Give Me a Shot at the Night

Hello friends of #notinmod! As most of you probably know, a lot has changed for Chad and me over the last few weeks. I have had many requests for story details, so I thought I would share with everyone across the World Wide Web. #goviral

To start off, Chad and I have been talking for some time about moving in together and finally seeing each other more than 2 days/week. We have been in a bit of a holding pattern because we both own our condos and selling was going to be difficult. So we have just been doing our usual commute back and forth, hoping we could figure out something out soon. 

Our friends, Katie and Chris, got married last month and they asked Chad if he would be willing to rent his place to them. Chad and Katie had a few conversations about it, and they decided they would move forward with renting, pending a walk-through of the place. Chad had asked me to join the walk-through, which I thought nothing of and agreed to.

That night, I went over to Chad's house and Katie and Chris came over to see the condo. We did a walk-through, and then I suggested we all go downstairs to see his garage (side note: Chad has a 1-car detached garage). Apparently, unknown to me, I wasn't supposed to do that….

So Chad quickly jumped in and said, "I mean, it is a garage…why don't the boys just go look and you girls can stay up here." And since I am lazy, I clearly thought that was a lovely idea. Plus, putting shoes on sounded like a lot of work. So the boys went downstairs, and Katie and I sat upstairs talking bout their wedding, and then suddenly there was a knock at the door…

My first reaction was saying, "ugh, what?!" but then I realized that Chad must have forgotten his keys. I didn't want to look like a brat to Katie and Chris, so I decided to get up and get the door despite the fact that I was quite comfy on the couch. 

When I opened it, Chad was standing there with a sign that read, "SAY IT'S CAROL SINGERS" and that is where the roller coaster of excitement and emotions kicked in. With the Killer's song, "Shot at the Night" playing in the background, Chad reenacted HIS version of my favorite scene from my favorite movie, "Love Actually." One by one, he went through each sign. They read:

SAY IT'S CAROL SINGERS

WITH ANY LUCK BY NEXT YEAR

WE WILL BE LIVING TOGETHER

BUT FOR NOW LET ME SAY

WILL ALL MY HOPE AND ALL MY LOVE

JUST BECAUSE IT’S WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25^TH

(AND ON RANDOM WEDNESDAYS IN JUNE YOU TELL THE TRUTH)

TO ME YOU ARE PERFECT

AND MY WASTED HEART WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

CARRIE WILL YOU GIVE ME A SHOT AT THE NIGHT

CARRIE WILL YOU GIVE ME A SHOT AT YOUR LIFE

CARRIE WILL YOU

And then he got down on one knee, opened a little blue box, and asked me to marry him!

With every sign that he dropped, I became more and more hysterical. I was laughing, and smiling, and was DEF doing the ugly cry. When he was down on one knee, I just started jumping up and down, crying and screaming YES as many times as I possibly could! As we continued hugging and jumping (me) he looked at me and held up the ring and said, “Did you want to see this??” In the madness of it all, I never even looked at the gorgeous ring he had in his hands!

As he put it on my finger, I honestly couldn’t even really look at it because I was shaking so much. But when I calmed down (awhile later), I realized what an amazing job he did. It is GORGGGG. And even better, he went to Carreen’s uncle (a diamond seller on Jewelers Row) to get the ring, so it is from "family"!

After the proposal, I was in so much shock that I remember hugging Katie and Chris and awkwardly kicking them out (sorry!). I didn’t know what I was doing, all I knew is that my heart was racing and I had never been more excited in all my life. We popped the bubbly, toasted to our future, and of course started all the family calls.

I honestly had NO IDEA this coming – we had just decided to move in together, I didn’t want to overwhelm the guy too much! But apparently he was planning to propose even before the move-in started rolling. I always said I wanted to be surprised, and since I am super nosy, that is hard to do. But of course, Chad found a way! The whole “walk-through” was just a rouse, but obvi we are still moving in together and they are still taking Chad's place. Also, with Katie and Chris there, we have the whole thing on video!

I could not be more excited to get to spend my life with Chad. He has made me laugh and smile every day since we first met. I don’t really believe in soul mates, but I believe in finding the person that you want to be with every day, whether happy or sad, in good and tough times, and that for me is Chad. He makes me feel loved every day, and I just hope I can show him the same in return.

We have not started any wedding planning (although I have been a bit more active on Pinterest) but we are just getting ready for the big move! Look out, Chicago – Lovegren is moving in!

Be prepared for the hysteria you are about to witness: Click HERE for the proposal video

Putting the Love in Lovegren

He made this. 

When I posted a few months ago that 2013 was not a very good year, some of my friends found it a little offensive. Chad, however, found it VERY offensive. For some reason he does not feel he gets enough facetime in this blog (which he only reads because I make him) so this Valentine’s Day, I am writing about Chad. And since he is a tad narcissistic like me, I think he will like this.

WARNING: This is a cheesy post, so if you like cheese (wait - everyone likes cheese, but you know what I mean) then read on. If not, then go enjoy your afternoon, and I promise I will post again soon.

As most of you know, Chad and I met online and for some reason he instantly made me happy. His eharms questions were about Saved By The Bell, he went in for the kiss on a first date, and made Dad Jokes that made me smile from ear to ear. He paid attention to everything I said (which I can only imagine is not easy) and still continues to surprise me how well he can listen to even my longest stories. And while Chad is overall good on paper – funny, handsome, creative, thoughtful – it is the little things about him that made me fall in love with him. 

