Warning: This is going to be an extremely long blog that is essentially just me getting a previous document into our virtual journal.
Couple days ago, as I wrote in a previous blog, I was on a big kick to get a bunch of 'To Dos' done - both personal and professional. Well one of the personal ones had me reorganizing the files on my PC and I came across an old document I created that described the fiasco that took place with me trying to think of a clever way to propose to Ann. The following content was copied from that document and moved to this journal.
Back in March, 2000 I had made the best decision of my life. I had decided that I wanted to marry Ann Hennen. Every since we had gone to Tom and Jodi Spears' wedding and they had their ceremony on Friday October 9th, which happen to fall a day between their birthdays, I wanted to have a neat little twist like that for Ann and my dates. Since her birthday was April 9th, and mine was May 9th, the only thing I could hope for was that June 9th, happen to fall on a Saturday the next year. If that "minor miracle" occurred then all we had to worry about was getting the church, caterer, and reception to all be open on that weekend as well! No small feat in the busy wedding month of June.
Well, I could tell this wedding was off on the right foot. A quick glance at the calendar confirmed my hopes to have the 9-9-9 consecutive dates (this of course will help me remember the anniversary :)). All I had to do now was get through the proposal in one piece and start the hectic planning for one of the greatest days of our life.
Below is a summary of all the trials and tribulations I went through to try and come up with a memorable proposal. You'll see that not only did I have to adapt for constantly changing and canceling plans, but also I had to fly by the seat of my pants and perfect many communication skills (i.e. lying, apologizing, begging, etc. :)). Have fun reading the havoc that only seems to happen to me anytime I try to plan or do something fun.
Idea #1 - Surprise at the Space Needle
Summary: I informed Janet (Ann's supervisor) that I was going to propose to Ann and needed a little help pulling off the idea that I wanted to do. The idea was to get Ann out to Seattle, WA for a supposed business trip and I would somehow get her up to the Space Needle Restaurant. Then, not knowing I was in Seattle with her, I would surprise her at the restaurant with the engagement. The whole proposal and surprise hasn't been coordinated yet, but I need Janet to get the ball rolling telling Ann that she has to manage a Focus Group in Seattle, WA and I would take it from there.
Email - Janet to Terry, 3/28/2000
Summary: Janet basically telling me that she can't help, but it sounded to me as though she thought Angus Reid was going to have to perform a lot more favors than a simple white lie.
Terry,
I wanted to get back to you as soon as possible, before you had made any definite travel plans.
I discussed this with my boss and unfortunately, due to the liabilities of sending Ann on a trip that is truly not work related, we do not think we'll be able to set this up. If for instance, something happened while she was traveling on a supposedly work trip--we would be responsible.
I am sorry we are unable to help out, but if there is anything else I can do--I'd be glad to. Good Luck and I am excited to hear the details!
Janet
Email - Terry to Janet, 3/28/2000
Summary: I was trying to clear up any possibility of confusion on Janet's part. All I need from ARG was to say she had to go on a trip. I could have an eTicket waiting for her at airport.
Janet,
I'll explain a little just in case you misunderstood me. I don't think it will make a difference, but I wasn't expecting you guys to set this up (i.e. use the Angus Reid Group name or accounts). I would take care of all of this my self. Theoretically, all I would need you to do is send Ann an email or two saying that she is going to go do a mall study and hand her a ticket that I purchased and somehow or another got into your hands. The rest would be up to me to take care of. If this is how you understood it also and ARG cannot help, that is too bad. I assume there isn't some sort of form or something I could sign off on to waive any responsibilities to ARG, huh?
Let me know.
Terry
Email - Terry to Janet, 3/28/2000
Summary: Janet hadn't gotten back on my last email and I was worried she was ignoring me. I needed to find out quick because I wanted to propose on Ann's birthday weekend and it was fast approaching.
Janet,
I was wondering what came out with the questions I gave you. I realize that it might be a liability for your company and I understand. If there is anyway, I would be "eternally grateful" because it makes the plan so much easier. Anyway, could you let me know b/c if there is anyway we can pull this off using your help, then I need to order tickets to Seattle for separate flights otherwise, I am going to order tickets for the same flight and come up with a new idea.
Thanks,
Terry
Email - Janet to Terry, 3/28/2000
Summary: Giving me the Heismann again.
Terry,
I am sorry to say that we are unable to help coordinate this for you. Since, from our perspective (and hers) she would be traveling for company business and we would be liable.
I realize this would make your plan all that much easier, but we just do not feel comfortable playing a part.
Again I apologize and I'm sure your surprise will be well received regardless!
Janet
Email - Terry to Janet, 3/28/2000
Summary: Letting Janet know that it is "OK" even though I am pissed. I mean it is a simple white lie she has to perform and I find it hard to believe that I couldn't mail a waiver or something.
All right, thanks anyway. I am going to buy tickets for us and "pretend" to have Ann "need" Monday off for vacation (April 10th). This actually may happen, I'll let you know after I buy the tickets, but regardless...whoever she would ask for time off from let them in on the secret b/c Ann will ask for vacation, but will not need it (hopefully) because I have big client meetings Thurs, Fri and Monday anyway.
Thanks,
Terry
Idea #2 - Help from the Shavlik's
Summary: Same premise as the first idea in the fact that we would ultimately end up in Seattle, WA in the Space Needle but the "foreplay" would be a little different. Basically I had it planned to say that I was in Seattle for either business or training. I had told Mark about Ann's birthday and because of this he was pretending to fly Ann out to Seattle for the weekend. Instead of me picking her up at the airport, one of Mark and Rebecca's old friend would meet Ann and say that I was stuck in a meeting. They would go out to dinner where I would call and say that I was going to be tied up until late (i.e. 10pm) or something so they could finish eating and then meet me at the hotel. This of course would bum Ann out (it better have) however; I would be showing up by surprise during dessert where the ring would somehow "magically" be placed in the dessert somehow. This was the basic premise of the idea. Of course it needed some ironing out still but I had to get it in the work quick if I was going to find good plane tickets and such. I had White Bear Lake Travel looking for tickets and of course all the women there were in love with me for the idea. :)
Email - Terry to Mark/Rebecca Shavlik, 3/28/2000
Summary: Explaining the situation to Mark and Rebecca and seeing if they can help. I am telling them that I want this confidential so that it doesn't get back to Ann anyway.
Mark and Rebecca,
I need you help. Well, the weekend of April 9th is the BIG weekend for me and Ann. Her birthday is the 9th and I am going to propose that weekend. I had a plan to have her company say she has to meet a client/do a mall study that weekend in Seattle so she would think it is business. Then I was going to talk to you guys to find out if you had a female friends in Seattle that could act like the client she was supposed to meet and then take her out to eat (nonchalantly) to the space needle - she could offer a few less obvious places then ask Ann if she had ever been to Seattle, when Ann answered No, she could then say, "Well then we should at least try to eat at the space needle". So she and Ann would start the dinner and I would call your friend on a cell or something and she would say she is going to take it in the lobby and then I would sneak in (that part is not figured out yet).
