world in on our little secret. The timing could not have been more perfect, because, since Monday was Memorial Day, we had an entire day off to get in touch with friends and family and just enjoy our new engagement.  Our loved ones' responses were wonderful, as were our friends' reactions when we called them the next day.  From the time that we started telling people our happy news, we were completely floored by how wonderful and supportive everyone was.  We are so humbled by the truly incredible people that we have in our lives, and it has been such a blessing to share this time with them.  While we will not be getting married until summer 2016, after Dan graduates, we couldn't be more excited for this next phase of our lives, and everyone's enthusiastic support has made the post-engagement glow last.  It still doesn't feel quite real sometimes, although it certainly helps to look down at my gorgeous, perfect ring as a nice, shiny reminder.  He did an amazing job picking it out {with a little help from Pinterest and what turned out to be a great guess when it came to my ring size}, but I told him that, while it is the most breathtaking ring I have ever seen and was exactly what I wanted, I would have been happy with whatever he got me, because it would be from him.

To wrap up this epically long post, I just want to take a moment and acknowledge how lucky I am to have ended up with a guy like Dan.  I have to, first and foremost, thank my best friend, Molly, for inspiring me to create a Match profile, because, without her encouragement, I probably never would have met him.  All of this came a few months after a painful romantic experience for me, and joining Match provided me with the perfect kick in the butt to be open to meeting someone new {so, in a strange way, I am grateful that I had that experience, however much it may have sucked at the time}.  From the day I met him, Dan has been such a positive light in my life - sweet, generous, funny, supportive, smart, and very handsome - and being with him has made me strive to be the best version of myself.  They don't say that girls tend to marry men who are like their dads for nothing, because I can absolutely see all of my dad's most wonderful qualities reflected in Dan.  I could not have answered any more enthusiastically when he asked me to be his wife, because he is the person that I want by my side for all of life's many highs and lows.  While I am obviously excited to plan our wedding {which I have been planning in my head since I was about five years old}, I am just relishing in this little moment we have going on here, because it is so, so special :)

Right after it happened! So, so much happiness :)

Weekend Links

Many of the blogs that I read have a Friday feature called "Weekend Links" where the bloggers round up all of their favorite weeks from the internet that week.  I can't promise that it will happen regularly on this blog, but I thought I would give it a shot.  And, since it is about to be the weekend, the thought is that you'll actually have time to read these things {right??}!

Here we go…

- A really interesting article about privilege {a buzzword right now after a Princeton student's recent editorial} as it relates to both race and gender

- Panda puppies!

- Lusting after this purse {my Longchamps bags are looking a little ratty, so it's totally justifiable to buy this to "bring to future job interviews", right??}

- A friend posted a link to this food-based course co-taught by Michael Pollan, which you can watch for free!
- Another FB link: the owners of Baked & Wired are opening a new place devoted to artisanal toast.  I don't think I like the sound of that.  However, their in-store market will sell cookie dough, so maybe I do support this place :-)
- NYT did a "36 Hours in…" piece on DC, and I think it's pretty sad that I have not done many of those things in my eight years of living in this city.
- The Pens may be out of the chase for the Stanley Cup, but I can't get enough of this pint-sized fan!

Have a great weekend, everyone! We are gearing up for moving everything to my parents' house tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to have some fun, too.  It's bringing a smile to my face to watch all of the newly-minted graduates walk by my office window right now.  Hoya Saxa! 

Prepping for the Move

This week is graduation week on the Hilltop, so that always gets me a little bit emotional.  I LOVE working at a university, but, for a person who hates goodbyes, it can be tough when each subsequent class graduates.  I am planning on staying especially far from campus this weekend, because I know that this graduation weekend, my last in DC, would churn up a lot of emotions.

So instead, we will be moving on Saturday…which will churn up a whole other set of feelings because of how much I despise moving.  We have to move to an interim apartment until the end of June, which, luckily, is furnished, meaning that all we have to do this weekend is pack up all of our stuff and move it to my parents' garage until the big move.  Dan pointed out that, once we do this weekend's move, the hard part will be done {at which point I reminded him that he was forgetting the 10-hour drive to our new home!}.   So the rest of our week will be spent packing up our mountains of stuff.  As much as I try to purge things I don't need, the piles don't seem to get any smaller.

