So I mentioned that I have talented friends right? Well its a good thing that one of them is my wedding photographer. During our trip to NOLA, we embarked on our photo journey, finding textured walls, cool vines, and letting Eray do what she wanted. I’m so glad we let her have control. We saw the whole set of edited lovelies today…though I can’t post them because they are in a locked album in the tubes of the internet. I can however post this sneak peek that she sent us. This is a small portion of the beauty that she produced for us…but you get the gist. She works magic.

We have a lot of talented friends. We had intended to shoot our “official” engagement photos in NOLA when we stayed with our wedding photographer Eray. We did the shot, and she is currently in the process of pulling them together. Can’t wait to see.

However, we figured that with our multi-talented friends, we should get a photo shoot in San Francisco, after all, thats where we met. We went out one windy day with Pete and cruised The Mission district, Twin Peaks, and drove around shooting photos. He edited and produced them last night…and I have to say. I LOVE THEM.  He edited a few great ones, and posted the whole set here. Thanks again Pete…much appreciated.

this is Petes signature shot

this one just makes me laugh

I also really like both of these individual shots as well.

We threw our engagement party last night at one of our favorite local bars, Lucky 13. There is so much money that goes into planning a wedding, we figured the best way to get everyone we care about in the same place was to lure them in with promise of a dive bar and cheap drinks. It was a ton of fun, and I’m glad we did it, though the space was not necessarily conducive to everyone being in the same place at the same time. Its a bar after all, and we cant promise one area to be occupied solely by us, though we did our best.

I have been thinking for a while though, and last night definitely confirmed the fact, that I’m not awesome in these party situations anymore. I used to love the mingling and running around and flitting about from person to person. As I get older though, I find that the interactions are less meaningful. I felt like I had to see everyone who was there to celebrate with me, and I couldn’t stop and talk to any particular person for longer than a few minutes at a time. It was fun, but maybe not what I prefer nowadays.

Coming from a house where we used to throw huge parties all the time and I used to run around like this more often, I think that now…in my position in life, I prefer the intimacy of a few. Dinner parties. Game nights. Road trips with friends. Quality time spent with a few at a time is more important to me now. I think that this is a sign of me getting older, more stable, and more content with my great group of friends.

I appreciated everyone coming out last night, and wish I could have talked to everyone more than I did. Its nice to know that we are cared about and that people wanted to celebrate our good news with us. If you showed up later in the evening…apologies for my limited interactions with you. My social butterfly duties called. But trust that I would rather have gotten more time with individuals, rather than limited time with a group.

This of course doesn’t mean don’t invite me to your parties….I’ll still come.

So if you are a follower of my blog, its no secret that I’m engaged. I mean…I wrote about it today. So…with that being said, the latest and greatest Etsy Tag Monday is Engagement Ring. I love mine…I’ll love the one that he designed for me even more…but I wanted to share OTHER rings that were out there that Etsy has for sale. Different strokes for different folks.

Titanium Tension Set with Yellow Sapphire by Jewlery by Johan

Vintage Filigree Style Ring by Dong Peterson Jewelers

Spring Flowers Ring by EidelPrecious

Plattinum Baguette and Round diamond set by Beckham Designs

Natural Padparadscha diamond ring by EidelPrecious

14K white gold ring by Master Gold Craft

I know right?!??!? I knew this day was coming, but the fact that its here is sooo exciting! I can’t wait for all the things that start now. We have already started diving in head first with the planning but that’s neither here nor there…that comes later. Trust me you will all hear about that too. What I want to share is the awesomeness of the evening that happened this past Saturday.

I’ve been expecting this for a little bit now. He asked my dad for permission on Fathers Day. Needless to say the past 6 months have had me wondering what was going on, when the proposal was going to happen, and every time we did something special, or he acted a little off I thought “tonight is the night!” I was always wrong. He even told me on a day that I was upset, that it was going to happen soon-ish, but the ring that he had custom designed hadn’t arrived yet, and it wasn’t ready. Thats right…he custom made a ring for me! (not in the photo below, but that will be explained later.)

So Saturday comes, and he tells me that he is going to head into the city to help our friend work on his house, and do man things. Perfect. It gave me some time to finish some Wunzee commissions, and just have bad TV watching time.

I drove into the city that night to meet up with them and go have fun at our neighborhood bar, The Mini Bar. I texted a few of our friends that are local to the bar, and told them to meet up with us, thinking it was a normal Saturday night.

Little did I know some scheming was going on…and a surprise was waiting for me at the bar. We walked into the bar, and I started to see some of my friends, and walked to the back of the bar where a large majority of my good friends were waiting there for me to show up.

He hadn’t helped out with the house at all! He had gone ring shopping (to buy a placeholder till the one he designed arrived), and his scheming earlier had been texting friends to come and be there by 9. It was spur of the moment, and unfortunately his excited brain forgot a few, but it wasn’t because he thought they were any less important (take note if you weren’t there….it wasn’t because we don’t love you).

He got on a knee…and asked me if I would marry him. Of course…I said yes.

It was awesome to be surrounded by my friends, and I was thrilled that he found a way to surprise me.

It was the first engagement in that bar, and the bartender even gave us a bottle of champagne to help ring in the good news!

I couldn’t be happier, and I can probably guarantee that you will all hear much more about this planning and the wedding on my blog. I have more to say now!! My life is moving forward.

he got on his knee!

the ring..in Mick's beard