Well, the problem is that Ann's company said that they can not help because it is a liability on the company. So my new plan, made up here in the last 2 minutes is to say you guys are sending me out to meet with the potential customer I was going to meet with before (Mark remember when you asked me about going out there but it turned out he wanted a C++ developer) and I said I would only go out there if you bought tickets for both of us since it is her birthday. That is the easy part. The hard part is somehow coming up with something that I would have to be doing (or meeting the client) while someone (or some reason) forces Ann to go to the Space Needle and either start a dinner with someone else or something so that I can show up and surprise her.
I had talked to Ann's company before and her supervisor said she would be able to help, so that is why I had everything "planned" out, but that feel through and I only know that I want to ask her in the Space Needle and hopefully she would be there for some reason other than meeting me. So do you guys have any friends out there or ideas that could help accomplish this?
Mark, this all came up sort of quick and I was just told about the training for MSF that weekend. I am going to try and do whatever I can about getting tickets only for the weekend, but if the price triples or doubles, I might have a problem.
One other thing, only Mike F knows about this so far (since he asked why I wouldn't be able to come to the MSF maybe) so keep it confidential at least until after that weekend.
If you have time let me know ASAP with any info because WB Travel is calling back today dealing with the tickets and if nothing is going to work out, I may have to try and come up with something else.
Thanks,
Terry
Email - Terry to John Sutcliffe, 3/28/2000
Summary: Before Mark had read the email above, I ran into him and John and I asked if he had seen my email. He replied no and I told him that I had to talk to him. He asked what about and I told him I would tell him when I talked to him, so him and John got nervous that I was on the verge of quitting or something. So after sitting down and talking with Mark and Rebecca, Mark told me to send John this email because he was nervous.
John,
Mark wanted me to tell you "semi" what was going on b/c you thought it was work related. I just didn't want you to blurt something out if I said it right there of my plans. So below is really what was going on and I just don't want everyone give me crap before (I don't care about after) because I didn't want any chance of it slipping out to Ann some how (i.e. I am on the phone with her and someone blurts something out not knowing I am on the phone). Anyway, I was going to tell you and Jerry after I get the ring back on Wed so you weren't too far out of the loop.
Terry
Email - Terry to Mark/Rebecca Shavlik, 3/28/2000
Summary: I had the second plan in the works after Janet started to waver in the first plan, so this email is letting them know that all our discussions are a go and I take a few shots at ARG in the meantime.
Weak excuse. I'll start thinking of how to surprise her regardless. Maybe I'll say the excuse where Mark and Brent are heading out there the weekend before for that "remote office" idea. Then I am going out there the next weekend to meet up with Mark again to continue the search. Then I can say that Mark still feels bad for "ruining" Ann's birthday so he is taking us out to the Space Needle and then he will not show up (obviously since he'll be in MN but maybe we could coordinate a phone call time so that he calls and says he got involved with MS and I should just pay for the meal and expense it and then I'll act like dessert is going to be too expensive (b/c Ann always loves dessert) and I'll bitch and moan about it for a while then do it and have the waiters have the ring come with dessert.
So all that is on your part is to know that you are "sending" me out to Seattle and have Mark maybe call me at a certain time while we are at dinner (on my cell or call the restaurant?) and say he is not making it and I'll take care of the rest. That is unless you have any other ideas.
Thanks,
Terry
Email - Terry to Ann, 3/29/2000
Summary: This is the email where I start to tell Ann that I have to go to Seattle. All my plans aren't in place yet, but I had to start this in motion or it might not have been believable.
Bad news...they are sending me to this. I talked to Mark about your birthday that weekend and he feels bad but they spent a lot of money on the class. They are going to see what they can do about getting you out to Seattle Saturday - Tuesday. Do you think that is a possibility? Give me a call.
Terry
Email - Ann to Terry, 3/29/2000
Summary: Ann waivers a little bit on going out to Seattle. I had to work a little bit to convince her to go, but once I did, little did I know that I was going to pay for it later on...
Hi,
I would like to go, but how busy will you be when you are out there, because if your schedule is pretty packed, you will feel bad if I am just sitting in the hotel room all day. Tell me what you find out.
Love,
Ann
Conversation - Terry and Rebecca, 3/29/2000
Summary: Rebecca informed me that all the friends she had in mind to help out with our little scheme no longer were in the Seattle area. And all of our alternate solutions were sounding pretty lame. The problem was that I already started the ball in motion with Ann telling her that I was going to be in Seattle for training for her birthday and Shavlik was flying her out for the weekend because they felt bad. So now, not only did I not have a plan, but Ann thought everything was going to happen in Seattle. I had one last ditch effort that sound good at the time.
Email - Terry to Angus Reid, 3/29/2000
Summary: Since everything was falling through, I thought I would try sending one email blindly out to the CEO of Ann's company letting him know of my idea and how I would be so grateful if he somehow allowed it to go through by letting me sign some sort of waiver. Again, this sounded like a good idea at the time. I basically thought either I wouldn't have the right email address (since I was just blindly guessing based on Ann's email structure), or the CEO's assistant would weed out my email, or Angus would actually glance at it and delete it not know who I was, or Angus would spend 30 seconds reading it and 30 seconds replying letting me know one way or the other.
Angus,
I am writing you as a last resort. My name is Terry and I am Ann Hennen's (your employee at the Minneapolis office) boyfriend...soon to be fiancé hopefully. I had a plan to have your company "send" Ann out to Seattle (all of which I would arrange) to pretend to be on a Mall study or something or other. Then my owner, Mark Shavlik, would have a friend that would masquerade as the client contact or whatever the terminology is. I had already discussed this with Janet, her supervisor, and at first she was willing to help but after further research she was told that they couldn't participate b/c there were liability issues with your company. I fully understand this and I apologize for the short notice, but is there anyway I could sign some sort of release to allow your company to help out in my "plot". Obviously this is a very important day in our lives and I couldn't thank you enough if you could help out.
Brief details: I would like to send her out the weekend of the 8th and 9th (Her birthday is the 9th) so again I apologize for the late notice, but all my plans sort of fell apart at the last minute. Also, if you decide to allow this somehow, could you forward this to Janet (xxx@angusreid.com) so she knows that she can help out (Janet, if this is forwarded to you, I apologize, I am not trying to go behind your back but this is a big day!).
Thanks for any help if possible. If not I understand and will try to come up with something else. FYI - my travel agency is holding tickets for me until tomorrow 6pm so if there is anyway you could let me know your feelings (either way) as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated.
