05.25.08

The Wedding

Tiffany S. Hallas & Robert F. Slavik

Tiffany's Blog Wednesday, March 26, 2008       THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: First of all, I must apologize to those of you who check out this page. We have done a poor job of keeping it updated as we meander through the process of planning the wedding. We’re down to only 9 weeks until the big weekend---and while it’s exciting, it seems that a lot of little things are popping up here and there---all of which require a lot of time and concentration. In addition, we lost a very dear friend to cancer in February. Scottie’s death took a toll on us, and it’s something both Rob and I still think about every day. We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to spend some quality time with him and Susan in December...and that Susan will be venturing to the Twin Cities to be with us in May. We are both honored and humbled. I am very happy to say that after many delays, a few wasted efforts & some challenging experiences, we have finally selected and signed with all of our vendors for the wedding. We are working with a wonderful group of professionals who are experts in their particular areas---and each one has shown us that they have a great desire in making our day special. Realizing that these folks put together weddings for many, many couples throughout the year---and ours is ultimately just another working weekend for them, it’s nice to know that they are all doing a great job with their attention to detail & making Rob and I feel like we’re the only bride & groom they’re working with. I purposely chose to work with people who didn’t make me feel like I was going to be another cookie-cutter wedding for them. I certainly hope that our collective style shows through during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, as we celebrate with our friends and family. And because I really value the work that all of our vendors are doing, please take a minute to check out the ‘Making it Happen’ section of this site. Of course, our vendors are all located in the Minneapolis area, but I have worked with many of them strictly via email & on the phone---so you never know if one of them could help you out with an upcoming event, etc. A few cool things I do want to mention... Sarah Glad (of A Milestone Paper Co), who worked with us to create a one-of-a-kind custom invitation design has been absolutely fabulous. I randomly found Sarah, and our meeting happened just in time! I was ready to create my own invitations from scratch—and I assure you, no one would have been complimenting us on the artwork! Sarah’s work is quality, through-and-through. She has also been asked to create the invitations for the 2008 Trend Wedding—which is a big deal here in the Twin Cities. A wedding valued at over $150,000, the Trend Wedding creators pick the best-of-the-best to collaborate with—and Sarah is the invitation designer this year. I’m honored to have her do our invitations & hope to have the opportunity to work with her again in the future. Robin Martin & team (of Gateaux, Inc) are working hard to design our wedding cake as I write this. Robin’s services came to me by recommendation from my boss at Flying Colors, who is also known as the office foodie. Since Rob and I had already gone through a few HORRIBLE cake tastings (feeling pressured or getting no attention at all—we felt completely out of our elements in these shops), we approached the idea of working with Gateaux very carefully. From the outside, I would describe Gateaux as an up-scale, design cake boutique—the kind of place that I would envision on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills (check out the website, you’ll see what I mean). When I called Gateaux to set up an appt, I was pleasantly surprised at the candor & warmth that came through in every correspondence...and my timing couldn’t have been better. The Gateaux team had just had a cancellation for our wedding weekend, so there (miraculously) was a spot open. After setting up a time to meet, I found out that Robin was going to be featured on a Food Network Challenge (Dr Seuss Cakes). This gave Rob and I a chance to check out Robin/Gateaux before we sat down to talk cakes with her. After watching Robin achieve 2nd place in the cake creating challenge, Rob and I were really excited to meet with Gateaux. Robin actually cursed while making her cake on television. She was nervous, she was real & she was completely down to earth in the episode we watched. THIS was exactly the kind of person we wanted to work