Engaged!
That's right, I did the deed. It happened over Christmas vacation on December 22nd in NYC. We arrived on the 21st with my family and proceeded to my Grandmothers house. I love seeing my family and was naturally in good spirits anyway. The 22nd started out normally, eating breakfast with my family and talking about the typical Christmas events. Mary Ellen and I had already decided to take the train into the city that day and do some touristy site seeing and what not. Being from NY I have not done the tourist attractions in the normal sense. That made a great excuse to get into the city and do those types of things without causing much eyebrow rising from Mary Ellen. The only thing I had to convince her was to bring some nice clothes so we could "pop-in" somewhere nice for dinner (she thought I was crazy, oh and she was right). So I carried our stuff in a backpack all day. Keep in mind my family knew everything I was planning.
We arrived at Grand Central about 1:30. We then decided to go use the restrooms at the Hyatt since it is right by GC and a very nice place. Luckily they were open and took note that it may be a good place to change later. We took some pictures and walked around a bit before making our way around the block to the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building is a very beautiful and old structure. To this day it is the worlds tallest brick building. So after talking and pictures we took the subway down to Canal St. (Chinatown). It was packed. It's usually busy, but being the weekend before Christmas it was exceptionally crowded. We walked around for a while and then stopped to eat at XO's, a small authentic Chinese restaurant. Very good. By the time we finished up it was about 3:30. From there we took the subway down to Battery Park. There we mingled with street vendors, watched some ghetto dancers, and admired the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were going to take the boat out and visit the statue but both happily agreed that it was too cold (and I had a schedule to keep). From there we took the 1 train up to Penn Station at 34th street and made our way to The Empire State Building. It, like Chinatown, was very busy. It took a while to get up to the top, but completely worth it. There was a thin cloud layer that was hovering right in the middle of the then green lit peek, totally awesome. Once we made it back to the street it was about 7:00 and 20 degrees warmer. =) I knew that I had to move along and suggested that we go and change at the Hyatt. It was kind of a long walk but not all that bad. By the time we were cleaned up and moving again it was about 7:40 or so and headed to go see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. While on the walk I began to build up for the moment. Stating how we got along so well, why were good together, etc. Once we made it the place was a sardine can. It made 5th Ave. and Canal St. look like we were standing in an open field. We took some pictures of one another standing in front of the tree, though I don’t think they turned out very well since we had to stand so close to one another. I then suggested that we try and get of the crowd and began to head toward the building. Once we made it I said "we should go inside and see what's going on"; and with an odd look she agreed. I then walked up to the desk and asked where the entrance to Top of the Rock was. She was surprised that there was actually something to do, but wasn’t exactly sure what it was. As we walked I explained that it was an observation deck on top of Rockefeller Plaza. There was practically no line as the deck had just recently re-opened and very few people knew about it. The view was spectacular. Seeing the ESB from there was just amazing. After walking around for a few minutes I found an unoccupied corner to pop the question. I said a few words, got down on one knee and proposed. After some clapping, cheers, and pictures I informed Mary Ellen that the reason we had to bring clothes and rush over to The Rock was because we had 8:15 reservations at the Sea Grille downstairs. We arrived at exactly 8:15, our coats and bag were taken and proceeded to our seats that sat at the window no further the 2 feet away from the ice skating rink with a perfect view of the gold statues and the Christmas Tree. Dinner was wonderful, a truly perfect end to the perfect day. After dinner we called our families, walked back to GC, and headed back to my Grandmothers house to enjoy congratulations and champagne with my family. I could not have planned it to the second any better. Yes, I rock. =P
We arrived at Grand Central about 1:30. We then decided to go use the restrooms at the Hyatt since it is right by GC and a very nice place. Luckily they were open and took note that it may be a good place to change later. We took some pictures and walked around a bit before making our way around the block to the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building is a very beautiful and old structure. To this day it is the worlds tallest brick building. So after talking and pictures we took the subway down to Canal St. (Chinatown). It was packed. It's usually busy, but being the weekend before Christmas it was exceptionally crowded. We walked around for a while and then stopped to eat at XO's, a small authentic Chinese restaurant. Very good. By the time we finished up it was about 3:30. From there we took the subway down to Battery Park. There we mingled with street vendors, watched some ghetto dancers, and admired the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were going to take the boat out and visit the statue but both happily agreed that it was too cold (and I had a schedule to keep). From there we took the 1 train up to Penn Station at 34th street and made our way to The Empire State Building. It, like Chinatown, was very busy. It took a while to get up to the top, but completely worth it. There was a thin cloud layer that was hovering right in the middle of the then green lit peek, totally awesome. Once we made it back to the street it was about 7:00 and 20 degrees warmer. =) I knew that I had to move along and suggested that we go and change at the Hyatt. It was kind of a long walk but not all that bad. By the time we were cleaned up and moving again it was about 7:40 or so and headed to go see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. While on the walk I began to build up for the moment. Stating how we got along so well, why were good together, etc. Once we made it the place was a sardine can. It made 5th Ave. and Canal St. look like we were standing in an open field. We took some pictures of one another standing in front of the tree, though I don’t think they turned out very well since we had to stand so close to one another. I then suggested that we try and get of the crowd and began to head toward the building. Once we made it I said "we should go inside and see what's going on"; and with an odd look she agreed. I then walked up to the desk and asked where the entrance to Top of the Rock was. She was surprised that there was actually something to do, but wasn’t exactly sure what it was. As we walked I explained that it was an observation deck on top of Rockefeller Plaza. There was practically no line as the deck had just recently re-opened and very few people knew about it. The view was spectacular. Seeing the ESB from there was just amazing. After walking around for a few minutes I found an unoccupied corner to pop the question. I said a few words, got down on one knee and proposed. After some clapping, cheers, and pictures I informed Mary Ellen that the reason we had to bring clothes and rush over to The Rock was because we had 8:15 reservations at the Sea Grille downstairs. We arrived at exactly 8:15, our coats and bag were taken and proceeded to our seats that sat at the window no further the 2 feet away from the ice skating rink with a perfect view of the gold statues and the Christmas Tree. Dinner was wonderful, a truly perfect end to the perfect day. After dinner we called our families, walked back to GC, and headed back to my Grandmothers house to enjoy congratulations and champagne with my family. I could not have planned it to the second any better. Yes, I rock. =P
posted by michael at 6:40 PM
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