London

Friends! We are only NINE days away from our vows! In honor of that, I thought I would share more details from when W and I first met. If you'll remember last time, I promised that I would share the details after he left Munich. 

Looking back on how I met W, my actions were very un-me. From going out all night dancing with these strangers (stranger danger!), to giving him my contact information, to meeting up with him again the next day, it was all very different behavior for me. So with these strange behaviors, it should come as no surprise that when we said our goodbyes in Munich, I invited W to meet me for my overnight layover in London a few days later. And the next day I had an email from him saying he'd meet me in London! 

When we met up at Heathrow, we hailed a cab to my hotel, and it was at the hotel that W surprised me with two bottles of wine. It was very sweet, and very indicative of who he is, and we stayed up all night drinking wine. 

Our London trip was very short, and once again, I thought I would never hear from him again. But, once again, I was wrong. I had an email from him when I touched down, and that exchange never stopped. 

Two months after London and hundreds of emails, texts and IMs later, W flew to Boston for one week, and that week sealed our future. After that week I realized that all those un-me things from Munich were because he was special, and because he brought out new things in me. 

So while our time in London was very brief, it does hold a special place in our hearts. We took a chance in London and took the next step in our lives.   

  

Thirty-Three

As I write this post we're a short 33 days away from getting married. 

WHAT?! When did that happen? Didn't we *just* get engaged? 

The answers are yes, in the blink of an eye, and yes - 3 months ago. 

The truth is that I couldn't be happier or more excited for what happens in 33 days. We met just over one year ago. We've had the craziest, fastest, whirlwind adventure since then. The journey we're going on now - planning a wedding in a few months - is crazy, fast-paced and whirlwind, hence the blink-of-an-eye timing. 

The reality is that even though it's only been one year that we've known each other, it feels like it's been forever. As I've been writing my vows, the one thing I can't shake is that I feel as if my life started the night we met in Munich. Yes, it's only been one year, but there were 33 years before that led me to this moment in time. 

It took 33 years to find my partner, and in 33 days I'm going to marry that man. We are partly stressed (planning a wedding around the world when you're half a world apart is hard!) but mainly eager - we are both ready to begin our lives together. This morning I received a letter from my stressed beloved, and it started like this: 

"I love you more than everything! You are the best wife-to-be and I am so happy to become your husband in 33 days. Je t'aime comme un fou (I love you crazily.)" 

When I wake up to notes like this, it's hard not to be excited for what lies ahead. And thankfully I only have 33 days left to find out. 

Captured by Kristen of The Boston Fashionista at the wedding of our beautiful friend Marissa

Finding Mr. Right Where You Least Expect it

In my last post I talked about my trip last year where I met W, aka soon-to-be Mr. Muses. Since this is a trip down memory lane, forgive the long post. A girlfriend and I opted for a girl's week in Paris, but since it was also Oktoberfest, I thought a second week in Germany would suit me well. My friend opted not to go to Munich, so it was just me. Alone. In a country whose language I don't speak one word of. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone! 

So, one week after arriving in Paris, I took the metro to Munich. On the train, as I was studying my German phrase book, a nice German couple struck up a conversation. That couple's kindness proved that I was going to be ok in Germany traveling alone. 

Sunday morning I headed to the science museum. On the train, I noticed all these Germans dressed in their traditional Oktoberfest garb. I thought it would be a good idea to take a quick detour and see where the Oktoberfest tents were, so I jumped off the train and followed everyone out. What awaited me up the stairs  was beyond my comprehension. 

I'll skip the boring details of what happened over the next few hours, and show you in pictures instead. Suffice to say, I ate and drank my way through Oktoberfest and never made it to the museum. 

The halls of Hacker-Pschorr, one of two of my fave beers. 

Sunny and bright, how can you resist?

The halls were packed at 11 am. 

Late into the night - well into too many pints

Too many pints, but still standing and still going strong

So here's where meeting Mr. Right comes in. When Oktoberfest shut down, the two German women I had spent the day with invited me to this "club" they had been at the night before where they met these two Frenchmen. Having nothing better to do, I joined them. And that's where I met him. We spent the next 6 hours chatting and dancing at a club, exchanged emails and promised to see each other the next day. The next day we met up, at the science museum (side note, it's not the spectactular - skip it if you're in Munich), and awkwardly spent what we refer to now as our first official date. That evening he hopped a plane back to Paris and I thought I'd never hear from him again. How wrong I was! But I'll save those details for another time. 

For now, I'll leave you with the first picture of us from the night we met in Munich. 

    

Notice the flower he gave me? So romantic, even having just met. 

A Little Bit of Love

A week late (thanks to the flower shop deciding a girl didn't need flowers on Valentine's Day), but exactly what I needed to help lift my spirits today. My favorite flowers from my tall dark drink of handsome.*

*His words on the accompanying card - how could I not love that man?

Things to be Thankful For

Since it is the day of giving thanks, here is my list of things that I am thankful for:

• God - While I (try to) give thanks to Him every day, I'll start off by saying I'm thankful to God for giving me such an amazing life and filling it with great challenges and blessings. Everything I have, or have done, is because of the gifts he has given me.

• Boston - and I mean the boyfriend here. Ever since he walked into my life eight months ago, I've been thankful for the gifts he has given me, the wisdom he has shared with me, and the willingness to let me into his heart. He is sweet and kind, and loves me even with my obvious shortcomings. He has opened up his life to me, and given me the courage to leap into the new adventure I'm about to take. He has opened up a new world to me, both intellectually and spiritually; he has renewed my faith in God -and man- and I will always be thankful for that.

• Family - They are my foundation. Coming from the self-proclaimed "most functionally dysfunctional" family isn't an easy thing, but my family has given me the tools necessary to grow into a reasonably healthy functioning member of society. They've supported all my decisions in life, and make sure to tell me all the time how proud they are of me, even when it means that I'm moving halfway across the country from them.

• Friends - They are the ones who tolerate my absence from their lives on account of school and support me. They are the ones who ask if they can attend my graduation... and everyone knows how boring those are. They are excited about the next journey in my life, even though it means leaving them behind. They have comforted me in troubled times, and support me as much as my family. In reality, they are my family too.

• Work - I am thankful that my current job and colleagues have provided me with the tools to make a contribution to the field of public relations, and to take that next step in my career. I am thankful that Moroch showed me what a real work culture looked like, and that you can absolutely have fun while working your ass off. Finally, I am thankful for Emily V., the most amazing boss I've ever encountered. Never does she have a bad word to say about anyone, and it will hurt the most to say goodbye to her. She has shown me where you can go with hard work, and it is her work ethic that I hope to channel in my new job. She has served as a mentor to me for almost two years now, and I know that she will continue to serve as a mentor when I move into my new job.

I know there are a thousand other things I am thankful for, and rightly so, but these are the high, fast ones. I love everything about my life - where I've come from, what I've become, and the possibilities of what I will grow into. So on this day of Thanksgiving, I realize I have so much to be thankful for.