with. And fortunately for us, Robin was exactly the same in person as she had appeared on TV...which I always find refreshing. But—and this is the truly important part—how was the cake? Phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. We sampled 10 different kind of cakes from Robin’s bakery---and they were all fabulous...however, I think Rob and I have settled on 2 flavors for our wedding cake. After having eaten wonderful buttercream cakes from the little Italian bakeries in the Northeast, we had high expectations for our cake—and I’m happy to say Robin did not disappoint! So, I don’t know how often we’ll be able to update the site from now until the wedding, but I promise we will try—especially if there are big details to share...so keep checking back, and definitely explore some of the links we’ve set up! We can’t wait to celebrate with all of you! Thursday, January 17, 2008       HONEYMOON: AY-Greetings Mon!!! So, things have been moving and shaking here in the icy tundra called Minne-sota!!! Unfortunately, just not too much is happening with the wedding. Rob and I have both been VERY busy with work, which has prevented us from getting a lot done during work hours (wink, wink). Hey everyone knows there are some big things that have to happen during regular business hours, right? However, things are starting to pick up momentum again...once January rolled around, Robbie and I realized we gotta MOVE on this thing! So, of course our first priority was...the HONEYMOON!!! Actually, this was one of Robbie’s responsibilities—and he was apparently hitting one brick wall after the other...(that’s his story anyway). Enter Super Tiffany (playing Superman theme here)---and within a week, we had a honeymoon booked. In reality, we tossed and turned over the decision. We thought Hawaii, the Mediterranean, a cruise, Alaska (I nixed that one pretty quick though! Who wants to wear fur lined clothing on their honeymoon—as a means of survival?!), Europe, the Caribbean, etc. I have to say Greece was my number on pick, however we knew that trip would be go, go, go...and for the honeymoon, we really wanted to relax---since EVERY other vacation we take is go, go, go. Ultimately, after hours of research online and talking with our friends and family who have taken trips similar to the kind we were looking for, we opted on an all-inclusive, pamper-yourself, lay-on-the-beach-sipping-mai-tais (Rob, not me) kind of deal. For two people who typically don’t book those kinds of trips, Robbie and felt completely out of our element, but it’ll be fun to take this kind of trip for our honeymoon---and at least this way, I know Rob won’t be dragging me from country-to-country without feeding me or letting me sleep (check out our PJ Europe tour update on the website). By the way, I’ve already established that he is NOT to wake me up before 10am ANY morning on the honeymoon. So, after researching all kinds of resorts---in different parts of the globe, we opted for a Sandals resort...their newest one (opened in 2005)—called the White House, in a ‘remote’ area of Jamaica (remote meaning it’s not located near the airport, Montego Bay, or where the cruises port). In addition, this resort featured one excursion that I have wanted to do for a very long time, and one I asked Robbie to make a priority when looking at honeymoon locations. So, on my birthday (the Saturday following the wedding), we’ll be swimming with the dolphins in the Caribbean. What can I say, I’m a sucker for water dwelling, fun loving creatures who don’t eat humans. One thing I’m NOT looking forward to? Great white sharks. Hey, I’ve seen all of the JAWS movies...I know they’re not likely in Jamaica (the water’s too warm, right?), but JAWS found his way down there for that movie...what’s not to say his long lost cousin decided to relocate there? I know Jamaica gets a bad rap---but we read nothing but good things about this resort, the location, the service, the food and the excursions. Aside from the bus ride (almost 2 hours), everything sounds great! Plus, the bus will be taking us away from all the riff-raff, so who can be upset about that? And who knows, maybe Robbie and I will get matching corn-rows in our hair (like Monica did in an episode of Friends!!) So, hopefully, I’ll have the chance to update this site more often in the weeks to come...as planning comes together, decisions are made & time winds down...I can’t believe there’s less than 5 months to go!!! Then Robbie and I get to explore the wonderful world of marriage...and spend everyday making each other happy for