His Side of the Story:
I believe there is no one best proposal for all women, rather a best proposal for each woman. For the woman who loves France, maybe the Louvre is perfect. For the woman who is nostalgic, maybe where you two had your first date. There are so many options, but for my Jen – it had to be about food, wine, cute animals, shopping, or Disneyland.
Whenever I come over to her house, the Food network is almost always on. Giant cakes decorated like Disney characters, simple family meals for those on a budget, how Twinkies are made are just a few things I have learned from the TV in the kitchen. Her family, in particular Jen and her mom, regularly refer to the celebrity chefs on the Food Network by first name, as if they are a part of the family. When they refer to Paula – it’s understood we’re talking about Paula Deen. And even though Michael is the fourth most common male name in the US (there are 3.8 million of them in the US) – Michael means Michael Chiarello. She met him once a year before when she went to Napa for her 25th birthday, so I knew it would be perfect to make him a part of our proposal story.
Jen and I have taken a lot of fun trips together. We have been to Aruba, Walla Walla, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas. For Valentine’s Day I wanted to do something special. Napa was the easy choice. We had both been once or twice, so it was still relatively undiscovered for us both. I made the travel arrangements with the mindset that she wouldn’t suspect anything because of this logic. And it wouldn’t matter anyway – how could she say no to Napa and San Francisco?
We had previously discussed marriage well before Napa. We probably would be married if Aruba legally allowed it without the 28 day notice they require (we went to Aruba in our first month of dating!). We both decided to take it a little slower, relative to us, and wait at least until our 1 year anniversary. Along the way we discussed details like what type of ring she would be adorning. I have a lot of opinions on blood diamonds, so we looked at a lot of antique jewelry stores. We found rings we liked, but none were perfect.
So then we discovered she could design her own ring. She used a custom jewelry designer we found online. They went back and forth, until the design was just right, and then it was handed over to me. Jen never got to see pictures of the ring final prototypes or the ring itself until she got it on Valentine’s Day. I received it in January and had the fun task of keeping the ring from her or any of the details of the plan. On a side note – I had a lot of fun teasing her about how beautiful the ring was.
We arrived in Napa on a Friday and shared the first two days in Napa and San Francisco. Wine, great food, shopping, sight-seeing, wonderful weather. Then on Sunday night (Valentine’s Day), we had dinner at Bottega – Michael’s restaurant. She was wearing a red dress I got her from Athropologie the day before in San Francisco and a nice Audrey Hepburn like jacket (also from SF). I made sure we got there early so I could drop off the table decorations and confirm the plans were all in place. We got to the restaurant early. As we were walking to the restaurant, I told her ‘I forgot my jacket in the car, let me go grab it. I will meet you at his store.’ Little did she realize I intentionally left my jacket in the car and was going to get the decorations.
As I got to the restaurant I see her outside. She informs me that the store is closed. Luckily the stuff is wrapped in my coat. I tell her ‘let me confirm the reservation.’ I drop the bag of rose petals, heart shaped stones, and the decorative egg that the ring will sit inside. She confirms that the wine is ready to go (Jen’s mom actually called ahead and bought us a bottle of Michael’s own wine he made for his wife). All is good – and Jen and I go for a walk and enjoy a glass of white and red before dinner. During this time is abundantly clear to her I am going to propose, but there is really no way around it. I am very obvious person and she has a very good read on me.
When we come back to the restaurant, the hostess takes me over to our table first to get my approval. Everything looks as it should, so we walk back to bring Jen over. The hostess hands Jen a rose (since it was Valentine's Day) and we walk to the table. I’ve never proposed to anyone before, so my blood pressure level is relatively high. We sit down, admire the table, and before we know it there is someone very special at our table.
We look up and see that Michael is at our table holding a bottle of wine and a decanter. He greets us warmly and opens the bottle of wine in front of us. After pouring the wine into the decanter, he instructs someone behind him to let the wine decant for a few minutes and then serve it to us. He kisses her hand, chats with us a little more, and disappears for the time being. My original plan was to finish the bottle of wine and then propose, but I change my mind and after about 15 minutes I make my move.