Again, thanks for your time.
Terry
Email - Michael to Terry, 3/29/2000
Summary: Well the scenario where the assistant puts the kibosh on played out. See below. After reading it, I was depressed that the idea was dead, but it did not sound like my email was too offending or anything, so I start plan #3.
Terry,
Sounds like you have quite an ambitious plan, but unfortunately I don't believe there is anything we can do to help you. I have spoken with Angus' assistant and she reports that he is out of the country for the next two weeks. Even if he were available, I'm not sure he would want to sign off on this.
It sounds as if Janet has looked into this matter, and if she has determined there is some amount liability or that it does not appear feasible on a professional level, we have to respect her decision.
If you have any further questions about this please feel free to contact Angus' assistant here in Vancouver: Terry RXX, XXX-XXX-XXX, xxx@angusreid.com.
I wish you the best of luck,
Michael
Idea #3 - Name in Lights
Summary: All right, now I am stretching it. I can't think of anything creative to do for the proposal. I remember that the 3M building on 494 always leaves office lights on during Christmas to form a Christmas tree. So I thought I would ask Mark Shavlik (since we do business with 3M) if he knows anyone I could coordinate this with. I would write a message like "I Love You" or "Marry Me" or something. Since I already started the Seattle plan, I couldn't back out of that. So know I had to ask for help from Ann's friends as well. But I figured that Ann would want to gossip about this anyway, and having her friends there would be a fun way for her to celebrate afterwards. We would all go out to dinner together or something.
Email - Rebecca to Terry, 3/29/2000
Summary: Letting me know that they do not know anyone who can help with this idea.
We don't know anyone with that kind of authority over at 3M. But some alternative suggestions are a banner behind a plane or take her on a hot air balloon ride out of Hudson and have a banner on the ground in a farm field.
Or we can go back to Seattle and the Space Needle and the ring on a desert plate.....
Or find out if Goodyear has a blimp in the area...
Rebecca
Conversation - Terry with Mike XXX, 3/30/2000
Summary: Mike is an employee of 3M so I took a stab at asking him if he knew anyone that could help. He didn't, so I was stuck again.
Email - Terry to Teri Woitysiak, 3/30/2000
Summary: Filling her in on the engagement and asking her for help. I wasn't completely out of ideas. In the mean time before telling her, I had talked to my sister Val about using her building and if it would work to light offices and spell out a message. She assured me that it would, so I *finalized* the plan and filled Teri in on the details. One week to go and I am still scrambling. I am about to go and stay with my sister for a few days to pretend like I am out of town (since at the time I was living on McKnight). Then after proposal, go out to eat and then stay at a hotel for the weekend. Then Saturday morning, I had arranged a Hot Air Balloon ride for Ann and I (and still to this date - 6/25/01 - we haven't taken the ride yet :))
Teri,
Read below...This class is actually here in Minneapolis, and Friday night (the day before she would think she is flying out to Seattle) you would "take" her to dinner somewhere on the west side of the cities. I'll pick a place and you can say you are meeting Rebecca and Jen there or something. I have the ITT Hartford building working with me to turn on office lights correctly so that it says something like "I LUV U ANN" on the side (kind of like how 3M always has a Christmas tree light up using office lights) that you can see from a distance. I'll give you directions so that if possible you can come from a direction that she can't see the lights until she is right on top of them. Then I'll surprise her...since she'll think I am in Seattle...and be in a limo or car or something. So what is really happening is that I am proposing to her. I hope I can trust you to keep that secret for a week. If you tell Ann that you are meeting whoever at dinner you may want to tell them the secret in case Ann calls to talk to them about meeting for that dinner. So a couple of things...one could you make sure to bring a camera. Make sure she dresses up a little bit, I'll probably be wearing what I wore to Rebecca's wedding or something similiar b/c then we will go out to dinner at the St. Paul Hotel (I will have a room for the weekend). Don't bring any of this up until I let you know...you can just ask what her and I are doing for her birthday and then say that you and whoever will take her out since I can not do it. And after I give you directions, when you are driving there you'll have to make sure to distract her if necessary so that she doesn't see the lights hopefully until I am stepping out of the car.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/30/2000
Summary: She is going to help! I think she got a little carried away buttering me up, but I'll take it.
Terry,
That is the sweetest and most romantic thing you could possibly do for her!! She is going to probably faint, she will be so excited. I am so excited for you two!!!
Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I would never ruin such a special moment like that.
Rebecca, Jenn, Jess and I all talked on that day at Famous Daves and said we would go out for her birthday on Saturday night. I will have to let them know that we may have to postpone that. Let me know what you want me to tell Ann. I guess I could say we are meeting all of the girls out on Friday night, and that would probably work. Just let me know. I won't do anything until you say so. I will not ruin this for you. Let me know if you need any other help planning anything.
Oh, I'm so excited for you two!!!! I knew this day was coming, I just didn't know when!!!!!! YEAH!!
Teri
Conversation - Terry and Ann, 3/30/2000
Summary: I ensure Ann that I will have time for her and that she should go. She OK's it with her boss (who all along know she isn't going out there) and is pumped to go to Seattle.
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/30/2000
Summary: Teri tells me that Ann took the bait hook, line, and sinker! The ball is definitely rolling know.
Terry,
Ann just called and sounded so excited to go to Seattle! She told me that the girls will go out on Friday night instead, since she is leaving on Saturday, so it will work out perfect! I will tell her that we are all dressing up, and that I am going to drive us so that she can drink and not have to worry about driving home. I can't believe this is working so well.
You are so good at surprises.
Teri
Email - Harriet Strobel to Ann, 3/30/2000
Summary: I told Harriet to send Ann a fake email saying that her plane eTicket was confirmed. Harriet and I love to screw around with Ann.
Hi Ann,
I have your flight arrangements all done for you. You can just pick up your E-Ticket at the Northwest Airlines window on Saturday, April 8th. Your flight leaves at 11:45 AM. They will have the itinerary included with your ticket.
Harriet Strobel
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/30/2000
Summary: Letting her know that Ann is jumping in with both feet. The only problem is Ann's excitement to go to Seattle is starting to grow! It only gets worse :(!
Teri,
She took it hook line and sinker. This was an email that my secretary sent her to confirm the flight. I feel a little bad...she was a little too pumped to go to Seattle. She was like "I am going to research it on the web to find things to do".
Anyway, I'll keep you posted, about the plan. Thanks again for your help.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/30/2000
Summary: Small talk, but Teri is wondering what the hotel arrangement is for the weekend because the girls want to hang out with Ann as well if possible. Too bad girls!
I can't believe she is totally falling for this. I must commend you on a great idea. You did get my other email about her telling me about Seattle and that she wants to go out with the girls on Friday night now.
