The Proposal
Ring Shopping
Unbeknown to Stacy, Chris had been secretly leaving work one evening a week to go ring shopping before heading home. He had been going to a chiropractor three times a week and when his visits were cut to two, he used that "free" evening to shop undetected!
After finding the right diamond and designing a setting, he now had to figure out how to ask the love of his life to marry him. He wanted to do something different. He knew she 'expected' him to ask her at some point and he pretty much knew what her answer was going to be. But how to ask her in a memorable, uncustomary and unexpected way was the question.
Plan One: Skydiving
He thought of maybe asking her while skydiving. (That'd be different!) He started making a fabric sign that he would keep up in his sleeve. He'd roll the sign out when hurling down from the plane and hope that the camera guy would get a good video of it for her to see later. [Side note: Stacy and Chris went skydiving earlier in the year - a first for both of them - and had already bought tickets to do it again! - Crazy, right??]
Well, they never got to go skydiving again that year so Chris had to come up with another plan. And that he did...
Plan Two: The Book
Chris saw a Groupon one day for a picture book from Shutterfly. This started the wheels in motion! He told Stacy he wanted to build a book of the two of them to give to his Mom for Christmas. He bought the book coupon while she was right beside him. He then asked her to share photos she had of the two of them to add to his collection so he'd have plenty of pictures to choose. (She did.)
He rarely mentioned the book again to Stacy other than occasionally saying that they needed to get working on it soon. Meanwhile (just like he did in creating this website) he'd steal time alone in his apartment and work on the book. [Side Note: They are neighbors and literally live next door to one another!] He did have fun making the book but coming up with the story line and flow took a few renditions. He plugged away until he was finally satisfied.
The Setup
Chris and Stacy usually commute together to and from work. They also are both rather avid readers and they both enjoyed going to this huge Borders bookstore in downtown Chicago, steps away from their subway station. They went there just about every week. Chris figured that may be the place to execute his plan.
Chris finally received his finished product from Shutterfly in the mail. So now, armed with the book and ring, he was ready to ask the one question he had never asked anyone else before.
Chris sent Stacy an IM at work around 6PM that Friday saying he was feeling a little burnt out from the long week and was leaving work, likely heading to the bookstore. He asked for her to call/text him when she was about to leave. She said she had another 30 minutes of work to do and agreed to let him know when she left the office to meet up with him.
Chris left work and headed straight to Borders. The place was busy that night. Shoppers everywhere. The cafe was full too. Chris scoured the place and thought out his plan of how to give Stacy the book. Should he leave it on the shelf? Where should he place it? If he placed it in her favorite section, what would happen if she didn't want to go there tonight? If he placed in his favorite section, what if she didn't follow him over? And then, aha! He thought of the perfect place!
Plan in mind, Chris found a seat in the cafe and began reading while waiting for Stacy. She finally sends Chris a text informing him that she is on her way over. He tells her he's still at Borders (it had been 90 minutes by then since Chris left the office, mind you...) and then gets up to put the book in place.
The Delivery
When Stacy arrives, Chris is calmly sitting at the table reading. "Hi, hun. Want anything to drink?" he asked. "I'm fine," was the reply. Chris asks, "Want to sit for a second?" Stacy: "No. I'm ready to head home." Chris: "Want to check out any books?" Stacy: "No, I'm fine." So Chris gathers up his few things and walks with Stacy towards the escalator. He stops for a moment to check out some journals that were on sale and Stacy reviews them with him. After a minute or so Chris mentions, "Oh! I want to check out a book for my niece for Christmas, ok?" Stacy gets an excited look in her eyes and exclaims, "Oh! I know a book that the boys just love. Let me find it for you!" [Side note: She has 3 nephews all under the age of 3 at this time.] And Stacy goes tearing off to the children's section.
After a few minutes, Stacy comes around to a shelf that has a book with a picture of the two of them on the cover. She doesn't say anything but gives a confused, "what's this?" look to him. Chris just shrugs as if he doesn't know either. Stacy begins to look over and read the book. The cover read, "L.O.M.L.s -A Story about Chris & Stacy". The story begins telling about how a guy named Chris met this girl named Stacy and how he learned all these things about her. Chris is standing beside her, occasionally pointing out a few pictures he thought she'd like, while wrestling to get the ring (still in its box) out of his pocket.
As she neared the end of the book - and Stacy later says that she had no idea what was going on other than thinking the book was just something sweet that Chris had done - Chris finally pried the ring box out that was jammed in his front pocket and got down on one knee. As Stacy read the last two pages of the 20-page, color-photo illustrated, bound book (Oh yeah. This was the real deal!) she began to understand what Chris was up to. Her eyes were full of tears as she pulled the book away to see Chris on bended knee.
Chris isn't sure what exactly he said or asked her since once he saw her tear-filled eyes gazing at him he immediately lost his composure too. Whatever he said, she agreed and they hugged and kissed and she did finally get out a clear "yes."
