Love Me Tender

When we were wedding planning last year, we realised that for a variety of reasons we had to get registered (aka legally wed) before our traditional temple ceremony in Kuala Lumpur in December. 

Since the registration was a formality, we decided to have a bit of fun. So a year ago today, having told only our immediate family, we made my elopement fantasies come true and "ran away" to Vegas...

When in Rome

Happy Labour Day Friday! 

Work has been super busy - the reason for the absence on the blog. In fact, I was prepared to be logged on to work throughout this holiday weekend. In a welcome about-face, I got the afternoon off today and met S in midtown so I could walk home with him when he clocked off. 

We walked down the main Fifth Avenue drag - which any other day would have us briskly weaving in and out of the tourist throng. Not today. The weather was sunny with a cool breeze, we were feeling lovey-dovey plus we had nothing to rush home to. 

We stopped off at Bryant Park for lemonade and hung out outside the New York Public Library. The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is stunning, both in its interior (you all watched Sex and The City!) and the exterior (with it's iconic regal lions guarding the entrance). We didn't make it inside this time but spotted these statues on the stage-right side of the facade. 

Tell me you think they've come directly from a piazza in Italy too! 

Anthropologie Soja Crossback blouse, Cosmic Star earrings and Expedition Obi belt; J Crew box-pleated crepe skirt (sim and sim, all on sale), Ray Ban Wayfarers, Steve Madden Tippsy sandals (and here too)

We are spending the rest of the weekend in the city - first, to date night tonight, and then to the U.S. Open tomorrow. Hope you have a safe and happy Labour Day weekend too. 

And to my beautiful friend, Lisa - congratulations on your wedding weekend darling! May you and L have everlasting happiness as husband and wife!  

9 on the 9th

S and I celebrate nine years together today.

Our first date was for Vietnamese, after over a year of being friends.

Our second date, also our first concert, was for Sean Paul.

At the end of our third date, we became each other's one and only. It was Good Friday. Or as I like to call it, a Very Good Friday.

Since then, we've propped each other through the university exams, bar exams and the CFA, moved thousands of miles across Australia then a million more halfway around the world, shared laughter and tears - and, of course, gone on a gazillion more dates. 

Today we celebrate our "golden" anniversary. Next year on our tenth, we'll be newlyweds. 

I can't imagine being any happier and more in love then I am now. 

Though I do suggest asking me again in December.

A Proposal in the Park

I am trying not to become one of those people - you know, the ones that won't stop talking about their engagement at the slightest prompting. But seriously, ours was so wonderful, so special and so us. Just like you will not see his face on this website anytime soon, the moment was decidedly private; but very meaningful, and it took place within a beautiful New York City landmark. I promised to write it all down for y'all so here goes! 

Previously written about here and here, Gramercy Park is a beautiful 2-acre park which can only be accessed by a select few key-holders who are either: 

• a resident of the apartments surrounding the park; or 
• a guest of the adjacent Gramercy Park Hotel.

Bloody selfish I tell you..

Anyhoo, last Saturday after going our separate ways in the morning to run errands, I was given strict instructions to meet my love in the vicinity of the Gramercy Park Hotel. I presumed the surprise involved some form of dining at Maialino so I was pretty darn excited (that carbonara is insane).

When I arrived in front of the hotel, instead of taking me right into the restaurant, he leads me across the street to the park, together with the hotel doorman who proceeds to unlock the park gates to let us in. All I could think of was: HOW DID HE HOOK THIS UP?!! It took a lot to refrain from squealing until the doorman was well out of earshot! 

Anyway, S explains that he got wind of an awesome deal for a room at the hotel via his new fancy pants credit card, which he booked for a fellow Australian co-worker who was visiting with his girlfriend. Since the couple weren't scheduled to arrive till later in the evening, S told me he checked in on behalf of them so that we could take advantage of the park for a short while. 

J Crew sequin jacket, AG Stevie Polka Dot denim (sim and sim), COS cashmere, Kenneth Jay Lane necklace (sim), Target booties

I was THRILLED! Having only peered through the gates on previous visits, I can't deny how cool I felt being on the right side of the park. We walked around, (it's so small it took all but a few minutes to do so) gawked at the fattest squirrels I have ever seen and took these requisite outfit photos. 

We then picked a quiet bench to sit and hold hands. It was by coincidence I chose to sit in front of this one:

We are pretty lovey-dovey with each other on the regular so this moment, while sweet, was not unlike any other we've had in the past. Getting into the park was awesome enough so never once did I suspect anything else was on the cards. It was at this point that S took my hand and placed in it, a pendant necklace.

I opened the key pendant to reveal those choice four words (i.e. the ones with the initials WYMM?) and in shock and/or adrenaline rush, burst out laughing! I took a second to calm down, answered "YES", then flung my arms around him and cried the happiest of tears!

We promptly woke up our families on the other side of the world before texting and calling our nearest and dearest to tell them the wonderful news. It was then that S decides to tell me that there was no such "co-worker from Australia" and that we were spending the weekend at the hotel! Sucker much? 

The icing on the cake - we didn't skip out on Maialino and celebrated our engagement over champagne and carbonara. Plus we didn't have to pretend to be guests of the hotel on our many subsequent visits to the park that weekend.