That One Time I Got Married

I still get butterflies when I think about when my husband proposed to me. It wasn’t shocking, but it was surprising. We had talked about getting married many times, but we both knew all the right pieces had to fall into all the right places for that to happen. Nate (the Husband) and I had been planning a trip to Chicago for some time, because neither of us had been back since we moved to Los Angeles. Late May seemed like the perfect time; the weather would be nice and Nate would be on hiatus from his job. He let me do most of the trip planning, so I had no idea he had been planning a whole bunch of stuff on his own. The day we arrived I was already on top of the world, because I was back in my favorite city with my favorite person. We had made reservations for a restaurant we were dying to eat at — Top Chef alum Stephanie Izard's Girl and the Goat — but the earliest slot we could get was 10 p.m. So we went to our hotel, changed and headed downtown for a couple drinks. We had one at the Palmer House, a beautiful hotel in the Loop, and then Nate suggested we go for a walk around Grant Park and maybe head out to the Adler Planetarium. The Planetarium offers easily the best view of the Chicago skyline (especially at night) and is my favorite place in the whole city. This seemed like a fun idea to me, and honestly didn't raise any flags because we were on vacation and I definitely wanted to go to my favorite spot before we went home. We walked and walked out onto the peninsula where the planetarium is (it’s a long walk) and it started to get very windy and chilly, but I didn’t care because I was just so happy to be there. We went out to where the peninsula curves, where the absolute most picturesque view is, and we sat down. The skyline was perfect — the AON center even had "Lets Go Hawks" spelled out in their window lights. I took a few pictures and turned to head up to grab a cab, but Nate stopped me and took my hand. He got down on one knee, pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him. I was so flabbergasted that I kept saying “Are you kidding?” over and over.   Nate and I met giving city tours on trolleys — this very special one picked us up to take us to dinner Our wedding was as perfect as the proposal. Nate and I were married on a beautiful yacht in Newport Beach, California. I, truthfully, wasn’t sure I would ever get married, so I hadn’t logged very many hours envisioning my wedding day. But a yacht wedding? That had never occurred to me at all — but I’m so grateful we did! It was unique, fun, and just the right amount of fancy (there was even a full moon that night, making it all seem so cinematic). My favorite part was reading my vows to Nate. For me, that was what having a wedding was all about: saying those words of love and commitment to him in front of all the most important people in our lives. I will never forget that moment or that feeling; I will never forget that I made those promises to him and every day I will do my best to honor them. First comes loves, then comes marriage, then comes Rockabye Baby (and hopefully a nap). [col1][/col1][col2][/col2][col3] [/col3]