Unbeknown to Stacy, Chris had been secretly leaving work one evening a week to go ring shopping before heading home. He had been going to a chiropractor three times a week and when his visits were cut to two, he used that "free" evening to shop undetected!
After finding the right diamond and designing a setting, he now had to figure out how to ask the love of his life to marry him. He wanted to do something different. He knew she 'expected' him to ask her at some point and he pretty much knew what her answer was going to be. But how to ask her in a memorable, uncustomary and unexpected way was the question.
Plan One: Skydiving
He thought of maybe asking her while skydiving. (That'd be different!) He started making a fabric sign that he would keep up in his sleeve. He'd roll the sign out when hurling down from the plane and hope that the camera guy would get a good video of it for her to see later. [Side note: Stacy and Chris went skydiving earlier in the year - a first for both of them - and had already bought tickets to do it again! - Crazy, right??]
Well, they never got to go skydiving again that year so Chris had to come up with another plan. And that he did...
Plan Two: The Book
Chris saw a Groupon one day for a picture book from Shutterfly. This started the wheels in motion! He told Stacy he wanted to build a book of the two of them to give to his Mom for Christmas. He bought the book coupon while she was right beside him. He then asked her to share photos she had of the two of them to add to his collection so he'd have plenty of pictures to choose. (She did.)
He rarely mentioned the book again to Stacy other than occasionally saying that they needed to get working on it soon. Meanwhile (just like he did in creating this website) he'd steal time alone in his apartment and work on the book. [Side Note: They are neighbors and literally live next door to one another!] He did have fun making the book but coming up with the story line and flow took a few renditions. He plugged away until he was finally satisfied.
The Setup
Chris and Stacy usually commute together to and from work. They also are both rather avid readers and they both enjoyed going to this huge Borders bookstore in downtown Chicago, steps away from their subway station. They went there just about every week. Chris figured that may be the place to execute his plan.
Chris finally received his finished product from Shutterfly in the mail. So now, armed with the book and ring, he was ready to ask the one question he had never asked anyone else before.
Chris sent Stacy an IM at work around 6PM that Friday saying he was feeling a little burnt out from the long week and was leaving work, likely heading to the bookstore. He asked for her to call/text him when she was about to leave. She said she had another 30 minutes of work to do and agreed to let him know when she left the office to meet up with him.
Chris left work and headed straight to Borders. The place was busy that night. Shoppers everywhere. The cafe was full too. Chris scoured the place and thought out his plan of how to give Stacy the book. Should he leave it on the shelf? Where should he place it? If he placed it in her favorite section, what would happen if she didn't want to go there tonight? If he placed in his favorite section, what if she didn't follow him over? And then, aha! He thought of the perfect place!
Plan in mind, Chris found a seat in the cafe and began reading while waiting for Stacy. She finally sends Chris a text informing him that she is on her way over. He tells her he's still at Borders (it had been 90 minutes by then since Chris left the office, mind you...) and then gets up to put the book in place.
The Delivery
When Stacy arrives, Chris is calmly sitting at the table reading. "Hi, hun. Want anything to drink?" he asked. "I'm fine," was the reply. Chris asks, "Want to sit for a second?" Stacy: "No. I'm ready to head home." Chris: "Want to check out any books?" Stacy: "No, I'm fine." So Chris gathers up his few things and walks with Stacy towards the escalator. He stops for a moment to check out some journals that were on sale and Stacy reviews them with him. After a minute or so Chris mentions, "Oh! I want to check out a book for my niece for Christmas, ok?" Stacy gets an excited look in her eyes and exclaims, "Oh! I know a book that the boys just love. Let me find it for you!" [Side note: She has 3 nephews all under the age of 3 at this time.] And Stacy goes tearing off to the children's section.
After a few minutes, Stacy comes around to a shelf that has a book with a picture of the two of them on the cover. She doesn't say anything but gives a confused, "what's this?" look to him. Chris just shrugs as if he doesn't know either. Stacy begins to look over and read the book. The cover read, "L.O.M.L.s -A Story about Chris & Stacy". The story begins telling about how a guy named Chris met this girl named Stacy and how he learned all these things about her. Chris is standing beside her, occasionally pointing out a few pictures he thought she'd like, while wrestling to get the ring (still in its box) out of his pocket.
As she neared the end of the book - and Stacy later says that she had no idea what was going on other than thinking the book was just something sweet that Chris had done - Chris finally pried the ring box out that was jammed in his front pocket and got down on one knee. As Stacy read the last two pages of the 20-page, color-photo illustrated, bound book (Oh yeah. This was the real deal!) she began to understand what Chris was up to. Her eyes were full of tears as she pulled the book away to see Chris on bended knee.
Chris isn't sure what exactly he said or asked her since once he saw her tear-filled eyes gazing at him he immediately lost his composure too. Whatever he said, she agreed and they hugged and kissed and she did finally get out a clear "yes."