and then I said yes!

   Preface: Dan and I have been dating for over 2 years now and I have known in my heart for the past 1.5 years that I wanted to marry him. The struggles of bringing my head into alignment with the love that my heart felt took some time, but it finally came to a place of fruition where I finally felt secure enough to be able to say yes with both. I had told Dan a long time ago that I would not accept an engagement ring from him until he was financially independent(in his case, this meant he had graduated undergrad) so I knew what the timing would look like for our engagement. All semester as I have watched literally countless friends and acquaintances get engaged and/or married, I was literally sitting on pins and needles waiting for my own turn. I knew that it would happen sometime this summer, and knowing my fiance so well, I figured that it would happen sooner than later, but I was trying not to anticipate anything because I knew he wanted to surprise me. I left the country on a study abroad trip to Italy in the middle of May, fulfilling a lifelong dream to visit and experience that beautiful country. I had limited use of the internet while I was there, but I did get to talk to Dan fairly often on facebook for at least a little bit of time. During one of these exchanges, he randomly linked me to a website listing dance performances in Chicago in June. He said that we needed something to look forward to when I came back other than just the number of weddings we have to attend this summer.(I say have in the meaning that I LOVE weddings and am so honored to be going to all of them!) I of course am not one to turn down a chance to see dance, especially in Chicago, so I was all for it.

 As the days went on though, the trip to Chicago became more elaborate. First it was dinner, then lunch at *this really awesome pizza place that has the best pizza ever* (why had he never taken me there before then?) and then going early to walk around Millennium Park, and finally, riding the ferris wheel at Navy Pier at NIGHT. This last little bit really put my suspicions through the roof. At that point we were in Rome, and I turned to the girls I was sitting with and was like, "Guys, I think my boyfriend is proposing to me in a week and a half, because he now wants to ride the ferris wheel, one of my favorite things in the entire world, in Chicago, in the evening."

 I kept going back and forth, trying to analyze every part of the situation, attempting to decide if I thought it was going to happen that day or not.

 "It's so early in the summer"

 "I bet this is just him trying to psych me out"

 "I'm just getting too excited and impatient"

 "But he wouldn't spend all that time and money if it wasn't the real deal"

 "He's more impatient than I am, why wouldn't it be at the beginning of the summer"

 These are just some of the things that constantly went through my head in the 1.5 weeks leading up to June 9th. I had oodles of conversations with EVERYONE, getting everyone else's opinion on the matter. (all the while not knowing that most of them already knew what was going on. I told you Dan can't keep secrets) I couldn't decide if I should prepare for the excitement and risk disappointment, or if I should not prepare and risk not wearing my cutest outfit. lol. After a long night's chat with Josh the night before, I went with my gut, wore the cute sundress, and prepared myself to get engaged on Navy Pier on the ferris wheel.

 Day Of (1): I woke up early on June 9th because Dan insisted that we had to leave Laffy Taffy at 8am. I had no idea why we needed to be in Chicago SO early, especially since I had just finished the first week of my internship and I was exhausted. But up early I was and then promptly fell asleep again in the car. We got to Chicago around 9:30am local time(before the Art Institute was open, so people were able to take pictures touching the lions in front) and spent about 2 hours walking around Millennium Park, seeing the Bean, enjoying the weather, and walking down by the water. Essentially we were just killing time before we went to lunch. I still didn't understand why we were there since it's not like I haven't been to Chicago a zillion times before, but I had just decided to go with it and let Dan execute what was obviously a carefully planned out day.

 After walking around we went back to the car and drove north? and ended up by a different part of the lake. Dan was being super secretive of the little piece of paper he was holding that had directions on it and the parking situation wasn't turning out so well for us. We were right by several beaches and the beautiful weather had brought out everyone and their dogs that day. After a masterfully executed 3 point turn by Dan, we found a parking spot. As we got out, Dan INSISTED that I put on sunscreen as he slung the wine carrier over his shoulder, explaining that he had paid a corking fee so we could have good wine with lunch. As we started walking to find the restaurant, he turned to me and said, well I guess it's probably obvious that I've never actually been to this place before. I responded with, I didn't think so. Then he said, we are looking for Dock B. I realized that we were getting on a boat (YAY!) but still didn't really understand what the deal was. We get to the dock and sign our life over to the boat company where I hear that whatever boat we are getting on, we have it for two hours.

