How he proposed..................
I flew in from Boston to celebrate a late Christmas and New Years with
my family and friends. Jeff picked me up at the airport and we headed
back to his apartment in Wrigleyville. I was so excited to be back
home. I was especially excited to see the snow! (It wasn't a very white
Christmas in Boston.)
Jeff had plans that night for a well over duedate night....even better,
he kept the location a surprise! All I knew was that I needed the
perfect dress and shoes for the occasion! Thinking back to how Jeff was
acting during the day, I realize now that he had made some "out of the
norm" comments, but at the time, I thought nothing of it!
It was finally time for dinner! As we drove along Lake Shore Drive, it
started snowing....lake effect snow! They were probably some of the
biggest snowflakes I had ever seen! Everything was so beautiful! All
of the Christmas lights were still up and turned on and twinkling in
between the snowflakes! The vision really made me start missing
Chicago. I had been too busy being mesmerized by the snow to realize we had parked in the middle of a park right off of Lake Shore Drive!
Jeff said we had to walk through the park to get to the restaurant. As we
walked hand-in-hand, a building appeared in the middle of Lincoln Park,
right next to a partially frozen pond. The restaurant was North Pond
Restaurant.
We were seated in a beautiful room, next to a window overlooking the
pond and in the distance the amazing Chicago skyline. The snow was
still falling and it was turning the park into a picturesque romantic
evening.
We both enjoyed one of the best meals Chicago has to offer! Jeff told
me that we weren't getting dessert at the restaurant because he had made
reservations at another place! I told him that he raised the bar for
date night and I didn't know how he was going to top this perfect night!
After dinner, he suggested we take a walk down by the pond. As we were
walking, we had stopped by a couple of benches to admire the beauty of
the evening. Jeff turned me to look at him. He told me how much he
loved me and how he couldn't imagine his life without me. He proceeded
to get down on one knee and pulled out that red box that every girl has
waited for! He opened it and inside the box was the absolute perfect
ring!
After I put the ring on and said yes, the wait staff at the restaurant
came out and congratulated us. They all had been watching from the
windows. They also gave Jeff back his credit card...he was so nervous he
forgot it!
I had regretfully decided to leave my phone at home for the evening.
Lucky for me, Jeff snuck it into his coat pocket for after dinner!
We made our way to our next reservation, which turned out to be at Hot
Chocolate in Bucktown, Ann and Matt waited for us with a bottle of
champagne and some amazing dessert to celebrate!
Wedding Party.........
Emily Karnatz
Maid of Honor, sister to bride
Ann Miller
Bridesmaid, sister to groom
Connie Caruso
Bridesmaid, close friend of bride
Elizabeth Polyack
Bridesmaid, close friend of bride
Ryan Malo
Best Man, close friend of bride and groom
Matt Miller
Groomsman, brother-in-law to groom
Lou Knapp
Groomsman, close friend of groom
Brad Helander
Groomsman, close friend of groom
Brian Bergren
Groomsman, close friend of groom
Ringbearer Jack
Flower Girl Imaani
