on the afternoon of Friday, July 27th, 2012, Rob successfully outplanned a planner and pulled off the greatest surprise of all time.
grab a drink and find somewhere comfy to settle in, this story's kind of a long one...
the decision:
about two weeks prior, I'd been on the phone with a dear friend explaining the big reason we sadly wouldn't be able to attend her best friend from college's wedding: flights were too expensive. it was shaping up to be about $600 each, and we were trying to be responsible and save that cash for a longer, more intentional trip later in the year. all parties involved were pretty bummed about it. I literally hung up the call with her, and Rob's phone rang...on the other end was his Dad, asking if we planned to use a Southwest voucher he'd sent us via email a couple months back. the Fox boys fly often, so we'd assumed it'd been used when he'd gone to LA or when Rob's bro Brian had come to visit us in Chicago. apparently it was still up for grabs, and would expire soon. a sign that we should be Cali-bound?! yup.
from what I'm told, the gears started turnin', and Rob decided that California was a more appropriate place than Chicago for a proposal: we're new to the Windy City and don't have much sentimental connection there just yet, California would allow things to be more predictable, and Rob realized that we'd be able to share the news with many more loved ones in person if we took the plunge 'at home'.
*****
the ring:
I've dealt with a lot of friends getting hitched. I've planned a handful of bachelorette parties. I've even been a part of a proposal. I've attended countless weddings. however, its no surprise to anyone to learn that we were a bit gun-shy about marriage, although we both knew we were in it for the long haul. we've both dealt with divorces in our families, and with our jetsetter mindset and Rob's MBA program, we'd never really been settled enough to even consider it. with that, I can truthfully say that I never really gave much thought to what I wanted in an engagement ring. call me a liar if you want to, I just knew I wanted something different and that it should be cushion cut, the sparkliest of them all. so when Rob called up Summer, expecting that she'd simply send him a link and a size, she ... um ... came up short. (insert panic gif here) she did some sly digging at me, and he secretly traced my longtime right-hand ring while I was sleeping. in hindsight, there was exactly one instance when I was gchatting with each of them when I was on sudden radio silence, but otherwise, I was totally in the dark.
Rob visited an area of Chicago called Jeweler's Row, and just wasn't feelin' it. it seemed a bit smarmy and he wasn't interested in the hassle...so off to the diamond masters at Tiffany he wandered. on his first of three visits, he kept his earbuds in his ears and just wandered, hoping not to be bothered. one of the employees approached him and asked "excuse me, do you go to Thunderbird?" thanks to a clue from the polo he'd been wearing. they got to chatting, and Rob learned that her name was Melanie and that her boyfriend is currently working toward his MBA and is part of one of the same rotational programs that Rob applied for a couple years back. meant to be? methinks yes. Rob told Melanie what he knew I'd want in a ring: a cushion cut aquamarine. she kindly explained that aquamarines are very soft and don't make for good center stones unless they're surrounded with sturdier metal/stones. he knew I wouldn't love a SuperBowl-lookin' ring, and ixnayed the aquamarine on the spot. they looked briefly at a couple of options. there was no pressure from Melanie, and she gave Rob her card to get back in touch if/when he decided that he'd like her help.
when he decided everything was a 'go', he headed back to the store only to discover that Melanie was off that day (naturally, right?!). instead, he worked with one of the managers, Krissy. as I understand it, choosing the band was a cake walk, but he spent over an hour deciding between three different diamonds, all within .01-carat of one another, even enlisting the similarly small hands of a different Tiffany employee as a size guide. thorough. and typical of my man. once he'd finally decided on my rock, he had another hoop to jump through: getting the ring sized. which typically takes 10-14 days and is only done by the New York store. no exceptions. it was Monday. we were due to leave for California on Thursday morning, which is obviously significantly fewer than 10-14 days. because she's so rad and liked Rob a lot, Krissy pulled some major strings and managed to get a 2-day sizing turnaround.
those two days passed, and it was Wednesday. Krissy, Melanie and Rob had been in touch via email about when my ring would be back in store for pick up. with the best of intentions, Rob let them know that he'd probably arrive around 4:30p or 5p. in typical fashion when you've got a deadline, something came up at work and he received a call from Krissy at 5:55p, saying she hoped she wasn't pressuring him, that everything was okay, and asking if he was on his way or if he'd head in before Thursday's flight. since we were due to fly at 8:20a, Thursday wasn't an option! he slammed his laptop shut and hauled ass across town while they (graciously) kept the store open for him. he arrived as security guards were procedurally escorting employees out of the store for the night - ack! once he had the ring safely in his possession, he managed to get home and unbeknownst to me, pack it in his suitcase among some of my things. trickster.
