bow bridge on my mind

Bow Bridge is on my mind today. Four years ago, I was in NYC with my sister Emily celebrating our BYU graduation ( a very generous gift from my father).  We had been running around the city all morning, trying to cross off just a few more of our must-sees before we headed home.

Em suggested we go to Central Park for a short sister photo shoot. I didn't think anything of it. We were running late and didn't have time to go back to get ready, but luckily, she happened to have an extra shirt and make-up in her purse. So I changed behind a tree and freshened up my make-up for our pictures.

We headed over to Bow Bridge and admired all the couples taking romantic strolls in the row boats. Out of the blue, I asked Em, "Would you ever want to get engaged here?" Ironic I would say that since little did I know what would happen in just a few minutes.

The next thing I knew, I felt a little tug on my backpack. I thought it was someone brushing by. I felt it harder. I turned around and wow was I shocked. It was my boyfriend Brandon. (Although I admit that I never liked calling him my boyfriend. We were "dating".) I said, "What are you doing here?" He got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and said, "Melissa, will you marry me?" I was still shocked, so the only words that I could put together were, "Yes, but what are you doing here?" He said, "I'm trying to propose. That's what I'm doing here."

We kissed. We hugged. And my kinder older sister snuck off to photograph the ordeal. She was right. We were headed to Central Park for a photo shoot. It just happened to be much different than I anticipated. Boy was I glad I changed outfits. 


 

After we left Bow Bridge, we ran off in the rain to celebrate by eating at an Italian restaurant called Serafina. (Again, my kind older sister let us have a few hours all to ourselves.)


 We met back up with Em after dinner and then went to Tiffany and Co, the Rockefeller Center, and Brooklyn Bridge. It was the best day of my life up to that point...being with my two best friends on such a monumental day.

And before we flew out the next day, we got to accomplish something on my list of things to do before I die...Eat a hotdog in Central Park.

I am one lucky girl to have had such a fairy-tale of an engagement. Because of it, we are living our happily ever after.(And while that sounds a bit cheesy, it's true.) Thanks for letting me take a trip down memory lane.

We like to celebrate our engagement by re-creating dinner at Serafina's and watching Enchanted since there is such a happy scene on Bow Bridge.