&: Engaged Encounter: The Proposal

A number of you have asked for proposal details, so here goes:

Sunday, June 19th, was the one year anniversary of the day J showed up on my doorstep and we met for the first time. (I still haven't told the full story of how it all happened, but I will soon. Promise.) J and I slept in pretty late that morning because we'd been at SC's going away party the previous night and J was still jetlagged, but we managed to rouse ourselves and enjoyed an afternoon of poking around the flowers and plants at the National Botanic Garden, located just a few blocks away from my house.

After a few hours at the conservatory and adjoining garden, J and I walked along the Mall, hand in hand, and sat in front of the Capitol as the sun set. We then celebrated our anniversary with dinner at Kushi, an izakaya (a type of late-night Japanese drinking establishment that serves food) and sushi restaurant, in part because we both love sushi but also because we had our first "date" at an izakaya in Tokyo. The raw fish and oysters were amazing, and I do love my sea urchin.

After dinner, we decided to see the monuments at night. We'd done the same thing back in March and had an amazing time then--we're both history nerds, we love the symbolism and significance and architecture of the monuments, and it's so beautiful and peaceful when everything is back lit and no one's around. We were standing under a pretty grove of trees near the Washington Monument and there were fireflies all around when J asked if he could sing to me (he knows how much I love it when he sings, and he sang "Simple Life"--one of our favorite songs, which describes the kind of life we want together). After singing a verse or two, J then got down on one knee, said my full name, pulled out a box, and asked that life-changing question. It was kind of a blur, but I do remember emphatically nodding yes. We spent the rest of the night taking in the moment and walking around the monuments before heading home well after midnight.

So there's the story! I love that the proposal was simple. Sweet. And in the city where we met, at a spot we can revisit time and again. For some reason, we didn't think to get pictures of us together that night, but here are a few pictures of the monuments--