engagement 02.14.09

Photos and details for our big night! J&K

Coming home after a romantic night on the town i.e. got engaged on Valentines... The story beings here...

Well the pictures a bit out of order, but we'll try to keep you on track...

(After the carriage ride)

I love my ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (um but not more than my man cough cough.)

Stupid blurring shot, you think I would put my camera on the right setting for this moment!

Aftermath

Leaving the Mandarin Hotel

The flash completely destroys this shot and the beauty of the restaurant, but I guess you get the point.

Our city... Our skyline.

Top window of the Castle 

J&K

True Valentine's apparel (as worn on my first trip to the city with visit J)

Pre-dinner photo shoot

Brunch at Alice's tea cup...

My new child!!!!!

Here she is... I love her!

I'm wearing band in these pictures, but don't worry Karen made sure I wouldn't put it back on til wedding day!

tru luv <3

Loads of ring shots as requested!

MUST GET NAILS DONE ASAP!!!! 

The Tale

as told by Jordan...

Once Upon a Time...  aka Valentine's Day I woke up early in the morning and took the train from Penn Station to pick up my love from the airport. On the way I ease dropped on a girl and a guy, who previously didn't know each other, discussing their recently broken hearts and broken relationships. What a fitting conversation to overhear on the day I would propose. I tried to stay positive and thought to myself maybe this could be the budding of a new relationship to mend their broken hearts, but unfortunately the girl only liked other girls. 

I made sure to bring a Valentine's rose along with me to the airport. Kaitlyn told me it looked like a broomstick because the stem was so long. You're welcome honey, glad you like it. Started the day off with brunch at Alice's Tea Cup. The girls who work there all wear butterfly wings on their backs. It was a magical place, truly a "wonderland". We had poached eggs over spinach on buttermilk biscuits and apricot french toast soaked in cinnamon tea. Yummie, I think Cheech and Chong would have been in heaven. During the day we checked out the sick art collection at the Frick. I made sure we went back from the days activities with plenty of time for Kaitlyn to get ready for the night (about 3 hours of prep time). I had a special surprise for Kaitlyn before we got to dinner. I took her to Belvedere Castle in Central Park, this is where I planned on popping the question. Although Kaitlyn looked beautiful as always, her outfit definitely was not conducive to being outside in chilly weather, so I already knew a smooth proposal would be challenging while standing outside atop a castle. My roommate had gone ahead of me to the castle to convince security to give Kaitlyn and I a moment at the top of the castle after they had closed and cleared out all the visitors. Another one of my roommates had gone to get a horse and carriage to be ready to cart Kaitlyn and I off to dinner after we came down from the castle. The big moment had finally arrived. It couldn't have come any sooner, because I had been stalling a bit for the castle to close, so by then Kaitlyn was getting cold and suspicious. Kaitlyn and I were standing in the castle to stay warm as the security guard cleared out all the people in preparation to close. Here's were it gets uncomfortable and awkward. The plan was for me to take Kaitlyn to the top of the castle after everyone had been cleared out, and I would kneel down and ask here to marry me under the scenic central park skyline. The security guard didn't quite get the gist, and instead closed up the doors to the tower roof top and then stood inside the castle next to us just staring and smiling at us waiting for the show to begin. At this point I decided to revert to plan B.

 I knew that the castle idea had a chance of falling apart, and it did, so I had already planned on doing the proposal at dinner if the first attempt were to fail. I text my roommate who was securing a carriage for our exit to abort mission, and Kaitlyn and I grabbed a cab and headed off to dinner. I made sure that the dinner location would measure up to the view at the castle, knowing that this could be where I would propose. The restaurant was located in the Mandarin Hotel in the top of the Time Warner building which towers over Columbus Circle and overlooks Central Park. The floor to ceiling glass walls of the restaurant create the perfect city view. The dinner was fun, it was a really fancy place, and they served us like eight baby bite courses of lots of interesting food including octopus and cow cheek topped with it's own bone marrow (how romantic for Valentines). I kept thinking about when I should pop the question at dinner, and Kaitlyn kept asking me why I was being so weird. I just didn't like the idea of proposing at dinner. Kaitlyn is a very animated person, and I wanted her to feel free to express herself without feeling like she needed to filter her excitement because we were surrounded by people in the quite romantic setting. At dinner we talked about going on a carriage ride through Central Park. We'd only gone on a carriage ride through Central Park one other time together, and that was the first time that I told her I loved her. I thought that would be a perfect setting to ask Kaitlyn to be my wife. Now I could relax and enjoy dinner without being so preoccupied with the proposal details. 

