I don't even know you, and I totally cried reading this. Congratulations, complete stranger!
It's a cliché but you really do just KNOW when it's right. It's as if the world shimmies a bit, does a little 'clunk' and falls properly into place. You know, like reseating the engine of a 1976 Mini after you've aligned the camshaft with the...
...sorry, where was I?
Oh, yes. You just KNOW :)
You know how when things happen to your Internet People, and you really want to know the details, but would never ask (or even expect to ever know) because Internet People are people too? Well: you're a very satisfying sort of Internet Person, Sarah Brown.
I was actually truly excited about the skort. But I'll keep quiet - apart from applauding the lovely engagement story, that is.
That totally happened to me, too -- the shift from "Eh, really?" to, "Oh, yes, really. You just know." And now in three weeks I'm gonna have his baby. Watch out!
I am so happy for you both. :)
Loved this so much... so happy for you two!
This is so lovely. Congratulations to both of you, again! And, can I just say, I think we need to hear more from Nick! That was a story well told - by both of you!
Strangely enough, I made the same type of list (except I wrote it more story-style, with paragraphs) during my Masters program. I moved to my PhD program, and met my man. We've been together for about 18 months now and it is wonderful.
I have looked and looked for that list, but, I can't find it. I'm not sure where it went, and I know this sounds silly, but I think it disappeared so that it could be replaced by someone that is absolutely fantastic. :)
Congratulations.
thanks for sharing, sarah brown. not too mushy for a monday morning. i love that you're not a diamond girl, neither am i. who needs diamonds, when you have true love, right?
Lovely. Getting married was hands down, the best thing I have ever done. It's like being a kid and having a slumber party with your best friend, EVERY DAY.
I'm so happy that you're happy.
Skort, skort, skort! (Somebody had to do it!) Congrats!
Congratulations...not so much for getting engaged, which is just the formalizing of things, but for finding the person who brings you the happiness you so richly deserve!
1) Congrats, you two sound really happy.
2) "Robert’s yer farvas bruvva" is now my favorite thing ever.
3) After you described your skort, I went on the NY & Co. website to try and find one for me! Army green, you say?
FAVORITE.
Lovely story!
I remember thinking the same thing about marriage and then being all; "OH this is why someone would want to be with someone else and ONLY them. I get it now."
I am so happy you're happy. It's the best.
i was always worried about the whole "when you meet the right one you'll know" bit because i tend to overthink everything and it was always "well, what if i know but i don't know that i know?" but when it came time, believe me, i knew. it's been 8 years now, and of course not all of it perfect, but i made the right decision and i married my best friend: the man who makes me laugh until my belly aches. so yeah, when you know, you know. congratulations from this crazy happy old married lady.
That is like, the best engagement story ever. Congratulations to you both!
You win. Best engagement story for real people.
I'm so happy for you both!
Beautifully told. Congratulations! I've been reading your site for years now, and this story makes me very happy.
Oh, Sarah. This is so lovely I can barely speak or type. Thank you for sharing this.
holy hell - what a great story. here's to a happy joyful adventurous marriage for the two of you.
Secret skorts are awesome, for exactly the reason you mentioned. I own three. They are almost as awesome as your engagement story.
Never have I been so happy for a complete stranger! Such wonderful news.
If you'll permit, I'll buy you a beer/cocktail/salted peanut at the London Cringe launch.
so awesome! what a lovely story! you and nick sound perfect for one another, and what a thoughtful proposal, just the way it's supposed to be. :)
I TOTALLY had a list. And it's pretty amazing because I made the list when I was only 19 and now I'm 33 and I've been married a dozen years and the list is still pretty much the same. (Item number 45 on my list: favorite food MUST BE CHEESEBURGERS.)
This read like the last page of a romance novel, which is just about everything I could ask for in a blog post.
Congrats to you guys!
You give me hope, Sarah Brown.
I'm happy for you.
Aww, you guys are so cute doing crossword puzzles in the park! And the whole getting engaged part, that was cute, too. Congrats from yet another internet stranger!
Beautiful entry. I've never felt the urge to celebrate for a complete stranger before, but right now I feel like buying gallons of ice cream and sharing it with the world. :)
I have read and loved this blog since the zany interchangeable photo booth people post about love so many years ago, and Ms. Brown, it's right nice to see it come full circle.
Mazel tov from Philly (not New York, to where I once told you in a broken hearted email I was moving, and you were courteous enough to reply).
Oh, this is just how it's supposed to be. things will just keep getting better and better - just wait. Really so happy for you!
What a great story. This makes me so happy!
Isn't it easy to make fun of love when you aren't in it? But once you are it's like you are in that Bjork video "it's oh so quiet." And before you know it you are Gene Kelly splashing in puddles and singing in the rain. Don't worry though. It simmers down. Not that you aren't still in love. It just becomes normal and not so life-changing. So enjoy these heady days because they are awesome.
He had to use a stranger's phone to call your dad! {dies}
This is so stinkin' cute and incredibly perfect in every way. I absolutely love it.
Also, I am now craving a BLT like nobody's business.
