I'm sure you're all dying to know....

What I've been up to!

No?

Well too bad! I'm going to tell you :)

Since our engagement, things have been pretty busy. Dinners and outings with family. Jobs ending. Vacation. Moving.

Through it all I have had a perma-smile on my face because Jake and I are so incredibly happy. It's so nice to finally know we will spend the rest of our lives together! I love him so much :)

Last week was my last day at work. Leaving my job was really weird. I was happy to be moving on to new and exciting things with my new fiance, but kind of sad because I wouldn't be seeing my co-workers each day. I was very well taken care of at PAAMCO as well. They gave me a very generous gift on my last day and I am so thankful for the opportunities I have been afforded while working there. But all good things must come to an end, and I am about to start a great new chapter in my life!

Immediately after my last day at work, Jake and I watched the Lakers game at the Fergusons for their annual Scotch Party and then boarded a plane to Chicago! We went with a big group of our friends, but first spent a few days with my grandma, great aunt and uncle in Joliet. My mom flew in from her girls trip in Vegas to show us around her home town. It was exciting to share our engagement story and to have Jake finally meet my grandma.

A little back story...

My grandma Jean is an amazing woman. She lives in Illinois, but every year she would come visit our family in California, even though she absolutely hated to fly. She used to cover her shirt in angel pins and bring a stuffed angel with her to keep her safe. Grandma Jean's visit was always a big event for my brother and I because she was our favorite! She was full of energy and would play with us for hours and hours. I remember going to school and not being able to concentrate because I knew when I got home Grandma Jean would be there! We had such fun. Her personality is just like my mom's but obviously stronger (Jake could totally see where my mom gets it!). She is hilarious and says whatever is on her mind.

Anyway, we arrived in Joliet very early in the morning and went straight to my grandma's house because our hotel room wasnt ready yet. She loved Jake right away and started right in with her story time. I think she wanted to fill Jake in on her entire life. Grandma Jean is a story teller and a half! haha

Over the next day and a half, we spent time with my relatives and showed Jake around the downtown area. We left for Chicago after lunch on Thursday to meet up with our friends.

The drive into the city was absolutely beautiful. We checked into the Westin and went immediately to the top of the Hancock Tower (which has some other vulgar nicknames) for cocktails! My Windy City martini was amazing! We met up with friends afterward to watch the Lakers bring home the championship at a bar called Kincades. It was fun to have a big group of Lakers fans all together out of state to watch the game.

My Windy City martini!

The next day was the US World Cup soccer game and the Cubs vs. Angels game at Wrigley Field. I love going to that stadium because there is so much history! It was a hot day, but we all loved cheering on our home town team. (They just happened to be staying at our hotel as well!) After the game, we went back to the Hancock Tower for drinks and aps. We all needed a nap after that and then headed to a delicious dinner at an Italian place called Carmine's. We went bar hopping afterward until about 4am. So much fun!

The next day was girls day while the boys went to another baseball game at Wrigley. We started at Cheesecake Factory for breakfast, then a champagne bar for pops, and ended up at Navy Pier at Harry Carey's Tavern! That night we had dinner plans at Joe's Stonecrab where our group reserved the boardroom. It was an amazing, bank-breaking meal, but hey, what are fiances for? haha. I wasn't feeling well after dinner, but we joined our friends at the Dana Hotel's rooftop bar for a drink. I'm really glad we went, but Jake was nice enough to come back to the hotel with me as our friends continued to another bar :)

Booze Boy!

The Bellini Sisters!

(The rooftop bar had a giant chalkboard wall!)
The next day we met up with our friend from USC, Al (aka Foul). He lives in the city and took us to La Creperie for a delicous breakfast. Jake and I went on the architectural boat tour before heading to the airport!

It was a great trip, but exhausting! And now we are moving to LA! More on that soon.

Best Week Ever

No, I'm not talking about the hilariously awesome show on VH1 that has mysteriously disappeared from TV.

I'm talking about MY life!

WE'RE ENGAGED! To be MARRIED! AHHHHHHHHH!

This past week has been a whirlwind, so bear with me. I want to get it all out so I never forget what my future husband and I went through this first week of the rest of our lives :)

It all started with our Memorial Day plans. Jake had to work the holiday weekend on Saturday so he asked if I wanted to go away with him on Sunday and Monday. I thought it sounded fun so we were throwing ideas back and forth. Santa Barbara, Laguna, Palm Springs and finally decided on San Diego. He sent me a link to the Hilton Bayfront and it was perfect! Done and done.

We had a nice relaxing time Friday and Saturday with friends. Early Sunday morning we hit the road to head South. The hotel was absolutely beautiful and apparently newly built. We got there around 9:30 am and our room wasn't ready so we walked down to the Gas Lamp district to have breakfast at the Hard Rock hotel. Breakfast was fun because have I mentioned Jake is my best friend? We think so much alike and have the same humor so we can laugh for hours at dumb stuff that people probably look at us like we're crazy for laughing at. I dont know this breakfast was just perfect and I was excited for the day ahead.

We walked around the Hard Rock for a little while and went to see where they were setting up a concert later on. We walked back to our hotel hand in hand and were surprised by how nice the weather was. Our room still wasn't ready so we decided to head to the pool with our awesome cooler full of beers that we hid under a towel. I'm pretty sure the waitresses at the pool hated us for bringing in an 18-pack of Bud Lights, but listen, we were about to get engaged, unbeknowst to me, so lay off ladies!

