And I Said, "Yes, of course!"

October 29th, 2010 - Friday.
The day before we left for Mexico, numerous e-mails went back and forth between me and Joe. I had big plans that Friday. I wanted to get a manicure and a pedicure, maybe a little grooming, or buy a couple of new outfits. But as the day progressed, it seemed Joe had plans too--apparently, his was more important than mine.

From Joe to me:
Ani! It's supposed to be raining in Tulum tomorrow, so no beach. How about we spend some time in a spa? Can you wait on the mani? I was hoping we could have an early dinner tonight and stay in.

From me to Joe:
Okay, I'll wait on the mani... but the spa you sent is a hotel - you think we can just walk in get a spa appointment even though we're not guests? Yey! Okay-- now I'm really excited... almost half the day is over!!!!

From Joe to me:
I'll do some spa research today. Please print out any confirmation docs we may need. I'm going to make dinner reservation somewhere special tonight to start our vacation!

And when your man says, spa, dinner reservations, and somewhere special, in a string of e-mails you don't say no. So I cancelled my plans and decided that if he really loves me, he will love the unmanicured nails and the cave woman I was slowly becoming.

Fast forward to dinner. We walked into one of our favorite French restaurants, Bistro61, got seated, and ordered a bottle of red Cotes du Rhone, as was our custom.

We were discussing multiple things at once, switching between the canard and the risotto, and our future together. And before I had the chance to even notice what was coming... bam! Black box and something shiny. At that moment, I went deaf and dumb. I think I just kept saying, "oh my god, oh my god, what is this?", as if it wasn't obvious enough that it was a shiny, glittery, diamond ring. So obviously, as I was blabbering like I didn't know what I was holding in my hands, I put the ring on. And then he said, "So? You haven't answered my question."

Me: "Huh? What question?"
Joe: "Will you marry me?"
Me: "Of course! Yes!" 


What really surprised me later on was that, the only obvious answer that came to me was "Yes, of course."   I've heard horror stories about how the woman hesitates, says no, and regrets it after; or says no and realizes for the first time that she's right. I've always wondered what I would do if I found myself in that predicament. Fortunately, I didn't have to find out. I surprised myself with the decisiveness and finality of that yes.

I didn't exactly remember how he proposed or what he said, or even realized it had already happened, until he asked me the second time, so he happily volunteered to repeat his proposal. He said something about his family and my family, and travelling the world, and playing in the dirt (in emphasis he said, in the mountains)--for the rest of our lives. He also said, "Just for the record, I planned on getting down on one knee but there wasn't enough space." I didn't even really need to hear everything. Just the fact that technically, he proposed twice was more than enough.

I guess I should have expected he was going to ask me that night. There were clear signs:
1. He asked me out on a date right before a big vacation.
2. The restaurant gave us the best table in the house and set a vase of my favorite flowers on the table, to which I said, "Oh my god, Joey, look it's my favorite flowers and we're the only ones who has it! It's so random!"
3. Our server asked if we wanted to order a bottle of Champagne--which I refused because I didn't feel like drinking champagne that night.

And now, we're about to start planning. And we have no idea what to do!