Coming at you live, 32,000 feet above the Southeast as Hilary and I make our way to Virginia Beach for the weekend. I thought this would be as good a time as any to fill in the blanks from last night and explain exactly how everything went down.
As I've mentioned already, the rain washed away any hopes I had of proposing in the park, so I had to regroup and move to plan B, which consisted mostly of surprising her with the proposal right as she walked in the door.
When relating this bit of information to people this morning, many asked the question: How did you know when she would get home?
Well, I didn't. So yes, to answer your next question, I did really sit in front of the door for quite a while. I'd say I was in a crouch, sit, or kneel position for a good 40 minutes before Hilary arrived. I felt like David Putty of Seinfeld fame, staring blankly at the front door.
Periodically I would peer through the peephole to see if I could catch a glimpse of her, and lo and behold, the last time I did it, I spied her moving towards the door.
Crap! I'm not in position!
As fast as was humanly possible for a slow white boy like myself, I knelt back down and grabbed the roses from the vase (I had stowed them there next to the door for easy access) right as she clicked open the lock, and as soon as I saw the door swing open I aimed the ring and fired.
Here is a rough transcript of what happened next:
Me: I love you baby (yes, I call her baby. Sue me). You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?
Hilary: Really? (Blank, Putty-like stare)
Me: Yeah.
Hilary: Really? (The lightbulb slowly begins to turn)
Me: Yeah.
Hilary: REALLY? (Bingo!)
Me: Y- (I didn't get this word out, as Hilary executed an impressive chest-high tackle. A textbook move, right at shoulderpad level).
So that was that - she quickly realized she hadn't actually accepted, so she said yes, and (warning: mush) hugged and kissed for a few minutes to celebrate.
A quick digression: Hilary is sitting next to me as I write this, and out of the corner of my eye I can see her continuosly, almost on a loop, picking her hand up and staring at the ring. She cannot stop. It is really cute - she is reading a gigantic copy of Brides magazine (If I had to guess, I'd say it contains about 1700 pages - I'm surprised it didn't make the plane's payload exceed the weight limit) and every few pages she stops, examines her hand, and then continues. Priceless.
Ok, back to the story. Many people have asked me today if I was nervous to propose, and honestly, I never really was nervous about the asking part. There was one thing I was incredibly nervous about, and that was the ring.
As part of my keep-Hilary-in-the-dark-as-much-as-possible plan, I didn't want to ever talk to her about rings, because then she would know to expect that something might be in the works. Early in our relationship, at some point, I had asked her for her ring size, just so I could get it out of the way in case we decided to get married one day. Yes that is quite prophetic of me, thanks, you're too kind.
The problem was, I couldn't remember what size she told me. Gun to my head, I swear she told me it was 4, but 5 also sounded right as well. Hilary only owns one ring, and she never takes it off, so there was really no way for me to find out without having to spill the beans to someone.
So, I decided to roll the dice, have them size it for a 4 1/2, and take my chances.
If there was anything that could potentially ruin what was supposed to be one of th best nights of our lives, this was it.
In the ensuing chaos of Hilary's pass-rush, I looked to give her the ring, but it was no longer in the box. She had knocked it loose, much like a boxer might knock out his opponent's mouthpiece.
We found the ring on the floor, and I handed it to her to put on, and in that moment,I was truly terrified. Everything moved in slow motion as she slowly slipped it down her finger, where it paused briefly at the knuckle...and then blissfull continued on its way down her finger, completely unaware of my anxiety (obviously - it's a ring, not a dog, it can't smell fear). It fit! Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles! I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief.
Everything was gravy after that. We had a glass of wine and ate some strawberries as I was finally able to tell her the story of buying the ring, reading her email chain with Jaygima, planning the faux picnic, etc. It was great.
After that, we continued on to the surprise party at Hannah and Will's, which turned out to be really nice. At the risk of sounding mushy once again, I can't overstate enough how lucky we are with the group of friends we have in Atlanta. We are like one big family, and having almost all of them there (sorry Anjali) to share in the moment was truly special.