We spent the day soaking up the sun by the GORGEOUS salt water infinity pool on the bay. It was a perfect day, even though Frank was mad that I read a magazine for an hour and "ignored" him. By the time our room was ready, Jake went in to check in and move our bags to our room. I had to guard our Bud Lights and our prime location by the pool. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it! He came back to the pool to say he had upgraded our room. At first I didn't believe him because let's be honest, we are both frugal with money. Then I was kind of mad. Why would you do that for just one night? Its a waste of money. Well he insisted so I went with it. He had made dinner reservations at a place in Little Italy that night so we decided to head up to the room to take a nap and get ready to go out.

I walked into the room and it was perfect. Our view from the 25th floor was so us! Half of it bay view (for me) and half of it skyline view (for Jake). Jake is obsessed with skylines. Anywho, I wanted to take a nap but Jake was not having it. He was in a weird, talkative, slightly drunk from the sweet pineapple drink from the pool mood. I announced it was "quiet time" because I wanted to nap. He was in the bathroom fumbling around with something so I closed my eyes for what had to have been less than a minute. Jake came into the room and was talking and asking questions. Without opening my eyes I shushed him. Then he said, "Berrey I have one more question, will you marry me?" I opened my eyes and said "What?" He was knelt down on one knee right next to the bed with a ring box. It had the most perfect ring I had ever seen in it. I said "Of course!" and we kissed and hugged and cried for what seemed like forever. I finally got the ring on my finger and felt so shocked. He had tricked me! But it was a good trick. hahah

So I called everyone under the sun for the next 2-3 hours. I never did get that nap! We headed downstairs for a champagne toast and it was the most perfect thing. I was so happy to be with my new fiance. We ordered from a friendly bartender and sat and talked about preliminary plans, our family, future kids, even kid names. Isn't that so weird to think just a few short hours ago I was a carefree girlfriend and now I have a fiance and we are talking about kids? Craziness!

We next headed to the Hyatt down the street because they have a 40th story bar that we wanted to watch the sunset at. More engagement talk and a free round of champagne later, we headed to Little Italy to Benicotto. Homemade pasta dream of a place! We were seated on the 2nd story at a cute little table. The night was just perfect and I was even shocked at how happy it made me feel. Jake made everything so special. We shared a bottle of wine and headed back to our hotel. We were going to watch a movie on TV but Jake passed out from all of the excitement pretty early. I was just giddy. Calls and facebook messages left and right! Who can sleep? Then our best friends, Graham and Christi sent up a bottle of champagne and a card. They are so sweet. I tried to wake Frank up to drink it, but no dice. That was one sleepless night. I couldnt shut my brain off from thinking about how much my life had changed (for the better) after that one simple question, will you marry me?

I was getting texts well into the night and some pretty funny ones. It was waking Jake up so we ended up just laying in bed and talking for a few hours. Which is really funny, because Jake's most famous line is, "Berrey, lets just stay up all night and talk." hahah. What a weirdo.

We went to a nice breakfast at the hotel and pretty much stared at my ring and just talked about our future together. We were both still so shocked about what had happened. We decided to leave right after breakfast to head home because we had so much to do and didnt want to get stuck in Memorial Day traffic.

We stopped by my mom's house to show her the ring, then dropped it off to get it sized. I was very sad to give it up for 2 whole days, but it was way too big. Jake thought he was all sly by bringing in one of my rings that I always wear. He didnt realize I always wear it on my MIDDLe finger, not the ring finger. Duh! He gets points for trying though :) Next we went to the furniture store where I bought a new bed, mattress and dining room set. These were all pre-engagement planed purchases, but being engaged made it that much more exciting!

Finally we got home and relaxed by the pool with our friends for the rest of the night. We of course had lots of champagne and shared our weekend stories with them. It was the best!

And cue, the future Mrs. Frank as the most busy person ever. Work was crazy busy this week and every night there was some celebration planned. Tuesday I went to Javier's at Crystal Cove with my old USC roommates for one of their birthdays. This was planned pre-engagement but it was great to share my excitement with them. Wednesday I got to pick up my ring FINALLY from the jeweler and ended up going to Jake's parents for dinner to meet some of their friends from out of town. Thursday was the big ring reveal with all of our closest friends at Maren's house. Us girls chatted about girly wedding and baby stuff while the boys watched the Lakers finals game down at the Catch. Friday a big group of us got drinks at Woodranch and went to see Get him to the Greek. It was a busy week.

Yesterday Maren and I woke up at the butt crack of dawn to fight the crowds at the Quiksilver/Roxy sale thanks to Christi's tickets. I found some good deals! Then a little Target and Bed Bath and Beyond later. We met at Graham and Christi's later on for a champagne toast and we thought we heading to a nice quiet dinner with the 4 of us. We should have known that our group of friends are anything but quiet. We walked into the restaurant and were surprised with an Engagement Dinner at our local favorite, Rosine's. They had set up the entire table with flowers and balloons and even gave Frank and I "Groom to be" and "Bride to be" buttons and sashes. I also received my first "F" initial present from the Fergusons and lots of other fun gifts. These friends are truly special to us and Jake and I were so shocked at how everyone got together for little old us. The night was perfect. We headed to the Tousignants afterwards to continue the celebration well into the night.

And now today, I'm just staring at my ring and loving my new fiance! Also, I just wanted to point out, (that is if you're still reading this rambling), that I truly believe in signs and things happening for a reason. I know on this blog and in my life lately things have been up and down and I've complained about things not going my way. But I think I need to feel those downs to know how thankful I am for this "up" time right now. I have been walking on a cloud. I was speaking with my mom this week and one of those "downs" reared its ugly head. In the middle of my complaining to her she stopped me and said, "Cheryl, listen. All you need to worry about now is loving your husband." It hit me like a ton of bricks because it was so powerful. So this is what I am focusing my positive energy on. Loving my (future) husband and making sure this feeling lasts forever.

Pics of our engagement below!