I was talking to Rebecca, and we were wondering if you were going to stay at the hotel all weekend, or if the girls can actually celebrate her birthday on Saturday night or Sunday. I told her I would let her know. I have to let Jess and Jenn know as well, since we all made plans.
Teri
Email - Ann to Harriet, 3/30/2000
Summary: Just having a little fun with Ann, I give her a guilt trip for not thanking Harriet/Mark for the ticket. Of course in a matter of seconds, I was CC'ed on an email to Harriet. Ann is clueless still :)
Thanks for arranging this! This is awesome!!
Ann
Email - Terry to Ann, 3/31/2000
Summary: I was telling Ann that she didn't need to take me to the airport. Obviously I didn't want her to drop me off because I didn't really have a flight to pick up.
Anyway, I talked to Val and she asked if she could use my car while I was gone b/c she wants to take her car in to get her clutch looked at and that takes over a day, so she'll probably take me to the airport (or at least drop my car off there and then you can take me - we'll decide later).
Terry
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/31/2000
Summary: 7 days away and being my anal self, I am putting together an *itinerary* for Teri. She took it all in stride though and did what ever she could to help. They would hang out with her until 9pm or so and then meet me at ITT Hartford. Never mind that I haven't yet went to ITT to try and see if our message with work on the building or not.
Right now the tentative plans are
- You hand her off to me about 9:30 Friday night - (It has to be dark for the lights). Don't forget to have her bring her camera.
- We'll stay at the Sofitel that night and Saturday night.
- Saturday at 5:30 we are taking a hot air balloon ride.
- Other than that, you guys can do whatever. Let me know.
I still have to come up with a restaurant on the west side.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: Ann is throwing wrenches into my itinerary! She is screwing up the schedule. Teri is looking for suggestions and I do my best to give her some.
She told me that she wants to go out to dinner and a movie on Friday night. What should I tell her because 9:30 is pretty late for the girls to be "meeting for dinner". She said she doesn't want to stay out late because she has an early flight the next morning. I guess I could tell her that we are meeting late for dinner because Rebecca needs time to drive up here. What do you think??
The hot air balloon ride sounds like fun. I guess the girls will get together next weekend perhaps. I don't know if Rebecca will want to come up on Sunday. Let me know what I should be telling Ann. Like I said she just thinks the girls are going out to dinner. I let Jenn, Rebecca and Jess know. Don't worry, no one will tell her. No one wants to ruin such a wonderful surprise like that.
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/31/2000
Summary: Answering some of her questions and letting her know that she can maybe have some of Ann's time during the weekend, but I'll want most of it! :)
If you could, screw the movie idea and say the late driving idea for Rebecca.
There is a restaurant called Ivories. It is kind of fancy. You can say someone at work told you about it. This is the building next door to the ITT Hartford building. I'll try to get directions on how to get you there so that you do not see the lights from too far away. Anyway, you guys can do something Sat night if you want (it is especially okay if you guys just want to do dinner and you don't care if I am there or something or maybe I'll just entertain myself somewhere else).
Anyway, let me know if you want to do something.
Terry
Email - Terry to Harriet, 3/31/2000
Summary: Ann is getting out of control. I am now at Val's pretending to be in Seattle and Ann is making plans and reservations from MPLS for all the things we are going to do on our four day weekend. She has made whale watching reservations, restaurant reservations, etc. I asked her where they were at so that I could put them all on my Visa to get points. Luckily she knew the names and told me. I immediately called them all and cancelled. I then told Ann to make sure to go through me when she wants to do something so I can put them on my credit card and what not.
I feel a little bad. She is so pumped to go to Seattle. She is telling everyone how fun it is going to be. She is on the Internet looking for fun things to do and whatnot.
Terry
Email - Harriet to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: Self explanatory
Ah the tangled web we weave ...... Don't worry Terry she will like your surprise so much more. Believe me.
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: Just confirming the plans and Teri is getting worried about driving and stresses out a little.
That's a good idea. I'll just say that we are not doing the movie and that we are having a late dinner because Rebecca needs time to get up here. I hope she goes for it.
We can all have dinner on Saturday night, if you don't mind being with all of us girls. We will probably be talking about wedding stuff, I'm sure! You can always invite Josh and anyone else so you don't feel awkward. I just know that all of us are going to want to see her ring. Did you go and get it yet?? Don't be mad at her, but she mentioned to me last week that you took her ring shopping last weekend and that she was so excited. She was not expecting you to propose until the summer or in about 6 months. So I know she will be totally surprised.
Let me know what time is good for dinner for you. I know you said you said the hot air balloon ride was at 5:30. So would you want to go after that is done?? Let me know so I can let the girls know.
Make sure you give me good directions. I will be nervous driving there, so I don't want to get lost. The sooner you tell me how you want me to drive there, the better. Because I will probably take a practice ride or two so I can time how long it takes me to get there and make sure I know how to get there.
Teri
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/31/2000
Summary: Just trying to calm her a little bit about the directions.
We can just do a practice ride this weekend. She is going Home and I am going to be practicing getting ITT Hartford figured out so maybe you can just come when I do that and we'll figure it out. The balloon ride goes for about 1.5 hours or so. So we can plan on 8pm dinner.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: I'm supposed to be the one that is stressed, not Teri :)
Sounds good to me. When are you going to be doing a practice run this weekend? Sunday works better for me. Although I will be available Saturday afternoon but only for a couple of hours. Let me know.
You have my home number, but here is Devin's number and my cell, because those would be the other places that I would be if I'm not at home.
Email - Val to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: I had asked Val for directions to ITT so that Ann wouldn't see the message going to the restaurant because I didn't want her to see it until I was ready. She is replying to that, and as you can see we still haven't even determined if the message will work.
You'll have to come and see what we are really going to do. We could do it on the front or back. In the back there is a pond with a path around it, so maybe her friends could lure her out there and you could be half way around the pond on one of the benches. I could talk with the manager of Ivories (since we go over there all the time), and have her friend say something like, 'Boy am I full, I could sure go for a walk' when the waiter is there, and the waiter could suggest the path around the pond.
If we do the back, then it doesn't matter which way they come. Straight through 94W, 394W, 169N, 13th Ave exit. You'll be able to see Ivories from the 169. Go under the highway and then take the frontage road, back. Ivories is in the first big glass building (1st floor).
Otherwise, take 694N all the way around to 169S, and take 13th Ave exit.
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/31/2000
Summary: I forwarded Val's email to Terry saying that it sounding like a good idea to me.