the rest of our lives!!! That’s what marriage is, right?! My first task as a wife? Keep Rob from playing golf EVERY DAY on our honeymoon. For some silly reason he thinks that’s in the plans right now... :) Tuesday, November 13, 2007       A SONG HAS BEEN CHOSEN: A song has been chosen, now we must learn to dance… I think everyone who knows us expects to hear lots of Pearl Jam and No Doubt the night of the wedding…and we won’t disappoint you! There will be plenty of both (so bring ear plugs if you’re not a fan!). However, our first dance as ‘husband and wife’ will NOT feature either of those two bands, although I am still hoping for a PJ/ND ‘mash-up’ sometime later in the night. Rob has already vetoed the idea numerous times, but I think that’s mostly because he doesn’t understand what a ‘mash-up’ is…he thinks it’s something from ‘Tiffanyland’ that I just made up one day. I guarantee you, it’s a real term. So, after deciding early on that we couldn’t agree (surprise, surprise) on a suitable song from either one of our two favorite bands for our first dance—we started exploring other options by bands we really like…U2 was a strong contender, as was R.E.M. They both have great songs that will definitely make an appearance at the reception…they just weren’t quite right for ‘our song.’ We toyed with the idea of a classic song by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles or Elvis, and decided that was too predictable. Rob thought we had a shot at Neil Young’s ‘Harvest Moon” (covered by PJ), but I can assure, that was never a real possibility (you’ll hear more about Neil later). We also looked at some artists that we’ve discovered in the last 3-4 years and grown to love together…Sister Hazel, Matt Nathanson, Bain Mattox, Bosko, Snow Patrol, the Dandy Warhols (if they’d stop making songs about getting high & the BJM, they could have had a shot)…we even briefly (VERY BRIEFLY) considered Prince, since we are in Minne-SOTA! However, on Friday, October 26th Robbie and I randomly took another listen to a song that we’ve each been listening to a lot over the last couple of months. It’s by an artist who we absolutely love…and if he could come sing this song live at our reception, it would be the next best thing to having Gwen & Ed there…but we’re not holding our breath. We’ve seen this guy many times in the last couple of years…and since Ben Lee’s will be the voice you hear as we’re dancing our first dance, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about how we found him, why we love him and what his music means to us. THE FINGER AND THE MOON (from Breathing Tornadoes, 1998) In Evansville, I worked at the local NBC affiliate station, WFIE. In the six years that I roamed the building, I learned basically EVERY job that I could…including the unsavory position of ‘master control.’ While the title sounds cool…it’s not at all. Basically, this is the person who (among other things) monitors the signal from network, runs local commercials and keeps track of how the station is making money. This is a 24-hours-a-day position, which means there is someone who sits there overnight, all by him/herself, watching horrible overnight programming. In late 2004, I was filling in for the evening director…so my shift technically ended at 10:30pm. On this one particular night, our overnight MCO called in sick just before his shift began and no one could cover…so I was stuck doing it. Fortunately for me, Carson Daly had a decent guest list that night…which included musical guest Ben Lee. I saw him perform ‘Gamble Everything for Love’ & ‘No Right Angles.’ I was hooked… LONG TRAIN RIDE (from Something to Remember Me By, 1997) A few months later, Rob and I were taking a trip to South Carolina together (from our current homes in Evansville, IN). Of course, we were going to see a concert (Sister Hazel & Matt Nathanson at the Windjammer)…however this trip was different because it was our first major road trip & weekend away together. Although the trip started with me having a suspended license and Rob working the entire day/night before we left…we were excited. This was new territory for both of us, taking time off work and traveling so far together. Who knew it would be such a test of will! After driving all night, we finally arrived in Charleston around 4:30am. We spent our first hours on the coast, watching the sunrise & dolphins jumping in the ocean. Growing up in Indiana, it was the first time in a long time that I’d stood on the beach and watched the sun rise over the ocean. Being from Jersey, Rob apparently could have