The story told, as if you don't know Sven!
My boyfriend and I had been dating for 3 years, living together for 2. I'd been back and forth from anxious to get married to content just dating about a hundred times! I had finally found a comfortable place in-between over this past summer. Over Christmas, we had to suddenly move out of our apartment and find another place to live, which is NEVER fun or easy. We traded our date nights in for apartment shopping and sort of lost it in the romantic department.
Well, a month ago, we moved into a new place and were sort of settling down and getting a routine again. The place we got is actually twice as much per month as our last place so money has been really tight. In my waves of desire to get engaged and start planning a wedding, I was immediately brought back to reality because of this fact. And I also knew that even though my darling boyfriend was eager to get things moving the money thing kept him from doing what he wanted. So no sense in beating a dead horse.
On the Friday before Presidents day, I had called my bf and asked him if I could go get a facial with his sister after work. I knew it was a stretch, but he actually said yes and followed with "You've really been working hard lately and you deserve some pampering. have a great time!" I was so excited. So after work, we were on our way to our spa in Beverly Hills. The traffic was crazy and we wondered if we would make it in time. We were also both exhausted from work and the barely moving car made us even more tired. I kept dozing off. I woke up once to my bf sister making a left into this rental car place. I asked her what was going on and she said that she made a wrong turn and she had to turn around. Just then I looked over and saw my bf standing next to a Blue Convertible Mini Cooper S. Which happens to be the car of my freaking dreams! I was so confused in my half asleep stupor! I jumped out of the car and said "What are you doing here?" My bf said, "We're going away for the weekend!"
I was sooooo (!!!!!) surprised! He even had the mini packed with all of our luggage already! Then we drove off and headed up to Santa Barbara where we had dinner reservations at Bouchon at 8pm. Our table wasn't quite ready when we got there so the hostess suggested this little bar next door. Neither one of had eaten all day so our ONE martini each hit us pretty hard! About 10 minutes later, our hostess came and got us and took us to our table on the dimly lit patio. Our waiter was fantastic! We had foie Gras and escargot and a phenomenal bottle of wine that went very well with our meal! And to top it off, we had creme brulee for dessert.
Santa Barbara was not our final destination though. We got back to the car and my bf drove, as I was just sloshed by this time! I crashed hard in the car and didn't remember anything until the morning... hahah
We stayed at San Luis Creek Lodge in a gorgeous Plantation Room! I didn't see it until 5:50 am when I woke up because my bladder was about to burst! I was still drunk!!! On my way back to bed, with every intention to forget that I had even gotten up in the first place, my bf asked me to turn on the light. ??? I was so confused! He asked me again as I shakily attempted to beeline for my pillow. Eventually he told me that we actually needed to GET UP at 6am. I know its stupid, but I started to cry because I just could not think of any reason at all to be getting up right then... I could barely walk.
My bf got up and hugged me and said, "I'm taking you in a hot air balloon through the vineyards this morning. We have to be there at 7:30 and it takes 35 min to get there. I just wanted to give you enough time to get ready for the day." I hugged him back and melted a little and asked for just 15 more min.
Well, we got up and made our way to Paso Robles and helped John the balloon guy, set up this huge 65' balloon! It was really fun! We took a 1 1/2 hour ride through all the vineyards and got an overhead look at where we wanted to go wine tasting that day (even though at the time, the thought of drinking more wine was nauseating!). After we landed and packed up, we made our way down town to a cheese shop and got some delicious cheeses and meats and crackers so that we could have a picnic. We headed to Peachy Canyon, which turned out to be a freaking JOKE of a vineyard, terrible wine, but very nice grounds for having a picnic. So we laid out a blanket and all of our food, ate to our hearts content and then took a two hour nap. Peachy Canyon kind of repelled us from going wine tasting... and we had dinner reservations at the Artisan at 5:45pm so we really only had time to go to one Vineyard at this point. So on our way back into town we stopped at Linne Colado and bought a bottle of wine. The owner Matt, was really nice and we chatted with him for awhile.
