20 Questions

Tomorrow is our engagement photo shoot! (insert girly squeal here) So in light of all the imminent loved-up-edness in Watch This Space land, I thought I'd do this 20 Questions meme that's been doing the rounds in the blogosphere. I have it on good authority that I did well. Enjoy!

1. He is sitting in front of the TV. What is on the screen?

Depending on the time of year, it's Irish Rugby. Otherwise some sort of documentary on the History Channel, or Discovery or one of those. Or Bear Grylls.

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?

Salad? What is this "salad" you speak of?

3. What’s one food he doesn’t like?

Eggs. It's inexplicable.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?

Guinness. Or sometimes Corona (ugh).

5. Where did he go to high school?

Templemore.

6. What size shoe does he wear?

10? (edit - apparently it's a 9)

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?

Guitars. Oh wait... we've already got... I don't know... at least 3.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?

Breakfast rolls. Well, occasionally.

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?

I have it on good authority that he would eat nothing but profiteroles, given half a chance.

10. What is his favorite cereal?

We don't really do cereal for breakfast, so I don't really know. He did buy Cheerios the other day, so I'll go with that.

11. What would he never wear?

Pink. I know better than to even try.

12. What is his favorite sports team?

Ireland or Munster Rugby. Tough call.

13. Who did he vote for?

The good guys.

14. Who is his best friend?

Me? Aww....

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?

Snore? Occasionally belch? I maintain that's a compliment to his cooking abilities...

16. What is his heritage?

Irish. That one I know I got right!

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?

I made him these cute little Mr Men cupcakes. They were awesome.

18. Did he play sports in high school?

Rugby. There is a recurring theme here.

19. What could he spend hours doing?

Playing guitar. And he does.

20. What is one unique talent he has?

Music. I have no idea how he does it, but the man's a genius.

Caped Crusaders... for social justice

The internet knows things about me. It's really quite frightening.

Ok, so I was the one who changed my Facebook relationship status thing from "in a relationship" to "engaged", but does that REALLY have to mean that every other ad I see is for wedding venues, photographers and hen/stagette parties? Ok ok, so I admit that I DID click on the photographer's ad... and he seems like a brilliant (and reasonably priced!) photographer. You've won this round, Facebook.

What I also found interesting is that with ONE mention on Twitter of wedding plans, I gained TWO new followers - a bridal shop just outside Derry, and a psychic/astrologer whose specialty is wedding astrology. She wrote a book called "Never Throw Rice at a Pisces"! I don't think I know any Pisces (anyone born between Feb 19 and March 20?), but I will be sure to make a note of it for any future Piscean weddings.

I decided against signing up for her US$350 bridal astrology consultation, but I did check our LoveMatch on another astrology website. I've said it before - I may have been unemployed too long when I start doing things like this.

Here is my favourite excerpt from what it said about me (Libra) and B (Aquarius):

"Both Aquarius and Libra are concerned with the betterment of the world and their fellow people. These two are an extraordinary duo for standing up for social justice or radical change in the community."

We're like superheroes! United, we are unstoppable! Nobel Peace Prize, here we come!

Is it tacky to wear a superhero cape over a wedding dress?

Meet the Parents

Now that I've (nearly) gotten over the excitement of being engaged... wait... who am I kidding? I'm not "over" anything! Let me start this again.

B had wonderful timing for his proposal, as my parents and lil' brother are coming to visit for a week, starting today. This could also be "awful" timing, depending how you choose to look at it! My family knows I'm kidding... right?

...right? Hello...? (that sound you hear is me being written out of various wills)

What their trip DOES mean is that for the first time our families will be able to meet. My mom had met his parents on her trip over here last year, but this is the first time that both families in their entirety will be in the same place at the same time (except for B's brothers, one of whom is in Poland, and the other is in America). We're talking the 4 of my family plus 9 of his family... in the same place... at the same time. I can hear the delighted shrieks already, and am mentally bracing myself for 2 moms plus sister-in-law-to-be sitting me down and planning out our wedding in full over the course of this coming bank holiday weekend.

Note to self: Start checking prices for elopement....

I kid, I kid. I'm looking forward to it. Really!

And now I'd better get to work shining up my ring. I have a feeling it's going to be closely inspected over the next week...

I can haz awsum boyfriend? part II

So this weekend, before the imminent arrival of the parents, B decided we should go away to the country. As I've never been one to argue with his brilliant ideas, on Friday evening we headed down to Wicklow, to a picturesque little farmhouse called Ballyknocken. The added bonus? It's also a cookery school! And B, being the occasional forward planner that he sometimes can be, had also booked us in for a tapas cookery course on Saturday, and a gourmet dinner on the Friday night.

It was heaven. But there will be more of the weekend in a separate post. Something along the lines of "Cooking School Raves and Reviews, by K". I promise.