We shared a champagne toast with everyone and made the rounds, and then we headed off to dinner at Two Urban Licks. It was delicious as always (Note to self - send the owner of Two Urban Licks a link to this blog, they will probably love it. Oh, and maybe give us some free stuff).
It was a great night. Hilary was thrilled, I was thrilled because she was thrilled, she was thrilled that I was thrilled that she was thrilled...you get the picture.
This morning we began the phone call process bright and early, and as of this writing, I think we've actually managed to reach a reaonably impressive portion of the friends and family we need to call.
So now we are on our way to Virginia Beach, where I assume we will begin the process of actually putting this little (doubt it!) shindig together.
We've only been engaged for about 20 hours now, but already I feel like I know several things:
- I know I was right to wait and propose when I did
- I know I got extremely lucky with getting her ring size right
- I know my family will love having Hilary on board, as everyone was quick to tell me today (Sample convo: "Congrats - what the hell took you so long?")
- I know that Two Urban Licks is one of the finest restaurants in Atlanta, with a terrific menu that suits even the pickiest tastebuds. With affordable prices and a helpful and friendly waitstaff, why not try them for your next celebration or business meeting!
- I know I am an incredibly lucky guy
- I know that there won't be much more cheesy crap after that last sentence, I only have so much of it in me.
- And finally, I know this - I really, really, REALLY don't want to get married during football season.
Friday, August 31, 2007
I Asked, And She Said...Really?
I will tell the whole story a little later on, but for now we are crazy busy working the phones to tell family and friends. For now, I will leave you with this slideshow of the evening:
We are really excited, and I promise to give a much longer, fuller report sometime this weekend when I have the time.
We are really excited, and I promise to give a much longer, fuller report sometime this weekend when I have the time.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
God 1, Micah 0
It's 6:06 pm. It's pouring. I think I even saw a few hailstones.Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men: "They get rained on forcing you to abandon your kick-ass idea for a way to propose to your girlfriend." I may be paraphrasing a little.
So, I roll with the punches. Plan B it is. In roughly 90 minutes, Hilary is going to walk through the front door, and there on the other side of the door to Apt. 1015 will be me, on bended knee, with the ring in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other.
BAM!
She won't know what hit her. It's not how I drew it up in the playbook, but it will still accomplish the most important thing to me, the surprise. The evite will still have served it's purpose, which was to throw her off the trail.
So, T-minus 75 minutes and counting. I feel good. I don't feel nervous, at least not yet. This is a good thing that is about to happen. It feels very surreal. I started working towards this over two months ago, and it's strange to know that the moment is finally here. I hope it is everything Hilary wants it to be.
It's funny how life works out sometimes. I used to joke with my friends soon after I met Hilary that I was going to marry her someday, but I didn't really mean it. I never expected us to end up in a situation where it was even a possibility, but I guess good things come to those who wait.
Speaking of which, Hilary just IM'd me to say she is leaving work, so now another waiting game begins.
Wish me luck!
Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Our Lives
Normally that kind of saying is cheesy and silly, but today it feels like it rings true. After tonight, our lives will be different, both in the short term (the onset of planning a wedding, which sounds like loads of fun from listening to all my friends) and the long (getting hitched, having babies, NOT getting a dog, etc.).It rained all day yesterday, and the forecast is for a 50% chance of rain all day (see right). This puts a serious crimp in my style, but hey, you gotta roll with the punches.
I am going to wait until this afternoon to make a final decision on if I can proceed with plan A or if I have to bag it for the back-up. Hopefully God will stop being such a large-scale doucherocket and let things unfold as I intend (note to future kids: I have no idea if the word "douche" will still be in vogue when you are adults, but in 2007 combining it with any noun is pretty much guaranteed to be hilarious, at least to your father and Uncle Will).
No matter which way it goes down tonight, I am certain it will be a special moment for both of us, and in that I feel reassured. I am excited to finally have this secret off my chest and get on with the next chapter in our lives.
You know how in movies and TV shows whenever someone has to pee (stay with me here), all they see are rivers and waterfalls and drains? That's how I feel right now. Everywhere I look, there is something wedding-related.
