Engagement Party - Part 3: The Dress

My little brother is the best brother in the entire world. He has really taken care of me and mom in the fashion department since he hit it big. Our party weekend, he sent me beautiful white roses, provided drinks for all our guests with blue champagne glasses and gave us two wonderful engagement gifts. The only uh-oh moment was when we realized the dress he had for me to wear wasn’t coming. Here is a quick refresh from my previous post about the dresses I tried on for his most recent fashion show:

“I tried on two dresses, the one I wore (to the fashion show) and another strapless short party dress, both in the red print. I was in love with both dresses but went with the halter style since the strapless was on hold for another celeb. The strapless dress may end up in my closet eventually since no one ended up wearing it.”

This strapless dress was to be my party dress for our engagement party. I had been planning on this since the day after his runway show. He had his assistant priority mail my dress, but unfortunately she forgot to put “Saturday Delivery” on the box. I’m sure her life/job is crazy, so I don’t blame her at all. But you bet I was having a panic moment at 2pm the day before the party when we realized, I had nothing to wear!! Fortunately, I was able to find a dress that I liked at Martin + Osa (a new favorite store of mine) and everything turned out fine.

My party dress came perfectly packed the Monday after the party along with a winter jacket with a sticky note on it that read, "Do Not Sell, Shannon's Jacket". I really can't complain, I am one lucky sister. I will just have to find another party for my party dress, or make Evan take me on a hot date.

Engagement Party - Part 2: My Sidekick

I have a four year old niece who is the daughter of my stepsister, Melody. She really likes Evan and me because Evan almost always has a present for her when we see her and I give her ballet lessons in the living room. She was my sidekick for most of the engagement party. She followed me while I mingled with guests and posed for pictures. She sat with me while I attempted to eat and helped me pick out which dessert I should try first. she told all the guests, "what are we going to do with all these babies?" since there were three babies under the age of 1 year also in attendance. I really loved her company, but her mother was worried that she was bothering me. For a little break, we asked her if she could "guard" the presents. My niece took this task very seriously and "helped" by taking all of the cards and organizing them in a nice neat pile on the coffee table. That's right folks. All the cards were pulled off their gifts and put in a pile! We were able to figure out where most of the gifts came from, with the exception of a couple bottles of wine. Melody suggested that we address our cards, "Thank you for the lovely gift." for those who we weren't sure about. I appreciate that my little partner took her job so seriously. She can do no wrong in my book.

Engagement Party

This Sunday, my mother hosted a brunch at her house in Annapolis to celebrate our Engagement. It was a party we had been planning for months and I was so excited how things came together. My father flew in from Florida, my brother came down from New York and Evan’s parents traveled all the way from Michigan. All of my bridesmaids, family friends, coworkers and neighbors were there to celebrate with us. It was a perfect day.

My mother opened her home and prepared the food: She did a wonderful job putting together egg casseroles, honey hams, cooked vegetables and fruit along with appetizers of tomato and cheese and raw veggies. Mom’s friend, Candy, prepared a delicious Italian sausage bite in a baked wonton cup. The house and yard looked absolutely beautiful.

My father and I made the desserts: We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning, baking up a storm. He made an almond cheesecake, chocolate marble and Oreo bunt cake, peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes and spice cake cupcakes. I made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and two batches of my strawberry frosted, white cake cupcakes. Evan’s father, Bob, and our friend Shawn helped frost the day of the party. Yes, we have some sweet lovers in the family.

Evan’s parents provided the flowers: Jane and I made a stop at Whole Foods the morning of the party and picked out some flowers to go on each table. Jane (with the help of our friends from Richmond) put together absolutely beautiful arrangements.

My brother supplied Champagne: He knows what makes a party (for obvious reasons) and searched online to find the perfect party champagne glasses. He ordered these beautiful blue (plastic) Champagne glasses that went perfectly with our Bluebird theme I had posted on my blog months ago. He also made sure we would have enough Champagne for many many mimosas.

Evan and Michael did the yard work: For weeks leading up to the party, my mother planted grass, Michael trimmed and mulched. Evan help mulch arranged mums and put down pavers. The yard looked more beautiful then ever before.

