As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I took a mini-break from posts lately. If you follow me on Instagram you have heard the news – WE’RE ENGAGED!!!!!!

I was completely surprised when Mickey popped the question 2 Fridays ago. Ever since that day things have been a whirlwind of celebrations and I wanted to make sure that I soaked it all in and enjoyed every second with him.

But, I also wanted to share a little bit with you guys about the most special day of my entire life. To be honest writing this post is as much for us as it is for you. There are certain moments in your life that you want to savor and remember every single part of for the rest of time. Our engagement was one of those moments.

The day started like any other Friday… I was casually hungover (just being honest) from our night out + dinner on Thursday and was running a little late, so I threw on a new shirt that my friend had hand-stitched for me with jeans before heading out the door. I knew that I had dinner plans that night for Mickey’s “client” so I put a dress and heels in my bag and figured I’d change later in the day. My Instagram story that morning was me, happy as a clam with an iced coffee in my “Texas Forever” t-shirt walking through City Hall park to the subway. Little did I know that later on that day I’d be in the same outfit in the same spot, sobbing my eyes out with MG down on one knee.

Work was super busy that day and I had meetings all afternoon. Mickey had texted me weeks before to confirm that we didn’t have plans that Friday night because he had a client that wanted to do dinner with us and his wife. Well, that was the story he told me at least. He had arranged it at a restaurant in the hotel near our apartment so we could easily scoot on home afterward and lay low for the rest of the weekend.

There was a point in the afternoon where I almost ruined his whole plan (on accident of course). Let’s just say that he jumped through a lot of hoops and was quick on his feet to ensure that nothing (not even me) could ruin what he had planned. It was a reminder for me that life and the little things that happen in your day are bigger than you. Had I not had my phone on me, the whole thing could’ve been foiled. But I did, and he was quick to make sure everything was going to work out!

Since we were heading downtown for this “client dinner” on the early side he came to meet me in Flatiron and wanted to come with me. He was supposed to come in to say hi to my gals at work, but little did I know they were in on the plan and all said they were leaving early that day to avoid having to fake not knowing that I was an hour away from getting engaged. So he scooped me at the office, we went and had one quick old fashioned so I could get a quick debrief on his “client” and also tell him some of my exciting news, and we headed downtown towards home.

We always got off of the subway at City Hall and walk through the park. We’ve probably passed through the park hundreds of times at this point, but there’s something about it in the fall that’s extra special. When we got off the subway I noticed he put his jacket on and I remember thinking, hmm.. I swear he wasn’t wearing that when he left this morning. But I knew that we were going to drinks with his client and figured he stopped by the apartment to grab it at some point during the day. He was also furiously texting someone, which he claimed was his buddy at work trying to help him out since he had to leave early.

Finally we started walking through the park, hand in hand just like we always do. If you’ve never been to the park there is a large fountain in the middle and it’s our favorite. So much so that as we started walking towards it I was commenting on how happy I was that they had finally put some chemicals in there to make the water clear instead of green again. #concerned. As we approached the fountain he stopped me for a second to give me a hug and a kiss, and mentioned casually “this is kind of our spot isn’t it?”. I wholeheartedly agreed and made another comment about the water, and then thank God I think he cut me off. From that point on I’ll hold what he said to me in my heart forever. I truly thought we were just having a quick moment in the park before going upstairs to change, but then he pulled out a ring box and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

I immediately said yes (mid-tears of course) and then he got up to give me the best kiss of my entire life. I couldn’t believe it!!! When we got the pictures back it confirmed that I didn’t even see the ring or put it on right away because I was in so much shock of what had happened. We never talked about rings, went to look at them, etc. because I really wanted him to choose whatever he felt was right when that day came. He knows me better than anyone else and at the end of the day I wanted it to be what he wanted to give me – it really and truly could’ve been a string and it wouldn’t have mattered to me. But ladies, let me tell you… he did GOOD. Really, really, really good! His sister Caitlin helped him with the design and at the very end he added pear shaped baguettes on his own that really make it extra special and unique.

We had talked about this day for a long time, but he had gone to lengths to make me think that it wouldn’t happen anytime soon. The entire day was such an incredible surprise and he didn’t stop there…

Right after he proposed he told me to look to my left, and lo and behold Bekka was standing there with her camera capturing the whole thing!

I had never told him I wanted pictures of our engagement, but he knows me so well and had emailed Bekka a month prior to see if she could shoot it secretly. It turned out the person he was texting in the subway was her – she was trying to help him navigate to the best spot around the fountain for her to shoot.

Not only was it so special to have these photos to remember every detail, but I’ve been working with Bekka for 3 years now and she’s seen all of my apartments, heard all about Mickey, and more and it meant a lot to me that Mickey asked her to be there for such a special moment.

So she’s snapping a few post-engagement photos of us and I kept seeing Mickey’s eyes look over my head. I kept asking him what he was looking at and if there was something I was supposed to see behind me. He kept saying nothing and that our friend Coach was coming down to congratulate us because he lives in our building. Bekka kept snapping and then out of the corner of my eye I saw it – our parents.

He had asked my Dad for his permission to marry me when we were home in July. I never would’ve known that was what they were doing because he claimed he wanted a tour of the clubhouse, which if you know Mickey made total sense to me. Apparently my Dad immediately starting hugging him and telling him how happy he was, which he quickly had to stop doing in case we saw them out of the window at lunch.

Our families were both in on the plan and the fact that they were both there for it meant the world to us both. I started sobbing all over again the moment I saw them turning the corner running towards us with their arms out. Our parents have been incredible examples in both of our lives of love and the importance of family. Having those moments together right after we had gotten engaged were incredibly special.

He had the entire rest of the weekend all planned out. We walked over to our neighborhood pub and were met by our closest friends and lots of congratulations. Two of his best friends flew in and when they both walked in the door I couldn’t believe it. I Facetimed my sister and brother-in-law who couldn’t make it but were there in my heart, and just tried to take it all in. We went upstairs after a few cocktails and his parents had transformed our apartment into an intimate dining setting for all of us. I can’t even begin to tell you guys how special that part was. Being in our apartment with the people that we love having a home-cooked meal toasting to our next chapter was one of the highlights of the weekend. We went downstairs and celebrated the rest of the night away with everyone and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire night.

He knocked it out of the park in every way, and the best part was that it was all from his heart. This is exactly how he wanted it to happen – surrounded by our friends and family. September 29th will never be the same! I love you so much Mickey and can’t wait for the rest of what’s to come.