I wanted to do a quick recap of this weekend, because it was so, so wonderful.  I have been trying to wrap my head around it, and the best way I can describe it is that it felt, over the course of the weekend, like I was single again.  Don't get me wrong, I love Dan so much and our relationship brings me so much joy every day, but it was so, SO nice to be able to call my own shots for the weekend and do whatever I wanted to without any concern for another person.  Friday was absolutely wonderful, starting just before I left work for the day and I made a kid cry with joy by telling him that we were admitting him off the waitlist.  It just gave me the warm fuzzies, you know?  I then proceeded to bake a ton and watch no fewer than three full episodes of House of Cards, and it was absolutely glorious.  I had to work from 9-1 on Saturday, which wasn't too brutal, and then did my swim and met up with my family.  Tim was in town, so it was great to have our little foursome together again!  I really do miss him, and am so glad that he is loving New York.  I think he was trying extra hard to be nice and cheerful, too, probably given that it was Mother's Day weekend, almost his birthday, and probably one of the last times we'll be together before Dan and I move.

We went out to a delicious dinner at The Hamilton {definitely recommend - I had the halibut and the beet salad, which were both heavenly}, and then I met up with Molly to go to a friend's birthday celebration in Columbia Heights.  It was great to see that group of friends, and then I got to have a sleepover with Molly, which was so lovely.  It has been really tough for us to get together over the past few months, due to how busy the two of us have been, so it was great to have lots of time to just catch up.  I am going to miss her so, so much.  On Sunday morning, after we grabbed breakfast, I headed back over to my parents' house and had some more time with the fam before Tim had to catch his bus.  By the time I got home from my swim afterward, Dan was back, and, although I loved my weekend of doing whatever I wanted, I was so happy to have him back!

On another very random note, The Bachelorette starts on Monday {yay!} and one of the contestants is a guy from my hometown who was in my class when I was in public school.  I have an inkling that he'll be a one-and-done contestant, but we'll see.  I'm hoping that this new apartment has DVR capabilities, or else we might have a problem!

Also, I am about a week in to swimming, and while I am far from being a talented swimmer, I am enjoying it!  My leg is definitely feeling better, so I'm hoping that it will be completely healed when I see the doc again on June 5th.  I think that I'll start using the Aqua Jogger at the pool in a few weeks - apparently it's fantastic for runners who are coming back from injuries.  I am just feeling so grateful that I am able to exercise!

Happy Wednesday, friends! We're almost over the hump!

I Can See the Finish Line!

First of all, can you tell it has been a calmer week at work? I've been blogging up a storm, given how infrequently I've been doing so for the past few months.  I've missed it!

Anywho, this was one of those weeks where I felt overscheduled and exhausted.  I blame the fact that it's getting to be that hot and humid time of year, allergies are still a killer and I have had something going on every night after work that has kept me up late.  But you know what?  That is just making me anticipate the impending weekend more.  Also, I had better get used to being busy today, because Dan and I compiled our Official DC Bucket List this week, and there is a ton of stuff on there {okay, mostly restaurants…OKAY, more dessert outings than I would like to admit}, so it's going to be go-go-go until the big move, which is tentatively going to be in mid-to-late July.

Dan is off to western PA for a bachelor party this weekend, so I will be making myself a yummy summer salad for dinner, watching embarrassing amounts of House of Cards and baking and consuming massive amounts of baked goods.  The thought of it just brings a smile to my face :)

I have to work tomorrow morning, but I have a swim to look forward to afterward, followed by dinner with my fam, because baby bro is in town!  Monday happens to be his birthday, so we're celebrating both his birthday and mother's day with dinner tomorrow night.  Also tomorrow, I'm helping a dear friend celebrate her birthday {the boot may be a slight issue for the dancing portion of the evening}, and then I'm having a sleepover with my bestie.  I am so, so pumped for this weekend!

I hope all of you have either an exciting or relaxing weekend, depending on what you're looking for!

