Engagement Party/Parent Meeting

Ed's father became a naturalized citizen on Friday morning. Ed had told me that we would be hosting a party in celebration of his citizenship on Sunday afternoon. So I was prepared for a small shin-dig at our house. However, after the proposal, Ed informed me that the Citizenship Party was actually an Engagement Party for our parents to be able to meet each other. I think that the idea to spring it on me with little notice was a fabulous one, because it was much like the ripping off of a band-aid. If I had been given more time to think about it, I may have worried more than was necessary. My mom had already met Ed's mom about 2 years ago at Thanksgiving at my mom's house, but the dads hadn't met yet. Oh, and another small detail: my mom hadn't met Dad's wife yet either. I had always figured that they would meet at an event for my brother, who has been engaged for over a year now and will be getting married on January 24th. So I was anxious to see how that would play out.

Other than the parents, the other guests included Ed's two brothers, Ron and Lesley, his sister-in-law, Kate, and my brother, Beau, who was a late add-in. My sister and her husband couldn't make it because they were spending the weekend driving from Toronto to New York and doing some sight-seeing. Sasha, our 2 year old Siberian Husky was invited too, but we were nervous because every time she had been around this group before she acted extra hyper, so we kept her in her apartment (which is just the laundry room which is separated from the kitchen by a wrought iron gate.) We served Subway (eat fresh!) sandwiches, chips and dip, and cookies (and I had a veggie tray that was accidentally left in the fridge.)

The festivities started a little early: Ron had spent the night at our house and Lesley and Kate showed up around 11:30. My mom had met me at CVS to print some pictures and we arrived right after Lesley and Kate and at the same time as Beau. Mom brought out the album of pictures she had taken on Friday night and we all sat around chatting. Ed's mom showed up around noon and before long my dad, Marcia (his wife), and Mr. K showed up and we all ate and looked at pictures and talked about sports (Favre's decision to come out of retirement), the housing market (all the foreclosures due to sub-prime lending), moving (more specifically: me moving to Austin) and various other topics. My mom and Marcia started up a conversation and surprisingly got along A-OK.

Before long someone suggested that it was picture time and we took every possible picture combination: the parents, the siblings, the boys, my parents, Ed's parents, everyone. It felt like wedding day photography, albeit on a smaller scale.

Lesley and Kate were the first to leave. Then my mom, my dad, and Marcia. Soon the topic of wedding preparations came up and Ed expressed to his parents our desire for a small laid-back wedding. He laid out a few ground rules and everyone was able to come to an understanding. Finally, it was time to take Ron to the airport so everyone else headed in separate directions. It's always great to have family around, but the peace and quiet after an event like that is much appreciated.

*Everyone got along well at the day's event. I don't think any new best-friendships were formed, but I think it was a sign of smooth-sailing between the parental side of things for the future. I do think that the best chances of new friendships being formed out of our union is definitely between my brother and Ed's brothers. Of course, Beau and Ed are such good friends that it's only natural that he get along with his brothers. And the best-behaved award for the day goes to Sasha. She didn't make a peep the whole afternoon and enjoyed the festivities from behind her gate. She was so good that she earned a couple of extra treats for the evening.

The Engagement

For Christmas last year Ed gave me a package with photos of 4 different upscale restaurants in the Houston and Austin areas. Each photo represented the location for a date-night to be spread throughout the year. We have already visited Mark's in Houston and Jasper's in Austin. Ed made reservations for our 3rd date for July 25th (7/25 - which is a significant number: his jersey number in high school and college was 25 and 2+5=7) at Spindletop on top of the Hyatt in downtown Houston. That morning we had attended his Father's Citizenship Ceremony (congrats Mr. K!) and then I had gone to work. When I got home from work Ed seemed to be acting strange, but I didn't think much of it.

