I knew when we began dating in November that Geoff had a trip to Europe planned in the summer for his MBA. As the months passed, he and I got more and more serious, to the point we were looking at engagement rings. We visited some big-name jewelers without success, and ended up at a small boutique jeweler in San Clemente one Saturday morning, which is where we found my fabulous sapphire ring. He made up a big story about how Rick the jeweler needed time to find the right size sapphire and how it would take time to get the final ring- alluding to the fact it would be months til he would propose! I confess- I snooped around a little bit, and all of G's notes confirmed that the ring wasn't in fact ready yet. (He planted those notes, I've since come to learn). Anyways he took off for Europe for a 2 week class in August, and I was going to come out at the tail-end and join him for a whirlwind tour of Central Europe. I met him in Bonn, Germany and from there we traveled to Berlin and then to Prague. In Berlin we stayed in a hostel, and as I now know Geoff carried the engagement ring in his jacket pocket the WHOLE day we were biking around Berlin to make sure it was safe, as he he was leery of our Berlin hostel. We pulled into Prague via train Monday morning and checked into a fancy hotel. We dressed up and went out on the town in the mid-afternoon. It was a beautiful crisp sunny day and we stopped and had drinks at various outdoor restaurants/ bars . We enjoyed spectacular views of the sun setting over Prague's town square and astronomical clock tower, then walked across the famous Charles Bridge to the quieter side of town. I was starving and couldn't figure out why Geoff wanted to keep stopping for drinks.... We ended up at gorgeous, swanky open-air restaurant overlooking the river and Charles Bridge. Over a nice bottle of wine, he launched into a speech about his love for me and his vision of our future together, and then got down on a knee and asked me to marry him. I was shocked and completely taken by surprise (although my friend Steph told me to have my nails done just in case so I did - thank you Steph haha!). Geoff claims it took me a good 45 seconds to say yes and that he was starting to seriously sweat. (Sorry Geoff). It was beautiful, romantic, and very intimate! Needless to say, we had a fabulous and memorable Europe trip. I came back with a beautiful new piece of jewelry - oh yeah, and a fiance! ;)

My friend Jeff (who is Allie's colleague) set up a plan for Allison and I to meet him and his wife Melissa for drinks, which he was apparently trying to set up for several months. Later Allie and I find out it's a dinner date - and not just with Jeff and Melissa but with his parents (Mr and Mrs. Snell) as well. A little awkward being that it's all of Allie's bosses at the table. We finally meet for dinner, and as I try to engage with Allison over dinner and get to know her, she can hardly make eye contact with me, let alone have a serious conversation with me. I told Jeff after dinner that I didn't think she was interested and was thinking about going home. Jeff convinces me to come out for drinks, and so we make our way to the Vine in San Clemente. She finally opens up and starts to talk, and at that moment we begin to talk and get to know one another. We have some drinks (thanks Kyle, Russ and Gabe the drinks were awesome) and have a blast that leads us to another restaurant in San Clemente. We end up having a great time and with a little liquid courage, I tell Allie that I like her and would like to take her out for dinner. She obviously accepts, duh. We had a great time, it just took a little time to sweep her off her feet and as they say...the rest is history.