Two nights ago Hilary and I watched an episode of Coupling (the good British one, not the crap American version) where the entire storyline revolved around a group of friends antagonizing a guy for having not yet proposed to his long-time girlfriend. Last night I came home from my soccer game and turned on the TV to see that Hilary had been watching a show called "Wedding Central". Clearly, the world is ready for this to happen.
I spoke with Hilary's parents last night, and though I was very nervous going in, they were great about everything and very excited. Plus, I didn't get the Macy treatment, so that was nice. It will be fun to spend the weekend with them and celebrate, at least until we start yelling at each other about which font should be used on the Save-The-Date (Helvetica, dammit!). Kidding!
Weather aside, I anticipate things going well tonight regardless. Or, at least better than this:
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Another 48 Hours
After months of planning and preparation, D-Day is nearly upon us. I have spent the last several days going over and over the details of my plan. Everything appears to be (mostly) in order. I don't think I've worked this hard at something since I took AP U.S. History in high school (I definitely wasn't this diligent in college).
By nature I am not a paranoid person, but I have been slowly losing my mind over the last week or so worrying about ruining the surprise. I feel like I'm in an episode of 24 - I trust no one. I look over my shoulder at work. I speak in hushed tones around the apartment, even if I know Hilary is all the way across town. I am half convinced she is waking up early every morning to turn the apartment upside down in an attempt to find her personal afikomen (too bad Hil, the ring is at my sister's!).
Still, as far as I can tell, she is in the dark. If I can keep it that way for roughly 36 more hours, I will be a happy man.
There is one dark cloud on this otherwise sunny horizon - and unfortunately, I mean that literally.
All along, the biggest obstacle in the path to my preferred method of proposal has been the threat of inclement weather. I have been monitoring the situation all week, and the prognosis seems to be getting worse by the day. Right now it lists a 40% chance of thunderstorms for 7 p.m. Thursday night. An optimist might say that means there is a 60% chance it won't rain, but I guarantee you that optimist is not planning an engagement that day.
I am willing to risk the rain, but if it's looking bad and Hilary is on her way home, I am going to have to make a decision but quick whether or not to abort the mission and opt for Plan B.
This will be a great test of my friends' theory that "everything works out for Micah". I would say a rainout would do serious damage to their argument's validity.
In this case, I'm happy for them to be right.
Or, to put it another way, I'd like to see their argument hold water by holding on the water.
By nature I am not a paranoid person, but I have been slowly losing my mind over the last week or so worrying about ruining the surprise. I feel like I'm in an episode of 24 - I trust no one. I look over my shoulder at work. I speak in hushed tones around the apartment, even if I know Hilary is all the way across town. I am half convinced she is waking up early every morning to turn the apartment upside down in an attempt to find her personal afikomen (too bad Hil, the ring is at my sister's!).
Still, as far as I can tell, she is in the dark. If I can keep it that way for roughly 36 more hours, I will be a happy man.
There is one dark cloud on this otherwise sunny horizon - and unfortunately, I mean that literally.
All along, the biggest obstacle in the path to my preferred method of proposal has been the threat of inclement weather. I have been monitoring the situation all week, and the prognosis seems to be getting worse by the day. Right now it lists a 40% chance of thunderstorms for 7 p.m. Thursday night. An optimist might say that means there is a 60% chance it won't rain, but I guarantee you that optimist is not planning an engagement that day.
I am willing to risk the rain, but if it's looking bad and Hilary is on her way home, I am going to have to make a decision but quick whether or not to abort the mission and opt for Plan B.
This will be a great test of my friends' theory that "everything works out for Micah". I would say a rainout would do serious damage to their argument's validity.
In this case, I'm happy for them to be right.
Or, to put it another way, I'd like to see their argument hold water by holding on the water.
Monday, August 20, 2007
10 Days Away - Time To Start Crossing The I's and Dotting The...Lowercase j's
It's hard to believe, but the moment is getting very near at hand. Today is Monday, and with my target date of next Thursday, it's time to start firming up all parts of the plan so as to ensure it will run as closely to my vision as possible.
Let's take a look at some of the things I still have to do before the big day.
- Talk to the parents. When is the appropriate time to do this? Obviously I need to discuss my plans with them before I propose, but I'm not exactly sure what to say. I'm hoping the conversation goes something like this:
I like to think Hilary's parents are happy about our relationship, so I anticipate relatively smooth sailing, but you never know.
