Sarah & Vinny
February 7, 2015
Washington, D.C.
How We Met
On a late November evening, Sarah and several of her friends went out in Washington to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They had their choice of 3,792 restaurants and bars in D.C.’s city limits alone and opted for The Mighty Pint, a lively, everyman public house just south of Dupont Circle.
That same night, Vinny and a colleague went for a drink. Vinny uncharacteristically suggested a lively, everyman locale that would drown out what might be a depressing conversation with his colleague, who was enduring numerous life crises, the impetus for their meeting up.
It was at The Mighty Pint – a place Sarah had never been, and Vinny had not been in years – that Sarah introduced herself to Vinny.
Within a week, just before Thanksgiving, they had their first date. Vinny had made reservations at a fancy restaurant, Ris, but was not sure of Sarah’s tastes. So, when she got in the car, he asked where she would like to go: Cactus Cantina, or…
He never had the chance to finish his sentence. Sarah jumped at the chance to eat at Cactus Cantina, and unlike The Mighty Pint, a place that represents a period happily in the rearview, Sarah and Vinny return to “Cactus” every Sunday evening.
The Proposal
Vinny decided just before Thanksgiving 2013 that he was going to propose to Sarah, but first, he wanted her parents’ blessing. He was delighted to receive that blessing over Christmas in Cleveland, and after consulting with Sarah’s sister Anne on the ring, Vinny was ready to propose. The only details left were the time and place.
Three weeks later, Sarah and Vinny boarded a plane to Jackson, Wyoming for a few days of skiing, and stuffed in Vinny’s carry-on was the ring. Vinny had spent hours researching sure-fire ways of transporting the ring through the TSA’s web of bureaucratic theatrics without ruining the most important surprise he will ever plan. The research paid off, as the surprise remained intact as the plane lifted off from Reagan Airport. Relieved, Vinny opened his bag to retrieve a book and absent-mindedly almost undid all his preparations as the ring box was sitting near the top of his bag’s belongings in full view of Sarah at his side. Fortunately, she did not notice.
Vinny’s plan was to propose on their last day on the mountain but did not have a specific location in mind. So, until then, Vinny wanted to ski the entire mountain to determine the best spot possible, no small feat given the dozens of long and difficult trails at Jackson Hole. In fact, on their very first run of the trip, Vinny inadvertently guided them to a steep and aspen-lined run dotted with hip-high moguls. Sarah, after noting Vinny’s characteristic lack of direction, methodically made her way down the expert terrain, with Vinny following her down, until she lost her balance, fell, and slid down the mountain ending up in a clump of pine trees. Vinny, scared beyond words, bombed down the mountain after her at break-neck speed before going airborne off a mogul and disappearing into a snow drift, twenty feet or so from Sarah. Sarah was unhurt, as was Vinny, who promised to clear all future skiing routes with Sarah on the chairlift rides.
On the morning of the last day – the day he’d propose – Vinny awoke equal parts nervous and excited. He had planned that they would ski all day, stopping for lunch at some point, and on the last run around three o’clock, he would propose. However, Sarah awoke equal parts sore and tired, and told Vinny that she wasn’t planning to ski much at all that day. True to her word, after just two morning runs and some lunch, Sarah told Vinny she was done for the day.
Panicked, Vinny convinced Sarah to do one last run. Sarah agreed, and they headed to the top of the mountain, and Vinny insisted on a particular run – St. John’s – for their final run. Just a few hundred yards down the trail, Vinny stopped along the edge and waited for Sarah, who stopped and wondered why Vinny had not only stopped so quickly, but also why he had kicked off his skis and was standing in his boots. Vinny didn’t have a good answer, but within a few more nervous moments, Vinny was down in the snow on one knee asking Sarah to marry him.
After she said "yes!", the newly-engaged couple sat in the snow for a while alone, calling their families to tell them the news.
