Last month, I committed to the man I love.
If you read my piece on our travels to London, Paris, and Frankfurt, you may remember that there was a section in London where I skipped ahead, offering that I would touch on the events of that night in a future blog post.
That blog is today (are you excited?)
On October 28, I took what is probably the first serious plunge I've ever really taken. I asked the man I love to marry me.
Our current anniversary - which feels weird to say now, but I guess our anniversary will change when we get married - is today, December 2. We've been together for seven years now.
This is how it went down, long story [not so] short: I've had my passport for a few years now, but never used it. I've never been outside of the country! Not even to Mexico or Canada. So, on October 25 my partner and I, along with our good friend Delaney, took to the skies to see London and Paris. The trip, which I covered here, was gorgeous - perhaps I was still high [on life] following the evening of the 28th, but I couldn't have planned a better first trip overseas.
Anyway, back to poppin' the Q. I decided how I wanted to do it back in May. I wanted it to be something truly special. I wanted him to cry, dammit! I kid, I kid... or do I? Shortly thereafter, I bought the ring on June 2.
We're both major theatre nerds. To tell you the truth, the impetus for the trip was to see Mary Poppins on the West End. My fiancé (omg) had seen it in London as a child and fell in love with the show's theatre magic. The smoke and mirrors. The choreo. The mystique and wonder. It doesn't hurt that he's also a major Disnerd. The show's West End run later closed.
Upon the announcement of a London revival - at the same theatre he'd seen it at as a child, no less - he knew I had to see it with him. He checked his airline miles and discovered we could get to London and Paris and back for real cheap. Done and done.
Back to the plan: Come July, I had a scheme and a ring. I called the Prince Edward Theatre and asked to upgrade our tickets from standard to VIP. They assured me I could do this without the ticketholder - my fiancé (hnnggg) - finding out. The VIP reception would come with champagne, hors d'oeuvres, souvenir Playbills, and a private reception room before the show and during the interval (they don't say "intermission" in the UK, so I learned). I almost fell out of my desk chair planning this (because, apologies to my 9-5, but I did do the majority of planning while at work).
Also... not telling him about it? I know that your proposal is like, the thing to keep a secret, but not telling him almost killed me. I literally almost died like seven times after booking the VIP upgrade in July before our trip in October.
On the night of Mary Poppins, we arrived at the theatre hella early. We had to be there at 6:45 for our 7:30 performance to take advantage of the VIP room. This is saying something, as he is the type of guy to arrive at 7:28 for a 7:30 show. It drives me bonkers. But on this night, we had a proper afternoon tea at The Parlour at Fortnum & Mason (also highlighted in the previous travel blog) and headed to the theatre to catch our early reservation.
We met our theatre escort for the performance. Delaney, my fiancé (omg), and I were led to the VIP reception. We had a private room beneath the grand staircase, which came complete with its own restroom along with the aforementioned champagne, hors d'oeuvres, and souvenir Playbills. We chit-chatted with our escort for the evening, a lovely young theatre aficionado named Heidi.
Then Heidi left the room so we could enjoy our reception.
I popped the question, nearly seven years in the making (and it was in the form of a speech that was full of theatre puns).
He cried, we laughed, we toasted some bubbly, we kissed, we hugged.
Oh, and he said yes.
The night was not over - the performance was wonderful. The mystique and the magic was not overhyped. But that, too, was covered in the travel blog post. I won't bore you with the rehashing of details here.
Following the show, we found ourselves celebrating at a wonderful (and delightfully unique) pub, Mr. Fogg's Society of Exploration. Really - click the link and look at that place. The colors, the lights, and the craft cocktails were a true treat, and the perfect nightcap to a perfect evening.
Many thanks to our waiter who came through with the drink recommendations. The menu is split into locations (Mount Everest, Grand Canyon, Machu Piccu, etc), which might sound a little kitsch and goofy but Mr. Fogg's does it well. From the Great Barrier Reef, I had the Rising Tides. It comes in a glass inside of a wicker basket and tastes like sunbeams and the color blue.
Upon return to our apartment in King's Cross, all was right with the world. So much love in one day, I don't know how to describe it.
Radiating with love and light,
-B