- Pick a restaurant. I'm torn here. Two Urban Licks is a favorite of ours. It's delicious, has great ambience, and we ate there the first weekend we started dating. Clearly, we have history there. Unfortunately it's very trendy, and on a Thursday night likely to be very loud. It's romantic, but we won't have much privacy or ability to talk without having to shout at each other across the table. ("I LOVE YOU BABY!")
On the other hand, there is Imperial Fez. It's a delicious Moroccan joint with dim lighting that will allow for a very soft, romantic setting, but I've never taken her there so it doesn't have any particular meaning for us as a couple.
Which way to go? I've made reservations at both places, so I have some time to decide. (Of course, asking this hypothetical question here is the ultimate in futility, since no one is reading this and there is no hope for advice in the comments section).
- Call her boss. Part of my plan is for us to spend Friday morning together before we head to Virginia Beach. To make that happen, I need to square her absence from work with her employers. We are family friends with her company's CEO, so I feel like it shouldn't be too big of a deal - the hardest part is deciding when to pull the trigger. I'm trying to balance giving her company enough advance warning of her absence while also trying to mitigate the chances that someone there might blow the surprise. I'm thinking next Wednesday. Two days notice is enough for the half-day before Labor Day, right?
UPDATE: My sister says I need to give more notice, so I guess I'll call them on Monday.
- Check the weather. The one thing that could foil my plans. I checked the 10-day forecast, and it lists isolated thunderstorms for next Mon-Weds. I guess that's cool, just as long as they are isolated way the hell away from Piedmont Park. It's looking ok for Thursday, but obviously things can change between now and then so I'll keep my eye on it. I don't really have much of a back-up plan right now; if it rains, I suppose we could just go skating in the Berman Center (sorry, a little Jacobs humor for the camp nerds out there).
My main back-up plan is to just surprise her with the ring right when she walks in the door, which won't have quite the same cachet as the park, but what can you do? Mother nature can be a cruel mistress.
It will be a bummer if it does in fact rain, but at least it will prove that I, as a Jew, cannot in fact control the weather.
Let's take a look at some of the things I still have to do before the big day.
- Talk to the parents. When is the appropriate time to do this? Obviously I need to discuss my plans with them before I propose, but I'm not exactly sure what to say. I'm hoping the conversation goes something like this:
That would be short and sweet. But what if he goes deeper, like some people I know? When my brother-in-law Will asked my father for my sister Hannah's hand, he got grilled like a rib-eye: how would he provide for her? What were his long-term plans? How did his 401k look? What is the air/speed velocity of an in-laden swallow? And so on...Me: Hello Mr. Lesser, I love your daughter and I'd like your permission to marry her. I know I'm but a humble, bald, internet sportswriter, but I promise to make an honest woman of her.
Mr. Lesser: You had me at bald.
I like to think Hilary's parents are happy about our relationship, so I anticipate relatively smooth sailing, but you never know.
- Pick a restaurant. I'm torn here. Two Urban Licks is a favorite of ours. It's delicious, has great ambience, and we ate there the first weekend we started dating. Clearly, we have history there. Unfortunately it's very trendy, and on a Thursday night likely to be very loud. It's romantic, but we won't have much privacy or ability to talk without having to shout at each other across the table. ("I LOVE YOU BABY!")
On the other hand, there is Imperial Fez. It's a delicious Moroccan joint with dim lighting that will allow for a very soft, romantic setting, but I've never taken her there so it doesn't have any particular meaning for us as a couple.
Which way to go? I've made reservations at both places, so I have some time to decide. (Of course, asking this hypothetical question here is the ultimate in futility, since no one is reading this and there is no hope for advice in the comments section).
- Call her boss. Part of my plan is for us to spend Friday morning together before we head to Virginia Beach. To make that happen, I need to square her absence from work with her employers. We are family friends with her company's CEO, so I feel like it shouldn't be too big of a deal - the hardest part is deciding when to pull the trigger. I'm trying to balance giving her company enough advance warning of her absence while also trying to mitigate the chances that someone there might blow the surprise. I'm thinking next Wednesday. Two days notice is enough for the half-day before Labor Day, right?