cared less…because he slept the entire time, covered by our beach blanket! Ah, a sign, perhaps? After spending a few days on the beach—and refusing to wear sunscreen, my Jersey boy looked like a Maine lobster, and this fair-skinned, redheaded Indiana girl had a nice, even tan. Oh how I wish things would have been reversed! He moaned, he cried, he spent countless hours shut away in the hotel room asking me why didn’t I INSIST more adamantly that he put on sunscreen (as if he would have listened to any more of my ‘nagging’ about sunscreen!). We went to the concert, and he cringed in the back of the bar…trying not to make contact with a single person. I stood up front and rocked out…after all, we had come all this way, right?! Fortunately, the next day was rain, rain, rain…so I didn’t feel as if we were missing out on beach time due to Rob’s hideous sunburn . Instead, we went shopping! Somehow, Rob became miraculously healed, and was able to shop and walk around and be friendly all day long! That day, I found Ben Lee’s CD, Hey You, Yes You in a Barnes & Noble. It was finally mine! Along with that CD, Rob and I found 12 other CDs we just HAD TO HAVE!!! I couldn’t believe that we’d driven all the way to SC to go CD shopping! Some of our other goodies were: Brad, Three Fish, The Rockfords, Wellwater Conspiracy, a Pearl Jam bootleg, Kara’s Flowers (now known as Maroon 5) and Bell Biv DeVoe! The obsession had begun! Hey You, Yes You was Ben’s latest release and there was a whole world of previous albums for us to track down. It turned out to be a good thing we had so much old Ben Lee stuff to occupy us, because it was June of 2004…and we’d have to almost 2 years to hear a NEW Ben Lee album (which would hold the 2 tracks I’d heard on Carson Daly’s show). I’M WITH THE STAR! (from Grandpaw Would, 1995) Being from Australia, Ben Lee wasn’t huge in the Midwest at the time…and although he now spends a great deal of time in ‘the states’—our chances of catching him on tour were few and far between in the early days of our discovery. In September of that year (as we were planning our move to SC—NOT based on our previous trip there), Rob decided it was time to introduce me to the world of Pearl Jam…and we set out on a Midwest PJ tour, hitting shows in Toledo, OH, Kalamazoo, MI & St. Louis, MO (in that order). It just so happened that the day BEFORE our first PJ show in Ohio, Ben was playing a dive bar in Louisville, KY—that was Friday, October 1 at Uncle Pleasants. Finally, we were going to see this awesome little aussie in concert!!! If I could get away with it, I’d say it was the best show of our little ‘tour’—but Rob would be pretty upset (and I don’t want to hear him cry again like he did with the sunburn), so I’ll just say that seeing Ben Lee perform for the first time, chatting with him, and just knowing that he lived up to all that we’d made him out to be in our minds was so great…and it was definitely better than my first-ever PJ concert, which happened the next night (Neil Young hi-jacked the entire stage & band for most of the night---augh!). CATCH MY DISEASE (from Awake is the New Sleep, 2005) Over the next several years (after relocating to SC), Rob and I made every effort to see Ben Lee whenever we could. Unfortunately, he really didn’t travel the southeast extensively (can’t say that I blame him!). There was one show in Atlanta that we talked ourselves into…in the basement of a dingy club, called The Drunken Unicorn with Maria Taylor and the infamous Har Mar Superstar. A bizarre pairing, indeed! It was a Monday show…and both Rob and I had worked that day, and were working the next day as well. The drive was almost 4 hours…and Ben didn’t even hit the stage until almost 11:30pm that night. We didn’t hit the road to return home until almost 1am. I still remember that drive home as being the hardest post-concert drive I’ve ever made. Oh, the things we’ll do to see our bands! Rob also had the opportunity to take Jay & Peetz to see Ben in Massachusetts a few months later. I was stuck in SC working, so he brought me home a setlist that he’d had Ben sign for me… (ah, how sweet) We made it to a few other shows, but it wasn’t often that we got to see Ben perform, until we moved to MN… HOME (from Ripe, 2007) Who would have thought that Ben Lee would have been part of our welcoming committee to MN?! We arrived in Minnesota on April 19th, closed on our house & moved in April 20th, spent the next several days painting the empty house (most of our belongings arrived a few weeks later), and on April 22nd, we went to see Ben Lee