Once we got to Artisan we sat down at our table and enjoyed another nice meal. The funny thing was that Matt, the owner of Linne Colado, walked in about 20 min after us! He was with a huge party of 9 right next to us! We said our hello's, commented on it being a small world and then went back to our own worlds. After Artisan we went back to the Inn and fell asleep to Shallow Hal!
I had to work on President's day, so we knew that when we woke up we were focused on getting to as many vineyards as possible! We did make one quick pitstop in Cambria because my best friend was there for the weekend, and I hadn't seen her in MONTHS! It was nice to just give and get a hug! We stayed there for maybe 30 min and then drove back to Paso Robles. We went to Justin Vineyard and fell in love with it! We bought so many bottles of wine and joined the Wine Society! hahah Then we stopped at this olive Oil tasting place and got some olive oil! REALLY good olive oil! And then we stopped at Tablas Creek Vineyard and got ourselves a bottle of dessert wine and a wine pairing cookbook! Then we had to haul you know what back down towards Santa Barbara because we had dinner reservations in Santa Ynez on our way back home! It was already 4:30pm and we weren't sure we'd make it in time, and just as we got close it started pouring rain.
We did make it and my bf had packed a gown I had gotten for a really formal wedding, and handed it to me to put on! He brought his suit!!! The restaurant we went to was The Ballard Inn and we sat next to the fireplace and had ourselves a very romantic little dinner... we actually did a tasting menu and had yet another delicious bottle of wine.
We finished eating and got back in the car and i started dreading the thought of unloading the car and having to figure out what to wear to work the next day... if I needed to do laundry or not, or if I could manage to do a load before I had to leave in the morning...All of the thinking exhausted me and I fell asleep in the car as my wonderfully romantic boyfriend shlepped us homeward.
I sort of came to for a second and realized that we were pulling into the driveway of the Bacara. I was really confused and not sure how I was going to manage the whole work thing the next day... my bf didn't take too long in telling me that he had called and asked my boss for the day off!
I was sooo touched by all the amazing surprises he had been giving me each day! The Bacara is beautiful and luxurious! I felt sooo pampered!
Since it was raining, the bell boys rushed to my door with umbrellas and whisked me away to the indoors. Meanwhile my bf helped them discern which bags needed to be brought in and which could stay in the car. I sat by a big giant fireplace and waited. After 3 min, my bf came and found me and we went to wait for them to take us to our room!
After about 15 min, they came for us and we were taken to building 15 room 312. The bellboy unlocked our door for us and as the door opened, there were hundreds of rose petals on the floor with candles placed perfectly all over the room. There were rose petals on the bed, on the bathroom counter, on the base of the fireplace, on the table, EVERYWHERE! It was beautiful!
On the bed was a box and a journal right in the midst of all the rose petals! i of course was completely obsessed with taking pictures of everything, so I was snapping away while my bf tipped the bellboy! After the frenzy of picture taking was at an end, I was ushered over to the bed where I was then encouraged to open my presents.
First, the journal! The front page said our names. The second was a list he had written stating everything he loves about me. The third page was a letter that said how much he loves me and is so excited for the next chapter of our lives. And that he can't wait to start it. I flipped about 20 more pages and there wasn't anything on them, so I thanked him and closed it up and was going to reach for the other present. But my bf stopped me and said, "you didn't read the next chapter!"
I could have sworn there was nothing else in there, but apparently I was wrong! I thumbed my fingers across the pages looking for more words, when the journal just opened with a thump to the middle of the journal. What I saw was a square that had been cut out of the middle of the journal, lined with pink velvet and the most beautiful engagement ring was lying inside of it!!
I was so caught off guard and unsuspecting! I immediately tried to put it on myself but was wrestled for it and my bf got down on his knee and said " WILL YOU MARRY ME!!!!???" I tackled him on the floor with a huge YES!, OF COURSE and we laughed together at how clueless I had been the whole weekend!
In the brown box was a little sexy lingerie set that I put on immediately! We had a great rest of the night, took a bubble bath and set a date! which turned into not being the date....hahaha The next morning I ordered some breakfast to the room, and then found out that I was being treated to a facial and a massage!