UPDATE: My sister says I need to give more notice, so I guess I'll call them on Monday.
- Check the weather. The one thing that could foil my plans. I checked the 10-day forecast, and it lists isolated thunderstorms for next Mon-Weds. I guess that's cool, just as long as they are isolated way the hell away from Piedmont Park. It's looking ok for Thursday, but obviously things can change between now and then so I'll keep my eye on it. I don't really have much of a back-up plan right now; if it rains, I suppose we could just go skating in the Berman Center (sorry, a little Jacobs humor for the camp nerds out there).
My main back-up plan is to just surprise her with the ring right when she walks in the door, which won't have quite the same cachet as the park, but what can you do? Mother nature can be a cruel mistress.
It will be a bummer if it does in fact rain, but at least it will prove that I, as a Jew, cannot in fact control the weather.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Setting The Plan In Motion
After much careful thought and consideration, I decided to go with the plan I hatched so cleverly at 2:00 am the other night. I talked it over with some of the inner circle, and everyone agreed that it would be a good surprise - provided I can pull off all of the details.
There seems a bit of skepticism on that point, but I trust my instincts. True, I may be relying heavily on Hilary's gullability, but what can I say - it's gotten me this far, I can't buck the system now.
Below is the evite for the invitation to the picnic dinner at the park. It's fairly simple and plain, but that's sort of the idea - nothing that will arouse suspicion.
I agonized over several details, many of which I will feel silly about later on as I look back at all the planning that went into the occasion. Here are a few of the issues I've been pondering:
1) What time to make the picnic start? Hilary gets off work at 6:30. With traffic, she typically arrives home around 7-ish. In trying to plan out when to do this, I needed to come up with a time that was late enough that we'd have plenty of time to get there early, but not so late that it would start too close to sundown. I went back and forth between 7:45 and 8:00 several times, eventually settling on 8:00 pm because I figure it's more important we have time to get there early than run too close to sunset (it is a fake picnic, after all).
2) What to tell the guests to bring? Hilary is a planner. I rarely am, except in this case. In fact, I may be planning more for this than anything else I plan on, umm, planning for, in the next several years - including the wedding (Hilary, that's all you babe). With most of our pot luck dinners, the guests are rarely required to bring anything, but in this case I need an excuse for us to be toting wine and appetizers and Hil not get suspicious.
If I tell everyone to bring wine and an appetizer, there is a fairly good chance Hilary will plan ahead and pick up those items in the days leading up to the picnic. In fact, it's two weeks away right now, and I'm not entirely certain she won't pick them up on her way home from work today just to get it out of the way. Still, I am hoping I can lead her into thinking we will just pick up the necessary items at Trader Joe's on the way to the park.
If I only say to bring an appetizer, I could have Ben "call" me the day of to ask if we could get some wine, but for some reason that makes me think it could begin to look suspicious. I could also do the opposite of that and just tell everyone to bring wine, but it seems too likely that we could end up with a bottle of wine at the apartment that we can just bring with us.
Therefore, I stuck with everyone bring an app and wine, and if for some reason Hilary picks these up ahead of time, then I can have Ben place the "We need more" call so we can arrive at the park ahead of the (phantom) pack.
3) What to tell the guests and when? As of now, my plan is to alert all of the guests on the day of the event to what is really going down. My dad worries that I might risk someone tipping Hilary off, or that I won't be able to reach everyone in time, but I am not concerned. I know most of these people's emails, IM screennames, and cell phones. One way or another I should be able to re-route them to Hannah and Will's. I did consider just sending out an evite update and just not include Hilary on it so as to save the surprise, but then I bring into play a number of scenario's like people calling to carpool and other issues like that. Easier to just spoil the surprise for a few people but maintain the surprise for the one person who matters most.
So, the evite is now posted, the wheels are in motion, and all that's left to do now is sit back and watch the con unfold...
