Betrothed

So remember when I was talking about those exciting changes for 2011? Well, this is one of them.

January 14, 2011, Ryan Smith asked for my hand in marriage. That's after, of course, he drove to my dad's that morning and asked for his blessing. :-)

So everyone wants to know the story of how he did it. Here it is with half the details you probably don't care about:
Earlier in the week I asked him if we could have a date night Friday - worked out for him. I wanted to try this restaurant my mom did a blog post about for @chefhermansfood.  It's called Zingaro 515 and it's in the Sheuerman House on Woodland Ave. in Sherman Hills. We picked up a bottle of wine beforehand, since it's BYOB, and had an amazing meal! We had salad/soup, trout, a cheese flight and dessert. At one point, Ryan closed his eyes to have a moment alone with the cheese. It was an exceptional dinner and not just because of the meal. We had a great time together as always.

Meanwhile, in the piano parlor a Drake student named Anna was playing the piano. It really added to the atmosphere that included candlelight in a Queen Anne style house. Ryan got up to go to the bathroom a few times, once to put the ring in his pocket. Then, I got in line for the bathroom and ended up chatting with the pianist Anna. I got her story, of course, being a former journalist.

I told Ryan about talking to her so he said, "I want to go see the pianist." We went into the piano parlor and I put my purse on the floor and said, "I want to dance." We hugged and kissed and I could tell Ryan was anxious or nervous... I just wanted to dance. :-) I said, "Thank you for such a wonderful night," and he replied with. "Well, there's one more thing."

He got on one knee and said, "Niki. Will you marry me?" I said yes through tears and he apparently didn't hear because he stood up and said, "Sooo.... is that a yes?"

The pianist finished her song, "All or Nothing At All" by Frank Sinatra and gave me a hug. She told us she was happy to have shared that moment with us. We were too.

It was the perfect place for us to get engaged that really created a unique moment which I keep replaying in my head over and over. This won't turn into a wedding blog, but I'll share interesting things I encounter or find along the way for sure. I'm just glad no one else found out what a catch I had. I can't wait to be his wife!

Our more successful picture of us outside Zingaro. You can sort of see the house behind us:

Here is our hilarious first attempt at a picture of us outside Zingaro:

AND, the RING!