We're about a year out from the big show, so I figured I'd become more active and share our story... in more detail than is maybe necessary:
FI and I met when I was still in high school, and we've been together now for about six-ish years. He's an ecology/conservation student who's been working at a local wildlife care center for a while now, and I just graduated with my BA in English a couple of months ago. I student teach at a high school this Fall, but I've been teaching/tutoring at the college level for about two years.
When he proposed, we were spending a day in Los Angeles hanging out at all of the worth-while spots: Roscoe's Fried Chicken and Waffles, The La Brea Tar Pits, and the Peterson Automotive Museum on the Miracle Mile. It was a beautiful day filled with grease, tar, and syrup.
We went to dinner at the Peninsula: Beverly Hills (local swanky hotel), and enjoyed some beers at Brad Pitt's favorite table at the bar before our reservation. FI says that it wasn't really Brad Pitt's table - the server was just screwing with us - but I know what I heard.
Our dinner was beautiful and quiet, but my first clue that something was up should have been the rose petal heart at the head of our table. When dessert came around, the server presented me with a shapely red brick on a silver platter.
FI had modified the brick into a big fat ring box (fastened by a heart-shaped caribener). He got down on one knee and presented me with the ring inside - my great-grandmother's antique gold/aquamarine masterpiece. I cried, I cupped my hands to my muzzle, I think I nodded, and I pulled him back into the booth with a big ol' bear hug.
I think people clapped, but I can't be sure. I was crying a lot.
Dessert was awesome.
The brick thing is an inside joke that I'm sure confused the wait staff and the fancy people who were enjoying their meals around us. I can't wait to keep it as the focal point of our mantle for years to come.
Here it is, if the curiosity is killing you: