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Nikita: Can you get off work early around 1:30-2:00 on Friday? I have a surprise for you...
Lenore: Sure, ok - and I have a surprise for you too!
Nikita, not believing her: What color is it?
Lenore: ...uh...green...!
Nikita: Is it a frog?
Lenore: No.
Lenore thought that perhaps they were just going geocaching or dinner in
San Francisco and so she asked if she should take her work laptop or if she they could pick
it up on the train ride post plans. Nikita said to leave it behind and to wear comfortable
walking shoes. So Lenore asked if she should dress up, and he said no.
Lenore wore some casual white pants and an orange shirt that Nikita had bought for her
in Amsterdam. Mostly because it had been raining that morning, and the Amsterdam shirt is all
orange with dribbly dots that look like the shirt pattern is getting soaked with the rain.
 Anyway, as Nikita suspected, Lenore didn't have any surprise planned, but now felt obligated to go get something. So she
headed out to one of her favorite places, the World Market, on lunch break. The closest thing
she could come up with were some bake your own
frog cookies in a green package! So she got
that, some chocolate, and a card. Since Nikita
likes puppies, she got him a card with a puppy
with
a rose and the word "l'amour" on the front. On the inside, it just said "...to you!"
Lenore did have a weird passing thought that perhaps he might be proposing, since he never seems to be
specific about time for anything (he never makes reservations?). But then she thought
about kissing frogs, frog cookies ... and being late in returning to work!
When it came time to leave work early, Lenore's plans were thwarted by the coworker who suddenly
needs a crazy long Word document typed up pronto so Lenore begins to type like a madwoman after
calling Nikita to tell him she's going to be late. Oddly, he seemed worried, which felt weird — he never expects Lenore to be on time. As soon as she is done, Lenore called Nikita from her cell phone
as she briskly walked toward the train station to meet him. They end up meeting at the corner of
Hillsdale and El Camino, near the Hillsdale CalTrain station
(at the bench across from the Barnes & Noble bookstore).
Lenore gave Nikita her present first. Nikita grabed Lenore's hand and we both sat down
at the park bench at Hillsdale & El Camino. Suddenly, Lenore is aware that he's very nervous and he asks
if she will marry him and tells her that he's happy that they've gone through their ups and
downs over the past 5 years together and why he thinks this is right and that he's known for
a while now. Lenore is amused that he could still be nervous after 5 years of dating, but she
looks into his eyes and knows that he is speaking from the heart.
And she says yes and kisses him! Then they hold hands while sitting on the park bench and talk
about their relationship for a brief period of time.
Nikita, with a silly grin: I actually had a 2-part surprise for you!
Lenore: ...ok?
Nikita: We're going on a trip - guess where?
Lenore guesses local areas like San Francisco, Monterey, etc. and get a series of no, no, no...
Lenore, getting suspicious and confused: ...are we getting on a plane?
Nikita, nodding happily: Yes!
Lenore: Ok so it's a probably a weekend flight which means it has to be somewhere close - San Diego?
Nikita: No.
Lenore: ...Seattle?
Nikita: No.
Lenore: We're going to see your mom!
Nikita: No.
Lenore: ...Toronto?
Nikita: No.
Lenore, being flippy: Paris?
(because at various points over the years Nikita would say where do
you want to go this weekend, and Lenore would always answer Paris! and then Nikita would start talking about
reasonable parameters of things to do for the weekend)
But this time Nikita was all grinning and nodding his head. Lenore just stared at him. She could not
believe that just like that they're going to PARIS! She thought he was joking so she just kept repeating it,
shocked. It took her some time to realize that he wasn't kidding. And then Nikita
showed her that he had hidden luggage, and Lenore realized that she wouldn't be going home. While
Lenore was at work, Nikita was in her apartment getting her passport and luggage packed up. And he had her all
figured out with exactly what she would have packed. Nikita had a momentary bit of panic when he didn't find
her passport in the usual spots that he knew she would keep it. And then Nikita said that we needed to take
the next train to make it to the San Francisco International airport so
that we could catch our flight to Paris.
Nikita had actually planned this for months, and Lenore had no idea he was even up to something.
And Lenore couldn't stop laughing about the fact that were now going to take the stupid frog cookies all
the way to Paris because we didn't have time to go home. It was actually all a funny coincidence,
with the frog cookies and the "l'amour" card. We actually engraved "l'amour" on Lenore's
engagement ring and Nikita's engagement watch to remember this day.
 Nikita did not propose with a ring
because he wasn't sure if Lenore wanted one. In truth, Lenore
wasn't sure either but then finally decided maybe she did. Lenore and Nikita spent months shopping
together to find a ring and learning a ton about jewelry. Eventually, the engagement ring that they
picked out was an orange sapphire in simple half bezel setting.
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