UPDATE - The first potential road block has been removed. Hilary just made reservations at a restaurant for us that night at some restaurant in midtown (it's restaurant week then, where several nice restaurants offer fixed-price menus for $25 a person). Fortunately, the evite had gone out a few minutes earlier, and I had no trouble convincing her we should change the reservation to another night. So far so good!
There seems a bit of skepticism on that point, but I trust my instincts. True, I may be relying heavily on Hilary's gullability, but what can I say - it's gotten me this far, I can't buck the system now.
Below is the evite for the invitation to the picnic dinner at the park. It's fairly simple and plain, but that's sort of the idea - nothing that will arouse suspicion.
I agonized over several details, many of which I will feel silly about later on as I look back at all the planning that went into the occasion. Here are a few of the issues I've been pondering:1) What time to make the picnic start? Hilary gets off work at 6:30. With traffic, she typically arrives home around 7-ish. In trying to plan out when to do this, I needed to come up with a time that was late enough that we'd have plenty of time to get there early, but not so late that it would start too close to sundown. I went back and forth between 7:45 and 8:00 several times, eventually settling on 8:00 pm because I figure it's more important we have time to get there early than run too close to sunset (it is a fake picnic, after all).
2) What to tell the guests to bring? Hilary is a planner. I rarely am, except in this case. In fact, I may be planning more for this than anything else I plan on, umm, planning for, in the next several years - including the wedding (Hilary, that's all you babe). With most of our pot luck dinners, the guests are rarely required to bring anything, but in this case I need an excuse for us to be toting wine and appetizers and Hil not get suspicious.
If I tell everyone to bring wine and an appetizer, there is a fairly good chance Hilary will plan ahead and pick up those items in the days leading up to the picnic. In fact, it's two weeks away right now, and I'm not entirely certain she won't pick them up on her way home from work today just to get it out of the way. Still, I am hoping I can lead her into thinking we will just pick up the necessary items at Trader Joe's on the way to the park.
If I only say to bring an appetizer, I could have Ben "call" me the day of to ask if we could get some wine, but for some reason that makes me think it could begin to look suspicious. I could also do the opposite of that and just tell everyone to bring wine, but it seems too likely that we could end up with a bottle of wine at the apartment that we can just bring with us.
Therefore, I stuck with everyone bring an app and wine, and if for some reason Hilary picks these up ahead of time, then I can have Ben place the "We need more" call so we can arrive at the park ahead of the (phantom) pack.
3) What to tell the guests and when? As of now, my plan is to alert all of the guests on the day of the event to what is really going down. My dad worries that I might risk someone tipping Hilary off, or that I won't be able to reach everyone in time, but I am not concerned. I know most of these people's emails, IM screennames, and cell phones. One way or another I should be able to re-route them to Hannah and Will's. I did consider just sending out an evite update and just not include Hilary on it so as to save the surprise, but then I bring into play a number of scenario's like people calling to carpool and other issues like that. Easier to just spoil the surprise for a few people but maintain the surprise for the one person who matters most.
So, the evite is now posted, the wheels are in motion, and all that's left to do now is sit back and watch the con unfold...
UPDATE - The first potential road block has been removed. Hilary just made reservations at a restaurant for us that night at some restaurant in midtown (it's restaurant week then, where several nice restaurants offer fixed-price menus for $25 a person). Fortunately, the evite had gone out a few minutes earlier, and I had no trouble convincing her we should change the reservation to another night. So far so good!
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Genius at work?
Hi, it's me. It's about 2:42 am on Saturday, August 4 (or late Friday night, however you want to look at it), and I can't sleep.
This is not a trait that Hilary possesses. She and I differ greatly in our sleeping habits. She typically goes to sleep around 11:00 pm every night, and can be sawing logs within a few moments of head hitting pillow. I on the other hand am my father's child, and a restless mind keeps me up most nights well past 1:00. On the other hand, I can nap with the best of them, and can easily nod off on all forms of transportation (even rollerblades), whereas Hilary can't sleep anywhere but in a bed. She is way too nervous to sleep on planes, trains, or (in) automobiles for fear of what might happen whilst she is out. It's one of the many differences we have, but, like Paula Abdul and MC Skat Cat will tell you, opposites attract (yeah, try not to get that song stuck in your head now).
