| Bride & Groom: | Wedding Date: |
| Jennifer Bresnan & Matt Liddle | Not Yet Decided |
| Engagement Story: | |
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My Matt is a very creative thinker and created a very special "proposal day." I received a request to arrive at a local coffeehouse the next morning at 10am sharp. This is an important place that I had only been to once before. On an evening in April 2004, I went there to meet a guy I'd been emailing with for about a month (my fiance, of course!). It's a cute little place, kind of funky and easy going, a good place to get a cup of coffee and read or chat or listen to some music. So on the special morning, I drove myself to that same coffeeshop again, and found the same guy waiting there, in the same yellow shirt he wore the last time I'd been there. We ordered our drinks, and when the girl handed me my cup, she also handed me a note. It contained a clue... as to where to go next. We jumped into the car and headed off. The clue led me to the Kasshau Memorial Bandshell in Ridgewood (I have performed there as a member of a local theatre group), where I found another clue. This one prompted me to go a little further afield... to a really yummy lunch at Peanut Butter and Co. in Manhattan (If you love PB and haven't been there yet, you'd better get cracking! The place is incredible!) With my Fluffernutter sandwich (chunky, wheat bread, toasted) came another note. This one said that stories go well with peanut butter sandwiches, and we should go and find some at a place not far away... really, "just around the corner." For those of you who didn't quite get that last bit, it's alluding to one of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail." We hopped into a cab (which almost hit a tourist on a bike - which is a bad transportation choice in Manhattan, if I say so myself!) and ended up at Books of Wonder. Being the shop that the Shop Around the Corner was modeled after, it is an incredible place... with a Cupcake Cafe!! I was instructed to look for another clue, which I thought was overwhelming, considering the fact that I had to be surrounded by thousands of books! But Matt pointed out the information desk, so I proceeded there and said something rather witty like this.... "...um, hi... I'm looking for something. But I don't know what it is. I was told to come and ask you..." (at which point, my guide prompted me to tell the help-desk-guy my name) And, surprises of surprises, there was a book on reserve for me... with a note stuck in an interesting page. The words on the page, of course, correspond with the words read by Kathleen at the story-time in the film! :) This clue led me to the highest point in Manhattan... The Empire State Building. It was a beautiful day to see the world from so high... and certainly a popular place to be! While there, I actually received two more notes, since time was starting to run away from us. The first one instructed me to go and play (Toys 'R Us Times Square), but since there wasn't a ton of time yet (for what, I did not know!), we proceeded on to a spot where I would receive the next clue... which would be a non-paper clue. We then headed to the whispering gallery in Grand Central Station. As I stood in my corner, I was told it was time to go find a garden. One of my favorites is out of season at the moment, so I was supposed to board a train to go to the Botanical Garden.. but the train mysteriously didn't come! So, it was time for plan B... and onto the subway we went. The new destination was to be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but we met with something that makes this story even more interesting. We made two stops, and then the train stopped, and was cancelled. Read all about the details of why and when and see pictures at the following site: http://www.improveverywhere.com/mission_view.php?mission_id=54 Considering that I was not sure where we were headed, I was simply confused, but Matt was rather frazzled. As more people came down into the subway to see the chaos, he suggested we head back accross the river. So, we did. Dinner ended up being at Cafe Archetypus in Edgewater (again, if you haven't been there... you must go!!) and I was instructed not to have coffee or dessert, despite the very extensive dessert menu offered there. After a good meal it was off to the last stop of the journey, which happens to be the same as the first. We sat and enjoyed some hot drinks and live music, and then I was asked to come outside for a moment.... ... and in roughly the same spot that I met him, Matt asked me to marry him. And I said yes. :) |
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| Prize Awarded: | |
| An autographed copy of "Hitched: A Regan Reilly Mystery," a wedding-themed novel by Carol Higgins Clark | |
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