Why don't we do something like this listed below...and pray the weather is going to cooperate...I don't know if the quote below is exactly what we would use. You could say something like, the person at work advised you to take a walk around the pond because there is a cool lighted water fountain or something (of course all made up). You could say this while the waiter/ress is there and they could agree (Val this is where you will have to use your leverage) and say how beautiful it is...blah blah blah and then walk around and she would find me. Of course I'll have to come up with a second plan and talk to you guys about it in case the weather is crappy. If we follow through on this, then you guys will actually be going out to eat with her that night if that is all right. We can talk about it a little later.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: She is making me nervous :) Since I am planning this by the seat of my pants everything is going all over the place :(
That may work, but the suspense would be killing me and the girls during dinner. Let me know if that is what you want to do. But I told them that we are going to tell Ann that we are meeting for a late dinner. I haven't told Ann yet, but was going to today. Write me back and let me know. Rebecca thinks the plan is that she is supposed to be at a late meeting, so I'm sure the next time they talk she may say something.
Write me back ASAP. I have to call Ann back any minute now, since she left me a message, and I want to know what I should tell her.
PS-I think Saturday night would be better for all of us for dinner. Because I think Rebecca really does have a meeting Friday night. But it is your call.
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/31/2000
Summary: In Teri's frazzled state of mind, she forgot previously set details.
Teri, hopefully this will work. I can't wait until Saturday now because Ann thinks she is flying out to Seattle remember. Hopefully that will work and for now that is a go. You guys will have dinner with her and then afterwards meet me then maybe we could all go out for a drink or something before Ann and I take off.
Let me know if that is going to work.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: Teri gives me her "blessing" so it should be a go :) Still brainstorming ideas and know the way I will show up to meet Ann is in a limo (for the time being!)
It's OK with me. Do you really want us all around there while you are proposing though? Should we lead her to you and then go off somewhere for a while? Then we could all go out for a drink?? I liked the idea of you getting out of a limo in front of the building, but this will be a lot of fun. I will keep the girls informed.
I just talked to Ann and I told her I wouldn't tell her what restaurant I am taking her too. I said my coworker recommended it, and it is fancy. I told her I am making all the plans this time, since she does it every other time, and she was ok with that.
By the way, she keeps saying that she thinks you are going to propose over the summer sometime. She doesn't suspect a thing!!! I think this is so awesome!!!
Email - Terry to Teri, 3/31/2000
Summary: Just responding to previous email and still planning.
I may change my mind, but the for sure thing is that you will take her to dinner there. Maybe we do the walk thing and then you lead her out and into the limo where I could be hiding in the front seat and it drives around back and then I let her out of the limo where the lights are. If this happens you guys can probably mosey around back so that you can take pictures afterwards so we can have some with the lights and stuff. I'll look into it.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 3/31/2000
Summary: Letting me know that everything is working out with the girls. She even notes on Ann's ability to "misplace" items from time to time :) (to give Ann credit, I don't think she'll ever lose that ring!)
Sounds good. I just talked to Rebecca and told her about Friday instead, and she that it is great for her. She said she can be up here around 6 or 7 pm. I will call Jenn and Jess today or tomorrow. This is so cool!! All the girls are excited!!! I just know Ann is going to die when she sees you and the ring and the building!!! The only bad thing is that she is pumped for Seattle, but that will change once she has a diamond on her finger. I hope you have insurance on it, you know how she loses things!!
Failure - Building Doesn't Work, 4/2/2000
Summary: After an hour of drafting out the lighting scheme at home with Val, Tim Lorsung, and Victoria we trek over to ITT and after another couple hours of lighting offices and pulling shades according to our diagrams we rush outside to see our wonderful creation. We couldn't wait to stand out by the pond and see the message "I LUV U ANN" (we had to cut down on the message because the building wasn't big enough :(). So we walk out to the pond and to be generous, we could see the "I" in the message but the rest of the message looked like a checker board. Screwed again.
Email - Brian XXX (Psycho!) to Terry, 4/3/2000
Summary: At first, with the building lights failing, I was looking forward to possible having the whole Mall study idea brought back to life somehow, but then I opened the email. The bomb! :( Brian got wind of the email I sent a couple days ago and let me have it. I think he got pissed because I was going over his head. I don't think my email warranted this type of response but it is all in the eye of the beholder I guess. (Notice it is just 'Regards' at the end and not 'Best Regards' :)). Talk about a buzz kill and only 4 days until proposal!
Terry,
It has been brought to my attention that you contacted our CEO, Angus Reid last week regarding a personal request. I was also aware that Janet had already previously told you that we would not participate in a request that was personal and had nothing to do with Ann's professional situation.
What did you think you were going to accomplish contacting Angus? Angus runs a $60 million company! This was completely inappropriate and I'm utterly disgusted in your behavior. You should know that you're not doing Ann any favors by contacting the owner of her company to ask permission for something that her boss had already declined. This is an embarrassment and in the future, I hope that you learn some business etiquette and think before you behave in this manner. We are a market research business not a company that specializes in setting up personal events.
Regards,
Brian XXX
Email - Terry to Brian, 4/3/2000
Summary: Still in shock over the email and shitting my pants that I am going to get Ann fired or something I quickly draft an apology and fire it off. And I will not put "Best Regards" either. :)
Brian,
I apologize. I will keep this message short as to not waste your time also. I just hope this doesn't reflect badly on Ann since she obviously didn't have any idea that I did it. I just was scrambling to try and salvage the idea I so desperately wanted to execute for my marriage proposal.
Again, I am sorry.
Terry Aney
Idea #4 - Mall of America (that's all I know)
Summary: Not quite sure what I am going to do yet, but something is going to happen at the Mall of America.
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/3/2000
Summary: The email below lets Teri know that everything is falling apart. I am brainstorming for ideas for Mall of America and seeing if Teri thinks it sounds cool or what.
Well, I have some bad news. We went to the building last night and messed with the lights and they are not going to work. There were balconies and angles and about every other problem that could be thought of. We wrote it all out and then went out and looked at it and it didn't look like anything (I take that back, we could make out the "I").
Anyway, my latest idea isn't that romantic, but I guess it is original...maybe. I am going to go to Mall of America tonight to see what it is like. My idea is that you guys go out to eat in MofA (tell Ann that we couldn't get reservations to Ivories - or you changed your mind or something) then you tell Ann you have a "mini" Olympics set up and the winner will get a special prize. So you will go to Camp Snoopy and play some games. Hopefully they will have a game like the one where you squirt something and everyone is racing against each other. Regardless of the game, somehow I am going to see if the worker will rig it so Ann wins (obviously if it is the squirt gun game, you guys can all aim and miss) and then on a big stuffed animal, I'll have a necklace that has the ring on it or something.
Anyway, I think you get the gist. I'll try to figure out more. Does that sound stupid? All my ideas are going up in smoke. I'll tell you guys that night what happened with my idea of sending Ann out on business (I got yelled at by Angus Reid Group...I don't think Ann is going to be happy - I'll forward you the email if you promise not to tell anyone!).
