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It began with a fake airline itinerary and Super Shuttle confirmation…and then suddenly, my feet were in a limousine!
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On what I thought was my last day in New York, Aaron left for work one hot August morning (he didn’t actually go to work, as I later learned) and shortly after he “arrived at work”, he sent me two itineraries via email – one for the airline, and the other for a shuttle to the airport.
At around 3:50, I got a call – Robert from Super Shuttle. He told me the street was blocked, and he would meet me at the end of the street. When I got outside, there was a huge beautiful black stretch limo, but no Super Shuttle. I started to walk up the street to where the Super Shuttle might be, but the limo driver stopped me, asked if I was Valerie, and opened the trunk for my luggage. All I could think to say was, “This isn’t a Super Shuttle.” Robert smiled and said, “They sent this instead.” I hesitated getting in (what if he was a kidnapper?), and I may have even said, “no they didn’t” or “they wouldn’t do that,” but he handed me a package that was clearly from Aaron, so I got in.
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Robert turned on the CD player for me, which played a mix that Aaron made for me, and I opened my gift…
Inside the box was some pictures of us, and a framed $50 bill that Aaron and I found in a parking lot on a ski trip almost 10 years ago!
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Robert drove me to the Plaza Hotel (one of the most beautiful and famous hotels in New York City!) and told me to find a man named Raphael. Once inside, Raphael gave me flowers and a room key.
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When I got to the room, I (embarrassingly) couldn’t figure out how to get the key to work (I found out later that the extra time was beneficial to Aaron, as my ring was buried under his stuff in the closet, and he was frantically trying to push his piles of stuff back in the overflowing closet!)
When I finally got the door open, I saw a trail of red & pink rose petals on the floor with more pictures of us. Aaron was standing around the corner in a dark blue, pin-striped suit.
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Aaron led me over to the window, got on one knee and proposed!
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Robert, our limo driver was still waiting to take us to dinner, so Aaron ran down to get my luggage. I dressed quickly, and we began our drive to the Brooklyn Bridge via Riverside Drive. We listened to the CD Aaron made for me along the way and began our endless stream of picture taking.
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We ended our drive at The River Café under the Brooklyn Bridge. Aaron went in first, and requested the most beautiful window-side table overlooking the river and Manhattan skyline.
And then we ate like crazy people and enjoyed the view…
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After dinner, we took the water taxi back to Manhattan, and enjoyed our Plaza room!
The River Cafe, from the water taxi
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The Plaza Hotel