In The Big Inning...

Alright, so my plans were all set. Over the course of the week, a double- and triple-checked the reservations. I made sure to request a room with a view. I made sure that the restaurant knew my plans and that they had the menu. On Wednesday, I called Sam's dad (the only other person I was going to tell what I was planning), and got his voicemail. I asked for him to call me back at work, telling him that I had a question about Sam's birthday, so that he wouldn't somehow talk to Sam first and tell her that I had called him. He called back in the evening, and I told him that I really wanted to talk to him about something else. I told him that I knew his daughter was independent, and that I didn't have to ask for his permission to marry her, but that it would mean a lot to me if he would support us, as I planned to ask her to marry me in the coming weekend. He was very supportive, saying that he liked me very much, and thought that it was great. Later in the conversation, I told him that I knew ask the woman's father was a big old-fashioned, but he said that he thought it was a nice tradition and that he was glad I had called. Clearly, at this point, there was no turning back - not that I wanted to.

I told Sam that over the course of the weekend (remember, she thought this was all for her birthday on Friday, 7/23), there would be about six different surprises. She's usually pretty good about not trying too hard to figure out the surprises I have planned, and this time was no exception. She asked a couple of times what we were doing, but relented pretty quickly when it became clear that I wasn't going to give her any information.

I told her that we were leaving from Union Station, and to pack one very nice outfit. Obviously, these were a couple of huge clues, especially given that there's only so many places we could possibly be going via train. Nevertheless, we planned to meet at the Amtrak ticket desk at around 5:30. We both got there, and I got the tickets. That's when I revealed the first and second surprises: We'd be going to New York City, and we'd be traveling first class. One of the coolest perks of traveling first class is getting to be in the "first class lounge". It's nothing that fantastic, but it was nice to just not have to wait in the uncomfortable, crowded main terminal. They had couches and drinks and snacks and magazines, as well as a place for us to leave our luggage. Additionally, they had an extra-special door for boarding the trains, so you didn't have to mingle with the peons at all. We waited there for about an hour, and then boarded the train.

The first class train on Acela really isn't that different than business class. The seats are a little nicer, and there's a little more space, but honestly, the main difference is the service: It's exceptional. They take drink orders when you board, provide you with snack mix and pretty much whatever else you want, and then they give you a full dinner menu. The dinners themselves were quite good - about the quality of what you'd get in an average city restaurant. If you factor the cost of the dinner into the ticket price, first class is only marginally more expensive. The ride itself only took three hours, and was quite uneventful. Sam seemed excited, but didn't appear to have any idea what I had in store.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at Penn Station, there was a little surprise that I didn't orchestrate - it was pouring outside. We went to the taxicab stand (if I had been going all out, I guess I would have gotten a car, but I didn't count on the rain, of course), and the line was quite long. Fortunately, the waiting area was covered. We waited for about half an hour, and finally got a cab. It only took about five minutes, and we arrived at the hotel around 11pm.

The hotel, the "W Times Square" was amazing, bordering on absurd in how lavish and "trendy" it was. It really was in the heart of Times Square, right across the street from the "tkts" booth. It was kind of funny arriving, because the lobby area of the hotel doubled as an upscale bar and lounge. We first walked into the building, which had a type of overhead fountain, where the water flows into the ceiling, and then around down the sides of the walls. It was pretty cool. Sam and I just kind of looked at each other, wondering what we were getting into.

We took the elevator up to the main lobby, which was basically like entering a nightclub. Unlike most of the patrons, which were in their cocktail dresses or clubbing shirts, we were in our sweaty work clothes, hauling lugging, and mildly wet from the significant downpour that was going on outside. We were definitely out of place and got quite a few sideways glances. But it was our hotel, gosh darn it! So I went over to the lavish check-in desk, where they were very friendly and gave us our room card, confirming that we had an "Urban Suite", (I swear, it sounds like a euphemism for a run-down room in the projects, but it wasn't!) as well as a little envelope containing the contents of the "Sleep" package I had signed us up for. We went back to the brushed metal elevator and went up to our suite on the 20th floor.

Getting off the elevator was another experience. On the right was this strange panel that had moving images, and a little flat screen TV in the center, showing ads for the W. At this point, I think Sam was a little incredulous. We entered the room, and it was pretty much everything we expected. It had two rooms - a living room, and a bedroom. It was very modern, with sleek lines and interesting decorations. There were a lot of translucent pieces of furniture as well. We opened the window and saw that we did have a pretty good view of Times Square, just as I had asked for.

