Date of event

Friday, September 24, 2010

How we got engaged

After blowing off plans I had to visit my mother Friday night, September 24, 2010, because Steve had a hankering for calamari, we headed to Shoreline village near downtown Long Beach.  When Steve mentioned calamari that night I was getting ready, it didn’t occur to me that we may have been going to Parker’s Lighthouse http://www.parkerslighthouse.com/, where we once had a lovely pre-Christmas dinner that was prefaced with an amazing plate of fresh calamari. We had from that moment forward, deemed Parker’s our “Special Occasion” restaurant.

Steve had made reservation through Open Table and regardless, we still were not seated as scheduled. However, Jacqi, a friend and server at Parker’s made the wait shorter and even treated us to a delish Creme Brulee at the end of our meal, not to mention that they comped the sampler tray! Overall a great start to a evening that would turn out to be an unforgettable moment in both our lives.

After a wonderful dinner and a lovely view of the harbor, Steve and I took a stroll along the boardwalk, I’m sure he was looking for the perfect moment to pop the question, now that I think back to it.  Shoreline village was full of patrons walking, stolling on their bikes and shopping that  night, and as we often do, I suggested that we play a few rounds of skeeball and maybe Big Buck Hunter (our top 2 favorite arcade games) before heading home. After frolicking around and competing, Steve lead me out onto the bike path that overlooked the Long Beach Harbor and the beautifully lit Queen Mary. We sat down at a bench and he started asking me about the evening, if I had fun, what I thought of the dinner and wine, etc…He also added, ” You know why we dined at Parker’s tonite?  He continuted, “It is our special occasion place. Do you know what special occasion that would be?”

Of course, at this point I realized that this was the MOMENT, this was the PROPOSAL! He got down on one knee, and all I remember repeating aloud was, “Are you serious? Are you serious? You’re joking right?” And he began, as he reached down to his right trouser sock and pulled out a red ring box and opened it, as  he stumbled over his proposal, ” You know we’ve been together for 2 and a half weeks, months, years…” It wasn’t coming out right, but I knew exactly what he wanted to say. He continued, “Everyday has been amazing and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will do me the honor and be my wife?” (Now I could have mixed up the words, not used them verbatim, but you get the idea) And of course, with tears in my eyes, and a big smile on my face, I responded “Yes!” And soon after, he asked, “You wanna go show your mom?” He’s always so considerate, and never ceases to amaze me with his kind heart.

The next night we went to see Band of Horses at the Greek Theater, here in L.A.

At the Greek Theater

Amazing show, amazing weekend.