Bonjour chères!

Sincerest apologies for the absence of my postings. Je suis désolé.

I could lie and say that I have just been too darn busy to write anything. I could say that I have found a fabulous new job and Bryan and I have moved into a beautiful loft in downtown Seattle. Or that we got a teacup yorkie named Dandyrich who we take with us as we stroll the streets of Seattle, sipping cappuccino and buying furniture. This is just not the case.

Its true, Bry and I are still patiently awaiting those perfect jobs. We are hopeful that the old adage, “good things come to those who wait” applies to us and have passed on a few opportunities we felt were not the perfect fit. As we wait, we continue to live at Maison de Nash/Danielson where the hospitality is great, the coffee’s always on and there’s a perky chihuahua with an attitude problem. Bryan continues to study for the CFA Level 2 exam while I have grown obsessed with Gossip Girl and find myself fluffing my hair like Serena Van der Woodsen.  Maybe we should have a reality show, pas?

So there’s the update on the job/home front. It’s not glamorous and is taking longer than either of us hoped but that’s life. And when life feels uncertain sometimes you have to cling on to the things you know for sure. Which brings me to…

We are engaged! We couldn’t be happier, are so excited, blah blah blah.

I will try to spare you all from excessive amounts of sappy, sugary-sweet romance because well, that’s just not us. However I will start off by stating for the record that  I can’t believe I found Bryan and that he actually wants to marry me. It’s pretty glorious.

THE PROPOSAL

Bryan had planned for us to stay one week at his family’s time share in Ocean Shores on the Washington coast, Friday to Friday. I arrived at his parents house in Redmond on Thursday afternoon with plenty of time to hit the grocery store, pack the car and select wine (très important). We had a lovely dinner, compliments of Bryan’s mom and hit the hay early. We woke up on Friday morning, got ready, packed the Jeep and hit the road around 12:30 pm. The ride to Ocean Shores was beautiful and a part of me wanted to take the Forks exit so I could go find Edward and Stella but we pressed on.

We arrived at the house around 4:15 pm and immediately unpacked the car. Bryan seemed a little anxious to get everything done right away so we could go take a walk on the beach. We planned on making pizza that night accompanied by a salad, but alas, we forgot to pack salad dressing. Bryan suggested we jump back in the car right away to procure the dressing, in order to avoid a trip later that night. We ended up finding it at a convenience store right around the corner and were back at the house in no time.

We pulled on our beat-up old sneakers, rolled up our jeans and started the short walk to the beach. Right away, Bryan said he forgot something back at the house and ran back to get it and when he returned, he had his backpack on. I asked him why he needed the backpack but he said he wanted to bring his camera along and didn’t want to risk getting sand in it. Hmmm…

The air was perfumed with salt and as we walked the worn path to the beach, oyster shells crunched beneath our feet. Bryan reminisced stories of his childhood, running along the beach with his brothers, his dog Bailey sniffing at dried up seaweed. It was a gorgeous night and the sun was falling gracefully over the water, the sky lit up with streaks of pink and orange. We took off our shoes by an old piece of driftwood and made our way down to the water feeling the grit of sand between our toes.

Except for a few seagulls, Bryan and I were alone on the beach. As we drew nearer to the water, I heard Bryan say my name from behind me. I spun around to find my handsome, 6’3 hunk of a man down on one knee. For a split second, I thought he was joking as he had teased me by making this motion before (NOT cool if you ask any gal nearing 30). But when he presented a small shiny box, I knew he wasn’t kidding, that his was real. My hands flew to my mouth and I darted off away from him, which is the typical response :). When I circled back in front of him he uttered those four words that I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear. “Will you marry me?” I didn’t look at the ring, I didn’t even really hear the words. I was experiencing a total OOBE (out of body experience). I thought it was happening to someone else. I looked around for the lucky girl to offer my congratulations but quickly realized it was me. Bryan actually brought me back to the beach by saying, “Well?”. I shouted “YES!” and he stood up as he placed the sparkly stone on my finger. We hugged and I just couldn’t stand not to look at his face, as if to check for any sign that this wasn’t real. I made him pinch me, then pinch me again. Then he exclaimed, “We’re gettin married babe!” (in the A-holes voices from SNL) and I held up a firm hand to accept a high five. Nerd alert!

We toasted with champagne which was also in the backpack, took a million pictures and debated which was better for a reception, pancake or spaghetti feed? The night was spent eating pizza, drinking wine and calling our families. Oh, and staring at my ring.

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Now that we are back home, working our full-time jobs of looking for a full-time job it’s finally setting in that I am a fiance. I love that word! Not only because it french and therefore très chic but because it means I get to wear a diamond. Oh, and I love him too ;). We ended up exchanging the ring you see in the photos to make a few small changes and I will have it on Thursday!

I plan on making some changes to my blog in the way of look/feel simply because the tone is different. So keep an eye out for that!
And remember, all you need is love!