*****
the proposal:
there's a beautiful rose garden in San Jose where Rob and I used to often meet for lunch on workdays. we'd have a euro-style picnic: snag a couple hunks o' bread and cheese and some deli meat, a bag of pistachios and something salad-y. when he suggested we fit a Rose Garden picnic into our 'free' time on Friday afternoon, I thought nothing of it because it wasn't at all unusual.
after a morning run and a (much-needed) visit to the chiropractor, we stopped at a little Italian deli near the Rose Garden for the requisite sammies and snacks. when we arrived at the Garden, we giggled at the quincinera photoshoot and headed to 'our' bench...only to find someone else's stuff on it. again, this was not at all unusual, and I suggested we sit elsewhere to eat. after finding a different bench in the shade, Rob claimed that he needed to use the restroom and took off in the direction of our bench, only to reappear seconds later saying "some crazy lady is moving the stuff off of our bench...come on!!!". after he was happily settled in the right place, we ate and chatted as usual.
its very common for us that one will say "close your eyes and put out your hands" for a little surprise. we've done this forever...and usually its something silly like the CDs we've borrowed from the library to burn and return, or a little piece of candy, or a goofy little trinket. so when Rob asked me to assume the position for the first of two surprises, I thought nothing of it (again) and was presented with two little caramels. I was then told to close my eyes and put out my hands for the second surprise, so I did...
I heard rummaging, and Rob asked a couple times, "are your eyes closed?", which sent me into a mini-rant on how I can't understand why people would want to ruin their own surprises and how people that hunt for hidden Christmas gifts in the house boggle my mind and yaddayaaadaayadda. I went so far as to lift up my sunglasses to show him that my eyes were, in fact, closed. neener neener.
my hands were out, my eyes were closed, and nothing was happening...or so I thought. when Rob (finalllly!) told me to open my eyes, there he was on one knee with the most gorgeous and perfect ring I've ever seen. the first words out of my mouth?! "oh. shit." all class, all the time over here. after a few nice words, I got to reply "of course" and hug my new fiance!
after squeezing him like crazy, Rob wiggled out of the hug and stepped to the side a bit so I could see that we'd had two photographers capture the entire thing! he'd been in cahoots with Summer and (her new fiance!) Chambers to have the entire proposal documented. their disguises were so good that I literally didn't recognize them for about 10 seconds. there was much hollering and hugging. to celebrate, Chummers had picked up mini bottles of wine and some of our favorite Psycho Donuts. and the self-proclaimed 'uncraftiest of them all' Sum made the cutest little banner to commemorate the event. absolute perfection.
gardeners extraodinaire (is it any surprise I didn't recognize them?!?! really?!)
despite their best efforts, there was not a drop of miniature champagne to be found in all of San Jose...so we 'settled' for moscato. I think it's better that way.
clockwise: key lime pie (my fave), passionfruit (Sum's fave), kooky monster (Rob's fave), custard-filled something (covered in Oreos, so Rob's fave), Spiderman, Elvis (Chambers' fave; bacon + pb + banana + jelly)
*****
hindsight is 20/20:
- the bags on our bench when we arrived were theirs, and I definitely should have recognized one of them!
- the night before, when we were talking with Summer and Chambers about their upcoming wedding, Chambers got a goofy ass look on his face when I said 'if we ever get married...'
- when I was getting ready for the day, I whined that my hair was out of control and pulled it back into a French braid. I randomly asked "does this hairstyle look dumb? I feel like I should be riding a horse or something". these boys are sweet, but usually the opposite of helpful in style situations. both immediately replied: "um, it is a little...equestrian looking...??"
- while I was sitting on the bench with my eyes closed and hands out, ranting about snoopy people, I pulled up my sunglasses to show Rob that my eyes were closed. his quick reply of "put your sunglasses down" was a nice way of expressing that "we don't want pics of you looking dumb"
- the aforementioned gchat radio silence + random email from Summer were for info harvesting purposes
- the Friday before Summer and Greg got engaged, I publicly posted a subliminal message subtly referencing the rad Sunday that was ahead. Sum told me that, at the time, she was pisssssssed at my gif choice, but it all made sense after she got engaged. so what did she do?! mimicked me, hardcore. except hers was under the guise of just being excited that we'd be home for a Friday Fat Night, so I thought nothing of it. I really shoulda known...but I'm glad I didn't.
*****
other:
with all the excitement surrounding getting engaged and sharing the news, things still haven't really sunk in yet. it might be in part because we've spent approximately 22 total hours together as fiance and fiancee (the spelling. why?!?), but we're really excited to celebrate together this weekend.
my ring was a little snug (left hand = fat hand), so we sent her off for resizing yesterday (sniffle)...but again, Krissy is working magic and I should have it back on Saturday :]
I am over-the-moon pumped to marry the coolest guy I know. he constantly surprises me, but I don't think this one can be topped. I'm so unbelievably lucky and happy and grateful. we don't know much yet, just that it won't be your average wedding, it likely won't be in the US, and that we're looking forward to making the whole thing very 'us'. yay!!!
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