A Very D.C. Proposal......

In hindsight, next time I have BIG news I will make sure my Mom, the tech-savy Librarian, is placed under a formal gag order, but for some reason it totally slipped my mind that the ONE person we should have firmly told not to run directly to a social media outlet and post things like "Katie & Dave r engaged!!!!", and this gem, "OK, I know it's bad form to say this, BUT... I can't wait to be a grandma!" (which ended up confusing a lot of people....nope, no shot-gun wedding for us) and my personal favorite, "It's the morning after the proposal, and I promise here, before God and the FB world, to be the best mother-of-the-bride AND mother-in-law possible. Love you two - a bazillion times around the universe, in, through, and back around; forever and for always" was my Mom.  

There was also a Tweet.  

So what is a newly engaged girl to do?  Disable her Facebook wall. (Somewhere in this post I should rant about how Facebook has become an awkward social media tool for announcing things such as engagements, pregnancies, and event sometimes updates on labor progression, but alas, I will save it for another day).

For the most part, Dave and I successfully got to most people by phone, which included several conference calls while I was boarding a plane to San Diego, CA for a work trip.  Yes, just over 24 hrs of being engaged I left my new fiance for a four day work trip, returned for a quick 48 hours, and departed again for the entirety of Memorial Day weekend.  Dave likes to claim that I was almost too busy for him to propose....excuses. 

Alright, so the ring.  Before you see a picture, a few disclaimers:

1) It is not the Kate Middleton ring, because technically Kate's ring was Princess Diana's ring, but regardless, it is not THAT ring.  In fact, IT IS MY RING.

2) Why Sapphire?  I love sapphires.  They are gorgeous and have an aura of timelessness to them that I just fancy.

3) No, you can't have it.

Go Dave! (and thanks Panda for the assist!)

Proposal

Dave got down on one knee at the iconic Jefferson Memorial (ranked as one of the top places for proposals in D.C., who knew?)  There was a mysterious flower order on Thursday, from "Tom and George" wishing me good luck.  Which turned about to be.... Thomas Jefferson and George Mason (we stopped by the George Mason memorial on the way to the Jefferson) which set-up the entire proposal.

"Good Luck.  Warmest Regards- Tom and George"

It was sweet, funny, and all caught on video, thank you iPhone.  

Dave then took me to Old Town Alexandria for dinner at Brabo and a night at the Kimpton Lorien Hotel and Spa.  We had even brought a wide-range of outfits for me to change into for dinner, considering I was wearing this dress when he proposed.  

Thankfully the hotel had computers in each room (and free internet) and I was able to disable my Facebook wall once I realized my Mom started posting status updates and tweeting.....suffice it to say, a very modern proposal.

And for the rest of his life, Dave gets to look at this mug every day!

Moments After the Proposal

WMATA Is In The Shop....

Memorial Day weekend will not only host the Rolling Thunder (which is awesome) but will also feature a major disruption to the Blue/Orange transit lines traveling the direction of New Carrollton and Largo Town Center.  In fact, my own metro stop, Stadium-Armory, will be closed along with Potomac Ave, Eastern Market, and Capitol South.  It is going to be a rough weekend for metro riders but the alternative?  A broken system. Having experienced the metro tragedy over a year ago, I would rather have WMATA "in the shop" than have another mass transit tragedy.

So, what I am saying friends, yes, it sucks and especially for my business friends, it is a major impact on your business, but the alternative is not that appealing.

WMATA gets a lot of crap for just about everything, but I don't think they get enough credit for what they do every single day: they move people across two states and one district, they allow people to forgo the stress of a car ride, save money (even with nearly $4 one-way transit rates), and I personally think they are a big advertisement for promoting the importance of reading (look around you, the majority of people are either reading the express or a book).  So, WMATA, one giant Memorial Day hat tip.  I applaud your efforts, even if they inconvenience me, to ensure our transit system is safe for us daily commuters and even those annoying tourists.

Just think, if you owned a car, everyone once in awhile it has to go in for maintenance.