I am, I am, I am...
I had only had an hour to get ready for what I thought were 6:30 dinner reservations. I'd been looking forward to this date since he brought it up in St. Louis. Originally we were going to go to the Melting Pot. Lauren bought us a gift certificate and we were going to splurge. At 2:00 he was trying to make reservations for 5:00. I couldn't understand why he'd wanted to eat so early. The Melting Pot was essentially booked up, so he told me to trust him, that'd he'd pick a nice place to go. All I had to do was be ready by 6:00. Alison and I had left to run errands around 3:15, locked the keys in the car around 4:15, and made it home by 5:00. I tried to play the Valentine's Day mix Kyle had made me last year, but it skipped in the DVD player. I settled instead for a mix of Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds and Damien Rice.
I couldn't get my hair to do anything. It was refusing to look nice even in a ponytail. I tried to pin it up, but it was too clean and kept falling out. I tried hairspray and it still chose to be defiant. I chose instead to get dressed and deal with my hair later. I wasn't even done putting make up on when Kyle got there at 6. I knew he was in the tailored suit he'd bought and I wanted to be completely ready before I saw him, so I yelled at him each time he wandered into the hallway. I felt awkwardly proportioned in the shirt I chose, but didn't have time to try other things. My lipstick was dark. I never wear lipstick, so that looked odd to me. I put my incredibly tall shoes on and felt like an Amazon. But they were my nicest shoes, and I wanted to look my nicest for our date. I ended up pulling my hair halfway back and I didn't wear earrings, which I typically do for special occasions. The last thing I did before going out to see him was take my old, half-worn off nail polish off.
Kyle looked absolutely amazing. So handsome that part of me just wanted to keep him there to look at him. After insisting that I didn't need to worry about the 6:20 reservations...we didn't need to call because they'd hold them, he said Hannah had called at Bellarmine, having a bit of a breakdown because the computer messed up and she was worried she'd lost one of her pieces. He wanted to swing by there before going to dinner. I insisted that he should probably call the restaurant because I couldn't imagine someone holding reservations on a Saturday night. He assured me it was fine and we headed to Bellarmine. He'd pointed out that the sunset was very pretty that day.
I remember thinking how nice it was, the both of us walking up the steps between the Cralle and Frazier dressed up like adults with adult-like things to tend to. And I thought about how we got our start there. I think that's the funny thing about campus...the second you graduate, you become nostalgic every time you're there.
I was mentally preparing myself for the hug I was sure Hannah needed when we got to the top of the stairs and Kyle started veering us left, away from the music building. I pointed out that the tech lab was "over there," and he said, "I know." I then asked, "Where are we going?" to which he replied, "Not the tech lab," and walked me into the gazebo. He brought up the fact that over 3 1/2 years ago I'd told him I liked him in that gazebo, and I looked to the respective seats we'd been sitting in when I'd told him that. He turned around from his laptop bag which he'd set on his seat with a box in his hand saying he had something important to tell me. I'm pretty sure that's when I stopped breathing. "Catherine Angels Brooks, will you marry me?" (I said yes.)
The rest of the stop involves tears, laughter, kisses and about 5 very excited ladies who'd been watching from the tech lab. We weren't really going to dinner, and it didn't matter because I was no longer hungry. We went home to celebrate with our families before coming back down to Louisville and having about 45 minutes to ourselves.
So there you have it. Kyle and I got engaged on February 10th. Here's to the rest of the story....
I couldn't get my hair to do anything. It was refusing to look nice even in a ponytail. I tried to pin it up, but it was too clean and kept falling out. I tried hairspray and it still chose to be defiant. I chose instead to get dressed and deal with my hair later. I wasn't even done putting make up on when Kyle got there at 6. I knew he was in the tailored suit he'd bought and I wanted to be completely ready before I saw him, so I yelled at him each time he wandered into the hallway. I felt awkwardly proportioned in the shirt I chose, but didn't have time to try other things. My lipstick was dark. I never wear lipstick, so that looked odd to me. I put my incredibly tall shoes on and felt like an Amazon. But they were my nicest shoes, and I wanted to look my nicest for our date. I ended up pulling my hair halfway back and I didn't wear earrings, which I typically do for special occasions. The last thing I did before going out to see him was take my old, half-worn off nail polish off.
Kyle looked absolutely amazing. So handsome that part of me just wanted to keep him there to look at him. After insisting that I didn't need to worry about the 6:20 reservations...we didn't need to call because they'd hold them, he said Hannah had called at Bellarmine, having a bit of a breakdown because the computer messed up and she was worried she'd lost one of her pieces. He wanted to swing by there before going to dinner. I insisted that he should probably call the restaurant because I couldn't imagine someone holding reservations on a Saturday night. He assured me it was fine and we headed to Bellarmine. He'd pointed out that the sunset was very pretty that day.
I remember thinking how nice it was, the both of us walking up the steps between the Cralle and Frazier dressed up like adults with adult-like things to tend to. And I thought about how we got our start there. I think that's the funny thing about campus...the second you graduate, you become nostalgic every time you're there.
I was mentally preparing myself for the hug I was sure Hannah needed when we got to the top of the stairs and Kyle started veering us left, away from the music building. I pointed out that the tech lab was "over there," and he said, "I know." I then asked, "Where are we going?" to which he replied, "Not the tech lab," and walked me into the gazebo. He brought up the fact that over 3 1/2 years ago I'd told him I liked him in that gazebo, and I looked to the respective seats we'd been sitting in when I'd told him that. He turned around from his laptop bag which he'd set on his seat with a box in his hand saying he had something important to tell me. I'm pretty sure that's when I stopped breathing. "Catherine Angels Brooks, will you marry me?" (I said yes.)
The rest of the stop involves tears, laughter, kisses and about 5 very excited ladies who'd been watching from the tech lab. We weren't really going to dinner, and it didn't matter because I was no longer hungry. We went home to celebrate with our families before coming back down to Louisville and having about 45 minutes to ourselves.
So there you have it. Kyle and I got engaged on February 10th. Here's to the rest of the story....