perform at a free show for students on the Augsburg College campus, near the Univ of MN. Our house was a mess with half-painted walls, tarps & dust, with no furniture or food…and we were sore & tired from sleeping on the floor, but we made it out to see his show. Afterwards, Ben totally called us out—reminding us that we weren’t students, and what were we doing here! He turned down our offer to come hang in our new, empty house…but that was okay. Since then, we’ve seen Ben perform many times at the Fine Line Music Café (our reception site!), among other places here in the northern-midwest. We always find it entertaining to watch him interact with the crowd, both onstage and off…and he’s someone we’re constantly excited to see perform, either with his band or solo---and we always buy his CDs the day or week they come out. Minnesota really embraces his music, and it’s nice to ‘hear Ben Lee on the radio’ from time to time. We even got to spend Rob’s birthday, yesterday, with Ben! He was in Minneapolis performing last night, so we got to take Dipak, Heather & Shep to see him. ????? (from ?????) So, we’ve decided that it’s a Ben Lee song that we’ll dance to first, as ‘husband and wife’. It’s the song that we feel best sums us up and it’s the song that we want to be ‘ours’ for the rest of our lives. Not to say we don’t have a million other songs that we love, but this one just seems right for the day, the occasion and to share with my Robbie for the rest of our lives…but, I can’t give away all the goods now, so you’ll have to wait until May 25th to find out what ‘our song’ is…or, go out and explore the world of Ben Lee yourself beforehand! Ben-Lee.com Thursday, November 1, 2007       ENGAGEMENT PHOTO SESSION: It was early, it was trying to rain, it was cold…and I was afraid my nose was going to be red in every picture!!! Okay, that sentence makes our engagement photo session sound like h*ll on earth, but it was actually far from that. It WAS early, which is never my favorite time on a weekend. It WAS rainy, which is never good for my already unmanageable mane. It WAS cold, but I guess that’s to be expected here in Minnesota during the middle of October. But, it really was a fun experience, mostly because Ruth, our photographer is AWESOME! I must say, posing for photos isn’t one of the things that Robbie and I do best, but you would never know that from the great shots Ruth gathered…and it wasn’t as if our session lasted a full afternoon. It consisted of 4 quick shooting locations, one hour of shooting, and me saying and doing only a handful of ridiculous things…most of which weren’t digitally captured (Thanks Ruth!). We’re really looking forward to sharing our pictures with everyone at the wedding---and working with Ruth and her team that day to capture more memorable moments in photos that will allow us to revisit our special day over and over! One other thing I should mention, we did insist on having at least one set of extremely casual shots of us wearing our respective favorite bands’ apparel. They probably won’t make the cut anywhere else, so I want to show them off here. Now that I think about it, we really should have been playing air guitar or holding up the universal ‘rock’ symbol…guess we’ll have to do that in our wedding garb instead! Sunday, October 7, 2007       HOW WE MET: It’s official, we’re really doing this thing! So, the save-the-dates have gone out…and it’s officially official! I know you’ve heard it from Rob on here before now, but let’s face it—half of the stuff he says is just a joke. But this…this is actually happening. We’re getting married! There’s no way I can express how excited I am! I’m sure everyone has had that feeling, like you’re never going to find that one person that completes you, that person you can call ‘home’…but, I can tell you that it does happen, it will happen---and don’t forget to enjoy the ride. I thought I’d take this opportunity to fill everyone in on how this whole thing started! Many of you have heard the story, some of you were there when it happened---and several of you probably STILL don’t believe it! Rob and I met on December 30, 2002. I guess you could say we were both prepping for the next night’s festivities (New Year’s Eve), by doing a little pre-partying. We were both hanging at a local Evansville bar, The Fox & Hound, separately with our own friends. I was drinking (biggest tab ever, before I met Rob) at a table with one of my best gal-pals Rachel Howard---and a long lost friend Eric Woods. Rob and his crew (Jay “Zeus” Foster, Mike “Peetz” Pizzirusso & Ryan