Hello, everyone!
This day turned out to be the best day ever! Joe did such a great job and made my inner little girl who dreams of fairytales so happy. He was planning this day for months. Since October - when he asked me about what ring styles I liked. When it came down to it, the actual happenings of this day were planned about a month in advance. Joe's friend works at a restaurant that we like by the shore. I met him a few times, so when Joe told me that he wanted to visit for dinner a couple weeks before - I thought nothing of it. Joe and I are vegan (I'm gf too), so it isn't the easiest to have a meal at restaurants. He told me his friend was going to creatively work with the chef to put special dishes together for us. And... what a great job they did, the food was delicious! We shared a salad and an artichoke plate (below) for an appetizer. The artichoke was my favorite. It was so fresh and filled with flavor. I believe it was made with just spices, oil and garlic. I plan to recreate that dish soon (let me know if you want me to write a post on it).
Did I mention Joe was SO nervous? Haha! How do I know this? He knocked the lit candle off the table when we first sat down, there were periods of silence during dinner (there is never silence at dinner when we eat together bc he chats it up) and we listened to a comedy show audio the entire car ride there (we always listen to music or he tells me stories). I accidentally forgot my jacket at home and I was cold when we first got there (it was very windy by the shore), so I asked to wear his blazer to walk into the restaurant. He said, "NO!" in a very short and stern manner. I said, "I just want to wear it to walk into the restaurant", he said "NO! NO!". He was serious, but I laughed because I could not take him seriously with that answer. Then and there, I should have known something was up. He is never short like that, he always offers his jacket. Little did I know, the ring was in his jacket pocket - his cover would have been blown if I wore it!
After dinner, when I got back from the bathroom, his friend came over to take a picture of us. As his friend raised his arms up to take the picture, Joe walked over to my side of the table and got on one knee. I was so surprised...! It felt like a fairytale. All of the restaurant staff knew. They were watching and clapping from a distance. Thinking about it now, I should have known what was up. I knew it was happening in the spring time, but I did not know the exact time and day!
Looking back on it, my favorite memory was right before Joe asked me to marry him. Right before I went to the bathroom, I caught him looking at me from the corner of my eye. I turned my head towards him, smiled and he said, "You are so beautiful". At this moment, I felt how much he meant those words. Yea - he compliments me and says nice things often (sometimes he says it just to shut me up haha), but that time I really felt a deep love. I've never been more in love with him, the love keeps growing!
We hope all of you find and have that special someone. Everyone deserves to be with their true love! Thank you to everyone who communicated kind words to us! We appreciate each and every one of you!