Today's Friday Flashback is significant enough to encompass the whole weekend.
Twelve years ago on Saturday, February 1st, 1997, Peter and I became engaged.
After a year of sporadic, covert dating while we both lived in Manhattan, and four months of separation when he moved to California, we began the next phase in our courtship with four months of long-distance engagement entailing a lot of phone calls, emails, letters, packages, flowers, books, mixed tapes and visits to each other's coast at least every three weeks or so.
The day we were engaged Peter had flown all night to surprise me in the morning with flowers and some serious plans he had collaborated on with my awesome roommates.
After breakfast in my Chelsea neighborhood, we grabbed a cab uptown to Central Park. We strolled a bit and he steered me toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to a sturdy rock on its eastern side. We sat side-by-side on the rock, and he told me this was one of his favorite spots in the park. He then pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him, of course I said "yes!" with a huge grin.
We asked a passerby to capture our happy moment -our life together begins on a firm foundation.
We then proceed to the museum where we saw an exhibit by Charles
Rennie Mackintosh and grabbed a snack in the cafeteria.
From there we strolled in the park some more,
over to the lake where Pete surprised me again,
this time with a pair of diamond stud earrings.
over to the lake where Pete surprised me again,
this time with a pair of diamond stud earrings.
This area is one of my favorite spots in the park, and the perfect setting foranother photo as darkness falls on Manhattan.
We then headed up out of the park to have dinner at Rain, a Vietnamese restaurant recommended by Carmen after her meticulous research to help make this the perfect day.
Back at our apartment we broke our good news to my roommates and friends, before settling in to watch Seinfeld, and share a piece of strawberry cheesecake.
There are many, many reasons that I loved living in New York City, and have so many wonderful memories from my time there. This one by far tops the long list.
6 comments:
Yay! What a great flashback. Many thoughts:
1. Peter's fur-lined hood is classic.
2. Your eyes and smile make you look a lot like your mom (especially in the rock photo) :)
3. I adore Mackintosh! He's one of my favorite artists of all time... I went to the Mackintosh house in Glasgow and was completely blown away. There he was, a revolutionary contemporary in the late nineteenth century, but with designs, use of light, space, etc. that seem on the brink of something ultra-modern (but still so classic) even today. I could go on and on...
4. I love New York too. What a wonderful memory to have of such a great city!
Look how cute you two are! I loved this. What a great engagement story.
Little did we know octuplets were on the horizon...
I love your romance. And I love these photos. Too bad Feb 13th didn't work out for you... :)
Did Pete give you his mittens? Or vice versa?
Anyway, I'm so glad you said "yes."
How did I miss that you lived in New York too? I knew that Pete did. I guess because I didn't meet either of you until CA. Chris and I were just talking about what we wanted to do on Valentine's Day. I was dreaming of all of the things that we could do if we lived in the City. But, then it was funny, I was talking to our friends who live there now, and they so badly want to live in Utah or another suburban setting--Manhattan is made for the newly engaged, not the family with two small children (well, that's my opinion). But, hey I'd go back in a heart beat!
excellent engagement story and great photos! the only one you're missing is on the staten island ferry where you can't stop smiling and pete is fast asleep, head thrown back!
Heather, I loved learning this about you. How awesome to get engaged in NYC, one of my most favorite I might add. Sweet post.
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