First and foremost, let’s just say that I am one lucky gal! I’ve got an amazing fiancé..yup, fiancé and I have an amazing family!
What better way to spend a weekend than with them?!?
Before jumping the gun on the proposal…let’s lead up to it…it makes for that much better of a story!
So…I had wanted to go to NYC for my birthday for a while, but never really acted on it. Once I heard that Dave and Natalie were going to be in town, Ryan solidified plans for us to spend the weekend in town as well.
Ryan and I landed in NY Friday afternoon and headed over to Michelle’s to drop off our stuff and then met up with her at
Aldea for dinner. Besides getting to eat dinner with great company (Ryan and Michelle), we also got to go into the kitchen and all meet Chef George Mendes.
Dinner consisted of:
Sea Urchin Toast, Portuguese Sardine on Brioche Toast, Cured Foie Gras;
Shrimp Alhinho, Spanish Octopus a la Plancha;
Hanger Steak, Diver Scallops, Arroz de Pato;
and some birthday desserts!
Next Up: We high tailed it up to the Theater District to catch Anything Goes!
Great show, even if it was full of understudies…jk
Dave and Natalie happened to be down the street catching The Lion King, so we met up and grabbed some food at a diner employed with Broadway hopefuls…more singing for the night!
Saturday morning, Ryan headed off to Starbucks to read while I caught up with Michelle and got ready. Mich had brunch plans so she was off while I met up with Ryan for some NYC bagels and some shopping before heading to Central Park.
Making it over Central Park, we walked around and toyed with the idea of renting a boat. Too bad there are protesters chanting for people to boycott the boathouse. OK, so boating in Central Park was out. We then continue to walked around…and around. Ryan seemed to be on edge. But oh well. I just continue to walk along.
Ryan was so insistent on walking around the park! It’s not like we’ve never walked around Central Park before! We make our way over to some rocks by the lake and settle ourselves up on top and do some people watching.
We’re chatting along and next thing I know, Ryan is in front of me with some cracker jacks and then...a ring box and I’m being proposed to!
We don’t have any real pictures of the actual event, but some staged ones work just fine for me! (Especially the one that starts off this blog entry!) Don’t mind me in my jeans, tshirt, and fleece. Ryan tried (covertly!!!) to have me dress nicer that morning, but I just wasn’t having any of it!
So now you might be asking…What does a brand new happily engaged couple do next in NYC to celebrate?
Shake Shack, of course!!!
Then it was off to our next NYC adventure which was another surprise to me - a helicopter ride over downtown Manhattan! We even flew over Central Park.
And then as if there weren’t enough surprises in one day…there was still room for ONE more <3
Ryan arranged a surprise celebration dinner at
Buddakan. I knew
something was up, but he just wouldn’t spill *ALL* of the beans. We walk downstairs, I turn the corner and then see…
How unexplainably a.ma.zing to see my family and Ryan’s family all there to celebrate this with us!
How even MORE amazing to me was how everyone, especially my family, kept it all a secret from me! I had even just spent an entire weekend with my family in FL and not a one of them slipped up. And they had all been in NY since the NIGHT BEFORE. (Sorry Dah Jeh Jeh couldn't make it...you were missed though!!!) I was wondering why no one was calling me that weekend...or why Ryan kept telling me to call them later on! Dave and Natalie didn't say anything the night before either. And Katie even told me she had to stay in Boston that weekend because of work. Well done families. Impressive...just impressive.
That’s really the word that summed up the weekend for me. I was and am so impressed with Ryan. He pulled off an unbelievable weekend. Amazing proposal. Amazing ring. Amazing dinner. Amazing families. Amazing Ryan <3
I couldn't have asked for a better proposal...or fiancé!