 We climb aboard "The Traveler" a small little sailboat with a small cabin underneath and meet our captain whose name I honestly have no recollection of. As we get out to the lake Dan just has this giddy smile on his face and I know he is quite proud of himself. My only question at the time was whether or not we still got to eat. There was bruschetta and pizza below deck for us with of course the delicious Reisling that we brought a long. It was a bit difficult to manage eating on a boat that kept rocking back and forth, but I was just loving being out on the water. It was a perfectly beautiful day with bright skies and just enough wind to make sailing possible. Plus, from the water we had a most excellent view of the skyline which is one of my favorite things to look at. We could also see Navy Pier and the ferris wheel which I was still super excited to get to ride that evening. Once we finished eating, Dan took the plates below deck and came back with a giant bouquet of roses. (He clearly hadn't picked them out himself though, because they were not solid red, they just had red tips)

 It was at that instant that I knew he was about to propose. He sat down, handed me the flowers, and gave some short little speech about how much he loved me and all that we had been through together in the past 2+ years. (I honestly don't remember most of what he said, he said it all so fast!) Then he shakily got down on one knee(remember, we are on a tiny sailboat and the captain is still sitting there too) and said, "I just need to ask you a question though, Allyson Mercer, will you marry me?"

 *Pause* Now, I was thinking beforehand that I would say no whenever he asked me, just like Clare does in The Time Traveler's Wife and say something about wanting to exert my own free will, but I totally forgot about it in the moment. *Unpause*

 I simply said yes and leaned in to kiss him. After we finished kissing he was just sitting there smiling at me, so I finally said, "Do I get the ring?" He insists that he didn't have a chance to because I was kissing him, but I contest. :) After that we still got to sail around for 1.5 hours enjoying the beautiful weather, the skyline, and being out on the water.

 Day Of (2): Once we got back onto land, we stopped to use the restroom before heading off to go to jewelry stores to find the real ring. A group of ladies were outside as I was waiting and after whispering to themselves for a minute or two, one of them came up to me and asked if I had just gotten engaged. I happily replied yes, that he had done it on the boat which they all just "awwwwwwed" to. Apparently they found it as adorable as I did.

 Once we left we went to Wabash Avenue where jewelry stores abound so I could start looking for a ring that I liked. I have always wanted to pick out my own engagement ring because I want to love everything about it if it's going to be worn every day for the next 60+ years. We went to about half a dozen places and then went back to the first place to look at a ring that I really liked again. I loved it the first time, but I wanted to see what else was out there so I didn't feel like I was settling. But it was so beautiful. We actually just paid the deposit on it, so hopefully I will be able to post a picture of it in a few weeks. :)

 After the ring shopping and numerous phone calls made to family and friends to inform them of the happy news that most of them already knew about anyway (thanks a lot Dan :P) we went out to eat a sushi place by the Art Institute. Knowing my tendency to try random new things, Dan convinced me to order octopus sushi. Needless to say, as adventurous of an eater as I can be, I was not fond of staring at the suckers still on the tentacles, nor the EXTREME chewiness of the meat. I can confidently say, that while it does not taste bad at all, octopus is not my thing. I'll stick to my eel any day, thank you.

 Following dinner was the promised dance show that was supposedly the reason we were coming to Chicago anyway. "Gotham City" by Chicago Dance Crash was a spectacular performance of hip hop/street infused modern dance performed in a black box theatre on Randolph street. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the show and I hope to be able to see more of what this company and choreographer does in the future. When the show was over, I was still insistent that we go to Navy Pier for the ferris wheel ride. It was the thing I had been looking forward to for 2 weeks now and despite the fact that I was already engaged, I REALLY wanted to go. So we took an extended walk there, going through alleys and random parking lots, getting disoriented at least once and frustrated at least twice. But finally we made it and I got my ferris wheel ride in the end. The skyline was just as beautiful lit up at night, and now I got to enjoy the experience with my fiance. ;) I even got a funnel cake out of the adventure, which was also a plus!

 All in all, it was a very long, exhausting, exciting, all sorts of wonderful day. I get to marry the love of my life. My partner in crime, my confidant, my favorite person to tickle and cuddle with, the person who has shown me what commitment, sacrifice, and love looks like in a relationship. And for all of you who are wondering, NO we have not set a date yet! Once we find a place to married at, we will set a date and let people know. For now, you can just block out the entire month of October, 2013. :P

 Kudos to you if you lasted long enough to get to the bottom of this, or even cared to! But that, in a nutshell is the story of the day I said yes!