Sheer happiness

Andrew and I got engaged on Saturday night at the Jefferson Memorial. I don't think it came as a surprise to most, but it's an exciting time nonetheless. For all of you dying for details, here they are:

Andrew suggested we go get some donuts from the Krispy Kreme in Alexandria on Saturday night. As we start driving, I notice that Andrew is going the wrong way-- seemingly plausible, as it was something he has done in the past. So he suggests we go another way, taking I395 into Route 1 in Virginia. For those of you familiar with the area, I395 and the Jefferson Memorial are very close. Once he didn't get on the highway but instead continue to the memorial parking area, I knew what was going on. (I really knew something was up earlier in the day when he suggested that we go for donuts by ourselves and not invite our friends to join us, but we won't tell Andrew.)

So, we walked towards the memorial, said hello to our man Jeff, read some of the quotes on the wall, and sat on the steps, overlooking the Tidal Basin with the majestic Washington Monument in the background. We sat there for a few minutes, taking in the view and briefly sharing with each other how much we love the city, especially at night, and then he turned to me and said that he had something for me. He rummanged through his knapsack and took out a box, wrapped in silver paper with a nice ribbon. As I opened the box, he explained that while the ring will come at a later date, he wanted to use this as a token of our engagement. Inside, I found a beautiful necklace: a sterling silver blue topaz pendant on a silver chain. After looking at it together, he simply just asked me to marry him. I said yes.

We hung around the memorial for another hour or so, making phone calls to our family and close friends. At around 12:15am, we got back to my apartment. Waiting for me, was a terrific setup: streamers hanging from the walls, a dozen roses in a vase, and a fondue pot with all the requisite ingredients: chocolate chips, graham crackers, and marshmellows all arranged on my table, and berries and wine waiting in the fridge. Turns out that Andrew had given my spare set of keys to our friend Elana, who snuck in after we left to set everything up. How terrific!

We spent Sunday in Philadelphia, the halfway point between New York and D, to have lunch with both our families. Turns out Andrew also arranged for our families to be free today so they could celebrate with us. Now that was a nice surprise. :-)

Day was long, full of phone calls, driving, food, family, friends, and fun (all I can say is, thank God for free nights and weekends!) Day was super long, especially since I didn't sleep on Saturday night. Until I got to bed at 2am, my body was all wound up, how was I even expected to sleep? After parting with our families, we met up with a friend of Andrew's, and then had dinner in Baltimore with two close friends. Although we were both so utterly exhausted, basically running on steam by 8pm, it was great to stop and spend time with them.

Now, it's time to get to sleep.