A Monday Mish-Mash

Since it's Monday, I'm not really feeling like stinging together a full, coherent post, so I'll just comment on a few things that are floating around in my head right now:

• So, I have a stress fracture in my tibia.  You would think that I would learn my lesson from all of my many running injuries over the years, which seem to become more severe each time, but, for those of you who are runners too, you'll understand how hard it is to go without running, even for a day.  The last time I ran was the Cherry Blossom Ten-Miler on April 6th {which I actually finished in a  shockingly quick time of 1:19, given that I was already quite injured at that point}, and I'm really yearning to run again, especially since running outside at this time of year just fuels my love affair with DC.  Also, I'm not going to pretend that I haven't already plotted out races to run in Chicago.  The doc told me I have to wear my boot for the next 4-6 weeks, so I suppose it's a good thing that I already had one of those suckers sitting around in my closet.  The only reason why I'm not crying on a regular basis is because I'm allowed to swim!  I am in the process of joining a gym with a pool for the next month, and, after going for two swims over the weekend, I think it's safe to say that I'm hooked.  Now, if only I could get Dan to set foot in a pool…the poor thing is traumatized after swimming through college :)
• We had a lovely Easter with both of our families, spending Saturday night with Dan's family {we got to meet his brother's girlfriend and his adorable new dog, Charlotte, as well as see Dan's sister} and Easter Sunday with mine.  I am trying to count my blessings, particularly for these next few months, because I know that this may be the last time we live near our families…sob.
• Last weekend, we went out to the Windy City for Dan's revisit weekend.  While it still doesn't feel completely real that we are leaving our beloved DC in just a few months, I am so, SO excited to get to experience a new city. Having Kristin, Allie and Emily there will be a huge plus for me, and I felt really comfortable with the people that I met at all of the Partners Club events last weekend.  
• We are going to our first Nats game of the season tonight with a group of local admits from Dan's program.  I am excited to meet some of the people who we will be spending 4 years with, and I never turn down an opportunity to go to Nats Park.
• On Saturday, we went to a Drink the District event put on by Living Social.  Despite a brief downpour, it was a fun event, and we got to try lots of good beer and wine {as well as some not-so-tasty mint juleps}.  We went with a group of friends, and, after hanging out with them more at the end of the event, had to say what is likely to be our first goodbye {as some of the friends will be leaving for a few months in Europe next weekend}.  I definitely teared up in the cab ride home.  This endless series of goodbyes is not going to be easy...
• On Thursday, we went to a fun wine tasting event with Dan's parents that was put on by Wine Spectator.  The event was a lot of fun, although I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by tasting a $1,000 wine.  I'll stick with my less-than-$20 bottles, thank you very much!!
• I need a vacation.  So badly.  Which is why I giddily happy that our San Francisco trip is creeping up on us.  I just need to recharge.
• So, I must confess that I've recently gotten hooked on House of Cards.  The show is fabulous!  Fortunately, Dan has no interest in political shows, which means that I can binge-watch this series {which he is less likely to do, hence the snail's pace with which we are going through my other current obsession, Friday Night Lights}.
• Oh, and looking for jobs and apartments is stressful.  I know, right?!  I know people mean well, but both searches are stressing me out to the point where I just don't want to talk about it.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! The rest of this week is supposed to turn summer-like, and I am using a bachelor party that Dan is going to this weekend as an excuse for some much-needed "me time', which will likely involve too much baking and too many episodes of House of Cards :)

A Loss

Earlier today, I found out that Terry, a very close family friend, passed away this morning after a nearly yearlong battle with brain cancer. I had known about Terry's illness from the time of his diagnosis, but never let myself believe that this seemingly indestructible man would succumb to such an ugly, evil disease.  I thought it would be therapeutic for me to write about the tremendous impact that Terry has had on me, for lack of a better way to distract myself from my grief over losing him.

