Our Wedding: Engagement

I didn't start this blog until five months after I was married, so I missed out on the fun aspect of blogging about my own wedding planning process. Inspired by my favorite bride blogs like Weddingbee, I will be blogging about some of my own wedding "recaps" starting with the story of our engagement and through the wedding. Today's post about our engagement story is particularly approprite since today marks the two year anniversary of our engagement - June 8, 2007!

My boyfriend Brandon and I were living together in Bellevue, Washington, and were about to drive down to Redding, California for one of my best friends' wedding on June 9th. Right before we left, Brandon informed me that we weren't headed straight to Redding, but would be going to San Francisco for two nights then on to the wedding. We had been to San Francisco almost two years before and had the most fun, romantic, and spontaneous trip that turned into a trip to Carmel! So we get to SF around midnight, and spent the next day (June 8th) enjoying the city.
We went to The Stinking Rose, a garlic restaurant in North Beach, for lunch, we went to Ghiradhelli Sqaure and had an amazing sundae, the beach, and then Chestnut street for my favorite - a little brow wax and lash and brow tint at Benefit (which almost went awry since I had self-tanner on and it started to react with the dye, leaving my brows a little orange lol).


The plan for the evening was to re-create part of our fun night out the last time we were in SF, which had been: trolly from our hotel up California to happy hour at The Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar - an amazing vintage tiki bar in the basement of the Fairmont hotel, martinis at the Top of the Mark - a swanky martini bar at the top of the Mark Hopkins hotel with 360 degree views of the city, then London cab ride to dinner in SOMA at Blowfish - a sushi place with the best sushi ever.

SO we started out at The Tonga Room with plans to go on to Blowfish after. It was fun, we had a huge tropical drink & some of the buffet. Sharing a fishbowl at the Tonga Room.
As we left, Brandon pulled me across the street to the Mark Hopkins hotel and said "Let's go to the Top of the Mark" which we hadn't planned on. So we get up there, wait for a good table right next to the windows, and look at the menu deciding what to drink.
The foggy view from our table at Top of the Mark.Brandon calling to move our dinner reservations back.
I always like to point out how expensive my favorite champagne Vueve Clicquot is at restaurants. It was around a hundred there. He suggested we order two glasses of champagne to toast our fun trip, but when the waiter came he ordered the Vueve Clicquot! So my heart started beating fast - I knew something was up. He started figeting with his jacket pocket, and made a few false starts at getting down on one knee, but then he finally did and said the sweetest words ever - I just wish I could remember all of them but it's all a blur! I do remember him saying "I want to spend the rest of my life with you". I said yes, and we had the hostess snap a picture of us, and several other tables toasted us.
I'm literally glowing - so excited!
It turns out that my grandparents honeymooned at the Mark Hopkins Hotel and went to the Top of the Mark on their honeymoon - but neither Brandon or I knew that at the time!!
Next recap: The engagement ring!