She said....

Yes, I am officially engaged to the best man in the world. He is kind and generous, loving and supportive, and I plan on having the best life ever with him. While the road to this moment was rocky at times, Marcus has remained my center and made it all worthwhile. I have never felt more special and more loved than I did that February night and for that I will forever be indebted.

SO, how it began…

For weeks, I’ve known something was up. He asked my dad to dinner and my mother has the biggest mouth ever, but I didn’t really expect it to go down the way it did. It happened right before our god daughter, Honour’s, dedication so I planned to be at home that weekend despite my busy law school schedule. He asked me to go to dinner with him to make up for a botched “Romantic V-Day Brunch” (we were lazy) and told me that our good friends the Dooleys and the Wards would be there. I show up at his house at around 5:30 already dressed to go. He tells me that he has a gift for me and his parents are there watching as I finger the bow on the top of the small box that he gave me. I mouth “What is it” to him and he smiles intently telling me to open it. It was the necklace that he had already given me for Christmas a year back, but cleaned, checked, and with a new white gold chain. I was so excited about it, but it clashed with my outfit so I put it back in the box and we were off to dinner.

On the way, he tells me that he missed me and that he’s excited for tonight. However, contrary to the previous plans, we’d be spending it alone because the Dooleys couldn’t find a sitter and he told the Wards that I wasn’t coming into town. I was like OK! I’ll eat steak, sorry for’em lol. Ruth’s Chris is the bomb!

Well, we get there and our favorite waiter, Daniel, had a bottle of wine selected for us that night. He opens it, we taste, and I am immersed in the most fruity bouquet of wine bliss. I loved every sensory moment of it. Marcus and I had a perfect dinner…the steak was even better than I remembered it being the very first time we had it in DC. Unfortunately, we decide to split our steak because he just had to have dessert. He kept going on and on and on about having to have dessert. I thought nothing of it. Okay, dessert, get it! Between bites of delicious medium rare New York Strip, I mention to Daniel that it was “the best steak ever” and he says back “It only gets better…” I still didn’t get it. No clue.

So, during dinner Marcus realizes that he hasn’t picked up our dedication gift for Honour and the mall closes at 9:00 p.m. I suggest that he ask his parents to pick it up for him and he says that they can’t because they’re going to dinner. I’m a little confused…”okay so if they’re near the mall, they can still pick it up!” lol. “No” Alrighty, so ask your brother. Done. And Done. After dinner was eaten and while I’m perusing the desert menu (because remember he just HAD to have dessert) he gets up with his phone and says he has to take it because his brother is having problems getting the gift without a receipt proving that it was purchased. Marcus walks away from the table and I keep looking at the menu and checking my Blackberry.

Shortly after, the women sitting to my right began saying “OMG” and I look out of the booth to see my parents, his parents, and my brother and his girlfriend, Dawn, filing into the restaurant. The air was sucked out of the place as everyone gasped and stopped eating their perfectly prepared meals. He steps around with a plate that holds a cute little chocolate cupcake with a pink heart on the top and this gorgeous sparkling ring sitting perfectly in the box. I was so shocked that I barely heard him say that he adores me and loves me and would like me to do the honor of being his wife. There were no words. That moment, the fifty or so pairs of eyes on me waiting for my response, our fathers' cameras flashing like paparazzi, and our mothers laughing with excitement overwhelmed me. I nodded in the affirmative after fighting back tears. He slid the ring on my finger and I grabbed him up to hug and kiss him finally saying "YES!"



The happiest day of my life. February 27, 2010. Nothing can top that. I never had more strangers glow with happiness at me nor has my mother ever been able to keep a secret so big in her life. This was all planned for a while and, yes there were clues, but I didn’t pick up on any of them. So smooth. So very smooth.

And now, I am officially a Fiance Knowles. :) He liked it so he went and put a ring on it :)