Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Weekend update on a Tuesday (but fully bullet-free!)

So it seems I'm on the one-post-a-week plan now, which I suppose would be fine, if I were spending those several days between posts mulling over amusing little anecdotes to share on my next login. Instead, in the intervening time it seems I not only forget I have a blog, but also forget how to write. Maybe it's not entirely my fault. I am still reading that damn Twilight series, after all, so maybe Stephenie Meyer is to blame. Maybe I could craft clever, poignant sentences, but thanks to Bella Swan, the only adjectives in my head are "impossibly beautiful" and "dazzling," and unless I am writing about eternally 17-year-old vampires or Julia Roberts's teeth, neither of those do me much good.

Fear not, however. I am a mere 200 pages away from saying goodbye to the Cullens for good, at which point I plan to cleanse my mental palate with something of substance. Or at least something more charged with the pointless, light-hearted frivolity we've come to expect around here. Maybe some Jane Austen, so I can have my light-hearted frivolity under the guise of heady literature. Win-win!

Meanwhile, I could at least try to tell you what I've been up to lately without resorting to the quick and lazy bullet-point form... Let's see. Last night, I listened to a Presidential address without heckling for the first time in eight years. The night before that, I scored a prime, two-feet-from-the-stage spot at a surprisingly sparse Rhett Miller show, putting me in clear, up-close view of one of my very favorite imaginary boyfriends and his not-so-imaginary shiny rock star hair and ever-bendy rock star hips. We were close enough for him to sweat on us (though if you've ever seen Rhett perform, you know that you could probably be a good fifteen feet from the stage and still make that same claim). It would have been even better if the very sloshed girl and her even more sloshed husband in front of us hadn't thought the fact that they got engaged at a Rhett show two years ago entitled them the right to command Rhett's attention for the duration of his set, but hey, there's one of those at every concert, is there not?

Working backwards, that brings us to Saturday. And what did I do Saturday? Oh, nothing special. Just watched a couple of dear friends get engaged in a snowy, candle-lit downtown park. In all seriousness, it was magical, which is only fitting given that the man who was doing the proposing is the one I long ago referred to as The Magical Boy. He wanted to propose to his lovely girlfriend at Peavey Plaza on Nicollet Mall, and he enlisted me and Carrie to set the scene for him while they were at dinner. We arranged ice luminaries around the frozen fountain and placed flickering candles inside, then queued up a stereo to play a love song from La Boheme when the couple arrived. She said yes, of course, after which Carrie and I (and The Buddhist, who, though he'd never met The Magical Boy, was happy to come along for the ride anyway) popped out of our hiding spots on the other end of the park and joined in an impromptu dance party on the skating rink.

If we are keeping track of checkmarks in The Buddhist's "plus" column, by the way, we can add two more to the list. First, that he was fully OK with changing our plans for the evening when I told him this very special task had come up, and second, that, after meeting The Magical Boy and his new fiance', he summed up his first impressions with, "It's hard to say which one of those two is cuter." My thoughts exactly. They truly are the most non-sickeningly adorable couple I know. So congrats, Aaron and Colleen. Can't wait to attend the undoubtedly fun, creative, and uniquely environmentally friendly and socially responsible party you're sure to throw when you tie that knot.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

By the way, the song Aaron chose from La Boheme is Che Gelida Manina, in which the poet takes her cold little hands in his to warm them up!

Alice said...

i freaking LOVE cute engagement stories. which i assume means i'm destined to have the most boring proposal ever, but whatever. HOW AWESOME. i love that he got you guys involved to set it all up :-) :-) :-)

Anonymous said...

That's a great engagement story! And I also loved being able to watch our President without making fun of him! What a change! AND he actually made sense! Wow! Talk about crazy!!

shelleycoughlin said...

Stefanie, you need to include WARNINGS when there is a post with that much cuteness coming up! In my hormonally-charged state I had a spontaneous burst of eyes-tearing-up in my office. Damn you!

3carnations said...

Congrats to your friends. I wonder if the Buddhist will be attending the wedding with you. :)

Jess said...

Hm, I'm a fan of this Buddhist. I would like to hear more about him.

lizgwiz said...

Delightful!

And why do you think you can throw little "The Buddhist and I" (which will be the name of the musical version of the Lifetime TV movie based on your relationship) tidbits in there and not give us a little more juicy detail about the status of...things? ;)

Courtney said...

Aww, that is a precious engagement story!

And by "precious," you know I mean beautiful/perfect/stunning/angelic/marble/amazing/startling/unforgettable/gorgeous/unfathomable. Shit, it seems that Bella is in my head as well, even though I'm cleansing my palate with a grown-up book before embarking on the next three installments of Edward's perfection.

At least you didn't mention "angel's face" in relation to anyone. That's my favorite bad description.

Mickey said...

I'm trying to picture ice luminaries (made easier by the flickr link). I suppose it's a race between the ice melting and the candle burning out?

Sauntering Soul said...

Awwww, I don't know them, but congratulations to Aaron and Colleen! What an awesome way to spend a weekend Stefanie.

Anonymous said...

I love this story!!! Congrats to Aaron and Colleen!!!

And I'm totally hearting the Buddhist. Well done, sir!

Anonymous said...

You are an awesome friend. And congrats to the happy couple!

Anonymous said...

I found out last weekend that MY MOM is reading the Twilight books. Am I seriously the last female holdout in the whole world?

What an awesome engagement story, and that was very cool of you and Carrie (and The Buddhist) to help!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Let's try this again now. ....lovely post for a lovely event! Can't believe you set the stage for DANCING!

Anonymous said...

What fun! Your friends are indeed very cute. And ... will we be seeing any photos of The Buddhist anytime soon?

Stefanie said...

Carrie--Good memory. (Or, good job saving that email.) :-)

Alice--I'm pretty sure one's own proposal is never boring. Not that I'd know from experience.

Jules--Not only made sense, but took accountability! THAT's new!! :-)

NPW--Aw, I'm sorry! Apparently I am made of stone, because I was there and I didn't quite tear up! It was totally sweet, though.

3Cs--That would be interesting, wouldn't it. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. Easy, lady.

Jess and Liz--I would love to fill you in, but I honestly don't know myself where (if anywhere) it's going yet. Besides that, I am pretty sure that telling you all about him is a sure-fire way to guarantee it's the last you hear of him.

Courtney--My favorite (and by that I mean least favorite) is "velvet voice." What the hell does a velvet voice sound like???

Mickey--The ice was pretty think, and I think if it's cold enough outside, it would take a good long time to melt. To simplify setup, however, Aaron cheated and used battery operated flickery lights. Same effect, but easier execution. :-) Also, no melting.

SS--It was a lovely evening. I'm glad he asked us to be a part of it.

Abbersnail--Well, he didn't really DO much, but... Oh. Sorry. I should just let you go on hearting him, right? ;-)

Monkey--Well, all I did was show up. Aaron planned all of that, of course. So I'll just second your congrats. :-)

R--You're not QUITE the last, but it's getting close. You know, kind of like Facebook.

Ang--I don't know what was wrong with your first comment, but that's OK, I'll just respond to the second! The dance party was Aaron's idea, of course. He had a fast song all queued up to go after the lovey-dovey song. It was really more scooting around on the ice than dancing, but whatever; it was fun anyway.

Flurrious--It's entirely possible that he's somewhere in a recent Flickr set as well, but I'd never tell for sure.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, this is so super-cute. You are a sweet friend for helping, too!

Also, BRAVO to the Buddhist!