so how did you propose, anyway? part 3.

now, at this point it is crucial to explain the actual plan i had devised for this proposal. i had spent several days prior to leaving Austin creating a book of memories. i scanned a whole bunch of photos from our roughly 8 years of dating, and sorted them chronologically by season. there were cute comments, and the thing was designed rather nicely. a deep red cover and thick wood back cover, in which sat a special cut out for the pillow and the ring. i was going to propose down by the seine after a romantic dinner on ile st. louis on the 2nd or 3rd day in paris. you know, have some time to settle in, relax, get used to everything. of course that's not what actually happened...

so when i left you last, dear reader, cindy and i were ready to embark on an evening of exploration and discovery - no this isn't a coming of age film about adolescent lovers, so shut up. we didn't know where anything was, we just decided to walk until we found a cute place that we wanted to eat at. it turned out the we walked just about all the way to the Pompidou Center, but that would really only be of interest to my architecture friends anyway (the pompidou looks way cooler in person than it does in pictures). we found a great little bistro and had our first glass of kir there. kir, my friends is the most wonderful trick ever devised. it's kind of like an alcoholic fruit drink. a little bit of a concentrated alcoholic raspberry syrup plus some chardonney and voila! it's a beautiful cranberry color, and deliciously sweet and refreshing. we had a few. we ate, we drank, we successfully discovered that we were only the second tourist couple in the place, which was reassuring. god forbid we actually look like tourists (and there's really no helping that).

i think we managed to stop by another bar on the way home, where we had some local brew, and gaped in astonishment at the 7 euro price on Budweiser, The Piss of Beers. it was the most expensive one in the place. i know that anything imported goes up in price, but to the point that it was the most expensive!? in the words of my favorite Sicilian, "INCONCEIVABLE!"

but finally, we started making our way back to the hotel. we decided to have one last drink at the bar/cafe across the street - Cafe Marco Polo. we weren't drunk by any means, just enjoying the night. that kir was so good that we wanted one more before bed. so we go in, sit, order, and talk. paris is so great! i related that i didn't expect to like it nearly as much as i already did. i loved that everything was so walkable. yada yada. we move on to the topic of gifts. what gifts are we going to get for our parents? for my sister? for our friends?
"cindy, we're in paris - i need to get you a special gift, too! what should i get for you?"
and in the most off-handed way, she replied "you don't need to get me anything. the best gift you could ever give me would be a ring on my finger."

HOLD THE PHONE! she did not just say that! holy crap! she doesn't realize what she just did! i've got the damn ring in my pocket! this is such a good set up! but, no - it's a bar! it's not romantic! it's the first night! i was going to wait a few more days! i have it all planned! it'll be romantic, and timed! but it'll also be obvious, and this is spontaneous! she'll never expect it now! but what kind of a proposal story would this make?! he proposed in a bar?! that can't be right! but then again, he totally knocked me off my feet, i had no idea it was going to happen! and he had it all planned out for another night, this way was totally spontaneous! SHIT!

i look down at my feet. i look back into her eyes. my heart is pounding. i stand up, turn away a little and dig into the secret pouch. my knees are wobbly. i fumble the ring out of its special pouch, turn around, and say, "Cindy, will you be my wife?"

i don't think we saw each others faces for a solid 10 seconds, b/c between the shock of the question, the answer (which of course was yes - otherwise why would you be here at this site), amd placing the ring on her finger, there was no time left to look at each other and smile. it was the most dumbfounding thing. but when i did see her eyes again, they were crying happily, and we kissed and hugged. i turned around, paid the tab, and we ran across the street to the hotel.

so how did you propose, anyway? part 2.

well, the weeks went by quickly and before you know it we're on our way to paris (drive to Dallas, lunch w/ her parents, fly to JFK, stay the night w/ my parents, fly to paris). there's a whole story about finding a place to live together that fits in at this point, but that is another post entirely (although our new place is friggin amazing - i dare you to tell me your place is better).

so during the previous few months, i had been searching for a ring. it took right up till the week before we left for paris to get the ring, but the wait was worth it and the stone was gorgeous. now, i had never actually seen the ring at all until moments before we left for the airport - my parents had been given the task of finding the specific stone and ring, b/c they gots da connections up deah in NY. i had been agonizing over whether or not the ring would set off the metal detector in the airport, and whether or not my elaborately planned proposal would be ruined, and i would have to propose right there in the airport. of course, that would probably make for a pretty good proposal story, but then we'd have to sit through a 6 hour flight, which is not the most romantic follow up. but luckily the ring, snugly hidden in a secret pouch beneath my clothing, set off no alarms, and we proceeded to the gate.

we were both really excited to be going on this trip, everything was great. i figured getting bumped up to first class would make it even better. cindy did not yet have unflinching faith in my powers to talk it up and get upgrades or better options. sure, i got us the presidential suite for $54 at davi's wedding the summer before. sure, i'd gotten other upgrades as well - but this was a first class 6 hr trans-atlantic flight. it just wasn't going to happen. about 30 minutes later, cindy's faith in my powers was signed, sealed, delivered, as i told her that it was time for us to board.
"but it's not our turn - they're boarding first class now."
"i know, let's go." i said as i handed her a first class boarding ticket while grinning broadly.
"holy shit - you really got it!"

the rest of the flight was fantastic - personal dvd players, reclining chair/beds, champagne, 4 course meals, etc. first class really is the way to go.