Eaton) came over to our section of the bar, to play some shuffle board. Apparently, I was telling a very loud, animated story (go figure), which got Rob’s attention. Being a fairly new kid in town, Rob was interested in making new friends and who can blame him in thinking ‘that chick looks cool’…so he walked over and asked if he could sit with the 3 of us for awhile. We introduced ourselves and the conversation flowed for quite a while…we talked music, movies, Midwest & Northeast traditions, etc. Eventually the rest of Rob’s gang made their way to our table and introductions were made. Apparently earlier in the night, Jay had dumped a beer on Peetz’s head, and Peetz decided it was finally an appropriate time to try to return the favor, while in our presence. My girl Rachel wasn’t having it, and read them the riot act. I’m pretty sure Jay & Peetz will never forget the little Indiana girl who screamed at them in a bar during their first encounter (thankfully it wasn’t me!). I’m looking forward to that reunion! At the end of the evening, I told Rob that we’d definitely see each other around, and we went our separate ways. No exchanging numbers, no emails…nothing. Just faith in the fact that we’d meet again. The next few months were spotted with casual encounters…running into each other at Fox & Hound, Rob coming out to see my friends’ band, Bosko—and all the while we never exchanged info. That all changed on Saturday, February 22. Bosko was playing their first real gig at The Deerhead…a local blues bar in Evansville. I had promoted the heck out of this show and we were expecting a ‘standing-room only’ turnout. Unfortunately, mother nature was working against us. Evansville experienced a terrible ice storm that night…and no one could even leave their homes, let alone make it out to the bar to see the band. I was working at the TV station up the street from the bar, so I toughed it out…and I’m really glad I did. I walk into the bar, filled with approximately 10-15 people—all walking locals, I’m sure…and there’s Rob, sitting at the bar with his friend and co-worker Scott Gerth. I was so let down that the band wasn’t going to have a great crowd to play to, and there were very few people there that I even knew. It was so nice to walk in and see a somewhat familiar, friendly face. I spent the entire evening at the bar with Rob and Scott, chatting and yes, there was a little flirting. Scotty really tested me with his questions and innuendos—and I’m happy to say, I passed with flying colors! We talked about Rob’s homemade movies and a few of my own college videos…and decided we should have a viewing party. Really, I think we were both just looking for a way to see each other again, without leaving it up to chance…so, we FINALLY exchanged numbers. And so…a friendship began. While we both liked each other, our relationship was strictly platonic for many months. During the spring and summer of 2003, we went to several concerts, watched tons of movies and hung out at Bosko shows endlessly. I felt like I had a new best friend…and man was he good looking! Gradually, things began to change---and although it took well into the next year, we finally felt comfortable enough to refer to ourselves as ‘dating’. And now, here we are…countless concerts later---and I love this boy more than I ever have, and so much more than I ever thought I could love someone. With all the people out there in this world, I am so happy that we found each other, took a chance and that we get to celebrate with all of you! That’s enough of the sappy stuff…more wedding details to come! Wednesday, October 3, 2007       A PROPOSAL STORY: written on Wednesday April 25, 2007 Friday, April 20 was our one-year anniversary in our house. After bravely choosing to move from South Carolina to Minneapolis, MN — we decided that investing in a home was something we were ready to do ... as a team, as adults, as post-graduates who had lived in apartments and dorms since leaving our parents' homes almost 10 years earlier. I'm still not sure we were totally ready! However, we did it! We survived one full year in OUR home. We fell far short of completing all of the updates that we wanted to do — but now that it's spring and we aren't exploring a new environment, I feel that we'll have more luck making progress on several areas we want to improve ... well, maybe. Leave it to Rob to throw a kink in our plans. Here's the story ... For several weeks, I've been harassing Rob about us getting a puppy. I really want a yellow lab, and now's the perfect time to add a pup to our