Summer Lovin'

I'm holding my hand up in this photo because I tripped over a bag that *ahem* some cute guy *ahem* left at the bottom of our brick front stairs and hit my ankle and wrist. My wrist blew up and is now a lovely shade of yellow... but it's fine. I'd done that (stone cold sober, I might add) on the way to the beach that day...

OMG, Becky. A friend took a two photos of me and Steve at the beach out in the Hamptons last weekend, and I like 'em both. I am pretty sure these are the first photos of me in a bikini where I am not just OK with the picture, but affirmatively like them both. Who knew that would happen?! It wasn't even on my list of stuff to look forward to.

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We are both wearing Lilly Pulitzer bathing suits. Did you just throw up a little? Mission accomplished! Hey, at least they don't match. ;)

I'm still really struggling to get to the gym enough this summer. My weight is OK -- I'm still hovering at my goal, but I can feel the small difference between having a few more pounds off and feeling a little more muscled. It's weird, because when I was fat and going up the scales, I don't think I noticed the gain as much as I do now. I also know that I felt a lot worse about it then than I do now, because now I know both how to get it off and that I can do it if I get a bit more focused.

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In other news.... I GOT MY RING LAST NIGHT!!! I can't post a photo just yet ... I need to show it to my family and a few friends before I put it on-line, and I also want to make sure that Steve won't mind if I do that. But it's gorgeous, and I love it. I know that I got to pick out the setting (and it's the one I posted a link to a few months ago (though not from that overpriced store b/c we're not crazy), but I didn't fully appreciate just how beautiful it was going to be, or how incredible it would feel to get to wear it, know it's mine, and know that it means that this adorable guy I'm head-over-tea kettle for seriously wants to marry me. Good stuff!!

We're heading up to the Adirondacks this weekend.... going to see his family and scope out what I think will be our preferred wedding venue location!! So excited. :)

Fourth of July Extendo-Weekend!

I am behind! I have fun things to report! :) Over the Fourth of July, Steve and I went up to the Adirondack mountains to visit with his family and some friends who were up in the area. We went up on Tuesday afternoon, which made for an awesome extend-o-weekend!

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One of the nicest parts of the weekend was that his parents threw a cocktail party to celebrate our engagement and the arrival of their new granddaughter (who is adorable)! That was just so nice, and made me feel so welcome. (They also had me in the family Christmas card picture! An honor to be sure!!) :)

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Steve and I also went camping with four friends at a lean-to on a lake. We hiked during the day a bit, then rowed Adirondack guide boats (photo below) out to the lean-to in the afternoon.

The lean-to where we and four friends camped one night!

We weren't roughing it too, too badly. Yes, that IS a bottle of Veuve Clicot rose in nature's finest wine cooler! :)

Below is a photo of Steve, with our friend A, in the lean-to. You can see that the bottom is covered in pine branches, which smells like Christmas, and is very soft and comfortable to boot! We just camped one night, which was perfect -- and the organization that owns the lean-to also put an environmentally friendly loo just a hop away (no running water, but it was a wooden structure with a door that closed... and toilet paper... whew...)! So, it was rustic and beautiful, but not uncomfortable (or unduly gross!)!

Steve's dad gave me my first ever Spork in honor of our camping trip! I used it constantly! I was enjoying a very nice red wine, some steak and a baked potato when this was taken! Happily, I did not get stuck on the steak!

Here is my FIANCE (still getting used to that word!), rowing one of the guide boats we took out to the site.

I was thinking about this trip and wondering what it would have been like to do at my heaviest weight. I'm sure I would have still done it, but it would have been a LOT harder. The hike we did was really easy -- only an hour, followed by sitting on the top and having a leisurely lunch. I am sure I would have found it really tough and been struggling to keep up.

I also don't think I would have been able to row the boat all the way to the lean-to (which I did -- and it was pretty far, not to mention really windy). I surely would have let my friend take over the oars, and I probably would have felt badly that I was heavier than her, and that she was stuck rowing me. Also, I wonder how well I would have fit in the seat. As it was, I did the hike just fine, I'm the one who rowed all the way out to the lean-to, and I didn't even THINK about my weight the whole time. How things have changed. Total NSV.

The Engagement Scoop!

This summer is insanely busy!! We've literally been out of town every single weekend from Memorial Day until now. It's been a blast, but it's hard to get things done (like blogging) that I normally do during my down time at home, since that time is so limited.