I grabbed the egg and got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She nodded and literally the entire restaurant of 150 people clapped. I felt relieved I delivered my lines, which included an English major reference.
For the next week or so, she spent a large percentage of her time staring at her ring, including the remainder of the evening. Michael came over about 4 more times, we got pictures with him, and the food was amazing (one of the best meals either one of us ever had). People congratulated us as they left.
After dinner we drove back to the hotel, excited, relieved, and happy. It was a wonderful night.
Her Side of the Story:
For those of you who don't know Brian all that well, he is TERRIBLE at keeping secrets! (I have heard that this is a desirable trait, however.) Because of his poor secret keeping abilities, it hadn't come as a surprise to me when he had me designing my ring back in November. When Brian told me in December that he wanted to go to Napa (my most favorite place in the world) for the long Valentine's Day weekend...I already knew what he was up to.
When we got to Napa I chose to just relax and completely enjoy myself while we were there. I knew he had a plan...I wasn't quite sure what it was. Friday we spent to the Alexander Valley to go wine tasting. We went to Silver Oak and to JR Cellars (that was very very yummy) and we went to Tra Vigne for dinner. Saturday was spent in San Francisco. The entire time I kept bugging him about my ring. I could tell he wanted to show me the ring...but he did a good job not telling me anything other than the fact that it was more beautiful than a vintage pink diamond Harry Winston we found in a shop in San Francisco. Of course I was even more excited at this point. Brian bought me an adorable red dress to wear to dinner on Valentine's Day.
Sunday was Valentine's Day. The entire day I was so happy and excited, but also extremely nervous. Brian seemed very quiet as well...especially as the clock ticked closer and closer to our dinner reservation at Bottega. We spent the day wine tasting and shopping around St. Helena, and since our hotel was 20 miles away from Bottega...we ended up bringing along a change of clothes. When we got to Yountville, Brian and I decided we would waste some time (dinner wasn't for another 2 hours) at the Napa Style store. As we walked closer to the store Brian told me he forgot his camera. I wanted to go back with him, but he told me to just look around without him and he would catch up. When I got to Napa Style there was a sign indicating it had closed at 4pm for a private event. I decided I would head to the restroom before going to find Brian. As I came out, he was walking past me like I had just caught him up to something. It made me laugh and feel better that he looked just as nervous as me. He told me he was going to verify our reservation (again...) and to go and wait for him in the courtyard. While I was waiting for Brian in the courtyard I saw Michael Chiarello walking briskly through the courtyard. I was so excited to just catch a glimpse of him. I was sure he was so busy for Valentine's Day and that was all I would get of him. I was a little disappointed not to get another chance to meet him...but I was so excited that I didn't care all that much.
After a while, Brian came back from the restaurant and we went and changed. Brian looked so good...the first thing I noticed were his shoes. He was also wearing my favorite blue shirt and perfect black slacks. I know Brian will laugh at that comment...but I just had to say it!! We still had about an hour and a half to kill. I could tell we were both excited. We went to the Wine Cellar and shared a glass of Zin (Gamba from Napa Valley). Finally it was time to go to Bottega.
The restaurant was so beautiful. It all was so dream like. Brian had decorated the table for me. After we sat down the waitress poured our waters. While we were looking at the menu, I looked up to see Michael Chiarello standing right next to me with a bottle of wine (which I later found out was chosen by my Mom <3 ). He welcomed us to Bottega, poured the wine and signed the bottle. I was amazed. Brian did such a wonderful job surprising me. Instead of that brief glimpse in the courtyard, we had Michael's attention for the entire evening.
Brian then got down on one knee (seriously!! <3) and asked me to be his wife. I of course said YES! Okay, so I nodded yes...but that means the same thing. Then the entire room applauded. The wine helped, since having everyone in the room's attention didn't phase me. The rest of the night was such a fairy tale. The food was amazing. The wine was fantastic. I couldn't have dreamed of a better night or a better beginning of a new chapter in our lives.
