She Said YES! Part III

Saturday morning I woke with excitement. G was enjoying her first Saturday "off" after being in retail for so long. She decided to sleep in and do some things around the house. I "went to the gym" i.e. haircut and Petit Phillipe. I actually did try to go for a run but it was kind of wet from a late night rain and a little wet outside. I think I ran about two blocks. I almost stopped in Selwyn Pub for a beer as I "ran" by. After this I went to get a haircut but was a little early for my appointment since I didn't go to the gym or run. So I stopped by Caribou Coffee and ordered a hot chocolate and read a Garden & Gun I had in the car.

I arrived back home around 3:00. I really wasn't outwardly nervous but inside I was a ball of nerves. I kept thinking that "everything has got to go perfect, to pull this off." G was watching t.v. and relaxing, I kept throwing hints about how I wanted to leave around 5:30 so we could take our time at dinner and enjoy ourselves. Well, in true G fashion, we didn't leave til close to 7:00. I was freaking out! But I had to keep my cool and play the role that "this is just another dinner date" and that we are not under any time constraints. BUT WE WERE! We had to arrive at Petit Phillipe by 8:45 since they close at 9:00. How were we going to eat, relax and leave the restaurant in an hour?

Oh, and before I continue with the events of the night, as we were getting ready to leave I decide that I want to wear a nice pair of pants, try and dress up a little bit, since I am getting ENGAGED tonight. BUT apparently I am "overdressed" according to little miss fashionista. I can't believe I had to wear jeans on the (up to this point) most important night of my life.

Anyway, we get to Good Food on Montford around 7:15 and they tell us there is a 45 minute wait. OK, so that would leave us barely an hour to eat and then we had to travel to Petit Phillipe. This was a no brainer, "let's go somewhere else" I proclaimed, G agreed and we did. We went next door to Braswell's Premium Pub. It has mostly bar food and beer, which I needed at this point. It isn't as nice or memorable as I have heard Good Food is but it would have to do. We had trouble finding a part due to so many spots being for this restaurant or that restaurant only but fortunately we didn't have to move to car. Sadly, Charlotte is a city that towes first and asks later. So we ate, relaxed and had a few drinks. We were off to Phillips by 8:20. Perfect time to get in the door but the trip over was a close call.

Remember when I said that my mother and her mother were the only ones who knew about my plans? Well my mother decides to call G's phone on the way over. I thought she was calling to congratulate us and with me driving and since it was not my phone ringing I had no way to prevent this possibly disasterous course of events.

So there we were, this whole thing could be blown in a matter of seconds but luckily, my mother, who had no idea what was happening or when the actual proposal would take place other than after dinner at a wine and chocolate place was only calling to say hello. SURE?

Ok, so as we get out of the car, G's phone rings again and this time its her mom. This was perfect though, I left her outside and went ahead in. It gave me the time to settle some last minute details. Everything was in place; the manager, the conspicous photographer and our off-set table in the back. I was greeted and shown the table, I sit down and in walks G with a smile on her face, saying "oh this is a nice table, its away from everyone and quiet." A bunch of people were up front enjoying some wine and tunes.

More to come................