Well, let me know what you think.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/3/2000
Summary: Responding to Mall of America idea and lets just say that she didn't flat out say it was stupid but she didn't see as excited as before :)
That should work. I can't believe the lights didn't work. How disappointing. Could you have a big banner printed that says "Ann, Will you Marry Me?" or something and hang that around the corner from Ivories or something? I think the Camp Snoopy idea would work too though. Iron out the details, and I'll tell the girls to stand by and I'll let them know once something is definite.
What is the email from Angus Reid? What happened?
Teri
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/3/2000
Summary: I forwarded her Brian's email to me and she probably thought I was bad mouthing the CEO's mom from the email :)
Oh my God!! What did you ask that he wrote back such a bad response?
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/3/2000
Summary: I forwarded the email I wrote to Angus along with note below explaining my case and hoping she agreed with me that Brian was a little harsh.
I wrote this and somehow it got back to the MPLS office and he freaked. I think he is getting pissed just because I "tried going over his head" to get permission. It wasn't as if I was trying to have their company do tons of work for me. All they had to do was send one email to Ann saying that she had to go to Seattle and hand her a ticket I bought and that was it. I just figured it was worth a chance...and yeah he runs a 60 Mill company, but he could simply delete that email as junk email or read it for 1 minute and make a quick decision. I don't think it warranted the ass chewing that I received...or am I wrong?
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/3/2000
Summary: Luckily Teri agreed with me and backed me up a little bit. She also tried to stroke my ego about the Camp Snoopy idea. :)
I don't see anything unprofessional about your email. What an asshole that Brian guy is. The president of my company runs a $175 Millon company and I know he would have helped. What a bunch or jerks. I don't see what liability is involved. In my opinion you did nothing wrong. It's too bad Ann works for a company that doesn't believe in helping out true love.
I think your Camp Snoopy idea is really original and cute. Let me know details. It will still be Friday though, right, since Ann thinks she is leaving Saturday? Jenn had just called me and I told her to keep Friday open, but we don't know what we are doing yet.
Teri
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/3/2000
Summary: Teri isn't stroking my ego so much anymore :)
Do you need any help planning tonight? Just let me know. I would be glad to help you in any way.
Email - Val to Terry, 4/3/2000
Summary: This is a series of 3 emails. I had forwarded Brian's email to Val to see what she thought of it. She backed me up as well.
Email#1:
He didn't sound happy at all. You didn't send me the other email. Sissy just called me and asked if I saw this email. She couldn't believe it!
Email#2:
Send me the first email to Angus. I doubt you deserved that! Doesn't the company care if the employees are happy?
Was there someone between her boss and Angus you could have contacted? I'm just thinking of my boss to the CEO of the company... there is about 5 levels.
Email#3:
No. I don't think you deserved it. Like you said. It is an email. And he could have just deleted it and not read it if he didn't want to deal with it. He probably doesn't even read the email to begin with. He has someone figure out which are the important ones.
Just because he is a CEO, does that mean he doesn't have a personal life or any compassion for someone trying to do something cool like that.
Failure - No games for Ann, 4/3/2000
Summary: Victoria and I walked around Camp Snoopy and couldn't find one good game that could be rigged. Everything required luck/skill and I wasn't the most confident with Ann's athletic prowess.
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/5/2000
Summary: 2 days to go and things are still falling apart! I changed my idea from athletics to art. Basically, I would go get a Caricature done of me down on one knee like I was proposing to someone. He would leave the other part blank, then when Ann and her friends came down, they would pretend to get a drawing done of them and although they were all sitting there getting drawn, all the artist was really doing is drawing Ann in on the partially drawn caricature of me already. Then we he turned it around, I would magically appear.
Oh, my God. Could any more of my ideas go down the tube. I tried calling you last night about the MofA. I went there and there really arent any games. I am not quite sure what I am going to do. Maybe I have to figure out what to do using a limo or something. Each and every one of my ideas is getting successively less creative/fun. The only thing I thought of doing at MofA is having you guys go out to eat and then you guys take her and say she has to have a caricature drawn of her. Before you guys go there, I would go there and have them draw me on a knee with a ring and then they would pull this piece of paper out and finish the drawing of Ann on it. All you guys could be standing around the back of the artist so that I could sneak up easier (maybe we come up with a hand signal when it is almost finished or something) and when he hands it to her we let her look at it for a second and then I show up. Pretty lame I think, but that is about the only thing worth doing in MofA. I am in a meeting all day today down in Bloomington starting at 8am so I'll try to think of something, but I don't know what to do exactly.
I'll try calling your cell after work today and let you know what is going on and maybe ask for some ideas.
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/5/2000
Summary: Well, definitely looks like Teri lightened up to the idea of the caraciture better than the sporting Olympics. Also looking out for me making sure I didn't plan something that failed again..."Did you see if they had people that did that there?" :)
Terry,
I like the character drawing idea a lot. I think it is original and cute. Did you see if they had people that did that there?
The only problem I see is that the Mall of America closes at 9 I think.
Rebecca won't be able to get here until between 6 and 7, so I'm not sure if we will be done eating by 9. We can always go with out Rebecca if we have to. Have you thought of any other ideas?
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/5/2000
Summary: Just reassuring Teri that everything this time WILL work!
I can not remember how late they were open, but I asked and I know they said later than 9. I'll check again tonight maybe. So you think that idea is cool huh? I don't know why I don't buy into it totally, but I'll think about it more today. I am leaving here around 2 pm or so to drive back to Rochester to tell my Dad about it (I got the ring yesterday) so I wanted to show him that and tell him. Then tomorrow after my class maybe you and I could hook up if need be to figure something out.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/5/2000
Summary: She is just confirming everything, but does slip something out that I didn't want to hear. She knew that Ann and I went ring shopping together. Originally, I thought I would always pick the ring out myself when shopping for the ring, but in retrospect, I am glad I didn't because I would have never picked the ring we have and Ann is in love with it!
You just have to let me know, so I can let the girls know. I can meet tomorrow, but it may have to be a little later. I will be at Devin's house, because his parents, sister, and niece are going to be over celebrating his birthday (his birthday was yesterday). So if you want to meet, it would have to be after 8 pm I'm thinking. Tonight I don't have any major plans, but I guess you can't meet since you are going down to Rochester.
The best way to reach me tonight or tomorrow is to call Devin's house at 651-xxx-xxxx. He won't care, plus he knows about what is going on so he will understand.
What kind of ring did you get her? Is it the one she picked out?
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/5/2000
Summary: Let her know about the ring and all the other little details about the night.
