11.20.2006

the cat is out of the bag

and, in the words of my sister-in-law, “down the street, up in a tree, and singin’ a song!”

so if you haven’t already heard it from that funny feline, david and i got engaged this past friday night, november 17, at tre kronor, our favorite local eatery. i had my suspicions during the week, but didn’t want to assume anything for fear of feeling stupid or disappointed if he didn’t propose.

when we got to the restaurant, david chose a table for four, even though there was a table for two right next to it. i thought it was odd, but didn’t question him. the place wasn’t so packed that i thought a group of four would walk in and not be able to be seated because we were hogging a table too large for our small party. i hung up my coat on the rack right behind our table, but he kept his on the back of his chair. a possible hint? we ordered our meals around seven-fifteen and had appetizers first. david was fidgety and continually checking his phone for the time, saying he was expecting a call from his sister. “not that i’d take it,” he said. “that would be rude.” okay . . . ?

our entrees were served to us at seven forty-five and david scarfed his down. i’ve never been a fast eater, so i took my time, still having half of my salmon left by the time he finished. he told me that he’d had a dream the night before that he proposed to me the same way that he had asked me to date him, which was to ask me as i was driving my car on bryn mawr avenue. but in the dream he handed me a sauce packet from taco bell that had the question “will you marry me?” on it. at that point, he pulled that very sauce packet out of his pocket. what you need to know is that i had been to taco bell for lunch the day before and had picked up that sauce packet, thinking it was funny, and had given it to him the night before as a joke.

with the sauce packet on the corner of the table, i touched it and told him that i would say yes, even if he were to propose with a taco bell sauce packet, though there was a part of me that was hoping that wasn’t all he was going to do. he started pushing his chair back and reaching his left hand into his jacket pocket as he told me that he was kidding, but that he knew he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. with his chair out of the way, he dropped to one knee and opened the ring box and asked me to marry him. i believe the conversation went a little something like this:

david: will you marry me?
ann-marie: you are not actually doing this right here.
david: will . . . will you marry me???
ann-marie: yes, yes i will marry you.

he hopped back into his chair as he realized that everyone in the restaurant was watching us. with a look of relief on his face and in his posture, he sat back in his chair and put the ring box, still open and still with the ring inside of it, on the corner of the table between us. i wasn’t quite sure what to do at that point except to tell him that i love him. i looked at him, then at the ring box, then at him, and he said, “oh, yeah. that’s my job.”


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after a few minutes of staring at each other in joy and in shock, he told me i should call my parents. he had asked them to join us for dessert at eight (which explains the clock watching) but they thought he had said we’d call when they should join us. luckily for david, otherwise they might have walked in while i was still savoring my salmon.

my dad answered the phone, and as soon as he heard my voice he called out for my mom, who was on the other phone in half a second. they live two blocks north of tre kronor, so they came to join us for dessert. as patrons left the restaurant they stopped to offer their congratulations.

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the rest of the weekend was spent on the phone with family and friends, which left little time for creating this very post.

we have a tentative date of june ninth, but we are waiting to hear back about the reception hall.

thanks to all who have already sent their well wishes and greetings. david and i are so very excited for what these next few months will bring as we prepare for the wedding, and we’re looking forward even more so to our life together.

12 comments:

Melissa said...

blogger doesn't make a smile icon big enough.

:D

mar said...

again, congrats!
so happy for the both of you.

Stuart Shea said...

Muchas felicidades. Bonne chance. Viel gluck.
I wish I knew how to say something in Swedish.
Much love to both of you!!
Stu

Kelly said...

Wonderful news! Congratulations! I love a sappy engagement story.

Scott said...

Congratulations!! Best wishes to you both!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah! Congrats to the both of you.

Melissa said...

Yay!!!!! Congratulations. Although I've never met you in person I tell ya what... this has gotten me so anxious in waiting and waiting and waiting for the day. And so you see? I don't have to ask what's new because you posted it in your blog!!!!!!!! :)

MeganBritt said...

LOL - just remember i did tell an emily once: "i'm not good with engaged people" ... (insert crazy-eyed emoticon here). we could start a jar... kind of like a swear jar, but every time the talk gets to be too much, you just throw a dollar in there. it can be your wedding piggy bank. :P

Ann-Marie said...

you also told that to an ann-marie. and a david.
;)

just save us all the trouble and give us a pre-filled piggy bank!

Anonymous said...

OH. MY. GOD. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hurray for both of you! We're so excited for you:)

Anonymous said...

such great (if not too unexpected) news!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!