ok, so b/c of the stupid flu-type thing i had earlier this week, i couldn’t post an entry for our one-year engagement anniversary. i wrote a cute blurb, gosh, probably over the summer, for our wedding website (c/o theknot.com) recounting the “event,” if you will.
nyc was a winter wonderland when we got engaged. it was just amazing. the cold weather, red starbucks cups (love those!), jingly holiday music and twinkling lights that have suddenly popped up everywhere bring it all back. to all of my friends who have already read this, ummm, read it again? or skip it? to everyone else, enjoy! i still crack up every time i read it.
WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED
December 1, 2007
HOW IT HAPPENED
Although Holly tried to hide it, Jessica knew it was coming. The couple planned a weekend trip to Manhattan, and Holly was obsessing over finding the perfect horse & carriage ride (or, as Holly says in her charming Pittsburghese, “horse ‘n buggy” ride) around Central Park. Jessica was suspicious, but—for once!—said nothing.
They made the brisk, blustery walk from their hotel that Saturday night, past the glowing Christmas store windows on Park Avenue, past the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, weaving in between shoppers and reveling at the sparking city all around them. They chose a horse & carriage with a friendly Irish driver who absolutely insisted on pointing out cinematic landmarks as the two of them shivered under a blanket Holly placed on their laps.
“That was where Kevin saw the ‘Pigeon Lady’ in Home Alone 2,” he chirped.
Jessica felt Holly’s nerves. She got nervous, too.
“That’s the ice skating rink from Serendipity!” he said.
Oh my gosh, man! Jessica thought. Shuddup!
Holly told Jessica to stand up, turn around and take a picture of the shimmering skyline peeping out above the trees. When she sat back down, Holly retrieved a glass gift box from under the blanket filled with shiny red ribbons and a little blue box. Holly lifted the tiny box, opened it, took out the ring and, in a near-whisper, said, “I was wondering, if you’re not doing anything for the rest of your life, maybe you’d like to spend it with me?” She slipped a sparkling diamond ring on Jessica’s finger, and Jessica became, as the good Linda Richman of Saturday Night Live might say, a little vaklempt. “Yes,” she stammered, smiling. “I was so nervous for you!” They both collapsed into laughter, moments away from the end of the ride—and completely freezing. The Irish driver remained clueless, and took a photo of the two before they stepped off the carriage. (We’d post that photo here, but we both look like a couple deer in headlights.)
They walked back to their hotel hand in hand, with Holly reminding Jessica at every intersection to “Please stop staring at your ring, honey, or else you’re going to get hit by a car.” They ducked into the nearby Trump Tower so Jessica could revel in the sparkliness of her new ring under its bright lobby lights, but were promptly kicked out as it prepared to shut down for the night. Unphased–but a little cold–the girls returned to their hotel, both a lot less nervous and ready to start planning the bash of a lifetime.
lunch at 11:30 