I suppose that is all a digression from why I am writing tonight in the early morning hours, which is to say this: I think I just came up with a geniusly devious (or deviously genius?) way to propose, and since I just thought of it, I can't stop thinking about it, so I am writing it down now for perpetuity and so I don't forget the plan tomorrow.
If I haven't mentioned this before, I am creative to a fault. Everything has to be unique and/or funny with me. I can't just send out an evite for an event saying "Come to the party"; I have to make it funny or witty somehow*, and could spend hours slaving over every word to make sure it is up to par, neglecting personal appearance or hygiene until the work is done.
With my engagement, there is no way I can settle for just spraying around a few rose petals and writing her a poem or something cheesy like that - I have to do something different. I must do something that will make people say, "Wow, that's pretty cool", or at least nod approvingly before turning the conversation to something more socially relevant like Obama's health care initiatives.
In planning said engagement, there are a few things I will want to take advantage of. To wit:
- I love planning surprises
- Hilary is extremely gullible
- I love taking advantage of that fact
Though the end game is drawing nearer, I haven't spent too much time planning up until tonight. I always do my best work at deadline, and I knew that once it started getting closer the ol' right brain would go to work.
Tonight, as I lay down to sleep, right brain finally decided it was time to get serious. And here is what I came up with (subject to change). Hold on to your scrotums, here comes genius.
I am going to create an evite for a dinner party at Piedmont Park. This evite will not be sent out by me though; most likely, I will get Ben and Amanda (soon to be) Dorfman to do this, as they live near the park and already know of my plans to propose in the near future. Also it will help lead Hilary to believe that nothing is afoot.
The Dorfmans will invite the traditional Sunday night dinner crowd, who will all believe the event is real. The arrangements will call for dinner at the park starting around 8:00 pm, with dessert to follow after dark back at their apartment. People will respond yea or nay to the event without actually knowing they are decoys, adding legitimacy.
On the day of the event, I will actually break the news of the engagement to the invited guests ahead of time, letting them all know it was just a clever ruse, and though they will not actually get to dine at the park, they will instead be re-routed to dinner at Hannah and Will's. I will gently ask everyone not to pass this information on to Hilary, and will gently remind them that if they do I will (gently) beat them to death with their own thumbs.
That evening, Hilary and I will head out to the park with a blanket to sit on and an appetizer (as stipulated in the evite), but I will tell Hilary we need to leave a little early to get a bottle of wine. We will arrive at the park "earlier" than anyone else, but her suspicions should not be aroused due to the wine-getting errand.
Once we are at the park and have laid out our blanket and appetizer (first thought: brie and crackers, she loves that), I will pour us two glasses of wine and make a toast, and at that point, will pop the question. Hilary, not seeing this coming, will suffer a mind explosion.
After the initial excitement, we will finish our drink, I will let her know there was no actual dinner, and we will head home to change for a nice romantic dinner.
On our way back, I will say, let's stop into Hannah and Will's real quick to say hello because they really want to congratulate us. When we walk in, all of our friends will be there to surprise her and say congrats, leading to mind explosion #2.
We will only stay for a few minutes though, just long enough to see everyone, and then we will actually go to dinner at a really nice restaurant (unless they open a Whataburger in Atlanta in the next three weeks) and spend of the rest of the evening alone.
It's entirely possible I may come up with a different plan than this before the target day, but sitting here tonight I think this could be the winner. Piedmont Park is beautiful, it's large enough that we can be in public but still share a fairly private moment, and it also has some significance in our relationship as we went ate a picnic lunch there during her first visit to Atlanta.
The only real obstacles I can think of are the threat of inclement weather and potential leaks, but it's worth the gamble to me if I can pull this off.
We'll know if I did in just a few short weeks...
* Funny or witty in my eyes, at least. I'm only out to amuse myself, sorry.
This is not a trait that Hilary possesses. She and I differ greatly in our sleeping habits. She typically goes to sleep around 11:00 pm every night, and can be sawing logs within a few moments of head hitting pillow. I on the other hand am my father's child, and a restless mind keeps me up most nights well past 1:00. On the other hand, I can nap with the best of them, and can easily nod off on all forms of transportation (even rollerblades), whereas Hilary can't sleep anywhere but in a bed. She is way too nervous to sleep on planes, trains, or (in) automobiles for fear of what might happen whilst she is out. It's one of the many differences we have, but, like Paula Abdul and MC Skat Cat will tell you, opposites attract (yeah, try not to get that song stuck in your head now).
