It was our 3 year anniversary.

I was sipping my morning coffee and Dave comes into the living room and tells me to pack a bag.  I offered about a million guesses as to where we were going, all of which were wrong.  First, we had a delicious brunch at Ted’s Bulletin in DC.   Then we drove up to the Madison Hotel, a very elegant luxury hotel that is just my style!  We entered our room and it was a gorgeous suite!  I’d never stayed in a suite before.  It even had a balcony with a small seating area! This was wonderful, such a fabulous surprise!

Next, Dave offered me 3 options of what we could do next. 1) Museums 2) Shopping in Georgetown or 3) Staying in.  Now, although I love museums and loved the suite, I chose option 2…shopping!  We found a great little spot for lunch where we had lobster rolls!  It was a beautiful afternoon walking and shopping around Georgetown, something I unfortunately don’t often have the time to do.

We went back to our suite and Dave had arranged yet another surprise.  He took me to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Il Tiramasu, where we ate when we first saw each other again 3 years prior.  As usual, the meal and wine were superb.  We hopped in a cab and were off to our next destination.  To my surprise, it was a salsa club, Havana Central, ”woohoo!”  This was a fabulous anniversary!  We danced and danced and then went off to another location, El Centro, where we kept on dancing.  Finally, we were tired (we’re not used to dancing this much anymore hahaha) and headed back to enjoy our suite.

To my amazement, there were champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and candles on our balcony!   Wow, I thought, Dave’s really gone out of his way to make this anniversary special.  So, I slipped on my cozy hotel slippers and stepped out onto the balcony.  Dave approached me and started telling me how much he loved me.  I was pretty wired from all the evening’s excitement so I interrupted him about 2-3 times to express how much I loved him and was having such a great time tonight.  But, Dave wasn’t interested in what I was saying and said “Stop talking.  I’m trying to tell you something!”  So, I stopped.  Dave proceeded to tell me how grateful he was to have found me again and expressed how his life had changed since I came back into his life.  The next thing he said was:  Tizi (his nickname for me in Spain) I lost you once several years ago and I never want to lose you again.  Will you marry me?“

Dave was on one knee, and here it was, the moment I’d been waiting for my entire life!  I burst out into tears and said yes, yes, yes!!!!!  I cried like a baby.  I was so elated.  Words could not describe the happiness I felt in my heart.  Then when I saw the ring Dave was putting on my finger, I was again surprised!  It was THE RING!  The vintage 1920’s ring I had been looking at online for almost a year when we first starting talking about marriage.  And, it fit perfectly!!!  I could not believe that Dave was able to get the ring I’d always dreamed of.

We popped the champagne and announced our engagement on Facebook immediately.   I was still crying.  I’ve never cried this much before in my life.  I couldn’t contain my emotions, I was completely overjoyed.  That day the dream Dave and I each had about finally being together had come true.  Never again would we be apart, we would be united in love for all of eternity!