We came back to the US in the beginning of October to celebrate Amy's 30th birthday. Anthony arrived on October 8th. The next day, Anthony suggested Amy meet him outside of his office to take a stroll down 5th avenue to go shopping (there is a ban on shopping for both of us in London given how expensive things are and the weakness of the US Dollar). Tiffany's is around the corner from Anthony's work. While walking past Tiffany's, Anthony pulled Amy into the store and went straight up to the second floor (where the engagement rings are housed). After a little blushing by Amy, she got right into trying on mode. Unfortunately, we got to the store fairly late and was about to close, but Amy did have an opportunity to try on several different styles of ring - emerald, round brillant, cushion, pear - and also many different sizes - 1 all the way up to 5 carots (crazy big diamonds). When leaving the store, Anthony asked Amy which one was her favorite. She vascillated. Anthony then demanded an answer based on first impression. He also suggested that Amy go look at rings the next day with her friends and let him know with her final view by 5pm on Friday. Amy took on the challenge excitedly and said her initial impression was the Round Brillant (with the cushion cut a close second).
The next day, Amy went to look at rings with Lauren and Julie as promised (Anthony later learned that Amy had already scheduled this trip long before his request). Anthony got an email at 4:45pm with the results of the girls trip. One Old European with an antique setting with pave diamonds around it and two other Old European cuts with vintage/antique settings were Amy's favorites (he even got links to websites). Anthony had the basic facts he needed.
What ensued over the next few days was an opening of the flood gates of wedding, engagement, kids talk from Amy. Amazing what looking at rings does to a woman. When Nora and Leanne came to celebrate Amy's birthday on that Saturday, they also went to look at rings. Amy's friend Marisa from Norwell came up to Anthony during Amy's 30th birthday party to show him her ring as a means for him to gain further intelligence.
So, it became clear - a surprise engagement was never going to happen unless drastic action was taken to throw Amy off the scent. At the same time all this was happening, the financial markets were crumbling and Anthony needed to stay in NY longer for work. So, the means to throw Amy off the scent was clear - Anthony needed to make excuses related to his work. We went out to dinner at our favorite sushi place on Friday, 10/17 in a surprise by Anthony (he hadn't really seen Amy all week given work). Midway through dinner after Amy continued to talk about the wedding and possible engagement, Anthony moved the conversation to the need to wait 12-18 months given the upheaval in the financial markets and the focus that would require on Anthony's job. Anthony was apparently very convincing as Amy proceeded to cry at the suggestion of having to wait that long. Anthony was resolute, even though he felt bad. Amy would forgive Anthony eventually.....
The charade of the troubles at work continued and Anthony had to continually pretend like he was getting annoyed at Amy for bringing up the topic of getting married.
On October 23rd, Anthony visited Hartgers Jewelers in Wycoff, NJ. One of Anthony's friends, Jeff Wesson, has a brother-in-law whose family owns one of the largest jewelery stores in New Jersey. Anthony figured it was time to go see "Bobby". The store was very nice and had a wide selection of settings, ring cuts, sizes.
It was all a bit overwhelming for someone who had never really paid attention to jewelry before. Anthony did have the top few choices from Amy to help guide his discussion with Bobby. Anthony slept on it that night and then called Bobby the next day to give him the parameters of what stones to look for and said he'd be back on October 28th to go through what Bobby was able to find within Anthony's parameters.
On October 25th, since we were still in the US due to Anthony's job, we headed up to Boston to celebrate Amy's cousin, Hannah, confirmation. It was nice to see the Martin family. Amy had clearly been talking to people about our trip to Tiffany's - when we first walked into the house, Amy pulled out old pictures of her Aunt Nancy's wedding to talk about the dress. Then in line for some lunch at Hannah's confirmation, Amy's Uncle Jon said to Amy and Anthony "So, heard you two have been 'shopping'". Then, Amy's father, in the context of a conversation with the immediate Martin family, said "...well, if Anthony ever moves to the next level with Amy." (To which Anthony responded by slapping his hand on the table and saying "Thanks, good to see you all as always, its time for me to go."). Of course, to keep the trickery going, Anthony had to get in a mild fake fight with Amy on the drive home from Boston to NY about all these things.
Anthony reached out to Amy's dad, Ed, on Monday evening 10/27 and asked whether he was available for a coffee, drink or breakfast in the next few days before Anthony headed back to London. Ed was busy the next two days - heading to the Celtics opening night (championship ring ceremony), a date with Logan to carve a pumpkin for Halloween and a chiropractic appointment - all before he was flying out for travel of his own. He graciously said he would cancel the doctors appointment and meet me at Bob's Muffin Shop on 10/29 for breakfast in South Weymouth, MA. Thank you again, Ed, for being flexible! Anthony wrote Ed a nice email (that he said he would save and show to Nancy) thanking him for his time and flexibility and expressing his joy about the rags to riches story of going from lawn boy to son in law!
On October 28th, Anthony had to enlist the help of an expert to make the final decision on the ring - his sister, Vanessa. Anthony and Vanessa headed first to Hartgers jewelers in NJ to look at the final options and settle on a setting. Vanessa was incredibly helpful in this experience - focusing on the setting (4 pronges or 6, small pave diamonds or bigger ones, thickness of band, diamonds on the pronges, etc), making sure a wedding band could sit flush against the wedding ring. Its always nice to get an informed woman's view. We narrowed it down to one stone, but we wanted to check on one other source - Kwiat jewelers - in the afternoon before making a final decision. Anthony wanted to sleep on the decision and also had an important meeting the next day with Ed.