At 7:20 we left the house and headed for the restaurant. Inside, we marveled at the great view of the city and talked about how we wouldn't be in Houston as much once I moved to Austin in September. It made us a little sad and a little nostalgic. But then as our appetizers arrived (tomato bisque for me and crawfish cassoulet for Ed) our conversation turned toward the future, which wasn't a new conversation for us, and definitely brought the mood back up. As we spun high above downtown Houston and downed two bottles of Clean Slate Riesling while talking about kids, business, life in Austin, and where we've come from and where we're going, life seemed to be perfect. And then Ed gasped and said, "I think he's proposing." I turned around to see a guy two tables away down on one knee asking a pretty young blonde to spend the rest of her life with him. Once she accepted his proposal, they shared a very sweet kiss. The waitstaff clapped quietly and Ed and I joined in. Once he got up off his knee we congratulated them and everyone returned to their dinner. I told Ed that I had never actually witnessed a proposal before (unless you count the jumbo-tron at a sporting event - which I do not.) And as I turned back to my plate of Rainbow Stucci Pasta (with artichoke hearts and portobellini mushrooms - sorry, I don't want to forget any details!) I thought to myself, "Wow, he got down on one knee at a romantic dinner and proposed to that girl. They looked so happy. That was so.... anti-climactic." Although it was interesting to watch, I was glad that it wasn't me. I mean, come on... how many people have been proposed to at Spindletop, with the great city of Houston spinning around outside the window? I'm a fan of something with a little more meaning... a little more panache. Ed reached across the table with a bite of his pan roasted black bass (details again) on his fork to give me a taste. It was divine.

We ordered dessert (Martini White Chocolate Cheesecake - with Amaretto Liquor and a forest berry topping - and a Black and Gold Coffee (those of you familiar with St Agnes and/or Wake Forest's team colors will appreciate the symbolism) and then waited for our check. Lois, our waitress, had been fabulous all night until it came time to pay her. Ed had told her that we were in no hurry, and I guess she assumed that meant we wanted them to bring up cots for us to spend the night. While we waited for Lois, I calculated that each turn around the restaurant took about 1 hour. We had started out facing North (as evidenced by the decal on the window) and had come back around to it twice and then some. After we paid Lois and Ed left her a very generous tip (I figured he must have been in a good mood) we found our way to the elevator doors. As we waited for the elevator, Ed initiated some PDA, which made me believe that he was either in a really good mood, or had had too much wine, because PDA is not a typical Ed behavior.

Ed had told me that we would be heading to the Strake/St. Agnes campus to drink wine under the stars and toast goodbye to Houston. (Background for anyone who doesn't already know this: Ed went to Strake Jesuit for high school, and I went to St. Agnes. The all-boys and all-girls campuses are next door to each other and are divided by a very thin median. This is where Ed and I met for the first time.) We parked in Strake's parking lot, got out our blanket and our wine and wine glasses and started walking down the median toward the football field. As we walked we marveled over how much the two schools had changed since our time there. We looked at the new additions to both schools and at all of the construction going on in Strake's parking lot. Ed started talking about how our relationship had begun here and that as these schools were growing and changing, so too was our relationship (or some mumbo-jumbo like that). And then without any warning he dropped the blanket on the ground and got down on one knee. I looked at him like he was crazy and honestly thought he was joking. (Thanks to a similar attempt at humor during our recent trip to Vegas.) He fumbled around with a small white box and finally removed from it a small black box. When he opened the black box I saw a beautiful ring sparkling back at me. I think he asked me if I would marry him, but I just stood there like a dummy with my mouth wide open. I finally came to and said yes and he put the ring on my finger and stood up and we kissed.

Just as I was understanding the reality of the situation, I heard people running through the parking lot screaming, "Papparazzi, papparazzi!! Look this way! Smile for the camera!" I ignored them at first and kept kissing my fiancé but when I peeked up to look who it was I saw Ed's two brothers, Ron and Lesley, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kate, Lesley's wife. I let them take pictures of us kissing in the Strake/St. Agnes parking lot and then turned around to look at them. All of a sudden I noticed another face I hadn't seen initially.... It was my Mom! They took what felt like 100 pictures and then broke out a bottle of champagne. My mom had even packed it on ice! (Which was good because apparently they had been waiting almost an hour for us to show up. Thanks, Lois.) Then Mom gave me my first gift - a pair of Waterford Crystal toasting glasses that are exactly the same as the ones she gave my sister and her husband 4 years ago when they got married. We all toasted to a long future together and drank up. I showed off my ring, which I LOVE! The center stone was passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me. It is a 1 carat pear shaped diamond that was originally on a thick gold band that was way too small for me. Ed had the stone reset on a platinum band and flanked by two smaller round diamonds. It's beautiful!

After a while, it started getting hot outside, so we headed to House of Pies and had coffee, hot chocolate, and pie. We all chatted for a while and then went our separate ways. That night, I think I kept a smile on my face while I was sleeping. Ed did a great job of keeping a secret, having a great build-up for the evening, and chose the perfect location for the right amount of sentimentality. He even made it even more perfect by having a private moment in which to propose, but then having family around to celebrate IMMEDIATLY afterwards. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. Let's hope it's smooth sailing like this all the way through the wedding! :-)