we arrived at about 7:30a paris time, and expected to get our bags, take the metro to our hotel, shower, change, and make it to saturday morning services by about 10:30a. riiiiggghhhtt. we got off at the wrong stop and had to wait 40 minutes for the next train going in the opposite direction. when we finally did show up to the hotel, they told us that it wasn't check in time, and that our room would be ready in a little while. uggh. we knew it wasn't check in time yet, but we were hoping they'd still let us in. ok, no problem. we decided to walk around for a bit.

our hotel was near the opera. it's a really nice area to walk around, but we were exhausted. we definitely weren't making it to services. we found a place to eat - of all things - pizza. we didn't care - it was across the street and reasonably priced. i was getting clumsy by this point - i spilled my water and broke a glass of wine. we really needed to get up to the room and take a nap. we went back to the hotel, but they still wouldn't let us in. finally at 3p, the official check-in time, they told us we could finally take our room. for making us wait so long, they upgraded us to the deluxe room. and while the room was nice, it certainly wasn't deluxe. it was fairly small, but we were so tired that we didn't care. we just got into bed and took a nap.

a few hours later, awakened and refreshed, we decided it was time to hit the town in search of dinner...

so how did you propose, anyway? part 1.

that's always the first question after people find out i'm engaged, and it doesn't always sound so good when i say i proposed in a bar. but it was a good proposal - the way it happened was spontaneous and completely unexpected, though the proposal itself was some time in the making.

cindy graduated law school in december and spent several grueling months studying for the bar. we decided to take a really nice trip over spring break to celebrate her taking the bar and being done w/ everything. we talked about going to a lot of places - malta, prague, poland, hungary, mexico. obviously the hell out of dodge. paris was brought up once or twice, but i never really had any affinity for france or french, even though cindy loves both. she studied french for a long time, lived in france for a while, she was really into it. but around mid-january or so, i started veering our plans back toward france. this in itself was somewhat odd, but obviously not so odd that it was perceived by cindy as a noticeably strategic move towards engagement. all of us, though, know that my intentions were to propose in paris.

about 3 weeks before we were set to leave, a bunch of us went out for drinks to celebrate cindy's completion of the bar that afternoon. there were drinks to be had at crown&anchor, el arroyo, and trudy's. not a bad selection when your agenda is to get wasted on good drinks, good atmosphere, good food, or any combination thereof. as we finished the night at trudy's, and started walking to the parking lot, our friend shana walked up front w/ me and let me know that she knew that i was going to propose to cindy in paris.
"oh really?" i asked. "what makes you think i plan on doing that?"
"come on! it's paris for cryin out loud! of course you're going to propose." shana said.
"wow. i really hope she hasn't been expecting this, b/c i'm not planning on proposing yet." i countered. i said it really convincingly, too. shana totally bought my story.

a few days later, cindy was visiting her parents in dallas, and i brought up my little conversation w/ shana when we were talking on the phone.
"you know, shana told me that she knows i'm going to propose in paris. have you guys been talking about this?" i asked her.
"no - i haven't brought this up to anybody, i swear. i mean, of course people bring it up, but it's not like i start it." she replied. now, cindy was not really entirely sure where i stood, as our relationship went through a rocky time in the recent past, and i had been occupying that typically male area of commitment-phobia.
"well, i don't want you to have any dashed hopes, or be disappointed if you're expecting something to happen and it doesn't. of course i'm going to propose, but it's not going to be then." there's no better way to throw someone off the track than to be so brutally forthcoming about your plans that they end up on the verge of tears and very clearly upset. being suave has not always been my strong suit, even though i tried quite hard to put this both firmly and delicately. of course, to anyone on the outside of this situation, you'd immediately peg that dismissal of a paris proposal as a sure bet that it would happen in paris. but you are on the outside, and didn't have your dreams dashed violently against the rocks like a problem child beating a baby seal. i also had always made a big deal about the engagement being spontaneous and romantic - nothing so obvious as a proposal in paris. i mean, come on - who wouldn't see that coming a mile away?

suffice to say, cindy didn't really talk to me too much for a few days after that.

dancing, blisters, & love

last night, cindy & i volunteered to check members into an event for the Austin Symphony BATS (Be At The Symphony - bats are also Austin's adopted nocturnal critters). after spending 30 minutes checking off names and creating name stickers (hi! my name is billy bob!) we were allowed to join the throngs of yuppies (literally - everyone was young, urban, and professional - sometimes that's just the way it is) in drinking wine and shiners while watching belly-dancers rithe on the dance floor. we met a bunch of cool people while waiting in line for the fortune teller, who averaged 30 minutes per fortune - such a long wait that we were not fortunate enough to receive a fortune.

after waiting and drinking for a while, i was convinced by my partner in crime to hit the dance floor - there was a mean rumba that was calling for dancers. and we danced - oh, yes, we danced. we were the only ones doing some serious dancing, though the definition of serious depends on the person. while i thought i was doing some serious dancing, i'm sure everyone else thought i was in serious pain. or seriously causing cindy pain. or seriously in need of dance lessons. either way, i danced till my heel developed a serious blister. i'd say that was, oh, about 10 minutes. the i really was in serious pain. but i sucked it up to go out dancing at another bar afterwards. i didn't complain - no, i was gonna be tough. i was gonna take my baby out dancing b/c she loves to dance. but when we found out there was cover and they didn't accept credit cards, the machisimo ended. i then became a wounded puppy ready to go home.