You didn't reconfirm your opinion of the drawing idea. So you really like it huh? Anyway, I bought one of the rings that Ann picked out, but I bought a much better diamond than the ones she thought I was looking at buying - I had to do something a little different since she had such an influence on the ring :). Anyway, maybe I'll call you tonight. I don't know if we necessarily have to hook up we could just talk on the phone if I am still scrambling for ideas. As for confirming your plans with the girls (I can tell you are getting nervous) - you will minimally be going out to eat with Ann and hopefully get done around 9:30 or so (Ask Rebecca if that is a problem if she could maybe work a little longer today/tomorrow and take off an hour early on Friday). I'll plan everything around that.
Well I just got off the phone with a couple of people. One was the MofA. I got info that the caricature place closes at 8pm. I went there two days ago with my sister and I could have sworn it was more like 10pm (because I asked the worker) so I called my sister and she said she thought 10pm also. So here are our choices. I am going to drive to MofA today at noon and check the schedule in person and I'll call you at work and let you know (email me your number). So we can push Rebecca to get off earlier by working more these next two days if it does close early or we could do that first (of course after you play a couple of games so that it seems like you have this big "carnival Olympics" planned or something - maybe you could play mini golf or something) and then I could go out to eat with you guys - I don't really care (I'll have plenty of time with her the rest of the weekend - and my life) if you guys don't I and promise I don't care what you talk about while I am there. That is probably better for you guys instead of going out to eat first and not being able to talk about it at all then I propose and take her away for the weekend when in reality she probably wants to talk to girls about it anyway. So lets take it at that value. I'll call you at 1pm or so and let you know how late the place is open and you just plan to have the girls at your house around 6:30 or so and everything will flow from there - either you'll eat and hand her off or do the one plan and we'll all eat together.
Send me your number and I'll talk to you later.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/5/2000
Summary: Just responding...
I think that is a good idea to all eat together, that way you can still have the character drawing for sure. I think that is a great idea, and very original. I think it will be more fun eating after you propose, since we can talk about it then (plus Rebecca and my birthday presents are going to be wedding planning books and stuff). As long as you will not feel weird with all of us there.
I am sure the ring is beautiful. I know she will be so happy.
My number at work is 651-xxx-xxxx. If I am not here at one, leave a message and a phone number if possible, and I will call you back.
Idea #5 - Bucas (ego problem)
Summary: I am not completely sold on this caricature idea and think it is kind of lame. So I come up with a different one, albeit one day away. It is explained in the email below.
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/6/2000
Summary: Explaining my "New" idea because I am a little embarrassed of the caricature one. Kind of copies Tom A's proposal, but I was desperate at this point.
All right, my plan has completely changed, but hopefully it is for the better. Not too original, but a little more romantic I guess.
Anyway, I'll have you guys set up reservations at Buca's in St. Paul again go there and sit down (with all the assumptions I am making, obviously Buca's is going to have to be in cahoots with me) somewhere similar to where we sat that one night - basically somewhere away from the bar. After you sit down, when the waitress comes to asks for drinks, she is going to inform Ann that a man at the bar would like to buy her a drink. Hopefully she'll decline since I am trying to act like a guy is hitting on her. Assuming she declines, a few minutes later, I'll send a paper note over saying something a little racy or something about her looks - again hopefully she'll blow it off because of the reason above and of course I try to make what I am saying on the note offensive enough so she thinks I am a jerk. Then I'll send over another note a little less offensive with a rose probably and have the waitress instructed to say that I would at least like to see you face to face without your friends around and here you decline - assuming she is still declining. Then she'll come over and it'll be me and I'll do the rest and then we'll come back for dinner.
So what do you think of that? Like I said, she better blow off this "guy" and not take up on "his" advances or that'll kind of blow the whole thing, but I'll hope for the best.
Let me know what you think, b/c I'll have to go and get reservations tonight hopefully and talk to Buca's about helping out - I'll tell them that the name is going to be Hennen with a party of 4, is that correct?
Talk to you later.
Terry
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/6/2000
Summary: Responding...sounding like this plan might backfire in my face :(
That's a good idea too! You are full of ideas. There would be five of us, not including you. So make sure that they know it would be six people total (including you) but make sure they only say five for when we get there. It would be Rebecca, Jess, Jenn, me, and of course Ann. Give me a call at Devin's tonight and let me know the final plans. What time would you try to make reservations for?
I hope she blows you off, but Ann and I have gotten a lot of free drinks before, so she may play along and flirt back. That won't look to good if she does that.
Devin's number is 651-xxx-xxxx. Try not to call after 10 pm if possible, since Devin goes to bed early. I'll talk to you tonight.
Teri
Email - Victoria to Terry, 4/6/2000
Summary: I asked her what she thought of my idea for the new proposal.
Let me think about and let you know. The only thing that is making me think no is because that is how Tom proposed to Karen.
Email - Terry to Victoria, 4/6/2000
Summary: Response to her comments.
It is kind of like Tom's, but a little different. I don't really care. Ann doesn't now I don't think. I told a few people about the drawing thing and I had mixed reactions. I'll try to iron it out. Talk to you later.
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/6/2000
Summary: Looking for self confidence...
If you had to choose between the drawing thing and the Buca thing, which do you think is better? I know I probably shouldn't be asking this much info from you and others about how I want to propose, but my one "great" idea was shot down and that was about as creative as I can get in a one month span.
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/6/2000
Summary: Finding self confidence...
I personally really liked the drawing idea over the Buca idea, but it is up to you. Or maybe the mini golf idea? You need to make the decision, because you will remember this moment for the rest of your life (not to put any pressure on you). =)
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/7/2000
Summary: The day of and I final came up with a plan...back to caricature plan!
Sorry I didn't call last night, but I tried using my sisters computer to log in and get your number from my email and her stupid modem wouldn't work.
Anyway, I am going to go with the caricature thing. Maybe I'll call you around 4:35pm today on my way home to see what is going on. My ideas were this...
- You and the girls would show up at the mall around 7:30 or so (you can tell me a diff time if you want) and say that you are going to have a little competition or something. Walk to camp snoopy and walk around there (of course act like you know where you are going and if Ann asks, just say that it is a surprise) until you see the caricature stand. It is on the inner side of the isle when you are walking around the corner.
- When you get there and they start drawing, step away and call me on my phone and just hang up or talk to the girls in the background or something, you can probably do it right in front of Ann and say you are checking your messages because Devin is calling you and leaving a message about something - make sure to tell one of them (verbally so Ann hears you) to remind you to check your messages or something on the way over to the mall so that when you do this it isn't completely out of the blue and she seems surprised.
- Now that I know you are there and started, I'll start to ease my way over and get in a spot so that I can see you (Make sure you and the girls are kind of forming a semi-circle around Ann and the artist so that she can not see me sneaking up). When the artist is almost done act like you are going to check your messages again and just kind of take a few steps back acting like you are dialing your phone and then hang up. This will be my cue to start sneaking into the picture.
