Friday, December 19, 1999

Eric: Though I pretty much knew early on that she was the one (Bonnie: Aaaaah, how sweet!... I felt the same too!), I finally decided it was time to fish or cut bait. I figured a ring would be a good, early Christmas present for Bonnie.

Bonnie: Welllll, he's not telling you about his Valentine's Day e-mail. But I'll leave it at that. ;o)

Eric: Anyhow, like I was saying.... In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I huddled with my good friends here in D.C. and brainstormed about where I should propose. So, after narrowing it down to just a few spots, I sent out my trustworthy scouts, Jonathan Leeman and Michael Rhyner, to check out the place during their lunch break. As I had been advised, Jonathan and Mike concurred and give me the thumbs up on the Iron Gate Inn in Dupont Circle. I made reservations and arranged for a secluded and romantic table by the fireplace.

Bonnie: So I picked Eric up at his office that night after his office Christmas party so that we could go out to dinner as we discussed....... I didn't suspect a thing. But I got a little worried when he stressed out over the fact that we couldn't find the restaurant or a parking spot....and that made us more than 30 minutes late for the "reservation." I told him "don't worry, we can just get the next table that's open." And he didn't seem to like that answer and whispered under his breath that the evening might be ruined. But I couldn't figure out why.

Eric: We FINALLY got there, and fortunately they saved our table. The Iron Gate Inn is an old horse stable from way back...converted into a grrrrrrrreat little restaurant. It's dark, lit only by the many small hanging brass lamps and its genuine wood fireplace. And it is furnished with lots of dark woodwork (just like I like it). The tables are snuggled into the stalls where the horses used to be kept and plants hang from where the hay once lay. I told Bonnie to order whatever she would like and insisted on a bottle of wine since we hadn't had a romantic dinner in a while.

Bonnie: I just tried to get him to order a beer instead, since the food was pretty expensive and the bottles of wine started at $30 and up. Eric NEVER drinks wine! But he INSISTED on the wine, so I said okay! :o) But, I was still clueless and thought he was just being EXTRA romantic that night.

Eric: I planned on a nice, relaxed dinner and figured I'd propose just before dessert was served. A quick digression here is needed: (Bonnie: oh boy) After searching for and researching about diamonds and gold, I ended up buying a ring from a jeweler my Mom knew and she gave me her diamond. (Thanks Mom, I love you!) In order to get the correct ring size, I stole a little ring from Bonnie's jewelry box (when she wasn't looking) and sent it to my Mom for the jeweler to size. Then, before the big night, I bought a neat little ivory and brass ring box to add to the surprise.

Bonnie: I thought Eric was acting a little different that night. He kept saying sweet, mushy stuff...like he normally does...but something just seemed different. Then he asked if he could come sit on my side of the table for dessert so that he could be by me and see the fire, too. So he came over to my side and started whispering sweet everythings. Then he said, "I got an early Christmas present for you," and I said "you did" and then he reached into his breast coat pocket.
Then my heart jumped and I thought "no way"....it was like a scene from every chick-flick you've ever seen. And he brought out the little ivory box and handed it to me. I turned it over and over, not knowing what to say except that it was pretty and I was too afraid to open it because I didn't want to be too presumptive.

Eric: Then I said, "Go ahead. Open it!"

Bonnie: And so I opened it real slow and my heart was POUNDING...and it was EMPTY! And so, my heart sank back down and I said. "Oh, wow, it's neat." And then Eric said (all happy) "It has purple velvet inside"............how cruel! (guys love this part of the story).

Eric: Then Bonnie said "you should have waited until Christmas, silly." Then, as I reached into my pocket to pull out the real thing, I said, "I thought I'd give it to you now so that you'd have something to put your old ring in!" Then I got down on my knee....

Bonnie: And I started crying and shaking...and my heart started pounding really hard AGAIN. Then Eric proposed on his knee and all I could say was "you silly, you crazy" (over and over) and I just tugged at him to come sit back in the chair with me so that I could hug him and he said, "You haven't answered my question yet!" And I said, "I said YES, silly, already a hundred times!!!!!"

Eric: See, the ring box sleight was a good move after all! After we stopped crying the waitress came over with perfect timing and delivered a congratulatory champaign toast, on the house.

Bonnie: The waitresses were in on it the WHOLE TIME! I thought they kept staring at me weird. haha Eric is such an incredible sweetie!!!!!!!!!
Then the planning started........

Next, "The Wedding!"