Doing Things Out of Order

We've been planning our wedding, as you know, since about last April. While this is wedding RELATED, this doesn't pertain to the planning of our wedding. I just had to share.

On Saturday, Mr. JeffM and I decided to have a nice romantic lunch at Harry's Tap Room in Pentagon City. I had Ahi Tuna Tempura and a side of their "Farm to Table" wild mushrooms, accompanied by some great white wine. Mr. JeffM had a bison burger and we closed the meal with some yummy after dinner drinks. He had chocolate Port (which is amazing) and I had some sort of white dessert wine. It was very good, but a little bit too sweet for me. (Seriously, the place is a bit pricey, but from the service to the food to the atmosphere... worth EVERY penny.)

We shopped around the mall for a bit. Mr. JeffM said he wanted to check out some video games at GameStop. I... decided I did not want to do that. 45 minutes later, we met back up and decided we apparently weren't done with wine and being romantic. No, no! We decided to trek over to Old Town to another of our favorite places, Grape and Bean.

We tried some different wines and had a cheese sampler platter. Even Mr. JeffM has really been into trying different wines and such recently. We talked about life, where we wanted to go and do. Things we wanted to accomplish. Who we wanted to go to the Super Bowl. How Horatio (our pooch) is devious, but we love him. We capped off the evening with two flutes of Champagne. (I also recommend Grape & Bean. Great romantic date spot or a nice spot for drinks with a gal pal.)

I feel so snooty going "wine" this and "cheese" that. Next thing you know, I'll be playing the harpsicord and letting go of my love for karaoke! (I kid... I could never abandon you, karaoke.)

Afterward, it was about 9 o'clock. I suggested we head home, but Mr. JeffM wanted to go down to the Waterfront. This surprised me. He is not a fan of the cold. Ever. He loves winter and fall (favorite seasons of his), but the whole being cold when he could NOT be cold and indoors is not something he particularly enjoys. It took a couple of minutes, but he convinced me and off we went. I was excited. The Old Town Waterfront at night is so beautiful with all the lights on the river.

We arrived, and the waterfront was, for the most part empty. It was quiet and romantic. We stood there for a little bit. He hugged me from behind. After a bit he pulled away and then he told me to turn around.

Mr. JeffM was down on one knee with this...

He asked me to marry him.

I couldn't help but cry. I'm a big weepy sap.

Now, I know there are cries from the audience...

"Miss JeffMemorial, I thought you were already engaged!"

You would be right, but Mr. JeffM was never happy with how our engagement went down. He always felt like he did me a disservice, because it was something completely unplanned, he didn't have a ring, etc. (For me, he could have proposed with a tumbleweed, and I wouldn't have even cared.) We did end up getting me a ring, but he never felt it suited me. It's a guilt that had been eating at him for quite some time.

Oddly enough, I always kind of knew he was never terribly happy with how things worked out when he proposed back in April. I could sense that it never sat quite right with him. He's a traditional guy, and I knew he had wanted it to be planned and special. I didn't know he was going to do something like this, though. It didn't feel less special because he had already asked. Not at all. So we cried. We kissed. We hugged. It was so picture perfect.

And the ring? Holy moly, it's wonderful. I know, not traditional, but I just adore it. It's me. It's completely me. Anyone who has seen it, that's been their reaction, and they're right. And I've always loved rubies. It's just wonderful. Here's another shot of it. It's unique. It's perfect. It's me.

What makes it even sweeter is that I had mentioned off handedly months and months ago about how I always thought the Old Town Waterfront at night was a pretty proposal spot, and that I need to find someone to recommend it to. It wasn't a hint. We were already engaged, and I, in no way, resented him or our proposal. It just slipped out!

Oh, and when he went to go to "Game Stop" earlier that day to go check out "video games"? He was picking up the ring from the jeweler, as it had been resized and was ready for pick up.

Sneaky!

It was an amazing day with an even more stunningly surprising ending. I feel so lucky and blessed.

After all the kisses and hugging, we went to the Fish Market (our wedding and reception venue) for a celebratory drink and then headed home.

We're now just a bit over nine months from the wedding! Time to get in gear.

Although now I'm interested to see if the wedding bands I was originally looking at will even work with that ring!