After dinner we made a quick stop at the Plaza hotel. This is one of Kaitlyn's favorite hotels and she dreams of staying there one day (maybe for our 5oth anniversary). After visiting the Plaza, we picked out a red carriage with a white horse that was hanging out next to Central Park (same colors as the horse and carriage we took when we first said I love you, oh cute!). After the carriage had carried us into the park, I told Kaitlyn that I needed to tell her something. I told her that I was so in love with her and that I wanted to be with her forever. She smiled at me as if I was just being me, and nothing I said was out of the ordinary. Then I kneeled down in the carriage and pulled out the ring box from my pocket. I opened up the box, which lights up in the dark so you can see the ring at night (thanks Robbin's Brothers), and I asked her "will you marry me Kaitlyn". She screamed oh my gosh oh my gosh a lot, then started to get teary eyed and said yes. We enjoyed the rest of the carriage ride as fiances, and I told her about all my failed attempts to propose up until that moment. After the carriage ride, we were taking pictures together, and a couple stopped and asked us if we'd like them to take our picture. They overheard us talking of getting engaged, and they told us that they had just gotten engaged too, so we took just got engaged photos of each other. As we took pictures, people driving by took notice of the girls flashing their rings, and they started yelling congratulations out their car window. On the way home Kaitlyn and I stopped and picked up some Martinelli's to celebrate in true Mormon fashion. The rest of the night was filled with Kaitlyn retelling the engagement story over and over to her friends and family, so maybe this blog will help cut down on her phone minutes. Even though the proposal turned out to be completely different than what I had envisioned, it turned out just perfect, like as if everything went wrong so that I would get the proposal right, in the carriage on the same path through the park were we first expressed our love. 

HERS...

What a perfect day!!! Obviously you've just heard all the details above so I won't rehash I just wanted to add a little bit of my perspective. I know Jordan's plan didn't work out exactly as he had anticipated, but getting engaged to Jordan turned out the be the definition of "real romance" I've always felt between us. Every little girl dreams about her prince charming and how he'll catch her the nick-of-time and carry her off into the sunset, every teenage girl dreams of the guy who will make her dreams of a glamourous life a reality, and every grown-up girl dreams of a man who just does those little things he knows will make her life a little more joyful because he wants to see her smile. Jordan has done all those things for me, caught me when I've fallen, turned my life into something new, and finally given me a gratitude for the the little ways he influences my life with joy. It was a little bit like my dreams of being a movie star finally came true February 14th. Finally a leading lady role in a kind of life better than I ever imagined possible. Jordan did such a good job being my Prince Charming (in a really manly kind of way of course) making the day a true life fairy-tale. There was all my most favorite things, a quaint brunch spot with tea, the mansion on fifth ave housing the art gallery I like to visit the most in the city, The Plaza (merci merci), a true princess castle in the Shakespeare Garden, dancing, a yuppie dinner with our favorite view of the city/sunset, roses, chocolates, a breathtaking ring, and a carriage ride down the road where we shared the first "I love you's". I honestly had no idea, surprisingly, and what a wonderful way to be surprised. I think most people who know me well, know my detection skills and could anticipate how hard it might be for Jordan to capture the element of surprise. But like always Jordan came through like the true gentleman he is and turned a fantasy into real life. (excuse all my mushy talk and Jordan bragging... if you could let it slide this one time due to the wonderful weekend I've just had I'd appreciate it)

Cheers to Living In Love... and a summer wedding (08.14.09) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!