Pearls and Hearts

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The thing about starting a blog is that there has to be a first post. First posts are intimidating because you have to figure out the percentages. You know, as in, "do I make this post 50% personal intro, 50% chatting about the brownies I made last night... or 20% intro and 80% brownies.... or maybe skip the personal stuff and just go brownies all the way"

I regret to inform you that this post will include 0% brownies :-(

but stay tuned, I love baking so there will definitely be future posts addressing such things.

I've been waiting for the perfect 'first post' opportunity since creating this blog, and here it is!

My 20th birthday was on the 6th, but the day before was my highly anticipated 'birthday date'.

I got to spend the whole day with this guy! 

This is Chadd, (yes, with two d's)

I met him at the theater where I work. We worked together for a little over a year. 

We were just barely acquaintances until we were scheduled to work in the same area for many 10+ hour shifts. That was when a friendship began to form, followed eventually by him asking me out to dinner, followed by many more dates over the course of nearly 8 months.

Leading up to this birthday date :-)

We went to breakfast at a local Cafe' called "Tomato Pie Cafe" .

It's one of my favorite places because they serve artsy, tasty food. More so because they serve fresh, unique espresso beverages and amazing pastries!

It's a cute place. If you ever find yourself near Lititz, PA, you should stop in.

After breakfast, we walked through the sweet little town of Lititz, enjoying the sunshine and fresh breeze, taking note of the aftermath of what must have been quite the celebratory festival for the 4th.

After our walk, we drove over to a favorite park of ours. A place where we've spent many a Sunday evening together, walking, talking, doing our book study or having picnics.

We had some time before lunch, so we decided to take another walk (as I am not generally a fan of sitting. I'd much rather take a walk any day than have to sit and 'relax')

We took our typical route, and stopped under 'our tree', where we once had our first outdoor book study and have since revisited many times.

"let's just stay here for a second" he said.

So we stayed there for about 11 seconds, before he said "I love you"

"Aw, sweet" I thought. 

"I love you too" I said.

I noticed then that he was reaching in his pocket.

"I love you so much, in fact..." he pulled a paper heart-shaped box from his pocket and pulled the sides open, revealing a beautiful ring. I lost track of what he was saying right then. But I tuned back in for the question, "...will you marry me?"

"yes!!" I squeeked. Then melted for a few minutes. I couldn't find any words beyond "aw!"

Eventually he asked if we should continue on with our walk.

Figuring I could melt for another 20 minutes, I said no.

But he said we should anyway, so we did.

We went for our walk and returned to our spot for a picnic lunch, where I spent more time looking at my ring than my food.

The remainder of the day consisted of shopping, frozen yogurt eating (birthday cake flavored for me!), returning home and showing off my ring to my parents, 2 excited grandmothers, 1 big brother, and 2 chihuahuas.

We also visited a potential wedding venue that evening, and finally, went to see fireworks at the end of the day.

What a birthday, right?

Can't wait to share fun wedding plans with you over the next 10 months, give or take.

Chelsea