Engagement Weekend Celebrations

First off I just want to say thank you all so very much for all the heartfelt well-wishes and congratulations on yesterday’s engagement announcement! They meant so much to Josh and I.

Josh proposed Friday night and for the rest of the evening I was on a cloud. Saturday we woke up and decided to head downtown to soak up some sunshine and get my finger sized. What we didn’t realize is that there was a town wide store sale going on, complete with food vendors and performances. These guys were rocking out to Sweet Home Alabama when I snapped this picture. I love country music!

The event drew a pretty big crowd! We had so much fun browsing through all the stuff and walking around outside.

There were some really cool food options. This pizza stand looked amazing.

Josh decided to try a pineapple tamale with raisins and was so sweet to share. It was really good! It was a lot different than the authentic tamale I had from Geronimo in New Haven but it was really delicious!

After picking on some things we decided it was time to get a real meal. We headed down to the new bookstore and cafe in State College and I immediately fell in love with the decorations and surroundings. Something about books are so relaxing and the layout was so nice.

Josh got a delicious sunflower seed pate sandwich and a tall iced coffee. I loved the sandwich, it was so fresh and the prices are so reasonable. I definitely want to go back there!

For our celebratory, “We’re engaged!” meal on Saturday we headed into Bellefonte, PA to have dinner at Gamble Mill. Josh has had gift cards to this place for forever and has been talking it up a lot so I was really excited to get to try it out.

We headed over to the bar and I fell in love with the interior decor.

What really took my breathe away was the upstairs dining area. We have some potential plans for that room! 😀

We started off with drinks to toast and celebrate our happy fortunes. I asked if they could make a bellini for me and while they were out of peaches the bartender made a great substitution with peach schnapps. It was nice and sweet, just how I like it! 😀

Throughout the day I would find myself stopping to stare at my ring. I can’t get over how beautiful it is, and its surreal to think that its mine! Josh gave it to me as an engagement present and soon we will be planning a wedding and getting married. Life feels like its kicking up into high gear all of a sudden! I also tried to soak up the feeling of wearing my ring as much as possible because it unfortunately has to be sent back to be re-sized in Connecticut. What I thought was a 5 3/4 ring finger is actually a 4.5 – 5. I can’t wait until the ring gets back from alterations and I can wear it snugly on my finger without having to worry about it falling off. I’m pretty sure I’d have a panic attack if that happened!

After our toast we each got the carrot ginger curry soup to start. It was so delicious.

We also split the hummus and bean dip pita platter. It was so good!

For the final part of our meal we each got the pumpkin ravioli appetizer. The mushrooms were seasoned so well and the cream sauce was divine. I could have eaten three times the serving size! But when a menu doesn’t have a lot of vegetarian options you have to get creative. In this case I think it worked out for the best because we got to try lots of flavors and left feeling comfortably full without feeling overly bloated. The staff was also so incredibly friendly. Everyone there just seemed in the best mood and it helped to make our dinner amazing.

After dinner we walked down the block to one of the cutest parks ever. Its crazy to think Josh and I drove past here last summer while he was studying for comps, a year flies by so fast!

There were some new little duckies in the shallow water for us to admire. If duck napping weren’t illegal I’d have a whole house full of those cute little fluff balls.

The next day Josh and I went out to lunch with Lily and Pierce at one of our favorites, Legends at the Penn Stater. Lily and Pierce have been good friends with Josh for a while and I feel so fortunate to be able to consider them my good friends now too. They surprised us with a super sweet card, some truffles, and my first wedding magazine!! The Type A personality in me is so excited to go through that magazine and start making check lists and ripping out pictures for idea collages. I’ve already started a dream wedding board on Pinterest. 😀

Lily and Pierce were so sweet to take us out to lunch and let us ramble on about wedding ideas and give us advice and share stories from their own wedding. In the blur of the weekend I somehow forgot to get a picture of them but I did manage to get a picture of my sandwich! It was so good! 😀 Thanks so much Pierce and Lily! You two are such wonderful friends! 

And that was my engagement weekend! It was filled with happiness and joy and was absolutely perfect. We have a lot to do to start planning the wedding but I feel like we’re on a good track.

Question of the Day: What was the first thing you did when you started wedding planning? I’ve never done this before, so I want to make sure I’m doing it right! ;p