What started as a girls trip to NYC, ended with the surprise of a lifetime.

On Thursday, January 30th, my mom and I headed to the airport at the crack of dawn with our best friends to kick off our mom/daughter trip to NYC. We have done this trip in the past and had been planning to go back for some time, so while everyone was worried I may catch on to the imminent surprise, my mind was solely set on all the girly things we were going to get to do in the city.

We arrived early Thursday morning, dropped our bags at our hotel and hit the ground running. We spent that day shopping and walking, walking and shopping, eating and then walking some more - just what we went there to do!

On Friday we woke up and you guessed it, we started our day with walking and shopping some more! We spent some time down on canal street (if you know, you know), grabbed some pizza at a famous pizza restaurant down in West Village, a smoothie from Joe in the juice and stopped in to the Trump tower (mainly because we saw it had a candy store). I remember thinking several times this day how much I love girls trips and especially ones that we get to do with our moms, but little did I know that at this point, it wasn't just the girls in NYC anymore - it was 14 of our family members exploring the city yet dodging us every step of the way. For the girls, Friday night ended at a comedy show and for the family, it ended at an Irish pub.

On Saturday, our plan was to spend the day exploring Central Park and that is exactly what we did. We grabbed bagels and coffee, did some more shopping and just let the day go by, walking and chatting and laughing. The one thing Caitlyn wanted to do on this trip was ice skate in Central Park (wink wink) so we made reservations for 5p and made sure we had on our comfy clothes. This was the coldest day of the entire trip and the day that we spent most outside, so you can imagine how our fingers, toes and faces felt. After walking through the park for hours, we found ourselves on a park bench making conversation with some locals. My mom and friends like to describe them as our angels sent from heaven because they were doing everything they could think of to kill time since it was far too early to head to our "iceskating reservations". We sat on that bench chatting for nearly 45 minutes until it was finally time to head to the ice rink. Ironically enough, on that walk to the rink we laughed and joked about Pey & I’s long awaited engagement & when we all thought it would happen - me blushing at the thought of what it would be like one day and them blushing at the fact that they were minutes away from pulling off the greatest surprise. As we were getting closer to the rink, we noticed were still about 15 minutes early (or for some, right on time) so we decided to take a mini detour to grab a cool picture of the skyline. We climbed to the top of this rock where it seemed many tourists liked to take pictures too, but it wasn’t until Caitlyn pointed that I noticed it wasn’t just another tourist… it was Peyton! Standing there with the biggest smile and flooded eyes.

I never fully understood when people say that their proposal was a blur until now… because the rest was truly a blur. He said a few words, we shed a few tears and shared a few laughs but it wasn't until I heard cheering and claps that I realized it wasn't just Peyton that snuck into the city, it was everyone... our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and grand parents, all made the trip just for us. The surprises were endless and Peyton and I truly felt so special.

We celebrated with rooftop cocktails hosted by my amazing parents and the yummiest dinner at Tavern On The Green hosted by Peyton's wonderful nana and grandad. That Sunday, we spent running around the city all together and cramming all of the top tourists spots in a few hours since it was many of their 1st times in NYC. We loaded up on our (several) flights back home and the wedding planning process began!

I have said it before and I will say it again, but a million thank you's wouldn't be enough. I am so blessed to love and be loved by the most kindhearted boy who will do anything (& everything) to make me smile and we are both immensely blessed to be loved by all of you! We look forward to celebrating this season of life with you and hope that you know how much we appreciate you all.

All my love,

Lexi

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