Life and Links: Engagement and Summer News

Last Updated on February 24, 2018

It happened.  After three years and change, Eddie and I are finally engaged! We spent the entire weekend celebrating.  I’ve been staring at my ring all weekend and although Eddie hates the word fiancé, I tricked him into using it (once.)

On July 1st, Eddie and I started our Saturday morning with a 7:30AM tee time, as we often do.  Our home course is South Shore Golf Course; we play it about three times a month.  I have been going through a slump in golf recently and the last four of five outings have not been hitting my driver well off the tee.  On this day though, it seemed like I got my mojo back and I was hitting the ball pretty well.  Chipping onto the green however, is a constant struggle. Eddie was also playing really well and we lucked out that we didn’t have to join another twosome for the round.

The Proposal

On the eighth hole, a par three,  we both hit the ball great off the tee but I went left, into a bunker, and Eddie landed feet away from the pin.  I got the ball out of the bunker but just past the tee, so I started walking toward it He began kind of hovering near me and made a point to let me know that he pulled the pin.  It was peculiar that he was shadowing me so I shot him a stinkeye.  Once he got out of the way, I went to chip my ball and it landed within two feet of the cup.  As I approached the cup, Eddie stood over it to provide a bumper in case I hit the ball past the cup. As I was going to put, I saw that there was something in the cup and noticed he bent down to one knee. I just started bawling.  Like full on ugly crying. We hugged and kissed….and finished the round! I chipped in on the ninth hole and Eddie hit two birdies in a row.

We walked around the South Shore Cultural Center to try to walk into the Nature Sanctuary and instead, stumbled upon the most beautiful, quiet, beach and cove area that I’ve ever seen in Chicago.  When I said that 12th Street Beach is the most hidden, calm beach in Chicago, I was wrong. This beach is! We took some selfies to send our families and then headed back home.

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Cloud Nine

After we got home, I showered and Eddie went for a run.  While he was out, one of his sisters saw him running and chased him down near the Shedd Aquarium.  She came back with him and offered to hold an impromptu photo shoot for us, which was so kind.  Eddie was uncomfortable and thought it was weird, but it was so lovely of her to do that for us! Thanks Steph!

We headed to the rooftop at Gene’s Sausage Shop in Lincoln Square because Eddie and I had wanted to try it out for over a year.  I didn’t get any decent photos but let me tell you, it is awesome.  Eddie’s sister came with us, and his best friend joined up to celebrate that we got engaged.  We drove out to Eddie’s parent’s house where his sister and mom had champagne chilling and flowers for me. We sat outside with his mom and sister, enjoyed raspberries in our Moët and the sun on our shoulders.  We recounted our story and talked about how excited we were to be reuniting in just a few days at Eddie’s brother’s wedding in Las Vegas.  Afterwards, we stopped by my mom’s house and had dinner at our favorite local restaurant, Bernard’s Cafe. We played scrabble and drank some Lacroix and finished the night with a nearly 100 point win for yours truly.

Honestly, the concatenation of everything this weekend was ideal.  From the much improved golf game, to prime parking spots and no traffic, it was just flawless.  I will have another post soon with some details about why we really needed to catch a break and get some good news this week, but that’s for another day.

In the meantime, here are some posts that I’ve appreciated as someone who is now engaged:

How to Pick a Destination Wedding Locale from my friend Mikkel

You’re not Alone if you Don’t Have Supportive Family Members