The color of infinity inside an empty glass

Well, folks, it was quite a day! :)

Yesterday was a very special day. Of course it was my birthday, but it was also the day that I planned on asking my beautiful girlfriend to marry me. :)

I had the idea a while ago, as silly as it sounded, of.. having a Hobbit Birthday.. of giving the Precious Ring to her on MY birthday ;)
Yes, folks, I am THAT big of a dork! ;)

So... we made plans for my birthday. Kristen's present to me was a Capitol Steps show, a comedy troupe who do a weekly musical comics tore about today's politics. And we made plans to go out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, a place called The Aria :)

So.. the plan WAS to take her out to dinner, somewhere in dinner, drop to a knee, say a few words, and propose, and then enjoy a show :) That was THE PLAN..

Now, then, this is how it REALLY HAPPENED. :D

First, I'm supposed to meet her in LaFayette Park, so we can walk to The Aria. I meet her there (after some frustrations about figuring out where she's supposed to be), and we head on down towards The Aria. Now, since we both have planned on going out, she's all dolled out, nice dress, jewelry, makeup, etc... so I look at her bracelet and see the design. I ask "Oh, is that anitque scrolling" and she starts to giggle!
"What?" I asks, knowing I'm found. "Nothing." she says. "Come on, tell me." I say. "Can I tell you later?" she asks. No. I know I'm found, but I want to hear her say it.. so I press and she finally admits she started to think a couple days ago that I was going to give her her Engagement Ring today. Just a feeling she'd had. DAMMIT!
Your attempt has failed: Abort? Retry? Continue? Feh, I'll continue with plans.
I laugh "Oh, what a way to take away from my birthday" I say "Yeah, I'm going to give you the ring today and have someone else be the center of attention. Hellooo.. you're dating a LEO! Seriously!" And.. she believed me! SUCKER!

We head to The Aria, while we talk about work and C-C and stuff, and stop in "The Shops" which was a still-under-construction place near work she wondered about.

Got to the Aria, figured out how to get in, and sat down. The restaurant, from what little we saw of it, was nice. Kinda fancy and romantic. The service wasn't great, though, and the food was too spicy for K. But.. it was different. We'd never been there before and I WANTED someplace special. K admits she'd be willing to give it another try, but it doesn't have the staying power of a restaurant we really LIKED, ya know?

The meal's going and I'm having total stage fright. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.. i gotta do this! I'm gonna fuck up! I can't do this! I'm unscripted! AIIEEEEEEEE!!! I step into the bathroom, unhide the ring from it's hiding place, tucked into the recesses of one of my pockets, and come out, waiting for the big moment.

And.. she doesn't notice any of this. The food's too spicy, she's too cold, and she's probably dehydrated. Finally, though, dinner's done and the check's arrived. She signs the bill, gives it to the waitress... and I'm in front of her down on my knees.
Yes, folks, I totally FAIL at going down to one knee.

I start by saying "Kristen, I never COULD keep a secret from you. We've been together for three years, some good, some bad. We've been through arguments and joy. And now is the time to ask.. would you marry me?"

Kristen, meanwhile, looks TOTALLY surprised. She got so caught up in the here and now, she totally forgot/lost track of the thought I might ask her to marry her tonight... finally she starts giggling and says "Okay. *pause*, Yes!" and hugs me tight.
I had SURPRISED HER! I hadn't been capable of being secretive and sneaky enough, and apparently by simply acting a little more snuggly than usual, she knew something was up, but in the end I surprised her.
And then the grin sort of pasted on her face and she was giggling through the rest of the night.

From there, we went to the Capitol Steps show.. and loved it! Mind you, we were both in great moods already, but the show had both genuinely funny moments and OMGWTFBBQ moments (*In a sketch about AIrport Security* "Your Baby's Wet." "I'll change it." "No time for that. Huge Line Behind You. *tosses the baby over his shoulder*' Audience: OMGWTF!AHAHAHAHA!!!). During intermission, I got 3 CDs for me (for the very reasonable price of $30) and Kristen got me their Book, Sixteen Scandals. Saw the rest of the show and then paused, after the show, to get it signed. Yay, Book signed by Captiol Steps! :D

And then, after the show, we called our respective parents. Mom had already half-suspected (she's been bugging me every day since I got the Ring "Are you engaged yet?!?!") and I left a message with Dad. Meanwhile, Kristen's parents were both very excited and very.. verbose.

And so, folks, as I said to Kristen, yesterday I woke up with my girlfriend and went to bed with my fiancee! :D

And now, I send you Here to see! :D