engagement story contest entry #6!!

We're down to the wire with the Bunny with a Toolbelt engagement contest! Here's the latest tale from Jenny and Allen, who chose my bride and groom squirrels to illustrate their story. Take it away, kids!

Allen and I met, got to know each other, and fell in love while working together at Urban Outfitters in Evanston, Illinois. When Allen proposed, we were together for nearly 4 years. The Friday evening of the week President Obama was elected (which felt like a magical time in Chicago), I went over to Allen's house. He had a flower for me, a pink rose with a green ribbon tied into a bow around it. We had plans to go to one of our favorite Japanese restaurants that night, and we were rushing a bit to get there on time. While not a restaurant we go to a lot, it wasn't too strange that we were going out to eat. We finished dinner, and then Allen wanted to go get his favorite dessert – chocolate chip paradise pie at Chili's. The Chili's we went to just happens to be down the street from the Urban Outfitters where we met. After we were done eating dessert, Allen stood up really quick and said we had to go. I didn't realize at the time that he was so nervous at this point, but looking back, he was a wreck. Our next stop was to window shop at the store we used to work at. Again, that's not something really out of the ordinary because we do that a lot. So Allen took me to a part of the windows at Urban that was actually difficult to see into because of the display. He started telling me about what he loved about me, and we talked about our relationship for a little while until he got down on one knee and proposed – right where it all began! So, of course I said yes, and we'll be getting married on October 9 in Chicago.

I later learned that Allen went to my mom and dad's places to tell them he was planning to propose. My mom lives near Sybaris, which is one of those cheesy hotels that has waterslides from the beds into the in-room pools and mirrors on the ceilings. There are a couple of those in the area, and Allen initially set his GPS to the wrong one, taking an hour-long detour. By the time he got to my mom's, it was pretty late, and when he showed up alone, my mom thought something really bad happened to me . . . oops!

We want to give our wedding a fun and unique handmade and vintage flair. The reception is at a great antique warehouse, and we're trying to either make or collect a lot of the things that go into weddings. We're thrifting vintage plates, having 1" buttons made from old children's books, and shooting some of our engagement pictures with my collection of old Polaroid cameras, among many other details. It's coming together in large part because of the great vintage and handmade things we're finding on Etsy, and these cake toppers are just another one of those perfect little touches.

As of this posting, there's only a few more hours in the contest....click here for the rules and get me your story before it's too late to win my fabulous prize!!