Both rooms had their own bathrooms, which were just as lavish as the rest of the suite. The fixtures were smooth and curved, very elegant, yet lacking unnecessary flourishes, to give it a somewhat futuristic feel. There was a walk-in shower, and five, count them - five! bottles of lotion, shampoo, conditioner, etc. Additionally, there were notepads, wireless phones, flatscreen TVs, and of course a ridiculously priced minibar. Oh yeah - there was an angora blanket on the bed.

At about that time, Steph, Sam's aforementioned friend, called her. Remember, this was her actual birthday. It was actually a nice bit of misdirection on her part. Sam was pleasantly surprised to get a birthday call from her friend. Steph asked Sam where she was (knowing full well she was in NYC), and told Sam that she was at school, in Bryn Mawr (Pennsylvania - this was actually true at the time).

After Sam got off the phone with Steph, I gave her her birthday present. I wanted to make sure to get her something nice for her birthday, as I didn't think my later plans should somehow override her birthday. As an added bonus, it would make her less likely to suspect that something else might be coming. I gave her her gift - which was a pink iPod mini. (There's a whole other story about hoops I had to jump through in order to get the iPod in time, but we can leave that for later.) At any rate, she really liked it. We went to bed, and I told her that we had plans to be somewhere the next day at noon. That allowed us plenty of time to sleep in on the snazzy king bed.

We got up the next day, Saturday for those of you keeping track, and left the hotel at noon. The rain had cleared up by then, but it was still pretty cool out, which was fortunate. I had written down the addresses of all of the places we had to be, but I wasn't quite sure how to get there. We went to the concierge, which was this nice big marble desk with a couple laptops on it. I got directions to everywhere we would need to go over the weekend, including taxicab distances. I had planned pretty well - everywhere was either within walking distance, or a 10-minute cab ride. It turned out that the restaurant I had made lunch reservations at was only a few blocks away, so we started walking.

Along the way, I told Sam that she was going to find out one of her surprises soon. Then, I told her what restaurant we were going to: The West Bank Cafe. When I told her that, she was confused, because she figured that the location was the surprise. So, as she tried to figure out what the surprise could be, we walked into the restaurant. I told the hostess that we had a reservation for four under "Berman", and Sam looked a bit confused. Then, I looked over at the bar and saw that Stephanie and her boyfriend were there. They turned around and walked towards us, as Sam finally saw her. She was completely surprised, and seemingly very excited. We were introduced to Steph's boyfriend, unfortunately also named Sam, and then we ate lunch.

Apparently, Steph's diversionary phone call had worked, as Sam(antha) was completely surprised. The West Bank Cafe, while having nothing to do with disputed Israeli territories, was quite nice to eat. We had a good time chatting and then went for a stroll. The four of us walked around Times Square, and then over to Central Park. Sam and Steph hadn't seen each other in quite a while, so it was a great opportunity to catch up. At around three, I told them that we had to head back, as we had to get ready for dinner. We parted ways, but it was definitely a successful surprise visit.

We headed back up to the room, and Sam decided to take a nap, before we headed out for the evening. She pretty much guessed that we were going to dinner and then a show, so I decided to show her the "Avenue Q" tickets that I had bought. She was pretty excited. She took a nap, and I started planning how I was going to actually make this proposal. I didn't know what I was going to say, or how I was going to do it, but I figured I should have some loose idea. I took a shower, and spent probably 45 minutes trying to make my beard perfect. It's tougher than you think to keep a goatee symmetric! I shaved a bit off the left side, then the right side, and ultimately, ended up with something clean-looking, but a little thin. That was a tad frustrated, as I really wanted everything to be perfect, including my beard, but I cut my losses and settled for something that wasn't too ridiculous.

I got out of the shower, and Sam was still napping. I woke her up and she went into the shower. I figured it was a perfect time to get dressed, and place the ring in my pocket. I put on my suit, but by the time I did, she was already exiting the shower. I placed the ring in my jacket pocket, but apparently I wasn't smooth enough, as later she would tell me that she thought she caught a glimpse of the ring box. D'oh!

By now, Sam was getting dressed, and I decided that the ring stuck out a bit in my jacket pocket, so I tried to put it in my pants pocket. She didn't see me move it, however, it stuck out even worse! Then, as I realized how obvious it was, Sam called me over, asking my to help her fasten her bracelet. Well, I didn't want to get close to her, because I thought she would see the unseemly bulge in my pants (and not in the usual location). Instead, I told her that I would but, I had to go to the bathroom. It was the best I could do. I ran into the bathroom, put the ring back in my jacket pocket, and came back out after an appropriate amount of time had lapsed. I then fastened her bracelet, and we put on our shoes, and we were off.

