Goodness Gracious! We're Engaged!

Note: I'm typing this post on the day (September 2nd, 2007) that we got engaged. However, I won't be posting it until most of our friends and family have been told. I really wanted to tell people in person or at least over the phone if they live far away. I'm writing this post today, though, so nothing fades from memory in the excitement that is sure to follow.

On Saturday, we went to Bumbershoot as we'd planned to do for several months. It was our first time to the festival, and we planned to stay all day to see shows, and then stay at a hotel in Seattle. The first shows of the day were standing room only and the sun was hot, hot, hot. I must confess that I was fairly grumpy through the first act (Crowded House) because of the heat and the jostling of the crowd. For the next show (The Shins) I was very happy to move into the bleachers and also into the shade. Luckily, my mood improved very much once I had my own seat.

After The Shins were finished, we wandered the festival, found some food, and took in a Can Can dance review that was a lot of fun. There is so much to see and do at Bumbershoot that you can't possibly get to it all. We saw snippets of several more shows, marveled at the length of the line for the Greg Proops show, and then finished our evening with Gabriel Y Rodrigo. They play incredible Latin guitar, and it was a shame to leave just before they finished (but I insisted because I did not want to leave with the other 79,998 people). We took the monorail back towards our hotel, and then took a short walk to one of our favorite restaurants, Lola. By this time, it was at least 10pm, but the place was still hopping.

Our meal at Lola was probably the best we've ever had there (and that's saying something). First we shared a Greek salad with the most perfectly ripe tomatoes in red, yellow, and green. Next were zucchini fritters with creamy dills sauce. Finally, I got my entree of roasted eggplant tagine with bread, onions, pickled tomatoes, and a yogurt-garlic sauce. Normally I'm not a huge fan of eggplant, but this entire dish was perfect, fragrant, and delicious. I can't speak for M's food because it was fishy, but he made happy sounds throughout. Finally, we shared a fruit tart with brown sugar ice-cream for dessert. We left around midnight, full, and very happy.

After dinner, we walked the few blocks back to the Hotel Alexis. We always seem to stay in Kympton hotels, and this was no exception. We like them because their rooms don't look like hotel rooms (hipper? less plastic? more comfortable? I'm not exactly sure what it is), they have good service, and they are a comparatively good deal. Our room was on the third floor, and we practically fell into bed after such a busy day.

The next morning, just as we were waking up, M put a box in my hand and said "I have a present for you." I didn't have my glasses on, so I really wasn't sure what it might be. It was a double box, so bigger than the traditional ring box, and it took me a few minutes to figure out how it opened. When I finally got to the ring, I looked at it, and I looked at him in complete surprise. He said "will you marry me?" and I was so amazed that all I could do was squeak "really?!" and he said "yes" so I squeaked "yes!" and then I just kept saying "really" over and over until he finally said "yes! really!" I truly could not believe it was actually happening.

But it did. It really did happen. We are engaged, my ring is absolutely beautiful (that's another post), and I'm wearing it right now. I have no idea any of the details about how or when or where, but none of that matters very much right now. In fact, it could have been a candy ring and I would still be completely over the moon right now.