For the rest of the day, we went to Julia Child's little taqueria in Santa Barbara and then headed home to unpack and being a little newly engaged couple!
So, we still don't have a date yet...because we don't have a location and so when we get back from Europe, we'll start the real planning. :)
Well, a month ago, we moved into a new place and were sort of settling down and getting a routine again. The place we got is actually twice as much per month as our last place so money has been really tight. In my waves of desire to get engaged and start planning a wedding, I was immediately brought back to reality because of this fact. And I also knew that even though my darling boyfriend was eager to get things moving the money thing kept him from doing what he wanted. So no sense in beating a dead horse.
On the Friday before Presidents day, I had called my bf and asked him if I could go get a facial with his sister after work. I knew it was a stretch, but he actually said yes and followed with "You've really been working hard lately and you deserve some pampering. have a great time!" I was so excited. So after work, we were on our way to our spa in Beverly Hills. The traffic was crazy and we wondered if we would make it in time. We were also both exhausted from work and the barely moving car made us even more tired. I kept dozing off. I woke up once to my bf sister making a left into this rental car place. I asked her what was going on and she said that she made a wrong turn and she had to turn around. Just then I looked over and saw my bf standing next to a Blue Convertible Mini Cooper S. Which happens to be the car of my freaking dreams! I was so confused in my half asleep stupor! I jumped out of the car and said "What are you doing here?" My bf said, "We're going away for the weekend!"
I was sooooo (!!!!!) surprised! He even had the mini packed with all of our luggage already! Then we drove off and headed up to Santa Barbara where we had dinner reservations at Bouchon at 8pm. Our table wasn't quite ready when we got there so the hostess suggested this little bar next door. Neither one of had eaten all day so our ONE martini each hit us pretty hard! About 10 minutes later, our hostess came and got us and took us to our table on the dimly lit patio. Our waiter was fantastic! We had foie Gras and escargot and a phenomenal bottle of wine that went very well with our meal! And to top it off, we had creme brulee for dessert.
Santa Barbara was not our final destination though. We got back to the car and my bf drove, as I was just sloshed by this time! I crashed hard in the car and didn't remember anything until the morning... hahah
We stayed at San Luis Creek Lodge in a gorgeous Plantation Room! I didn't see it until 5:50 am when I woke up because my bladder was about to burst! I was still drunk!!! On my way back to bed, with every intention to forget that I had even gotten up in the first place, my bf asked me to turn on the light. ??? I was so confused! He asked me again as I shakily attempted to beeline for my pillow. Eventually he told me that we actually needed to GET UP at 6am. I know its stupid, but I started to cry because I just could not think of any reason at all to be getting up right then... I could barely walk.
My bf got up and hugged me and said, "I'm taking you in a hot air balloon through the vineyards this morning. We have to be there at 7:30 and it takes 35 min to get there. I just wanted to give you enough time to get ready for the day." I hugged him back and melted a little and asked for just 15 more min.
Well, we got up and made our way to Paso Robles and helped John the balloon guy, set up this huge 65' balloon! It was really fun! We took a 1 1/2 hour ride through all the vineyards and got an overhead look at where we wanted to go wine tasting that day (even though at the time, the thought of drinking more wine was nauseating!). After we landed and packed up, we made our way down town to a cheese shop and got some delicious cheeses and meats and crackers so that we could have a picnic. We headed to Peachy Canyon, which turned out to be a freaking JOKE of a vineyard, terrible wine, but very nice grounds for having a picnic. So we laid out a blanket and all of our food, ate to our hearts content and then took a two hour nap. Peachy Canyon kind of repelled us from going wine tasting... and we had dinner reservations at the Artisan at 5:45pm so we really only had time to go to one Vineyard at this point. So on our way back into town we stopped at Linne Colado and bought a bottle of wine. The owner Matt, was really nice and we chatted with him for awhile.
Once we got to Artisan we sat down at our table and enjoyed another nice meal. The funny thing was that Matt, the owner of Linne Colado, walked in about 20 min after us! He was with a huge party of 9 right next to us! We said our hello's, commented on it being a small world and then went back to our own worlds. After Artisan we went back to the Inn and fell asleep to Shallow Hal!
