Can you believe it?! Clint and I are engaged! He totally caught me by surprise, and the proposal couldn't have been more perfect. Here's how it all went down...
We were just finishing up our road trip, and made our way to San Diego Tuesday afternoon. I had originally planned to fly home from Napa right after the wedding, but changed my flight to leave out of San Diego on Wednesday instead. I thought it'd be fun to do part of the road trip with Clint and stay a few extra days, so I requested more time off work. Clint's plan all along was to get me to San Diego, and thought he was going to have to talk me into it before I went and brought it up all on my own, so convenient for him! Once we were getting close, I pulled out my phone and asked Clint if I should book us a hotel for the night, he said he already had. Strange, so unlike him, but for whatever reason I thought nothing of it. "Did you book the one on Coronado?" (a cheap but decent hotel we had found on Hotel Tonight the day before)..."yep".
Then the first thing we did, like we do every other time we get to San Diego, was grab
California burritos (the most delicious kind of burrito - carne asada, sour cream, guac, cheese and french fries) from a taco joint. I start craving these before every trip to SD, and was so looking forward to this. I almost didn't want to wait to eat it till we got somewhere to have a picnic. Clint suggested taking them to the La Jolla bluffs, a favorite spot of his, and somewhere he's taken me before. This spot is amazing. It looks down on Black's Beach* where you can see people surfing, and the homes up on the cliffs are massive and incredible. We found a secluded spot and popped a squat to eat our lunch.
The view was great (even though a fog was rolling in), it was nice and sunny, I was eating the most delicious burrito ever with my favorite guy...and I even said, "I am so happy right now." Clint totally thought I was on to him.
After we ate, Clint said he had a question for me, got down on one knee with a ring box open and asked if I'd be with him forever and marry him. Shocked! Totally wasn't suspecting that! Yes, I realize after almost 10 years I probably should have expected it, but not during something that wasn't planned (or so I thought). Like maybe on our trip to New York we have coming up on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate 10 years of dating...but not during an impromptu burrito picnic. But it was absolutely perfect, and I wouldn't have wanted it to happen any other way. I loved being surprised, and knowing that Clint had this all in the works made it even more special.
Of course I said yes and we took a million photos to commemorate the moment.
 |
| view from the bluffs, and maybe our future home? |
 |
| this guy! |
 |
| so happy and unsuspecting |
 |
A photo to commemorate right when it happened,
fog and all |
 |
| fog lifted, so more pics! |
 |
| view down to Black's Beach |
 |
| bunny friend |
Once we got back to the car, I texted my group for school that I wouldn't be able to make our 6pm tag up call, and that "sorry to be so cryptic, but something came up." I wasn't about to have four of my fellow grad students be the first ones to know I was engaged, but I wasn't about to focus on school work either.
We drove to Coronado, where I
still thought we were staying at some no frills hotel...I really am the most gullible. It was then that we pulled into
the Hotel Del Coronado, the place I've only dreamed of staying as it's only for fancy people. But there we were, pulling into the valet with our truck packed so much you couldn't see out the windows and trailering two dirt bikes...we had arrived!
We got checked in, and our room was amazing. Victorian style in the main building with a huge balcony with a view of the resort and ocean. Perfect.
 |
| can't stop smiling |
 |
this photo doesn't do the room justice, which
was huge and fancy |
We then headed to one of the restaurants for dinner. Still full from burritos, we ordered a couple apps, and of course a bottle of champagne to celebrate. When the waiter asked what we were celebrating, we told him the news and that he was the only one that knew. He was honored to be part of the "circle of trust". When the table next to us got up to leave, a woman came over and said she heard that congrats were in order. Turns out, her and her husband are regulars at the hotel, some businessman from Canada, and they had taken care of our bill! Being engaged is the best!
 |
| henna tattoos and engagement rings |
After we ate, we explored around a bit. Kinda fun, but also spooky, to check out an old historic building with no one around at nighttime. We walked through the courtyards and into the huge ballrooms and envisioned all the movie stars being there back in the day.
In the morning, we called our families to tell them the big announcement, none of which had known beforehand. I think Clint's face went a little pale when I handed him the phone with my dad wanting to talk to him, but no worries, everyone was excited to hear the news!
We soaked up every minute at the hotel before we had to leave, looking in every shop, grabbing celebratory mimosas and walking along the beach. We went back to the room to finish our bottle of wine on the balcony as we stayed well past check-out tempting housekeeping to kick us out.
 |
| view from the room |
 |
| fiancés <3 |
 |
| gummy pizza! |
 |
| that's us! |
Before Clint had to take me to the airport (didn't seem fair that he proposed and the next day I had to go home...), we drove around Coronado and stopped for lunch (pizza of course!).
 |
a local art gallery, we ended up
getting the one of Hotel Del on the left
to commemorate the occasion |
 |
| first slice of pizza once we were engaged ;) |
I am so happy, elated, overjoyed, excited, ecstatic, thrilled and every other thesaurus word to be marrying my best friend! Worth the (10-year) wait!!
*side note: apparently Black's Beach is a nude beach...so when I told my dad where Clint proposed, he was all, "Um, where did he take you?!"
