Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Amélie.. How I've missed you..


Last June, my better half surprised me with an impromptu birthday weekend trip to New Orleans, Louisiana.Not only was this trip my first ever trip to the Southern states, it was also my first ever plane ride! (What a city! If you've never been to the Big Easy, I highly recommend you book a getaway trip)

The first night we got to NOLA (Short for New Orleans, LA), we took a haunted walking tour through the French Quarter. Our tour guide Holly, a local, was very entertaining and knew a lot about the city your average joe wouldn't know. She told us stories about Muriel's restaurant with the lone table set aside for the ghosts (in order to stop them from stealing the restaurant guests bread), Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre actress.. She also recommended a few restaurants she thought we might enjoy.. (and we really did!!) While walking down one of the side streets, I noticed a very cute sign above a brick wall (cute things seem to stick out... I don't know why). The sign read Cafe Amélie. We took a quick peek inside, and we immediately decided to eat there the following night.

And we did. What a place.. cobblestones.. candle lighting, beautiful brick walls.. just beautiful. We ordered a bottle of wine (expected) and browsed the menu.. the smells coming from the kitchen were too good to not be tempted.

I'm gonna zip pass a few details to get to the crucial point of the story.

After we had finished dinner, we still had about half a bottle of wine to go. Coming from a household who tends to polish bottles before dinners end, we weren't going to let this one go to waste. To make things easier, my better half decided that if each of us took a sip after every toast we made, we would finish the bottle in no time. So one at a time, back and forth, we toasted to the city... toasted the cobblestones, toasted to Holly (for guiding us there in the first place), toasted the stars... toasted Brad Pitt (long story.. lol) and it went on and on... it was kind of slow going for a little bit. I almost didn't finish my last glass.. and then something happened.

To break the pattern, my better half says "I've save the best one for last..". I started to get antsy.. I think I got a little too excited for what I thought was going to happen.. I started smiling lots.. getting sweaty (don't get me wrong.. it was hot.. but I thought he was going to propose!!) He gets to his last sip, looks me in the eyes (by that time, I'm blushing so hard my head hurts)and says... "To Rufus". I don't think it registered, because all that was running through my head was.. "I'm going to be Mrs Bleep*.. OMG I'm going to be Mrs Bleep*." And then it hit me. He didn't propose.. He toasted to the damn dog!!! (* to keep anonymity!!)

I was a little surprised and confused.. how was that saving the best for last??So the night went on without incident. I really didn't bring it up because after all, he did plan this fabulous little getaway on his own and I couldn't have sulked the rest of the trip because of this little "oops" moment. We took a carriage ride through the French Quarter, went to Coyote Ugly for shots and hung out with the craw fish mascot at Bubba Gump & co. We even walked on the set of Carmen Electra's new Flick "Mardi Gras". Overall, a great drunken night.

The morning after. We get a frantic call from my mother in law. ( I call her that because I've been in the family for 4 years now) She was freaking out asking if he'd popped the question.. (see I wasn't the only one with that on the brain!!) So he hangs up the phone, turns to me and asks me where she had got this crazy idea in her head from.. so I told him I too thought it was going to happen.. I think he felt bad about the situation lol

And then I added "When the time comes that you are ready to propose, it better beat a candle lit dinner, in a cobblestone courtyard in New Orleans.. and it also better not happen over the jumbotron at a Senators hockey game".

I think he got the picture lol

Ohhh boys... How I love them ; )

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