The Proposal (or geeks in love)

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So on Thursday, I proposed to Cli.

Back in March, we went to NYC to see the Tim Burton exhibit, and while I was at the MOMA store, I saw this item. At the time, I knew the proposal was months away, but I also knew that it was coming...and that I didn't want to pick out a ring for her in advance. I couldn't purchase anything at the time (since she was right there...and the line was far too long for me to sneak back later).

So, when I got back to Pittsburgh, I went to the MOMA store and ordered it. At the time, my plans were vague... go some place special (Paris, the Bahamas, Alaska, etc..) and just pop the question. OR, I debated at the end of my century ride. In the end, I decided that the day of the proposal should be about her... not me. (One of the people I talked to on the century ride actually encouraged me to do this since Cli was SOOOO supportive... but by that time, I'd already decided on this approach.)

Later that month, we spent an evening watching (the original) Clash Of The Titans (which we'd both seen) and Krull (which I'd not). It was a blast, I made a bunch of Alton Brown recipes for dinner and we simultaneously mocked and enjoyed the movies.

One thing that really struck me, was that in CotT the way that Perseus and Andromeda became a couple. Perseus basically stalks(!) Andromeda, following her (while she's in a trance) to her old boyfriend's lair. There he lops of the ex-boyfriend's hand, grabs it(!) and escapes.

The next day he presents himself to Andromeda (who has never seen him before, mind you!) throws down the severed hand of her ex-boyfriend(!) and that's it... Twue Wuv! I commented at the time, that I would have to track down her ex-boyfriend and do the same. And in that moment, all my other thoughts of how to propose went out the window.

Clearly, I wasn't not going to track down her ex-boyfriend and sever his hand...but Cli is a HUGE Cake Wrecks fan. So obviously, it had to be a cake.


So, it just became a matter of timing. I wanted to pick a time when Cli would be out of town the following few days. While I was fairly certain that the answer would be 'Yes', I wanted her to have the option of taking her time to think about it. The first chance was on 7/9, but that was less than a month after we moved in together...and that seemed strange. I consulted a friend of hers, who kind of talked me through my thought process and I decided to wait.

Part of the rational in waiting was that finding a bakery that will make a 'severed hand cake' is not easy. Basically, I called around in the Pittsburgh area but every place either just hung up on me or treated me as if I was a prank caller. (Which, I can understand... it is an odd request!)

Finally, I out of desperation, I asked my soon to be nephew who went to the Art Institute and I thought I'd heard him say that he knew some folks at the culinary department. Turns out that he didn't but he directed me to this website, run by the wife of a former co-worker of his. If you dig around on that site, you'll see the owl from the original CotT....so I knew I found my bakery.

So then I picked my date, the next time she was leaving town was 8/6, so it became clear. Once I had the bakery, I sent her an email asking her to set 8/5 down as a 'no questions asked date.'

The next thing was to figure out how to present the cake. My first thought was to go to a restaurant or bar that we frequented. (There were several options.) I even debated having our friends at a near by establishment so that we could all celebrate if she said yes. First, I got talked out of the friend plan by a friend of mine. Her point was that Cli might want it to be a 'just us' kind of thing. So, the friend plan went by the wayside.

Once it did, I got thinking about it and proposing in a public place sounds nice... but what if she didn't answer right away... or wanted to say no/not-yet? Well, in a public place that would put a lot of pressure on her. So I decided to do it at home.

That left what to do with the mystery date. Fortunately, there was a photography exhibit that I wanted to see on the South Side ( here ). That would provide a bit of misdirection... and it worked better than I thought.

Once we did the exhibit (which was really cool), Cli suggested eating at Fatheads...and I thought to myself. "There is NO WAY she'll think I would propose after eating at Fatheads." So that's where we ate. (We looked kind of out of place since I told her to dress up and she was a very nice green dress that made her look amazing.)

On home, I told her she would need to wait on the porch. When we got there I ran in, and got the cake ready, walked her in (eyes closed) and got down on my knee. She was so shocked by the cake that she didn't realize what it was at first... but after a split second it struck her.

And she said YES!