The whole day was truly a family affair. The party was absolutely beautiful and I was so excited to get everyone together to celebrate with us.

Engagement Story

I didn’t know how I felt about putting the very personal story of Evan and my engagement up on the internet for all to see, but I am being harassed by most of the people I know…so here is the story.

Last week was a very hectic week for me and Evan. We had my Grandfather’s birthday Monday, my Mom’s birthday Tuesday, the birth of my nephew, Owen, on Wednesday, a performance on Wednesday night, Evan’s birthday on Friday and Evan’s Mom visiting us for the 4th of July weekend. We both had a four day week last week, so we were trying to fit 5 days worth of work in to 4 days. That’s a lot of stuff going on. We have both been exhausted and stressed, so I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when Evan said he’d been nauseous and anxious.

On the 4th of July, Evan, his mother and I went to Bay Ridge to watch the neighborhood parade with my Mom, Michael, Miah, Eric, Debbie and their two kids, Alena and Aiden. It was quite a family affair. The highlight of the day (up to that point) was the Bay Ridge races. We had family in all the speed races and the egg toss. Evan ran the 25 and over race (with my ring in his pocket.) The kids won some of the speed races. Eric won 1st place in the 50 and over men’s race and my mother won 2nd place in the 50 and older women’s race. She competed against one other woman and they both were given 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons! It was a hysterical event.

After the races, we all went back to our next door neighbor, Rick’s house as he was having a party with tons of food. We ate and drank and relaxed in his backyard, then moved to our backyard and were just resting up for another party and fireworks that evening. Evan asked me if I wanted to walk down to the end of the street. This is nothing out of the ordinary because we always walk down to the end of the street to look at the water and get a moment away from the family. We got to the end of the street and Evan asked if I wanted to walk down on the beach and I said, “No, I don’t want to get all sandy.” Then he said ok, let’s just walk a little ways down the road. Then on a grassy spot overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, Evan fished in his pocket and pulled out a ring box. When he pulled it out of his pocket something else fell out with it and I saw panic on his face, but it wasn’t the ring that fell. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I kissed him and said yes!

After our engagement was official, we went back to my Mom’s house and the family freaked out for a few hours. Debbie went and got a bottle of Champagne and we toasted in the backyard. Then all the girls told the stories of their engagements and we got ready to go to the next party.

The last party of the day was at a beautiful mansion overlooking the point of the Chesapeake Bay. They had a band, a bar and delicious appetizers. They house is located in the perfect spot to see fireworks. We ran into neighbors and were excited to share our news with anyone who would listen. We danced the night away and then spent the night at my Mom’s house.

I am pretty amazed how excited I feel. We have been dating for 3 years and have lived in 3 different states in 6 different apartment/houses. We have been through a lot and I always knew we would eventually get married, but now it is really real.

Evening of Artistry

This past week was jammed packed with exciting events and Wednesday night was no exception. My good friend, Graham was in town doing a dance workshop and a performance in Takoma Park. Graham and I danced together in high school and became close friends, but I hadn’t seen him in years. We had a quick visit in Philadelphia 6 years ago and his wedding in Salt Lake City the year before that. It was so nice to get to pick up right where we left off and hear about all the “where are they nows” of his family and people we knew from high school. I went to the performance with my friend, Jill, who teaches dance at Annapolis high school. Graham performed with his brother, Joel, a series of improv pieces, choreographed works and music. Graham performed a solo improv piece, a dance with his brother and a choreographed work in a modern style. Graham has always had a very unique movement and it was really fun to recognize it right away as something familiar. His brother’s story is a pretty amazing one. Joel was in a car accident with Graham and the rest of their siblings when we were in high school and Joel was 9. As a result of the accident, Joel is paraplegic. Joel performed a dance with Graham and did three of his songs from his band, Seriously Evan. Joel has grown up to be a very cool guy and it was fun to see how he has found to express himself in this family of dancer artists. It was a pretty emotional display of art followed up by dinner at an Olive Garden in a rough part of town, but it was a really great night.

On an unrelated note, Evan proposed to me this weekend and I said yes. I am going to try very hard not to turn this into a bride blog, but we are very excited. More details to come soon.