I have known Terry my entire life, as he has been close friends with my parents since years before I was born.  He and my dad met at Potomac Boat Club, where my dad rowed after graduation, and they formed part of a tight-knit group, many of them former Georgetown rowers and/or coaches, for the rest of Terry's life.   The thing that sticks with me the most about Terry is that he never followed anyone's rules but his own.  My parents waffled about whether or not to invite him to their wedding; my dad was adamant about wanting to include his close friend, but my Grammy {who, apparently, controlled the guest list}insisted that he would probably not even come if invited, because he was living in Dallas at the time.  I think my mom supported Grammy's decision because she herself had only met Terry a few times.  Well, lo and behold, Terry showed up at their wedding, invitationless but not unwelcome in the least.   Later on in his life, Terry faced a diagnosis of diabetes, and, rather than change his ways completely, still managed to sneak in the occasional sweet treat that his doctors had prohibited him from enjoying.

The biggest role that Terry played in my life was offering up his beautiful Winnipesaukee lake house to my family, and a broader group of friends, every summer after he purchased the property in the late '80s.  I have waxed poetic before about the impact that the Lake has had on me, and so many of my fondest memories would never have come to fruition were it not for Terry's generosity.  Terry was the ringleader of the "Lake Family," and so clearly relished in having his friends' children around him.  I am certainly lucky to have the incredible father that I have, but I have always felt that, in this Lake family, I have so many other father figures, and Terry was certainly one for me.  He doted on us, loving to take us on boat rides to Wolfeboro {and, generally, show off his boating prowess}, take us out to breakfast, make us s'mores and make new purchases for the lake house that enhanced our fun {we never broke him on that water trampoline, though!}.

Some of my favorite memories of Terry include:

• One day, we were all hanging out down on the dock when the ball that Terry's dog was playing with fell in the water.  Since he had moved too slowly for a net to make a difference in retrieving it, Terry decided to lean precariously off the dock, with my dad's hand the only thing saving him from falling into the water.  Well, eventually my dad realized that he would make a game out of it and let Terry go.  Terry's head popped up from underwater and, with the biggest of grins on his face, said, in his thick Maine accent, "I trusted you, Petah!" {translation: Peter for you non-New Englanders}.
• Terry loved to rag on people.  It was just the kind of fun-loving guy that he was.  One favorite was when, just before Tim's freshman year at Georgetown, he sat Tim down and said, "Timmy, just don't fail out your first semester."  Tim always jokes about that because he actually did have a rocky first semester, and, when he graduated, he said something to the effect of, "I guess I proved Terry wrong."  On another occasion, my family sat around the living room with Terry and the two other families that we go to the Lake with every year and asked the three boys, Tim, Patrick and Jack, what their names would be if they were girls.  Jack and Patrick took the bait, but Tim, clearly uncomfortable, was bothered by the question.  Terry knew he had struck gold and continued to give Tim a hard time.  Finally, Tim asked Terry what his female name would be, and, without skipping a beat, he said, "Raymona" {his given first name was Raymond}.  He was always able to provide comic relief when it was appropriate.
• Terry LOVED his dogs, especially Angus, his German shepherd mix, and Abby, his chow mix.  Angus had the most benign personality of any dog I've ever seen, except when Terry mentioned "Buford", a neighbor's dog who Angus had some sort of beef with.  Whenever Terry wanted to get Angus riled up, all he had to say was "Buford," and the dog would growl and bare his fangs.
• He was the consummate outdoorsman, which is, perhaps, why New England was the only place that was ever truly "home" to him.  I have so many fond memories of hikes with Terry, with him leading the way with one of his dogs.  On one particular hike, up Mt. Major, a group of us had peeled off to take the shorter route, and Terry, accompanied by my dad and one of the other guys, attempted to lead them over to one of the other mountains.  Needless to say, the group got hopelessly lost, and Terry called his son Ben, who was living in Finland at the time, to describe exactly where they were {not in coordinates, mind you, but by the turns and rock formations that surrounded them} and Ben, who has a similar love of the outdoors, was able to help them navigate down the mountain.
• Terry's favorite beer was Schaeffer, much to the disdain of nearly everyone who he met {Schaeffer, which he pronounced "Schaeffah", is not necessarily a popular beer}.  But he loved it so much {maybe it was just to stick it to all of the haters}, but he loved it so much that he named his dog after it.
• The men of the Lake Family always knew that a trip to the Lake meant getting put to work, especially if you had the misfortune of being on the island for Memorial Day or Labor Day weekends.  Whether the group was hauling logs from the shallow part of the lake, trimming trees {Terry was fortunate enough to have a friend who, based on his job, had adequate supplies for that task} or putting the floating dock out on the lake, there was always some sort of manual labor involved.  We have extensive video of the gang putting the dock out over Memorial Day weekend that never ceases to leave us in stitches.  The men paddled the raft out from the beach, and made sure they were well-equipped for their 50-yard journey with a cooler full of Schaeffer and some deck chairs.  Needless to say, it ended sloppily, and many members of the group were pushed overboard by Terry.
• One 4th of July weekend, a bunch of us gathered down on the dock to watch Terry's son Ben and his friends set off some fireworks that they had purchased in honor of the occasion.  The combination of some poor aim and dry conditions  made the fireworks spew in the direction of some trees, catching them on fire.  Luckily for all of us, the fire put itself out, and Terry, of course, just dismissed the brush with disaster.
• Perhaps it was his memory or the sheer fact that there were so many of us {one Labor Day weekend, we counted over 40 people on the property, the overwhelming majority of those people sleeping in tents}, but Terry usually had to rattle off three or four names before finally arriving at your name when he tried to address you.  

