it was the 10th of February, 2011...

...our 6 year anniversary.

We had planned to go into the City for the day, exploring the shops and Darling Harbour and having some lunch at the Rocks. After checking out the big comic store for the future hubby and wandering through the new Sydney Westfield looking at pretty things we can't afford, we headed up to the Rocks to find somewhere to eat for lunch.

Now those who know us will be aware of just how difficult this can be - future hubby has a health issue which basically means he can eat no fat and no sugar...so it's slightly ironic that we should end up having lunch at Guylian Cafe!

I should note here that I really should have been suspicious that future hubby was rather blaise about the price of the menu and what was actually ON the menu - to me it was just a normal lunch so spending a lot of money seemed silly but he didn't seem to mind...he was also very eager to pick somewhere and get to it!

But we ended up having a lovely lunch at Guylian's, which served a lovely salmon salad with baby capers for the boy and delicious cape seed ciabatta with sun dried tomato, sautéed mushrooms, roasted eggplant and pesto for me. After a very filling lunch we didn't really have room for dessert and the future hubby couldn't have any of them anyway, so I headed off to freshen up and we had planned to wander back to the Harbour and possibly to the Botanical Gardens for a bit of a wander.

Change of plans.

I got back to my seat and the waitress bought out 2 complimentary Guylian praliné hot chocolates (here's me thinking the boy must have mentioned it was our anniversary) and THEN, a lovely dessert especially for me:



Meanwhile, as I'm admiring the dessert, still oblivious and thinking it was just for our anniversary, the boy switches on his phone to play "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith. I look up to check out what he's doing, only to see him getting down on one knee next to the table. Immediate tears as he asks me to marry him, to which my response was "Are you serious??" A laughing, "Yes" followed by an "Oh my god" from me and a big hug...only for me to realise I should probably actually say yes! So I do, and the whole restaurant (suddenly there were more people in there then I had originally noticed...I think the kitchen staff had been told what was going on and sneaked out!) burst into applause.

Many tears and hugs and kisses followed, as well as a lot of congratulations - in particular from the two businessmen having a meeting/lunch next to us. I think they got more of a lunch time show then they expected!!! This photo was taken just moments after he proposed:



I downed my hot chocolate, which was amazing, and the boy even had a sip of his. My dessert was very delicious (a tart covered in strawberries, bottom layer of the tart was praliné chocolate) but after our huge meal I really couldn't finish it. Looking back, I really should have asked to take it home, but I was rather overwhelmed and didn't think of it. Upon our leaving, the girls behind the counter offered me a very big "Congratulations Amanda" (I think they got a kick out of making the dessert!) and a bag of Guylian chocolates of us to take home.



After lunch we were too excited to stay in the city and headed home on the train. This is a picture taken on our way home, of my gorgeous ring from my amazing boy. I had fallen in love with this ring a number of years ago - a friend worked for the company who made it and as soon as she showed it too me (when it first came in!) I fell in love with it. Art Deco style with old world charm, it's the perfect match for me. My boy remembered and bought it for me - along with matching earrings!



I should probably note that the reason I was so oblivious throughout the day was because he had given me the earrings as a gift in the morning...I thought they had matched the ring I liked and assumed that I was getting the earrings now and the ring at a later date. We had previously discussed getting engaged and the future hubby had indicated that it would be "by the time we're both 26:" - ie. my 26th birthday in July this year. So I just thought the earrings were for now and the ring was coming later! I didn't realise how quickly! :)

I called my mum on the way home and organised for my family to have dinner at my parent's house that night. We didn't make any further phone calls at that stage as we wanted to catch people in person. My brother, sister and my sister's boyfriend all noticed my ring when I reached my parents house (waiting for my parents and brother and sis-in-law to get there) but didn't say anything...When my dad arrived he went straight into the other room because he felt like he couldn't be in the same room as everyone and not say anything (future hubby had already asked his permission - back in 2010!). We told them all, they were all expecting it, however my sister-in-law was by far the best reaction - she arrived and I asked her if she wanted to see what Graham bought me for our anniversary. She said of course, so I pulled back my hair to show her my earrings...with my left hand. She was commenting on how lovely they are, and went to say something else (I later learnt that it would have been, "Aren't they like the ring you like?"), then realised what was on my finger...and SCREAMED!!! It was classic, I wish I had gotten it on video. I had tears from laughter but it was by fair the best reaction...

Later that evening we called in to see future hubby's dad and sister, then called his mum, youngest sister, brother and sister-in-law. I held off telling my best girlfriends (a very difficult feat!) until the next night, as I was seeing them for dinner and wanted to tell them in person. The earring trick worked again :) The only exception was my bestie, (and MOH) who we called because she wouldn't be at dinner. She stopped in our place for a visit not long before we went to my parent's for dinner.

It was an amazing day, which I'll remember for the rest of my life...How could I say no when our engagement included my favourite things: my boy, chocolate and strawberries :) <3