The restaurant I had made reservations at was called "La Grenouille", which I only recently learned means "The Frog". I guess everything sounds more romantic in French. At any rate, we got there pretty quickly, and walked in the door at exactly 5 pm. It was quite early, even for the pre-theater crowd, so we were the only ones there. It made me a little self-conscious, but at that point I was so nervous already that it didn't really matter. We were surrounded by servers and busboys and the maitre'd, all very friendly and eager to serve. The restaurant itself was very nice - small and intimate, with tons of flowers everywhere. As the host showed us to our table, I gave a nod to the maitre'd, who returned the nod with a smile. It was clear to me that everything was all set.

Our waiter was this friendly, elderly little man who happened to be French. Imagine that! Well, if he wasn't French, he was definitely great at the accent. Our table was the kind that needed to be pulled out from the wall in order for us to sit down. We did so, and they brought us the menu. To be honest, I forget exactly what I ordered, but I remember it tasting good. I think I had some sort of beef. I was definitely anxious during the whole meal, most because I wanted everything to be perfect than I was nervous about what I was doing. I'm sure Sam could tell something was a little bit strange. For one, we had ordered this fantastic (and expensive!) meal, and I could only eat a bit of it because I didn't feel hungry at all. I had to force myself to eat, because I knew I would regret it if I didn't. I figured it would feel more natural if I was eating, too. Finally, the main course ended, and I knew the moment was at hand.

At this point, I started wondering how I was going to get down on my knee to propose. The table was blocking me from getting to the floor, and if I did get to the floor, I was going to be pretty far away from Sam. I figured that I would tell her I was going to go to the bathroom. Not elegant, but at least a reasonable excuse for getting up. The waiter came out with the dessert menu (just one, suspiciously enough), and handed it towards us. I passed it to her, and said, "Why don't you take a look at this while I go to the bathroom." I started getting up, but it turned out that my excuse was unnecessary, as the waiter had enough presence of mind to pull the table out of the way. And then, in a rush, Sam was looking at the menu, then looking at me, as I was kneeling on the floor with the ring box in hand. I hadn't really thought of what I was going to say, but fortunately, I had written most of what was important on the menu. All I said was "I love you so much. Will you marry me?" I then gave her the ring (in the box - I didn't think to take it out and place it on her finger), and took her hand. I stood up, and she was still sitting down, to a pulled her up to me and we hugged and kissed there. She still hadn't answered me, although I could tell what her answer was, so I think I said something like "So, will you marry me?", and she said "Yes". She had a tear in her eye, but didn't cry much at all. We hugged again, and the waiters applauded. Phew!

We sat back down, and I was incredibly relieved. I was finally able to tell her about all of my plans and machinations. We both chattered away, happy as can be. I didn't like keeping all of these plans from her, and it was nice to tell her all of the stories and ideas I had. As we were jabbering away, the waiter came up and offered us the real dessert menu. We picked something out quickly and went back to talking. I asked her if she knew what was coming, and she told me that she had a hint of an idea, but didn't really know. She thought she had seen the ring, and thought that the birthday plans were a little over-the-top, but certainly wasn't sure of anything. They delivered our desserts, but we kept right on talking. I don't remember the content, but I felt great, like I could just be myself and not worry about things going perfectly any more. The waiter came by again, saw that we hadn't eaten any of our desserts, and asked in an offended tone if we didn't like our desserts. I said that they were great, but we were a little distracted, and he still seemed a little offended, but left us alone. We kept talking about everything until we had to leave for the show. The waiters all shook my hand and gave Sam a kiss. (Hands off, guys! She's mine now!) In truth, they were quite fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for them to be any more cooperative of helpful. The meal was great too. So, next time you're in New York City, go to "La Grenouille" !

The rest of the evening was a ton of fun, but not quite as exciting, comparatively. We saw "Avenue Q", a fantastic Broadway Show (it won the Tony for Best Play), basically a version of Sesame Street for adults. I highly recommend it. It was truly hilarious. It was nice to just relax and laugh a lot with Sam after the proposal. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, but not before stopping at Jamba Juice for smoothies.

I have a couple other stories, about telling people that Sam and I had gotten engaged (in particular, my parents), and some other wedding-related stuff, but I'll end this post here, as it's quite long. Basically, it was a fantastic weekend, and I have Sam to thank for making it so wonderful and fun, just like her. I love you, Sam! I can't wait to marry you! Thanks for making me so incredibly happy.