Anthony told Amy on the 28th that he had some very important meetings on the 29th and that he would either need to work very late on the 28th or get in very early on the 29th to review some materials. Naturally, this was a set up and Amy bought it hook, line and sinker. Anthony got home at a reasonable time and told Amy he had to leave the apartment at 4:45am on the 29th. He got up and went to the airport to meet Ed for breakfast by 8am. Flight was on time and Anthony made it there on time. Ed was already sitting at the table, having biked to the Muffin Shop which is near his office. They had a good chat about the Celtics, politics, the economy and business and then eventually the topic at hand. Anthony made his little speech and Ed was receptive (is "Are you sure you want to take Amy?" receptive?). It was a great breakfast and Anthony appreciated Ed's time and him making changes to his schedule. Some will ask why Nancy was invited to participate. Anthony would certainly have done so, but he remembered the story of Nancy saying she walked in on Kevin asking Ed's permission to marry Jen and Nancy said that it would be nice to be surprised about the next engagement. So, Ed and Anthony had a little secret to keep from the Martin woman.
Anthony got Ed's approval - now on to the final selection of the ring. He negotiated a little with Bobby and sealed the deal. The ring was set to be done two weeks from the 29th (so on November 12th) which was right in time for the Venice trip. The wheels were in motion and now all that was left was to ensure that the cover was not blown - even if it meant a little more trickery and heart break for Amy.
On Monday, November 10th, Anthony told Amy that he was being summoned back to NY for some investor meetings. This was not viewed strangely, as the previous week, Anthony had dropped comments about how he was progressively being pulled into investor meetings more and more. More trickery. Anthony flew back on the 12th and headed straight to the Hartgers store in NJ to pick up the ring. All was in order and the ring was beautiful.
After picking up the ring at Hartgers, Anthony couldn't help but think of our avid blog readers and wanted to ensure he documented the pilgrimmage.
After picking up the ring, Anthony proceeded to go back home to Scarsdale, NY where his parents were anxiously awaiting his arrival. The sight of the ring brought immediate tears to his mother's eyes and his father was very proud.
Even the family dog, Taylor, approved of the ring, although she was a little upset with Anthony that she was going to have to compete for Anthony's love.
Anthony went through the full Venice itinerary with his parents so they knew exactly when the proposal was happening and all the details of the weekend. We said our goodbyes and took some last pictures.
Anthony then headed back to his apartment in NYC. He was exhausted from the trip back from London so he collapsed on the couch around 4:30pm. He caught up on some good American TV (Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men) and then made sure to call Amy from his home phone to show the 212 area code so she wouldnt think he was up in Boston asking Mr. Martin for permission or doing anything other than those "very important investor meetings".
After checking that box, Anthony headed to the bar No Idea to continue a tradition with his friends - RBV drinks at No Idea followed by sushi dinner at Mizu across the street. We had a great crew for drinks and dinner - Mike, Swess, Rich, Walter (who extended his business trip from LA for an extra day to participate - thanks Walt!), Pete and Phil.
Sushi was great (as usual), sake bombs were plentiful and good times were had by all. After sushi, we went to the Underbar and then to the Coffee Shop (both near Union Square). After the red bull wore off, it was clearly time for Anthony (who was severely jet lagged) to go to sleep. A good send off from many of Anthony's good friends was all he could ask for!
Anthony awoke early the next day and headed into the office. At 7am ET, he called Amy from his office phone - again to ensure she knew that he was in NY, not heading up to Boston or anything else. The deception continues....
A few of Anthony's work colleagues saw the ring and loved it. Anthony's sister, Vanessa, saw it both on the 12th evening and 13th morning and thought we had done a masterful job. Even the stewardess on the British Airways flight saw the ring (while Anthony was polishing it) and voiced her approval.
Back to London and 48 hours away from the proposal. Anthony landed early in the am on Friday and kept the ring in his briefcase and left his briefcase in the car while he went up to the apartment. He showered, packed for Venice and then headed to the office.
We left for the airport early afternoon on Friday and this was the first time Amy was in the same vicinity of the ring. Anthony carefully ensured Amy didnt need to get into his briefcase. One big potential stumbling block in this plan was getting through airport security. Anthony placed the briefcase on the xray machine conveyor belt, watched as it went through and kept a close eye on the attendant to make sure there were no issues. Luckily, other than a wink from the attendant, there was no bag search so Anthony averted having to get down on a knee in the middle of the airport.
We typically travel with two cameras - a larger Nikon camera with a good zoom and a smaller Sony digital camera. Amy is usually in charge of the smaller camera and Anthony the larger one. On the train to the airport and in the airport, Amy was asking to see the smaller camera, but Anthony refused coming up with some playful excuse. Little did Amy know, that there were many of the pictures you see on this blog post on the smaller camera - so there was no way Amy could be given the smaller camera until after the proposal.
On Saturday morning, Anthony awoke and when Amy was in the bathroom getting ready, he transferred the ring box from his briefcase to the large camera case we travelled around with. Anthony was going to have that case around his neck the entire day and not let Amy have it at all.
All the while, the ring was in the camera case until it was unveiled under the Rialto Bridge in the boat.
All in all - the proposal was a big success. It was the result of a series of very carefully planned mind games and tricks on Amy, which made the whole experience that much sweeter. Anthony gets the last laugh (at least for now).
1 comment:
Didn't I see this on Friends? When Chandler is trying to throw Monica off his trail (and almost into Richard's arms).
Crap I watch to much TV!
Good job Anthony!
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