I haven't updated in a while because, as usual, not much was going on and I didn't really have much to say. Today, however, there's too much to say!!! Let me explain.
Saturday was Kate's birthday, as well as our one-year anniversary. It was a perfect day. We decided to go to Ben Pao's for dinner. It's a really nice chinese restaurant in Chicago. First we dropped off Mia at her "pappy's" (Kate's dad's place) and then headed downtown. We had a few drinks at the bar - I had Saborro, a Japanese beer which I totally recommend, and Kate had some sort of Ginger-Ale mixed drink that I can't remember the name of. It was so awesome. Then we were seated and had some fantastic appetizers. I had another Saborro and we ordered dinner. I got the "Peking Beef" special, which was some beef, sauteéd with onions and peppers, on top of rice. Pretty standard, I guess, but really tasty. Kate had some chicken thing with some fruit and brown rice that was kind of tasty, but not as good as mine! HAHAHA! So yeah, dinner was awesome. Go to Ben Pao's if you ever get a chance.
We left the restaurant. Mia was staying at her pappy's overnight, so Kate and I could do pretty much whatever we wanted. Kate thought we were heading back to her house to spend the night there, but I had other plans. We exited the Ben Pao parking lot and started heading back towards 290. About a mile from the restaurant, I turned into a parking garage. Kate was confused. "Where are we going?" she asked. I just kept driving. I found a parking spot and told her to get out. We walked out to the street and turned the corner. She kept asking, "What's going on? Where are we going?" I kept saying that I had to pee really bad. We entered the Hotel Allegro, which was about half a block from the parking garage, and took the elevator to the 8th floor. On that floor at the end of the hall was the "Lion King Suite", which is so much cooler than you can possibly imagine. It's got kind of a jungle / African theme, but not in a corny way at all. We entered the room, which I had already checked into and gotten keys for earlier in the afternoon. Sitting on the table were a couple presents. Kate opened the "dumb" presents first ("Big Fish" on DVD, "Kids in the Hall Season 2" on DVD). Then I went to the bedroom and grabbed my guitar. I came back out and told her to open the first of 2 envelopes. In it were the lyrics to a song I wrote for her, which I proceeded to sing / play. I forgot a couple of the words, but she helped me through it. Then I gave her the second card and said, "Open it and I'll be right back." I ran into the bedroom again and grabbed the last of the presents. Kate, in the meantime, opened a card which said, "Congratulations on your engagement". Of course, I had colored over the "Y" in "Your" with a heart. Just as she read this, I came back into the room with a little box in my hand. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She was crying the whole time, which was so great, and she said yes. Then I showed her a little ring I had gotten for Mia, which we gave to her the next day when we told her about the engagement. The whole thing was so awesome for me cuz, not only was I so excited to pop the question, but I was almost as excited to finally tell her about all the plans I had been making over the last month and to show her around the hotel room. She loved the ring, which was the only thing I was really nervous about. We're both so happy. I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about the future plans.
I'm at work so I should probably stop. I'll write more later about the rest of the night, the next day when we told Mia, etc. etc. Hope everyone is doing well!
-Rick
Saturday was Kate's birthday, as well as our one-year anniversary. It was a perfect day. We decided to go to Ben Pao's for dinner. It's a really nice chinese restaurant in Chicago. First we dropped off Mia at her "pappy's" (Kate's dad's place) and then headed downtown. We had a few drinks at the bar - I had Saborro, a Japanese beer which I totally recommend, and Kate had some sort of Ginger-Ale mixed drink that I can't remember the name of. It was so awesome. Then we were seated and had some fantastic appetizers. I had another Saborro and we ordered dinner. I got the "Peking Beef" special, which was some beef, sauteéd with onions and peppers, on top of rice. Pretty standard, I guess, but really tasty. Kate had some chicken thing with some fruit and brown rice that was kind of tasty, but not as good as mine! HAHAHA! So yeah, dinner was awesome. Go to Ben Pao's if you ever get a chance.
We left the restaurant. Mia was staying at her pappy's overnight, so Kate and I could do pretty much whatever we wanted. Kate thought we were heading back to her house to spend the night there, but I had other plans. We exited the Ben Pao parking lot and started heading back towards 290. About a mile from the restaurant, I turned into a parking garage. Kate was confused. "Where are we going?" she asked. I just kept driving. I found a parking spot and told her to get out. We walked out to the street and turned the corner. She kept asking, "What's going on? Where are we going?" I kept saying that I had to pee really bad. We entered the Hotel Allegro, which was about half a block from the parking garage, and took the elevator to the 8th floor. On that floor at the end of the hall was the "Lion King Suite", which is so much cooler than you can possibly imagine. It's got kind of a jungle / African theme, but not in a corny way at all. We entered the room, which I had already checked into and gotten keys for earlier in the afternoon. Sitting on the table were a couple presents. Kate opened the "dumb" presents first ("Big Fish" on DVD, "Kids in the Hall Season 2" on DVD). Then I went to the bedroom and grabbed my guitar. I came back out and told her to open the first of 2 envelopes. In it were the lyrics to a song I wrote for her, which I proceeded to sing / play. I forgot a couple of the words, but she helped me through it. Then I gave her the second card and said, "Open it and I'll be right back." I ran into the bedroom again and grabbed the last of the presents. Kate, in the meantime, opened a card which said, "Congratulations on your engagement". Of course, I had colored over the "Y" in "Your" with a heart. Just as she read this, I came back into the room with a little box in my hand. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She was crying the whole time, which was so great, and she said yes. Then I showed her a little ring I had gotten for Mia, which we gave to her the next day when we told her about the engagement. The whole thing was so awesome for me cuz, not only was I so excited to pop the question, but I was almost as excited to finally tell her about all the plans I had been making over the last month and to show her around the hotel room. She loved the ring, which was the only thing I was really nervous about. We're both so happy. I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about the future plans.
I'm at work so I should probably stop. I'll write more later about the rest of the night, the next day when we told Mia, etc. etc. Hope everyone is doing well!
-Rick
