Was that a "Yes"?

First off, let me just say, I had no idea it was coming. Mr. Goodlaff was sneaky like that.

In the beginning of 2010, I heard that the Broadway musical "Wicked" was playing in San Francisco, and Mr. Goodlaff bought us some tickets for a March show--a belated Valentine's Day of sorts. I was beyond excited to finally see the show that had been playing on my iPod non-stop since I'd seen "Defying Gravity" performed on the Tony's in 2004 (have I mentioned my love of musicals?). We talked about things to do, places to see, and made a general plan for our trip. At one point Mr. Goodlaff told me, "this is not an engagement trip." And I believed him. I can honestly say that it never even crossed my mind that he would propose that weekend.

San Francisco holds a special place in our hearts--it was there that we took our first trip together. That first trip was one of the most perfect trips imaginable.  An accident of overbooking meant that Expedia moved us to the W hotel; we went to Hyde Street Pier, and the boats that you usually have to pay to see were free; we happened to pass by Rasputin Records and popped in, only to see Less Than Jake giving a free, in-store concert;  we had one of the best meals I've ever eaten at Ame;  and after all of that, we figured out that we wouldn't kill each other after being together 24/7. One evening, while wandering the city, Mr. Goodlaff and I ended up right in front of City Hall in the United Nations Plaza, which is gorgeous when it's all lit up. It really was a perfect trip.

Personal Photo

Our second trip to San Francisco was shaping up to be just as good: we had a fabulous room at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis that Mr. Goodlaff's brother was able to hook us up with.

The Starting Bell (Riiiiiing!)

All the planning, all the craziness, the spreadsheets of guest names and timelines and to-do’s, the color palettes, the dress hunting, the shoes(!), the menus and linens and so much more—it all started with a ring.

A few months before we got engaged, Mr. Goodlaff asked me to show him what I liked in the way of engagement rings.  He said that if “sometime way, way, way, way, way in the future" he decided to propose, he wanted it to be a surprise, which meant that he would be ring shopping all on his own and could use a little guidance.  Now, I, like most girls have given this a thought a time or two and I had definite ideas on what the ring should look like.

So, I showed him “the one”:

Source

*sigh* It still makes me go all gooey inside.