Here are just a few of my favorite Chad moments:

On one of our first dates, Chad and I went to the beach. He was in charge of the cocktails, and I was in charge of the food. That morning, Chad went for a 16-mile run before making some strong cocktails to bring to my house. Being that I was nervous to be seen in a bathing suit for the first time, I completely forgot about the fact that I was in charge of food. He never said anything, so we went to the beach and started casually drinking our cocktails. By the time we finished, Chad was not only drunk, but STARVING. He stayed quiet until we went to the Sox game that night, and he inhaled almost an entire helmet nacho (I helped). People were like, “Woa, I have never seen anyone actually finish one of those.” It took months before he ever told me how hungry he was that day, and reminded me that I was in charge of the food. Whoops. But the fact that he ate the helmet nachos and kept the helmet, well – I knew he was a keeper right then and there.

This year was Chad’s first year at the lake, and it is no surprise that he loved it. But more than Chad loved the lake, I think my dad loved having another man up there to help him and Keith with some labor around the house. Trying to get on Bob Keller’s good side, Chad helped my dad put rocks up and down the shoreline to build a rock wall. The next day, when all the rocks had fallen (Keith’s side), Chad rebuilt the rock wall. The next day, when the rocks fell again (Dad’s side), Chad rebuilt a third time. I know throwing 25 pound rocks isn’t exactly how he planned to spend his weekend, but the fact the he got in the water each day to build something for my family made me love him a little bit more.

Every once in a while I get the chance to work from home, and when I do, I often work from Chad’s house. He and I only see each other about 1 or 2 days a week, so working from home opens up the possibility of a 3^rd day. I usually tell Chad when I am heading to his house (just so he knows) and about 75% of the time he responds to tell me what food is in the house. I can’t tell if it is his way of keeping track of how much I eat when I get there, or just because he knows that I am always hungry, but for some reason it always cracks me up. Sidenote: the food is always the same – Cottage Cheese, Pizza Rolls, Apples, and sometimes leftover chicken. The other 25% of the time he tells me that “if I am cold/hot, I can adjust the temperature” and then gives directions on how to use the thermostat. Pressing the up/down button can be tough, especially when you have you’re busy eating pizza rolls.

I am not going to put you through anymore of my sappy tales, but this is just a snapshot into why I love this guy. While I know these stories don’t mean anything to any of you readers, they mean the world to me.

I feel very lucky to have found you, Chad. Happy Valentine’s Day!

I'm So Much Cooler Online

Hi Friends! I have been a very bad blogger lately, which I am sure has resulted in some serious NotInMod withdrawals. I am sorry, and will contribute to all necessary therapy sessions.  But between Christmas shopping, Strep Throat, celebrating with the fam, a very contagious stomach flu, and a potential end of the world, I have been a little crazy the past few weeks. But I am back, and better than ever! Yay!

I mentioned in my last post that I often claim that I am really good at stuff that in reality, I am not very good at. For example, I do recall saying on more than one occasion that I was “really good at dating.”

News Flash: I am not. And looking back at every time I made that claim, I don’t think I was ever actually dating anyone, so clearly...not that good at it.  

Now, I am not at all embarrassed to say that I joined eHarmony in the Spring in hopes of finding a +1 that wasn’t Carreen (sorry, Rooms) and to meet that someone special. Plus, it actually sounded like fun: Meet all these great people! Try new things! Make new friends! Learn about yourself and others at the same time! The people in the commercials seemed so happy, plus that Natalie Cole song just really makes you want to get out there and find that Everlasting Love.

In filling out my eHarms survey, I thought about what was important to me. Someone who was sociable, funny, had good hygiene, not a racist, not a drug addict, and not rude. So pretty much I ruled out the bums in my alley, and some of the questionable people I have met at Tais ‘til 4.

I spent a few weeks filtering through my matches, perfecting my profile, and reading some of their super helpful and encouraging articles, like this gem. Eventually, I had my first date, and I was pumped to show off my stellar dating skills.

To start off the night, the guy was 15 minutes late. Now that might throw some people off, but since I was a self-proclaimed pro, I didn’t let that ruin my game….until about 3 minutes in when it became very evident that I had nothing to talk to this guy about. He was obsessed with his iPhone, liked R Kelley, and thought Costa Rica was “practically Mexico.” That’s when I realized it…I hate dating.

My eHarms dating experience continues to go downhill from there. A few tips for any single guys reading this blog (which I trust there are not any):

• Plan the date. No girl wants to ask herself on a date.
• Show up on time. Seriously, why must I even say this?
• Don’t act like you’re better than her.
• Put up pictures on your profile that look like you so that she knows who you are when you meet.
• Don’t have a unibrow.

I wish I was still tan. 

After a few months of terrible dates, I realized that I hated dating, and I hated dating terrible people. And so I was ready to give up on dating – it was the worst, and apparently I was really bad at it. *SHOCK – I am admitting I am bad at something*

Now most of you know where this story takes us…right when I was ready to give up, I got a call from what seemed like a decent guy and thought, “Ok, fine…one last date. But I am not giving up a weekend night for this dude.” We went out on a Monday and it all kind of came together. THIS is what dating is supposed to be like. He was smart, a planner, clean, witty, polite, respectful, funny, cute, drug-free…ok, I’ll stop.

But the thing is…he made me feel like suddenly I was good at dating. And I realized that dating is really easy when you are on a date with the right guy. Plus he ordered bacon-wrapped dates. Automatic second-date material.