Oh, I love this story SO MUCH. Thank you for sharing it with the internet. You seem so happy, and I am happy FOR you. And Nick. And your skort.
Simple, beautiful, private and sweet. That's about the most perfect engagement story I have read/ heard in a long time. Congratulations to you both. I am so glad you have found each other- you both sound like the perfect pair!!
Congratulations to you both and thank you for letting us in on your private moment. You have made us Internets smile broadly!
~Nate. xxx
I love this.
Great, great story. I love it. And I love the blessing/permission distinction, too. I have to say, my dad (also named Dale, btw) had a very similar conversation with my husband when he called to have the same chat. Compromise, ups and downs, etc.
Also, you have a skort!? Wait, TWO skorts? I've long been jealous of my toddler's access to fabulous skorts. I want some.
the list! i did the exact same thing! wrote it, forgot about and then, there she was. we're getting married in 5 weeks and it's been an amazing ride. :) thanks for sharing your story!
http://queserasera.org/archives/000611.html SO you're totally going to follow through with this, right?? Congratulations, I love reading your site and I wish you were my real-life friend so hard!
Lovely story. Chap's got a real romantic heart, I can tell. Now C and I share an apt in SF, the subject has come up a couple of times... not yet. Not quite yet.
a) I bought my future step-daughter a skort this weekend and I was jealous I didn't have one.
b) Nick's conversation with your dad on random park guys phone made me well up. tear, sniff.
c) I love your writing. Love it. I want to be you if I grow up. And I have to say between you and Fish I'm really starting to wonder if my fiancé is the one. I’m divorced and now marriage scares me to the point of an anxiety attack. Hmm….
d) As a fellow mid-westerner (I grew up about 2 hours away from Tulsa) I understand your language conversion from pop to soda. When I moved away I too had to change my way of speaking so the locals could understand me. Now I'm back and I still say soda. Take that Mid-West!
e) I have no idea why I am telling you all of this!
Thanks for sharing this story! Congratulations!
The moment I laid eyes on the man who eventually become my husband, I thought " Oh, he's trouble." Which is my version of : When you know, you know. But you are exactly right, it makes no visceral sense until it happens to you.
I wish you and Nick all the happiness and joy in the world.
Being married is totally punk rock.
The moment I met the man who became my husband, I thought: "Oh, he's trouble." Which is my own personal version of "When you know, you know." You are exactly right, it makes no visceral sense until it happens to you.
I wish you and Nick nothing but happiness and joy.
I have been reading for a few years and have never posted, but I just want to tell you how happy I am for you! You have a way with words, dear Sarah! As someone who has been married a whole two years, let me give you some of my favorite advice I got from my friend Liz when I got married...you're welcome in advance. Remember it is all the small stuff except for LOVE. Be open to give and receive. So true, but I bet you already knew that.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. Here's to deep peace and love to you and Nick for a lifetime! Cheers and Congratulations, Princess Sarah!
yaaaaaaay! you win!
also! 4am: http://www.ted.com/talks/rives_on_4_a_m.html
Congrats again and I am a pushover for long stories if they include true love. Yes - my heart was turned from black years ago by love and then to complete mush when I had kids.
Also - I must mention the skort because I have one too and it rocks! A complete thigh saver in the summer!
Beautiful, resplendent. I cried.
Loved the love. Very best to the both of you.
Delurking to say congratulations!
SO, I remember reading on your blog about how when you got married you wanted to dance with your dad to "The Rainbow Connection." I thought that was charming. Not that it matters what I think, obviously, but you should totally do that!
"Robert’s yer farvas bruvva"
"The skirt with a secret."
These things, and of course your happiness and the awesomeness of this story, are made of some sort of new space-age polymer Win material. Fucking awesome!
But I will forever be disappointed, FOR you, that there were no horsey carriage rides, or four-carat diamonds, or singing goddamn waiters involved. Probably you should check with the licensing office to see if the engagement is valid, or if you need to do a re-engagement (with videography) incorporating the required elements, plus a penalty including but not limited to: puppies with ribbons 'round their necks, someone's married-fifty-years grandparents, tulle, and immediate jokey not-jokes about you stopping work and getting started acquiring little Ava Graycelyns and whatnot.
Best engagement story. LOVE.
Sarah, I am so happy for you and Nick, and I too, have never met you. I'm currently back in school taking classes on writing and I just love reading what you write as a beautiful example. I've read your blog for some time now and I feel like I know you, so I was thrilled to hear your news, but more thrilled that it meant getting to read another of your lovely, personal stories - thank you for sharing!
Mazel Tov! May you both lead the happiest joy-filled lives and make witty articulate babies! yay.
I cried reading this, for your happiness and my sadness. I am married, but not happy. I have a feeling you and Nick will always be happy together.
Congratulations strangers!
Totally understand your penchant for the private and spontaneous proposal, as I was the exact same way. I have never been the big fluffy gown kind of girl, and was definitely not the type of kid that dreamed of a big, white wedding. So, when I met mine, he just knew, and that's how I knew. He knew that he must get my father's blessing, and that he better not plaster "Will you marry me?" across a scoreboard, and he knew I wanted it just to be me and him. Which is how the rest of our life together will be...me and him. He proposed on the beach, just me, him, and our dog playing frisbee, and it was perfect. Our wedding was to stow away and marry in the NY courthouse on St Patrick's, going out and drinking green beer later that night. A party with great food, a rocking band, and flip flops followed 6 months later just because we were so stinkin' happy.
