February 12

Saturday February 12

Morning Coffee with Adam
Pedicure with Lauren
Downtown for Les Miserables
Strolling Along Michigan Avenue

Pizza at Lou Malinati's

This is the plan I had for Saturday....and for the most part that is what happened. 

The day started with a lazy morning drinking coffee and hanging out with Adam.  We were taking it slow after a fun night of cosmic bowling, celebrating new jobs, and catching up with friends.  For the last few months the opportunity for Adam and I to hang out on a weekend morning has been non-existent.  Between commitments and second jobs, there isn't a lot of free time left over for just us.  Which made this morning extra special. 

After a morning of lounging around it was off to pedicures with Lauren Reinhart.  The Reinhart's live down the street from Adam, which means that someday, Lauren and I will be neighbors. Which would mean weekly in person visits rather than marathon phone calls and monthly dates. Lauren and I are very excited about this but until then we make sure to try and have dates whenever the stars align and we both have free time in our schedules.

Pedicures were the date of the day.  With Valentines Day right around the corner Lauren and I were off to give our toes a little TLC and catch up.  We chatted and watched as our winter abused toes were whipped into shape and coated in red and purple lacquer. Our chats roamed over jobs, grad school, families, and the future.  It was relaxing and comfortable, so comfortable that I was still gabbing when Adam walked in to pick me up.  After a quick goodbye and the promise of getting together soon I was out the door headed downtown with the boy for our early Valentine's Day.

I was SO excited! After pleading and promising that I wouldn't ask for anything ever again, Adam bought me Les Miserables tickets for our yearly Valentine's Day play. This is by far my favorite musical.  I was raised on musical theater thanks to my Mother and have a love of most of them, but Les Miserables has always held a special place in my heart.  My Mom always joked that it was probably due to the fact that my Dad took her to see it during its first tour when she was 6mo preggers with me.  As we headed downtown I babbled on and on about how amazing this play was going to be and how much Adam was going to love it.  He was skeptical at best, but he loves me enough to indulge my need for the theater and my ability to babble for hours about musical theater.

The play was perfect! The music was as beautiful as I remembered and the new scenery designed for the 25th Anniversary took my breath away. For three wondrous hours I sat holding Adam's hand with tears running down my face, it was bliss.  Even Adam got into it, I mean with war, bars, and political tension, its kinda a guy friendly musical.

After the final curtain closed Adam and I headed to Michigan Ave.  It was freezing! Bitter, bite into your bones freezing! So we stopped for some Cinnamon Dulce Lattes at Starbucks.  Fortified with boiling hot coffee we started down one of my favorite streets in Chicago.  For those of you who haven't been to Chicago or been to Chicago in the winter, you should.  Its magical!

Our wandering was slow and comfortable.  As we walked along we talked about everything that had been going on for the two of us lately, and it was nice.  The last year or so had been rough on both of us, and as we walked along I was struck by how lucky we were to have made it through together. I was telling Adam all about how lucky we were and why when we reached the Wrigley Building.  One of my very favorite spots! Located right over the bridge on the riverfront it is a beautiful building, and I always make sure to take a moment and admire it when I am in the city.  It was here that we stopped for Adam to fix his knee brace (more on that later) and I spent the time spinning around enjoying the view and still talking (its a reoccurring theme, just warning you).  In the middle of my babble, Adam asked if I could take his cane from him so he could finish adjusting.  Spinning around he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand....

I went into what can best be described as shock...


For the past few months Adam had told me several times that we were not getting engaged for a long time, and to calm down. In fact he had reiterated the point that very morning. (I was a bit manic about the whole issue).  So imagine my shock to be standing there hearing this.  Of course I decide to say "You aren't supposed to be doing this yet, you told me we weren't doing this yet"... Smooth Lauren.


As I continue arguing and kissing him, out of no where I hear..." So is that a yes? Because it's really cold out here?" My head snaps up and standing in front of me are our families.  Including both of our sisters who go to college out of state.  It was perfect!


Still in shock Adam managed to get me to put the ring on, and the hugging started. Adam seemed a bit worried that I wasn't really reacting, crying, ect.  Luckily my sister Erin let him know that this was me in shock, and told him to enjoy it because it doesn't happen often.

Below is the entire event, captured by my talented sister Lindsay.

It was the perfect proposal, followed by the perfect engagement dinner at Lou Malinati's with our families! 

And for those of you who are wondering ....