Our Quarantine Proposal - A Diamond in the Rough

It's official....Dan and I are ENGAGED! He popped the question Sunday, April 26 and I am excited to share our story of how he pulled off this quarantine engagement!

Our Quarantine Engagement Story

Dan and I began looking at engagement rings last winter, and finalized a ring design this past February! I had absolutely NO IDEA when the ring would be finished and NO IDEA when he was going to propose. Recently, my Grandmother had a heart attack, so I was traveling back and forth to my Grandmother's house to help her post-surgery. Once the quarantine began early March, I locked myself in at my Grandmother's house to keep her safe during the quarantine.

Dan was planning to propose on Saturday, April 18 in New York City, but canceled due to COVID-19. Dan is a high-risk of catching the virus due to his asthma, so he left New York City and went to Maryland to quarantine with his family.

He had an engagement party planned after he proposed, but once he postponed the date, my family & friends started (by accident) spilling hints of the canceled engagement. I was absolutely crushed. It seemed like he worked so hard to create the PERFECT proposal and engagement party, but it was too dangerous due to COVID-19 for us, friends & family to be in New York City. There was so much uncertainty of when Dan and I would see each other again.

This past Sunday April 26, my Grandmother and I were having our typical "quarantine Sunday". At this point, Dan and I hadn't seen each other in 2 months! We just finished watching "Hairspray" on TV, and I posted a blog post about creating a DIY: Home Movie Theater. All of a sudden, my Grandmother and I heard a knock at the door. We were both very confused. I got up and started walking to the front door. I saw a black car from the window that looked identical to my Mother's, so I yell to Granny "Oh, Mom is here to surprise us" (she loves surprises and this is very like her to do). I thought nothing more than that.

When I opened the door, it wasn't my Mother at the door. It was Dan! I yelled "WHAT?!?". Granny heard me and goes (in her New York accent) "Whose at the door? Is that your Mother??". I turned around and yelled back, "No, it's Dan!!!!". I was in COMPLETE SHOCK. I thought I was having a normal quarantine day!! I was wearing my hair in a messy pony tail, no make up, chipped nails, and wearing a grey-on-grey FILA sweat-set. I kept saying "what!!!!"

OK, back to the story! I turned around to face Dan after letting my Grandmother know Dan was here, and he goes "I couldn't wait any longer" and got down on one knee. He popped open the jewelry box and the most GORGEOUS diamond ring started to sparkle.

Granny then yells to me "Why is he here??". I turn to Granny and yell "He's proposing!!!".

After 6 years of dating, he asked me to marry him and I said "YES!!!!". He drove 4 hours from Maryland to pull off the best SURPRISE proposal because I really had NO IDEA! Even though it wasn't what he originally planned, it was so romantic and special to share the moment with not only us, but with my Grandmother. Being separated during the quarantine has been difficult and scary as we all try to stay healthy, but this proposal was the best surprise and something positive to celebrate during so much uncertainty. We spent the next two days FaceTiming and calling family & friends to surprise them with the news and celebrate virtually together!

Here is a video Dan made of the proposal:

We are so excited for this next chapter in our life, and can't wait until the day we can celebrate together with friends & family in person!

If you're interested to more about how Dan and I designed my engagement ring, and lessons learned throughout the process, I have written a blog post about it sharing the details!