OK... the scoop. The weekend before we got engaged, Steve and I were out on the beach in Amagansett (Hamptons) and were talking about how the following weekend was the only one where we did not have travel plans. So, on a whim, we looked up travel information for Block Island, RI, and booked a trip out there! Also during that weekend, we had a talk where Steve was asking me questions like "Why do you want to get married?" and questioning why society (and our friends) put so much pressure on us to get engaged. Honestly, the conversation left me thinking that he was a LOOOOONNNGGG way from being ready to get engaged, and I was feeling really frustrated about it.

I decided in my mind that I was not even going to THINK about getting engaged during our trip to Block Island, and that I was going to just use that time to have fun with Steve and to enjoy all the reasons that I want to marry him in the first place.

We took off work on Friday, and spent the night in the Hamptons (a short drive from the ferry to Block Island). Then, we went out on the Friday morning ferry, checked into our adorable inn (first photo above), and rented bikes so that we could ride all over the island. We went out to both of the island's beautiful lighthouses during the weekend... here are photos of my favorite one....

Action shot of Steve! He was going to propose in about 1 1/2 hours... I had NO IDEA!!

Toward the end of our ride, we were on the main street in town (cute restaurants overlooking the water), and Steve suggested that we go back to the inn for a glass of wine. I was a little surprised, since the inn has no bar... and we were right by all the cute water-view bars, but Steve reminded me that he'd brought a really nice bottle of Brunello with us, and we had snacks back at the inn. Thinking no more of it, I agreed, and we went back to the inn.

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When we got back to the room, I put up my things and was ready to go and sit outside. Steve said "I just need a minute. Can you go down and put two chairs in the sun, and I'll meet you out there?" I was like.... that is so weird that he is asking me to move furniture... especially solid wood, really heavy Adirondack chairs! But, since I'm freakishly strong after all my years of working out in recent time, I said "Sure!" I moved the gigantic 50 pound chairs :) and started writing post cards.

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Eventually, Steve came downstairs. He was carrying a bag and two plainly wrapped packages. I thought he might have organized a special picnic for us, but it turned out that they were presents for me. I opened the first one -- and it was full of really cute Lacoste tennis clothes. Seriously, the cutest tennis skirt I've ever seen, two tops to go with it, and a pair of matching socks (avec aligator logo)! How great!! I was so surprised and happy!

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Then, he gave me the second box. And, in it were these really cute tennis shoes... white with pink (see below). And THEN, I noticed that there was an envelope inside of one of the shoes, tied to the shoelace. I looked at it and saw that it said "For my girl."

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I was like "Honey, what is this?!" And he just shrugged, giving me a funny and semi-mysterious grin. I turned it over, and saw in the bright sunlight that there was something ring-shaped in the envelope. I then thought very hard in my brain "CATHERINE!! THIS IS NOT A RING. DON'T YOU DARE THINK THIS IS A RING. AND, DON'T YOU DARE CRY AND RUIN THIS REALLY NICE PRESENT!!" Then I turned the envelope back over and started to open it.

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As I did, I saw that Steve was starting to go on his knees.

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I thought "CATHERINE!! Maybe this IS a proposal??" And then he asked me to marry him! (P.S. For anyone as slow as I was that day, it really was a proposal!)

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On the back of the card was a cork that Steve had cut into the shape of a ring at our anniversary dinner back in January. He had kept it for six months! And, he put the diamond he bought for me inside of the circle and attached it to the card.

He did this so that I could pick my own setting, which I did last week.... the ring should be ready in about three weeks! I can't wait!!

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But, more importantly, I can't even tell you how incredibly happy I was when he asked -- and how incredibly happy I continue to be about this! He really surprised me -- I never thought he would ask that weekend, and am so, so glad that he did.

He was even sneaky enough to secret a bottle of Veuve Clicot in the bags without me noticing, and he kept it cold so that we could enjoy it after we got engaged. It was so wonderful to sit out on that lawn with him in the sun, and to toast to our future. :)

We rode bikes around the next day as well, and told a few people that we were engaged. Of course, we called our parents, siblings and a few (very few) very close friends to share the good news with them. That was a lot of fun, and it was so nice to see how happy everyone was for us!

Post-ride cocktails on that Saturday

My handsome fiance (I'm still getting used to calling him that!)

And, for good measure, a pre-dinner cocktail on Saturday night at another inn.

Sunburned and happy at dinner!

And, there you have it! We haven't set a date yet (why does everyone ask that the second you get engaged?!), but are looking at a few venues. That part is a lot of fun! We're trying to have a very small wedding, and we'll see how that works out for us... I'm just thrilled though. I can't wait for us to make it official!

Thank you all for your nice messages on my engagement post! It is so nice to be abe to share this with you guys!! xoxoxo