Fasten your seatbelts kids, this is a good one. (And maybe a little lengthy...)For two weeks in January I was traveling for work. I spent a week in Vegas at CES, came home for a day, and then headed to San Francisco for a week at Macworld. I was a little tired of being on the road and decided to see if I could get my flight home from San Francisco changed from Saturday afternoon to Saturday morning or even Friday night. When I got on the phone with Delta, the people I spoke with obviously didn't speak english as a first language. Aside from the frustration , there was a fee involved in the switch, and then out of nowhere a sudden Saturday morning meeting came up and I had to be there for it. Saturday morning at 9am. After two weeks of straight work. And being on the road. And long hours. I was mad. Really, really mad. Little did I know, it was all part of a big plan.
Despite my frustration with having to stay in San Francisco, there was something very good about the situation because I was in fact, in San Francisco. It's a city that I love and one that brought back all kinds of good memories from my September visit there with Spencer. While we were there one of our favorite spots quickly became Dottie's True Blue Cafe - an adorable diner at 522 Jones Street whose food can only be described by the words huge, homemade, and delicious. We fell in love with the comfy vintage vibe and fantastic food even though we had to wait in line to experience it. Now that I was in San Francisco again, I thought it well to take advantage of its proximity. I ate there alone on Monday, then with a coworker on Friday, and she liked it so much that she suggested that we try to squeeze breakfast in there once more before our nine am meeting on Saturday. I agreed to meet her at 7:30 am in the lobby of our hotel.
That night and the following morning I thought of canceling on her and just sleeping in. But I couldn't get in touch with Spencer that night and some mysterious texts left me wondering if everything was ok for him in Salt Lake. I woke up early and kind of worried and decided to go ahead and meet my coworkers for breakfast. I love walking around big cities in the morning and Dottie's was a mere 15 minute stroll from the Marriott where we were staying. But my coworker suggested we take a cab, and thinking of the potential line we'd face at Dottie's and the fact that we had a meeting in just 90 minutes, I conceded.
When we pulled up to the restaurant we went inside to a crowded waiting area. There seemed to be about three parties ahead of us, but the waiter asked if we were "them." Confused, I asked my coworker if she had called ahead, and she said that she had. We were promptly seated. When we sat down I noticed a Diet Coke sitting on our table with a glass and ice, and thought it was strange that they didn't bus our table before seating us. As my coworkers dismissed themselves to the bathroom, I contemplated drinking the Coke, just because I knew that Spencer would appreciate the fact that I didn't let a Diet Coke go to waste.
I gazed out the window at the city waking up, and looked around at the other tables filling the cozy space. I sat with one leg tucked under, until someone smacked me on the butt to get my attention. Shocked, I turned around and it was Spencer! Double shock! For a moment I thought I had passed out and was dreaming - but it was him! And he was kneeling down next to the table. And he was holding a little box. With the most beautiful ring inside! I threw my arms around him and still in shock to even see him, listened as he asked me to marry him. I immediately said yes, and the rest is history. Except for the fact that I proudly announced our news to every stranger we came across in the next 24 hours. I mean, really. You only get to say "We just got engaged!" to strangers and have it be ok on one day. So I decided to take advantage of it. It was the surprise of a lifetime and I'm so excited to spend the rest of it with Spencer!
Just to connect the dots for everyone out there... the meeting was created by my coworkers to get me to stay in San Francisco. They were in on the whole thing and were worried I would fly home early. And the Diet Coke on the table was actually Spencer's. He had ordered it before he went around the corner out of sight before we came in. The reason I didn't hear from him the night before was because he was either on the plane or in the airport when I called. Spencer picked out my ring by himself, and any girl will agree that he did a fantastic job.
The big day is set for May 16th, 2008. We're both really excited and can't wait to experience all of the things that life has to offer together. Maybe what I wrote in my journal that night sums it up best, "It was a marvelous, fantastic beginning. I can't wait for the rest!"
(Just a note: Spencer proposed inside, not outside. One of the first strangers I told of our engagement took our picture and then told Spencer to kneel down and took this one)
-The Moldy Peaches-