It is strange for me to talk about Terry in the past tense, and I don't see that getting any easier.  Terry was someone who loved being surrounded by people, whether that was family or friends.  He was one of the friendliest people I have ever met, and I know that I speak for many others when I say that heaven gained a true angel today.  My dad was able to visit him yesterday, along with several close family friends and some of Terry's family, and he was so grateful to have had that experience.  He was surrounded by some of the people who loved him the most, and I know that's how he would have wanted to go.  May his soul rest in peace.

Jim, Terry and my dad during the "Rascal on the Rocks" incident

View from the house that Terry put so much of himself into

Throwback from one of the first Labor Day Weekends at the Lake {Terry is on the left}

Terry and Schaeffah

Left to Right: Ben, Jim, my dad and Peter.  This was taken yesterday at Terry's house in Maine, where the guys were started a bonfire, drank some Schaeffer and made a toast to Terry's wonderful life.

Emerging from the (Work-Induced) Darkness

Yeah, yeah, long time no blog.  Things have been pretty crazy around here, and work has entirely consumed my life.  Seriously.  Meaning that personal emails have gone unanswered, friends have gone unseen, and my relationship with Dan essentially consisted of takeout dinners and nights spent sitting on the couch side-by-side while I read applications.  Because I'm still new to this job, I went hard, perhaps too hard, to finish all of my work on time and make a good impression, but I could do without the negative work-life balance.

This weekend was a celebration of my emerging from the other side of reading still, shockingly, alive.  For the first time in weeks, I did not work at all over the weekend, and that felt like a huge accomplishment.  However, there was something more worth celebrating this weekend: three years ago yesterday, I went on a first date with the guy who would become the love of my life.  I didn't know it that day, as I power-walked to meet him on U St., but he would become the one person because of whom my cheeks constantly hurt from smiling.  I wrote this in my card to him, but, when I was a hopelessly romantic little girl {a quality that I'm proud not to have lost} and I dreamed about the man I would end up with, he {bizarrely} resembled a Disney prince.  That would naturally lead one to believe that such men don't exist.  Well, Dan has far surpassed all of my loftiest expectations.

I can still vividly remember our first date, and the excitement over the beginnings of our relationship.  It hasn't always been an easy journey, and I was briefly faced with the prospect of losing him when he was in the hospital after our race a few years ago, a feeling that I would not wish upon anyone, but he has succeeded in making me radiantly happy since the day I met him.  His calm, even-keeled personality is a perfect balance to my type-A, worry-filled one.  He is kind, thoughtful and smart in ways that amaze me every day.  He places so much value in his relationships with his family and friends, a sentiment that I share.  His quiet confidence is inspiring, and did I mention that he's easy on the eyes?!  I am so proud to be able to call him mine, and he inspires me to be a better person every day.

This year is going to include so much change and so many new adventures, and I can't think of another person that I would rather experience it all with.  He would be mortified if he knew that I blogged about him, but I can't help but gush about him.  Here's to many more!