I had to work on President's day, so we knew that when we woke up we were focused on getting to as many vineyards as possible! We did make one quick pitstop in Cambria because my best friend was there for the weekend, and I hadn't seen her in MONTHS! It was nice to just give and get a hug! We stayed there for maybe 30 min and then drove back to Paso Robles. We went to Justin Vineyard and fell in love with it! We bought so many bottles of wine and joined the Wine Society! hahah Then we stopped at this olive Oil tasting place and got some olive oil! REALLY good olive oil! And then we stopped at Tablas Creek Vineyard and got ourselves a bottle of dessert wine and a wine pairing cookbook! Then we had to haul you know what back down towards Santa Barbara because we had dinner reservations in Santa Ynez on our way back home! It was already 4:30pm and we weren't sure we'd make it in time, and just as we got close it started pouring rain.
We did make it and my bf had packed a gown I had gotten for a really formal wedding, and handed it to me to put on! He brought his suit!!! The restaurant we went to was The Ballard Inn and we sat next to the fireplace and had ourselves a very romantic little dinner... we actually did a tasting menu and had yet another delicious bottle of wine.
We finished eating and got back in the car and i started dreading the thought of unloading the car and having to figure out what to wear to work the next day... if I needed to do laundry or not, or if I could manage to do a load before I had to leave in the morning...All of the thinking exhausted me and I fell asleep in the car as my wonderfully romantic boyfriend shlepped us homeward.
I sort of came to for a second and realized that we were pulling into the driveway of the Bacara. I was really confused and not sure how I was going to manage the whole work thing the next day... my bf didn't take too long in telling me that he had called and asked my boss for the day off!
I was sooo touched by all the amazing surprises he had been giving me each day! The Bacara is beautiful and luxurious! I felt sooo pampered!
Since it was raining, the bell boys rushed to my door with umbrellas and whisked me away to the indoors. Meanwhile my bf helped them discern which bags needed to be brought in and which could stay in the car. I sat by a big giant fireplace and waited. After 3 min, my bf came and found me and we went to wait for them to take us to our room!
After about 15 min, they came for us and we were taken to building 15 room 312. The bellboy unlocked our door for us and as the door opened, there were hundreds of rose petals on the floor with candles placed perfectly all over the room. There were rose petals on the bed, on the bathroom counter, on the base of the fireplace, on the table, EVERYWHERE! It was beautiful!
On the bed was a box and a journal right in the midst of all the rose petals! i of course was completely obsessed with taking pictures of everything, so I was snapping away while my bf tipped the bellboy! After the frenzy of picture taking was at an end, I was ushered over to the bed where I was then encouraged to open my presents.
First, the journal! The front page said our names. The second was a list he had written stating everything he loves about me. The third page was a letter that said how much he loves me and is so excited for the next chapter of our lives. And that he can't wait to start it. I flipped about 20 more pages and there wasn't anything on them, so I thanked him and closed it up and was going to reach for the other present. But my bf stopped me and said, "you didn't read the next chapter!"
I could have sworn there was nothing else in there, but apparently I was wrong! I thumbed my fingers across the pages looking for more words, when the journal just opened with a thump to the middle of the journal. What I saw was a square that had been cut out of the middle of the journal, lined with pink velvet and the most beautiful engagement ring was lying inside of it!!
I was so caught off guard and unsuspecting! I immediately tried to put it on myself but was wrestled for it and my bf got down on his knee and said " WILL YOU MARRY ME!!!!???" I tackled him on the floor with a huge YES!, OF COURSE and we laughed together at how clueless I had been the whole weekend!
In the brown box was a little sexy lingerie set that I put on immediately! We had a great rest of the night, took a bubble bath and set a date! which turned into not being the date....hahaha The next morning I ordered some breakfast to the room, and then found out that I was being treated to a facial and a massage!
For the rest of the day, we went to Julia Child's little taqueria in Santa Barbara and then headed home to unpack and being a little newly engaged couple!
So, we still don't have a date yet...because we don't have a location and so when we get back from Europe, we'll start the real planning. :)