But, enough about me, and how much I am like you. From the Merrydown haircut, to the Coast Guard hosting your birthday, to your beloved meeting the Great Dale and Pam, the love story of Nick and Sarah has been a great journey so far, and I can't wait see where the two of you go from here. A million congratulations, Sarah Brown...favorite, indeed!
So I've been following you for awhile and never posted, but now I have to because it appears you said nearly the same thing I did when my husband proposed to me (in a park, during an "impromptu" picnic with BLTs, under "our" tree -- I know, weird, right?): "Are you SERIOUS?"
(We had been watching "The Office" a lot and Jim kept fake proposing to Pam, so when my husband got down on one knee I thought he was FAKE PROPOSING and he said I looked REALLY mad. Fortunately, he kept going ("Are you SERIOUS?") and then pulled out a ring ("Oh, you ARE!") and thus we lived happily ever after.)
I started reading your blog from the beginning (well, chronologically, at any rate, after linking here from Dooce) and I was SO sad when I got all caught up and then I had to wait for posts to show up in real time, and I went to check on you today and there you were, all engaged! So very, very happy for you. It's a wonderful feeling.
I am still smarting over the groping he tried to give you only to discover the skirt was a skort. Funny stuff, SB. Funny stuff.
So happy you are happy.
Heart like a burnt cake-pan (if I remember that correctly) NO MORE! Congratulations and much happiness to you both. All the best, from one long-time reader.
I've gone in some random and far-flung directions since I started writing and reading blogs, but yours is the first I remember reading and still the one that makes me go "Yeah, I get it," the most, even though love like this feels eons away from me.
Anne's comment was the first for a reason. She nailed it. Good things beget good things. All the best to both of you.
Congratulations.
Skorts are not so bad, you know. They keep the world from seeing your pretty parts when you fall down drunk. Or something. I don't know; I'm a delicate flower when I drink.
Thank GOD it wasn't coullotes. (A word I freely admit to not knowing how to spell.) They were the worst! I think I wore a pair every day for the entire 6th grade.
Aw. You made me cry.
Much happiness. It sounds perfect.
This weblog is being featured on Five Star Friday -
http://www.fivestarfriday.com/2009/09/five-star-fridays-edition-70.html
Well holy fuck.
Awesome.
Congratulations! What a sweet story :)
I've been a quiet reader for years. (My RSS feed has a category called "Bloggers named Sarah" and, yes, the fact that your spell it with an "h" matters!)
What? No. I'm not 12. I'm a long was past twelve, but the spelling thing always comes up from time to time.
I finally got around to reading this post - I was saving it so I'd have time to enjoy it - and it did bring tears to my eyes. No crying, just a little happy wateriness.
And because this is about you (not me)...congratulations from my very bottom of my heart. I wish you and Nick all the happiness you can handle and then some.
I've never been happier for someone I haven't met in my life. Love how low key and happy you are- can't wait to hear more- Don't keep us waiting!
Delurking to say, congratulations!!! So very excited for you.
Congratulations! I'm late to this party since your feed seems to shun my google reader, but it was lovely to read and I wish you every happiness in your lives together.
From one woman whose upper thighs touch to another: Monistat (stay with me here) makes an anti-chafing gel that's just brilliant. No skorts necessary!
Oh, and congratulations.
I just found your blog and read this post and had to congratulate you. Before I met my husband I really had no desire for marriage...just wasn't for me, but as soon as I met him I knew. It's not about the ring or the dress or the cake, its' about a lifetime with your best friend! Congrats again :)
Congrats, Sarah! I love how you describe the whole "you just know" feeling. Dead. On.
Going to start putting more stuff out into the universe.
CONGRATULATIONS on your impeccable fashion sense and your fantastic engagement story.
This was all kinds of awesome, including (don't you find it gaggingly annoying when people quote you, but here goes...):
"maybe that knocks over a book that blows out a candle and eventually brings you to Antonia’s couch on a Sunday morning in October, and then the person you will love more than anyone else comes downstairs and shakes your hand and all you have to do from there on out is allow yourself to enjoy being happy."
Here's my take - I think ANTONIA is magical. I bet she's cupid. ;)
When's the big day?
When's the London Fringe Launch?!
Many congratulations :)
Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations!!!!
because you don't have a feed i have forgotten about this little corner of the world and OMG congratulations. i mean it, really. YAY.
oh, and apparently you DO have a feed.
call me a dumbass.
still, congratulations!!
I've been reading you for a while now, and I don't often comment. But I wanted to offer you and your fiance a heartful congratulations - best to you and your new life together!!
I'm so happy for you. I'm consistently floored by your ability to present an emotion as multi-faceted and complex, because emotions are that way, but it's easy to do a two-dimensional presentation and call it done. Even when you're happy, you go beyond, and it is a pleasure to follow you.