After spending months planning and purchasing a ring, I found myself with no ideas to actually propose. A good friend of mine suggested a surprise trip to San Diego. The wheels started turning. Mind you, this was 5pm on Sat night. I knew my g/f had all day Sunday off. I called for brunch reservations at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego for 11am the next morning. Next I secured the plane tickets and rental car. Then came the hard part of calling my g/f and getting her to be ready at 7am for a surprise brunch. It was her only full day off in over 2 weeks and she was dying to sleep in. It took a lot of convincing that the brunch would be very nice and was only an hour away. She thought we''d be driving somewhere.
The next morning after a long night of trying to sleep, I picked her up and we started driving... to the airport. Totally shocked her, since I''m not really an impulsive person, it was perfect. We landed in San Diego, got the car, and had an awesome brunch at the hotel. Things weren''t quite right to propose then so I suggested a walk along the beach in La Jolla and then some shopping. The beach was crowded and didn''t seem like the right time either. We did some shopping, finding a great painting we both loved. Our first big purchase together. I started getting nervous, time was running out, as our flight left at 8pm back to Phoenix. As it got closer to dinner time, we happened to find a small French bistro just opening for the evening. There was an intimate outdoor patio with soft music and a fountain in the corner. We''d be the only ones there. Perfect, I thought. Ordered some wine and dinner, and I proposed a toast. "To us and the start of a great life together..." Wait, I can''t say that yet! I dug out the ring from it''s hiding place in my camera case and said I had to add something before the toast. Got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, presenting the ring. She said yes and started crying and I felt like falling over (fainting, I guess - lol). It was a perfect moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our waitress walk onto the patio, stop, cover her mouth and run away. She came back with the hostess and both came to congratulate us with tears in their eyes. We finished dinner, I think, and ran off the airport to get home from the perfect surprise brunch.
Still exhausted as this happened yesterday! I''ll post some travel pics soon, but here are some of the ring itself.
1.06 Asscher VS1 F in platinum. BTW - great service from DCD!
The next morning after a long night of trying to sleep, I picked her up and we started driving... to the airport. Totally shocked her, since I''m not really an impulsive person, it was perfect. We landed in San Diego, got the car, and had an awesome brunch at the hotel. Things weren''t quite right to propose then so I suggested a walk along the beach in La Jolla and then some shopping. The beach was crowded and didn''t seem like the right time either. We did some shopping, finding a great painting we both loved. Our first big purchase together. I started getting nervous, time was running out, as our flight left at 8pm back to Phoenix. As it got closer to dinner time, we happened to find a small French bistro just opening for the evening. There was an intimate outdoor patio with soft music and a fountain in the corner. We''d be the only ones there. Perfect, I thought. Ordered some wine and dinner, and I proposed a toast. "To us and the start of a great life together..." Wait, I can''t say that yet! I dug out the ring from it''s hiding place in my camera case and said I had to add something before the toast. Got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, presenting the ring. She said yes and started crying and I felt like falling over (fainting, I guess - lol). It was a perfect moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our waitress walk onto the patio, stop, cover her mouth and run away. She came back with the hostess and both came to congratulate us with tears in their eyes. We finished dinner, I think, and ran off the airport to get home from the perfect surprise brunch.
Still exhausted as this happened yesterday! I''ll post some travel pics soon, but here are some of the ring itself.
1.06 Asscher VS1 F in platinum. BTW - great service from DCD!