Well needless to say after cooking (and eating) far too much mini Spanish food (mmm... tapas), we decided it would be a good idea to go for a walk in the woods. That's one thing I love about Wicklow - it has hills that are trying so desperately to be mountains that you have to humour them by "hiking" them. Bless.

So we went for a leisurely stroll for a while... and then stopped by a huge tree with a beautiful view of the valley...


...and then he proposed. (insert girlish giggle here)

I can haz awsum boyfriend?*

*a very rare lapse in grammar, but only to preface this post by referencing I Can Has Cheezburger - a website for fans of cats with bad grammar.

Every morning before he leaves for work, B leaves me a note. All together now: "Aww..."

Determined not to run out of things to say, despite doing this almost every single weekday since November, today's note was just too funny (and cute) not to post. Plus me posting photos of his cute notes will probably embarrass him no end, so it's win-win.

If it's tricky to read, it says "Hidez behind the page cat is hiding behind the page, with a note from B to tell you he luvz u"

I suppose after a year living together (as of April 18) and nearly 2 years together, it's the little things...

Plus I secretly like giving people cavities from an overdose of sickly sweet loved-up-ness.

25 Valentine's Things

Alright... so I've been tagged in this meme quite a lot lately, but for the life of me I cannot come up with 25 interesting things about me (I'm stalled on 16). So instead, I thought I'd shake this up a bit and in the spirit of gushy soppiness that is Valentine's Day, I give you 25 things I love about B.

Note - those with weak stomachs or who are prone to cavities from excessive sweetness should probably not read this post!

1. I love that he is always willing to travel to new and exciting places. We've had some incredible adventures together, and will hopefully have many more! I also love that he wasn't terrified of my driving in Greece, even in the frantic rush hour traffic of Athens city centre.

2. I love that he humours me when I go into fanatic holiday research mode. Yes, I do actually care about the reviews a potential hotel got on Trip Advisor. It's never steered me wrong!

3. I love that he goes along with silly plans of mine, like bringing Bert and Ernie to Paris with us and taking photos of them at every important tourist site.

4. I love the way he gets lost in his music, that he gets incredibly nervous before a gig, and that he is incredibly giddy afterwards. I love how passionate he is about music. It's infectious. I love that the band are actually good, so I don't have to pretend that I enjoy their gigs, because I genuinely do!

5. I love that while I'm writing this, he is totally oblivious, sitting in the living room, yelling at the Irish Rugby team who are playing Italy in the 6 Nations.

6. I love that he wasn't afraid to take a potentially work-inappropriate risk and actually start up a relationship with me. Office politics be damned, says I!

7. I love the way that little kids are either completely fascinated by, or absolutely terrified by him. There really is no middle ground on this one. They either stare wide-eyed, mouth hanging open... or bawl incessantly.

8. I love that he came home and met my entire family (and all my friends) in the span of about 2.5 weeks over Christmas. That's a lot to try and take in, but it was really important to me. And to him.

9. I love that I don't think he fully understands how I can read an entire book in about 2 days. I also love that he's had about 5 books on the go for the last little while, and has yet to finish any of them.

10. I love that he usually understands when I need space because I'm having a rough time of things, or because I'm a little bit homesick, or because I'm having a bad day, without taking it personally.

11. I love that we have so many common interests, like religion (curiosity about), conspiracy theories, human rights, photography, etc.

12. I love that he says my lasagna is better than his mom's. Even if he's just saying it... I love that he says it.

13. I love to watch him work. He really cares about the people he helps, and treats everyone the same, regardless of the importance of their cases. I love that this reminds me of my grandad... one of the nicest, kindest people I've ever known.

14. I love that one of his favourite writers is often mistaken for a crazy homeless man. I love him too, I think he's brilliant.

15. I love that any gift he's ever gotten me is so well thought out that it shows just how well he knows me, and it's absolutely exactly what I wanted even if I didn't know it.

16. I love the way he laughs when he thinks something is really funny. "Giggles like a schoolgirl" seems to be the general consensus on how to define it.

17. I love that he talks about "our future".

18. I love how supportive he's been through my whole unemployment ordeal. I don't think I'd be anywhere near this calm and collected if it wasn't for his support.

19. I love that he moved heaven and earth, and used every contact in his arsenal to get me my Stamp 4 residency. I also love that it worked!

20. I love that he occasionally has frantic cleaning moments. Especially how sparkly and clean the apartment is when he's finished.

21. I love that we are just as happy to sit and home and watch DVDs as we are when we go out and do exciting things like going to gigs, or the theatre, or various festivals in the summer.

22. I love that he always tells me how beautiful I am, even if I've got a rotten cold and feel like death warmed over.

23. I love how close he is with his family, and how much they mean to him.

24. I love that he makes me happy every single day, and that I can't think of one single thing I'd change about the way we are.

25. Mostly I love the thought of how much this will embarrass the life out of him.

(us on a boat in Symi, Greece - June 2008)