I suppose that is all a digression from why I am writing tonight in the early morning hours, which is to say this: I think I just came up with a geniusly devious (or deviously genius?) way to propose, and since I just thought of it, I can't stop thinking about it, so I am writing it down now for perpetuity and so I don't forget the plan tomorrow.
If I haven't mentioned this before, I am creative to a fault. Everything has to be unique and/or funny with me. I can't just send out an evite for an event saying "Come to the party"; I have to make it funny or witty somehow*, and could spend hours slaving over every word to make sure it is up to par, neglecting personal appearance or hygiene until the work is done.
With my engagement, there is no way I can settle for just spraying around a few rose petals and writing her a poem or something cheesy like that - I have to do something different. I must do something that will make people say, "Wow, that's pretty cool", or at least nod approvingly before turning the conversation to something more socially relevant like Obama's health care initiatives.
In planning said engagement, there are a few things I will want to take advantage of. To wit:
- I love planning surprises
- Hilary is extremely gullible
- I love taking advantage of that fact
Though the end game is drawing nearer, I haven't spent too much time planning up until tonight. I always do my best work at deadline, and I knew that once it started getting closer the ol' right brain would go to work.
Tonight, as I lay down to sleep, right brain finally decided it was time to get serious. And here is what I came up with (subject to change). Hold on to your scrotums, here comes genius.
I am going to create an evite for a dinner party at Piedmont Park. This evite will not be sent out by me though; most likely, I will get Ben and Amanda (soon to be) Dorfman to do this, as they live near the park and already know of my plans to propose in the near future. Also it will help lead Hilary to believe that nothing is afoot.
The Dorfmans will invite the traditional Sunday night dinner crowd, who will all believe the event is real. The arrangements will call for dinner at the park starting around 8:00 pm, with dessert to follow after dark back at their apartment. People will respond yea or nay to the event without actually knowing they are decoys, adding legitimacy.
On the day of the event, I will actually break the news of the engagement to the invited guests ahead of time, letting them all know it was just a clever ruse, and though they will not actually get to dine at the park, they will instead be re-routed to dinner at Hannah and Will's. I will gently ask everyone not to pass this information on to Hilary, and will gently remind them that if they do I will (gently) beat them to death with their own thumbs.
That evening, Hilary and I will head out to the park with a blanket to sit on and an appetizer (as stipulated in the evite), but I will tell Hilary we need to leave a little early to get a bottle of wine. We will arrive at the park "earlier" than anyone else, but her suspicions should not be aroused due to the wine-getting errand.
Once we are at the park and have laid out our blanket and appetizer (first thought: brie and crackers, she loves that), I will pour us two glasses of wine and make a toast, and at that point, will pop the question. Hilary, not seeing this coming, will suffer a mind explosion.
After the initial excitement, we will finish our drink, I will let her know there was no actual dinner, and we will head home to change for a nice romantic dinner.
On our way back, I will say, let's stop into Hannah and Will's real quick to say hello because they really want to congratulate us. When we walk in, all of our friends will be there to surprise her and say congrats, leading to mind explosion #2.
We will only stay for a few minutes though, just long enough to see everyone, and then we will actually go to dinner at a really nice restaurant (unless they open a Whataburger in Atlanta in the next three weeks) and spend of the rest of the evening alone.
It's entirely possible I may come up with a different plan than this before the target day, but sitting here tonight I think this could be the winner. Piedmont Park is beautiful, it's large enough that we can be in public but still share a fairly private moment, and it also has some significance in our relationship as we went ate a picnic lunch there during her first visit to Atlanta.
The only real obstacles I can think of are the threat of inclement weather and potential leaks, but it's worth the gamble to me if I can pull this off.
We'll know if I did in just a few short weeks...
* Funny or witty in my eyes, at least. I'm only out to amuse myself, sorry.
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