Cross-posted from Facebook. More likely to be read on here, somehow!
by
, 04-16-2012 at 08:26 PM (18149 Views)
A lot of people have asked, and I've already gone through the below in various levels of detail to about a dozen people. Here's something to satisfy your curiosity. It's LONG...
So I wanted to propose in the snow during one of our spontaneous midnight snowfights we sometimes have. Thankyou, Edinburgh, for somehow managing to make me go through an entire winter without snow for the very first time. >=( After that, it was a case of thinking of new ideas. Danielle had already made it clear: No restaurant, no big public area like Princes Street. So basically if I took her out at all for any other reason I knew she'd be suspicious... *shakes a fist*
Anyway, a random burst of heat appeared a few weeks ago but either Danielle wasn't interested in going out, she already had plans or else I was doing overtime. Easter was the next planned time so we could have a few days off to be happy about ourselves, but then the weather went sour and Danielle didn't want to go out, and to be honest neither did I!
Then came this weekend and it wasn't bad, so the first glimpse of sun on Saturday morning and I got her out of bed early (for her - so 10am) and convinced her to get ready so we could take advantage of some good weather. The plan was to get her into Princes Street Gardens, have a hot dog and slushpuppy (a regular thing for us during nice weather) near the fountain close to the west end, then go to the National Museum of Scotland which is at the far corner of the gardens. That would give me time to spot a nice slightly less populated area and then catch her off guard.
In the time it takes for a woman to get ready, the weather is almost guaranteed to change. It got cloudy. "Do you think we should just stay in?" she says. Grr. Cursing the weather for a good half hour, suddenly the sun went through our window. I could only see cloud, so went down to check the other side of our block of flats and it was blue sky. So plans were back on again! Phew. Time to get ready, again.
In the time it takes for a woman to get ready, the weather is almost guaranteed to change. We got downstairs and it was cloudy already! I convinced her we may as well go in for some fresh air anyway. Onto the bus we went, and got to the city and walked to where the hot dog / slushpuppy place is near the playgrounds and fountain.
Or, where it was. One look down there, one look at the weather, and feeling the cold already, Danielle just went "Oh. Well, shall we go to McDonalds?" This romantic day was not going to plan AT ALL. One thing did help, though. When the sun disappears, the weather gets cold and it's around 1-2pm... everyone goes to McDonalds and everyone goes out of the park. There was a big queue, and that gave me time to suggest we just splash a bit more on lunch and have it at Vittoria's on George IV Bridge, which is conveniently across the gardens.
Out we went. "Just one minute, it's really cold. Can we go into that New Look store I only just discovered has opened while we walked from the bus to the gardens? Because I need a jumper." So I reluctantly agreed, knowing this meant we were more likely to go up the streets than through the gardens from New Look. Needless to say, I was getting a bit frustrated as she rummaged through the dresses, tops and coats sections looking for a jumper. After she tried on a coat that she couldn't afford, I convinced her I was really hungry and that she needed to get a jumper and go. She did! Hooray!
Into the gardens and it was exactly as I had anticipated - relatively empty. Still pockets of people but nothing major. I walked her up behind the stage area across the sort of raised walkway thing and said I was also feeling the cold and that I wanted to get my shirt. She apparently didn't hear me, as she later told me she thought I was getting her some chocolate! Danielle slowly walked away and I frantically looked for the ring box. Offering her a drink of Powerade in the hope she will stop walking away, she declined. I said "Hold on, come back, I just want to get my shirt on!"
I found the ring box, got it out, opened it up and she just looked at me and laughed a little as I got down on one knee, very nervously, and she asked "Are you really doing this?"
I had a lot of things planned, notably what I was going to say. That went out the window, big time. It was something like "Erm, you know I love you, and I hope you love me... want to live with you forever and hear your voice every day..." - from the day I met her six years ago, I have not once gone through a day where we haven't talked on the phone, Skype or in person - "...will you marry me?"
I can't remember if she said "Yes" straight away. I honestly can't remember. The only part I remember is when she said "Aren't you supposed to take it out of the box and give it to me?"
"Oh, yeah, right..." So I did. And we were engaged. Cue nervous laughter as we walked back through Princes Street Gardens.