First of all, thank you guys so much for all the sweet notes and best wishes over the last couple weeks. I’ve been on cloud nine since Andrew proposed and am just so grateful that everyone is sharing in the excitement with us. 

Secondly, I never thought I’d be the kind of girl who would post a big ole close up picture of her engagement ring on Tumblr. But you know what? I’m just so in love with it and felt like I had to share it with y’all. It’s definitely the prettiest, most special thing I’ve ever called my own.

SO… without further ado… here’s how the whole weekend went down:

Andrew’s 30th birthday was Friday April 5th. I planned a big party for him at a bar in DC on Thursday night and invited everyone from all walks of his life (work, childhood, family, friends, etc). He had a ball and it was a great start to the big weekend.

The next morning, Hannah and I sang Happy Birthday, we had birthday cake for breakfast and, with a bit of a struggle, went to work. I told Andrew that I’d be picking him up at 3pm and that he wouldn’t return to DC until Sunday evening. That’s all he knew and all I would tell him about the weekend plans.

After a mini two-hour road trip, we arrived at this gorgeous cabin in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He was SO excited and giddy and couldn’t believe that we had the whole place to ourselves for the entire weekend. A few minutes later, a bunch of our friends from DC had arrived and sneaked in to the backyard. Andrew spotted them and SURPRISE! Completely shocked, he didn’t really understand what was happening or why they were there, but soon realized the weekend was about to be a whole lot more fun with 10 friends there to celebrate! We had a big BBQ dinner, lots of drinks, games, firepit and hot tub time. It was wonderful.

The next morning, another surprise arrived… a big stretch Ford Excursion limo. All of us piled in with some crazy dance mix CDs and plenty of beverages for a full day of winery hopping. We picked up picnic lunches at Stonefire Station and did private tastings at Keswick, Blenheim and Trump vineyards. Conclusions: Virginia wine country is gorgeous, I can’t day drink like I used to and popsicle stick heads are the BEST. 

The rest of the cabin weekend was a blast. Leaving on Sunday to go back to DC was a bummer, but we stopped at Sonic to get tater tots and Diet Cherry Limeades. Note: Sonic is always a good idea.

When we got home around 5pm, we parked the car, lugged our bags, ice chests, Hannah and all of her stuff upstairs to our apartment and I unlocked the front door.

As soon I cracked the door open, all I could hear was LOUD classical music playing. I thought to myself… What the hell? I didn’t leave any music on when I left on Friday? I opened the door all the way and immediately saw TONS of flower bouquets and rose petals ALL over our apartment! I was in total shock. After only a few seconds, I realized what was happening, dropped everything I was carrying, turned around to Andrew, who was standing behind me in the hallway, saw that he was already crying and then I BURST into tears (tearing up again as I write this). I gave him a big hug. I remember I was shaking.

I followed the trail of petals to our bedroom where the ring, an elaborate display of more flowers and my FAVORITE type of cookies with the words “Jessica will you marry me” were waiting. Andrew got down on one knee and said a bunch of sweet stuff that I don’t really remember because I was just so surprised and caught up in the moment. I dropped to the floor, said yes, hugged him again and we just sort of held each other there for a few minutes. It was probably the happiest I’ve ever been, EVER. The tears didn’t stop until at least 15 minutes later. We were engaged! 

Turns out Andrew had thoughtfully coordinated to have one of his best friends come over on Sunday morning and stage the whole thing. Ryan, you did such an amazing job. Thank you for making that day a day that I will cherish forever. Andrew, you are the absolute best and I CANNOT wait to marry you. 

And there ya have it! Next step… wedding planning!