little family. Our schedules have settled down enough that we could really concentrate on training a puppy, we both work close to home and it's getting warm outside! Rob kept putting me off and putting me off. We got in a big argument about it — and I was convinced that even though he promised to seriously consider it after a year in the house, it was going to take me another 5 years to fully talk him into getting a puppy. So, on Friday (April 20) when I got home from work, he had cleaned the house, bought me flowers and told me 'Happy 1 year Anniversary." He had told me previously that we had plans on Friday, but wouldn't elaborate. Remembering that it was our 1-year anniversary in the house, I figured he had planned a nice dinner or 'date night' out. I felt bad ... I didn't get him anything to celebrate this 'anniversary'! Since Rob had been at work ALL NIGHT the previous night, I hadn't slept at all. Yes, I'm weird. I don't sleep when he's not home. It's an awful curse for someone like me, who loves to sleep. So, I promptly took a nap on the couch after receiving my flowers. Rob promised to wake me up in an hour or so, to get ready for our late dinner reservation. So, I wake up, shower and get dressed ... all the while, Rob is watching me like a hawk while I was in our bedroom upstairs. This was odd behavior for him, since he's normally on the computer or watching TV while I'm still getting ready. Later, I found out he was paranoid. So, finally we're ready and walking out the door when Rob stops and says that we have to go back upstairs before we leave because 'the boys' have a little gift they want to give me. I remind him that we have a dinner reservation and I don't want to be late ... it's already 7:30pm! SIDE NOTE: For those of you who don't know ... 'the boys' are our collection of special guys — my ET doll, Rob's E2 doll, Elmo, Gertie, Quacklin Alexander, Slyvester and Rupert the Rhino ... plus my little lamb. We've got quite the little family. They hang out in/around our bed. Back to my story ... So, we venture upstairs together and I see the Tiffany & Co. bag and the card on the bed. I have no idea what’s about to happen. I had been dropping hints about the Tiffany's mesh band that got big a few years ago. A friend's wife has the ring ... and whenever I see Tiffany's, I bring up how cool the ring is (it's not a wedding ring or anything like that ... just a cool chick's ring). I'm thinking 'wow, that's an awfully big gift for one year in our house!' So, I read the card first, which has all sorts of sweet things in it (and the cutest puppy of all time on the front of it) - in the card, Rob says how much I mean to him and how I've made him happier than he thought he could be…and how he's ready to start a family ... and will let us get a dog. I'm so excited!!! So, then I'm thinking the bag could be a trick and I'm really getting a puppy ... I start digging in the bag. There's a box in there, but it's empty. Meanwhile, Rob is pulling the ring box out of his pocket while getting down on one knee — BEHIND ME! I turn around and he just starts talking ... saying (again) all sorts of sweet things. Things that I don't remember at all now. Although, somewhere in the middle, I know I told him to stop, because he was 'making me cry, and I don't look pretty when I cry'... then he asked me marry him. I said 'mmmm-hmmm' and nodded ... which was followed by a big bear hug. Rob then said 2 things to me - "you didn't even look at the ring" and "you didn't say yes" at which point I replied 'Yes, yes, yes' and 'give me my ring!' He put the most beautiful Tiffany's ring on my hand and we hugged some more. Then we asked each other repeatedly if the other was sure ... after all, this has been a long time in the making…we met December 30, 2002. Then Rob told me he hadn't told a single person yet. That's when I REALLY started to sweat. I knew we had to call his mom first, but we had to get to our dinner reservation! When we got in the car, Rob told me ALL about his trips to Tiffany & Co. and meeting the sales people, pacing, refusing drinks to calm him and the process of picking out a ring. He actually asked them 'what happens if she says no?' and was serious! He made 5 different trips in the last couple of months, and had a booklet on everything he needed to know in 'buying a ring.' I learned all about my ring on the way to dinner…now every time I bang it into something (because I'm a lefty) I'm wondering how much damage I'm doing to it. Ignorance really can be bliss ...

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