A New Year to Remember

They say you should spend New Year's Eve (and we'll extend this to New Year's Day) in the company and way you want to spend the rest of the year. If that's true, I couldn't have asked for a better New Year. Long story short, Anthony proposed, and now WE'RE ENGAGED!!

So, after wanting to see the ring, the first question is usually, "How'd he do it?" So here's the story, with as many details as I can remember (perhaps more for my sake than anyone else's):

Since Anthony picked up skiing last year in Rochester, he has been dying to go in Colorado, so that was among our top priorities during his visit this year. So we left early Friday morning and drove up to the mountains for a half-day at Arapahoe Basin, with a reservation in Frisco at the Alpine Inn so we could enjoy the evening and not kill ourselves driving up and back in the same day.

Skiing itself didn't go quite as well as we'd hoped, as I had a miserable time with my rental boots and only made a single run (even with just one run, I'm still dealing with the pain from the boots 3 days later). But I made myself comfy at the lodge with a Dillon Dam Brown beer while Ant got a solid 4 or 5 runs amid the incredibly picturesque views of the highest altitude ski resort in Colorado. After the slopes and trading a car battery jump for a beer and some chat in the parking lot, it was off to Breckenridge for dinner.

For those of you who have never been to Breckenridge, it is in my mind the most perfect, quaint ski town. The main street has a little bit of an old-west mountain feel, and is always well lit and decorated around Christmas. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the town, but the image above is a pretty good summary of how it looked. We stopped to eat at Kenosha Steakhouse. It was very busy, so we enjoyed drinks at the upstairs bar while waiting for a table. For dinner, we shared their artichoke dip, an appetizer we always enjoy, followed by a chicken caesar salad for me and chicken-fried steak with beef gravy for him.

Unfortunately they were out of chocolate cake, so we got a good recommendation from the waiter and walked to The Crown Cafe just down the street for some tasty coffee and dessert. We sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a while before heading out again to enjoy the lights, snow, and a little window shopping.

Once most of the stores had closed, we started back toward the car, which was parked on the other side of a cute little park right next to Kenosha. I don't know the name of the park , but it had a small playground, a creek nearby with a bridge across, and a big decorated Christmas tree. It was here that Anthony got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. And of course I said yes!

So now we're engaged, and I still can't believe I have such a beautiful diamond ring all for myself. There is still a lot to be considered before we pick a date, or even a location, since his family is in NYC, my parents are in CO, and we live in CA, but I will certainly be keeping family and friends in the loop during the process. We do want a summer wedding, and 2010 is already filling up with others' weddings, including my brother's. So... now it's on to the planning!