Saturday, April 13th was a pretty busy day for me. We had a Boxer meetup in the morning, then I was to drive up to Oceanside for an event, and then I was to race home to get ready for a fancy dinner with Bob & Betty in Del Mar.
Boxer meetup and one very tired Sophie puppy - CHECK!
Oceanside event, which ran a little late - CHECK!
I found out dinner with Bob & Betty wasn't going to be until 7:30, so I had time to relax a little before getting ready for dinner. Well, Matthew had something else up his sleeve for dinner...and his groupies were all in on it!
He'd made some odd comments earlier in the day to make me wonder "if" - but I kept dismissing it thinking, he wouldn't do it while we're at dinner with Bob & Betty...RIGHT??!! The plan (as I knew it) was to meet at their house, and then we'd drive up together to Del Mar, which I thought was kinda strange, but oh well. No matter what, I always believed we were having dinner with B&B that night...
After getting dressed up for our "fancy dinner with fine friends," we gave the tired puppy a bully stick and headed to the beach in Kitty. When we arrived at their house, neither of their cars were there, the house was dark, and I noticed there were NO cars parked anywhere near their house. So then I started thinking along the lines of a surprise party...until Josh walked out all dressed up.
Josh walked around to my side of the car, opened my door and said, "Valet, sir?" To which Matthew replied, "Uh, sure!" Josh helped me out of the car while Matthew got out...then Josh got in the car to "valet park" it. Matthew, being a VERY good actor, wanted to "see where he parks it" so we watched as Josh backed the car out of the driveway, stalled it (oops) and pulled the car back into the driveway. Hah!
At this point, we turned towards the front of the house, and as we walked into the outside entryway, I saw Marc dressed in a TUXEDO standing behind a podium right by the front door. When I saw this scenario, it hit me - this is THE night! After I laughed out loud, I began to relax and just soak it all in, enjoying every special moment that was to come.
We walked up to Marc, and he said "Good evening, do you have a reservation?"
"Ah, yes. I made it 7 years ago," Matthew replied.
"Okay, let me check my book," said our Maitre de. He looked in his book (yup, he had a book!) and said "Ah yes, here you are. My name is Carc and I am your host for this evening. Right this way please," and he escorted us to the door.
We walked a breathtaking candlelit, rose petal-covered pathway leading to the backyard. As we walked along the path, out popped someone (Casie) with a camera! LOL
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| Our own private Agape |
It was absolutely enchanting! And very romantic...
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| Seaside Private Dinner for Two |
As we sipped champagne (Gloria Ferrer 1996 "purple" label!) before our appetizer was served, Bob & Betty's cat (a large Maine Coon) came walking along the railing where candles were glowing. Matthew & I froze as we waited for the cat to set himself ablaze, ready to grab him and throw him into the pond if necessary...and the cat simply walked over the candles, putting two or three of them out before going on his merry way...
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| Can you see the candles that the cat put out? |
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| Giseppe (our waiter) and Carc (our Host) |
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| Matthew can see what's coming next... |
"Here are your dessert selections for this evening. You may select two." I think my eyes bugged out at that comment about selecting two. I thought to myself, Are you crazy! I'm way too stuffed to even eat one of those! (Pause) And then I saw it...a nice square "wooden" box sitting in the middle of the 4 desserts. (Light bulb!)
"Okay, I'll just take these two closest to me," I joked.
Carc cleared his throat and said, "Please select two of the FIVE."
So I said, "Can you please describe each of them to me?" (Hee hee)
His reply was the (second) best line of the night: In a serious deadpan tone he said, "I have no idea what any of these things are...and they're getting a bit heavy."
So I took the box and one of the desserts, Matthew selected a dessert, and our host quickly disappeared.
"Go ahead and open the box," Matthew said with a grin.
[Note: the previous week, he had shared with me that he got the ring, which we both picked out, and he had said that it looked even better than we thought it would (we selected the setting and stone separately from the same jeweler).]
I opened the box and it was like unveiling the sun from behind one of those thick dark curtains in a hotel room!
"WOW!" I said, "You were right!" At this point, Matthew came over to where I was sitting, got down on one knee and lovingly asked me to marry him. (Of course, I said "Yes!") As we shared a tender kiss, tears of joy streamed down my face. A dream realized...at the very place where we first met.
We shared a moment alone and as we started to sit down, our "restaurant crew" came out for a champagne toast. Then we went inside the house to eat our dessert, and more people (more groupies - mine and his) started showing up! Oh, and Bob & Betty FINALLY showed up for our "dinner reservations" ;)
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| Our Host showing inspecting "The Ring" before Dessert |
It was an unforgettable evening filled with so much love and laughter and FUN! Matthew & I hope to share a similar experience on our Wedding Day - full of love, laughter and FUN for us and all who attend.
FYI, today just happens to be our 7th anniversary - we call it "Five Bibles Night" because it all started in Matthew's living room 7 years ago today, when we stayed up all night and welcomed the sun with 5 Bibles between us...