- I will have told the artist to stand up and say a few words just to stall time before he hands the picture over and as he does, I'll show up and propose.
- The rest of the night I don't really care about...I have a late check in to the hotel we are staying at so you guys can decide where we want to eat or whatever. You should probably make reservations around 9:30 or so just in case you guys have to stand in line waiting to be drawn. My two suggestions are Campiellos in uptown (very good and Ann loves it - in case you didn't know - my first choice) or Bucas either place. I think if you get reservations and tell them it is a birthday/engagement party either of them will do something a little special - ask them if they have anything.
Recap
- Go to the mall around 7:30 and find caricature place.
- Call me when the Caricature person starts drawing - this will be a 15 minute cue.
- Act like you are calling your messages with hopefully 1 minute or so left - I will be watching you from a distance and make my way over.
- Artist will stand up and stall - also helping you and the girls shield Ann from seeing me.
- I'll show up and do my thing and then we can all go out to dinner.
I have class at 8:30am so you can reply before that otherwise, I'll check at noon and then have my phone at 4:35. 612-xxx-xxxx
Email - Terry to Ann, 4/7/2000
Summary: Pretending to be in Seattle and taking "reservation orders" from Ann. Starting to worry about a let down. :(
Ann,
My phone is dead right now and we are going to go grab a bite to eat. Send me an email with the number to call for reservations. I'll try to sneak out around 10:30 or so my time - we usually get a break for caffeine - and call them. I haven't talked to the others yet, I am on my way to meet them, so I'll find out if everything is all right - it should be.
I miss you and can't wait to see you tomorrow.
Love,
Terry
Email - Terry to Teri, 4/7/2000
Summary: Forwarded the email above about how Ann is all pumped to go to Seattle and I am worrying about a let down.
Ann is so pumped about making all these reservations and site seeing. I am seriously starting to worry about a let down. What did I get myself into?
Terry
Email - Ann to Terry, 4/7/2000
Summary: She is still making reservations...oh my is she going to hate me...I hope that diamond is big enough :)
Hi there,
The number is 206-xxx-xxxx. Get reservations for the ferry from Friday Harbor in Seattle to the San Juan Islands and also ask for Whale watching tickets.
Write me a quick email and tell me if they have tickets still available.
Love you,
Ann
Email - Teri to Terry, 4/7/2000
Summary: The final plans...
OK, that should work. I will just tell her that I'm checking home voice mail for a message about the animal adoption event tomorrow. Don't worry, she doesn't suspect a thing.
Where exactly is the character place? Is it by a store in camp snoopy? I have never seen it, so if you can give me the store that it is by, that would help a lot.
I am charging my phone right now. I will be at work until 5 or 5:30, then I'm going home. Give me a call at work when you can. I'll see you at 7:30!! I hope all this works!
We should just eat in the Mall. Jenn knows of a nice place, and I will try to get reservations for that place for 9:30. Talk to you soon.
The Proposal
Well, now that all the plans are in place, all I had to do is come up with the proposal and actual perform the act. Talk about stressful. I went to work for half a day and then headed down for Mall of America around 2:30 or so to get my half of the caricature done. I was definitely starting to get nervous because I wanted to surprise Ann and make sure she thought the proposal was fun. Having her friends there to witness it was a little nerve racking but I definitely knew that Ann would enjoy talking with her friends during dinner about it and showing them the ring and all that 'girl stuff' and I could just sit back and recover. I made reservations at The Sofitel hotel for Friday and Saturday night (a small consumer loan was needed to do this :)).
Sitting at the caricature place was pretty funny. As I sat there getting my picture drawn, people would stop and look to see that I was being drawn in a weird fashion - down on one knee holding a ring. All the women got it, but kids and men looked pretty clueless and would point and ask questions. This is when it dawned on me that there might be a problem when Ann was getting drawn. Some redneck or somebody would say something while Ann was being filled in on the drawing to ruin the surprise. As soon as I was done with the drawing, I would need to call Teri and warn her that people may screw it up and she would have to keep a watch out. As the guy was drawing, I would see him smirk every once and a while and I made sure to tell him that this thing was probably going to get framed or something so he shouldn't draw it too obnoxious or make fun of us too much. "Make it look semi decent" I told him knowing that he had a lot of work in front of him to make me look semi decent.
After the drawing was done, I was pleased with the result and now I just had to hide and wait. It was about 5:30pm and Ann and the gang was showing up in about an hour or so. Waiting for time to pass took forever! I really started to get nervous as I tried to memorize the fairly simple phrase I would try to utter to Ann as I asked for her hand for eternity. After what seemed days of worrying that with my luck Ann and her friends would walk right past me before anything happened and ruin all the work I did, I finally saw Teri and Jess at the caricature stand watching Ann and Jenn getting drawn. The situation was such that Ann thought they were going to draw all four people but could only fit two at a time on the bench so Jenn and Ann started. I could see from the distance that Teri and Jess had their hands full bouncing children around when they would start to point and ask who the 'man' was and what not. Nerve racking, but entertaining nonetheless. As I got a signal from Teri that he was wrapping it up on Ann, I snuck in from the side where Ann couldn't see me.
To set up the scene a little more, remember a few things. Ann thought I was in Seattle and had no idea of inclination of what was going on. She assumed that the artist was drawing two blondes on the paper and to start with Ann wasn't thrilled with getting a caricature in the first place. So now the big moment is about to happen and a crowd had been building realizing what was going on. As the artist asked Jenn and Ann if they wanted to see what it looked like so far, they obviously answered 'yes' and I creped in so close to Ann that I could practically grab her before she saw it. He spun it around showing a huge brown haired man on his knee and a small blonde woman off to the side. Ann's first reaction was complete and utter disgust - remember she was expecting to see a partial drawing of two blondes, not a complete drawing of a man and woman. The face she gave the artist was priceless; unfortunately, no one had a camera on cue afraid to spoil the surprise. At this time, I tapped Ann on her shoulder and she looked at me and gave me a look like she had no clue who I was - she was expecting me to be in Seattle. After merely glancing at me she looked back at the artist and was trying to figure out what was going on. Then she realized it was I and finally showed some recognition that she remembered who I was. I grabbed her hand...led her away from the booth a little bit...got down on one knee and said..."Ann you are the most beautiful woman in the world, and I love you with all my heart. Would you do me the great honor of being my wife?" Pretty lame I know, but by this time I was all 'idea'ed' out and I have never been one to come up with great words. Well the rest is history. Ann, lucky for my sake, answered yes. We had dinner and she chatted with her friends and every other woman in the restaurant and everything will be smooth sailing from here (until the wedding planning :))