We're Engaged!

Happy Friday, all! I saved the biggest news and favorite from our trip for today.

If you follow me on Instagram (or already guessed based on my Paris recaps), you already know...

WE'RE ENGAGED!

I can hardly believe it. It's been an overwhelmingly wonderful, weird, scary, and surreal week. I feel like I've experienced every emotion possible but have ultimately come out the other side feeling extraordinarily blessed and excited.

And now, allow me to indulge myself by posting 87 photos of my ring (which is quite literally the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life).

We had reservations at Cafe de l'Homme which is a restaurant off the plaza in front of the Eiffel Tower (I was sitting at our table when I took the above picture of my hand and ring which gives you an indication of how incredibly lovely our view was).

We had a lovely meal and were about to get the check when Sammy had to "go to the bathroom" for the 90th time (he had repeatedly gotten up throughout lunch to go talk to people inside who had been helping him with the proposal haha) but came back only 30 seconds later. 

He sat back down and went into his prepared speech which was incredibly sweet. He talked about how we're just two kids from Longfellow (the elementary school where we met) who fell in love and found themselves in Paris and went on to some other very lovely things and then he came around to my side of the table...

As a note: Sammy is endlessly pissed this chair was in the way hahaha.

I was so overwhelmed I feel like I didn't react the way I always imagined I would (emotions are weird, man), so I'm glad I'm smiling in at least one of these candid shots! Haha. But it was so sweet and obviously incredibly romantic, and it was fun being around strangers who were so happy and excited for us--look at that woman's face next to me!

The restaurant was incredibly accommodating and helpful, and various waiters kept coming up to me asking to see the ring and congratulate us.

It turns out, our plans to meet Sammy's cousin was planned because he was helping with the proposal. Since he speaks French, he called the restaurant and helped Sammy communicate the plan to them. He was also supposed to take pictures of the entire thing, but there was a communication error and Sammy thought he hadn't arrived even though he really had--classic--which is when a waiter volunteered to record the whole thing.

We got to hang out with Dario a bit afterward though when he took some pictures of us on the plaza. 

We spent the rest of the day getting lost and just wandering the city. We left the plaza and took our first selfie as an engaged couple ;)

We walked along the Seine and called our family. I loved this moment so much. I remember being downtown a few years ago on one of our Christmas trips and we saw three proposals happen at Millennium Park. We had walked around for an hour or so and circled back to where one of them happened, and we saw the couple had moved to a bench and were sitting together, so giddy and happy, holding a phone between them, talking to their loved ones. 

I remember thinking how sweet those moments must have been for them and how badly I wanted to have the same experience. And we did just that, sitting on the banks of the Seine. I was so glad we were able to experience our engagement as just the two of us, and then get to share our news as the two of us on our time.

We were on the phone with one of our parents when I took this hehe

We spent the rest of the day getting lost, walking throughout the city, and simply enjoying each other. We got so many calls and texts from loved ones who knew (although we hadn't shared on social media until we got home and I was able to tell my grandma in person #priorities haha) which were so fun to receive throughout the day. Meanwhile, I took pictures of my ring next to every building, landscape, and soda bottle. See?...

I like Coke, what can I say?

For dinner, we decided to try our luck at getting a table at the cafe that faces the Eiffel Tower, and even though it was packed, Sammy's laser eyes spotted an empty table on the side, so we snagged it.

Sammy had gone inside to go to the bathroom toward the end of our meal, and I sat outside by myself completely stunned at how life has changed in the three short years since I was last in Paris. I can't even imagine how different life will be the next time I'm there.

We walked back over to the Eiffel Tower, found a bench, and waited for my favorite lady to sparkle.

We are beyond thrilled (albeit still a little overwhelmed haha) and are excited to enjoy this time in our lives, especially as the holidays approach (!!). While we certainly haven't started any planning by any means, I think we're leaning toward a fall 2020 wedding which means we'll have a nice long two-year engagement.

Sammy told me that he conversed with several family members, my very best girlfriend, and two of his cousins who live in Paris to get their opinions on locations and on the ring (even though its basically a carbon copy of the picture I've showed him haha). He watched Paris proposals for over a month and read up on the Eiffel Tower (which explains the random facts he kept spurting out at every turn).

Right after he asked, I asked him who knew about this and, of course, he had told everyone haha. But he started out only mentioning his own family and our friends, so I asked about my family. He told me my parents have known since early this year because he took them out to brunch to get their blessing. I asked about my siblings and he said he asked both of them as well, which literally makes me tear up every time I think about it. The effort he made to make my dream come true is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to him for it.

It's not lost on me how romantic and special these moments were, and I will certainly remember them for the rest of my life.

Happy Friday, all! I can't wait to document this engagement/wedding process here. I hope you'll follow along :)

xo


*linking up with Andrea!