Well, you ask and I write. Doug and I are officially engaged! I know everyone wants me to post something about the ring - so here it is!

It's really me, isn't it? I know - I think so too. It's a pink-purple center diamond set in platinum and rose gold. Total carat weight of 3.43. I've heard the saying that it's not really love unless it's 2 carats and I couldn't agree more. The person who came up with that saying is a friggin genius. Pure geniusy. I now know that he loves me 3.43 much. That's a lot.

How much, you say? Well, I'm not sure I really should reveal that, but, oh, fine, make me. A measly $259,999.99 from Costco, if you want to go out and get yourself one of these beauties. However, mine is one of a kind, so good luck finding it. It looks even better in person without the photo-shopped sparkles.

Honestly - if one is going to spend $259,999.99 do you think they're buying it at Costco? Is it really necessary to make you think you're getting a deal by placing the $0.99 on the end? Actually, I can answer my own question: yes - if it were $260,000.00, there is no way in hell you'd catch me wearing that thing.

Now onto the good stuff. Doug proposed to me on my birthday after a great dinner and FABULOUS dessert, I might add (It was a towering bowl of whipped cream, marshmellowy substance of some kind and a bunch of berries. I'm getting hyper and double vision just thinking about it. Um, okay, I shouldn't really think about that again. In fact, I should probably wear a button of some kind that says "Do not feed sugar." Then I could bust out the line "as evidenced by this button").

Back to the good stuff - he proposed to me in our neighborhood park while we were walking Zoe. Here comes the warm fuzzy stuff - it was perfect. Even though it wasn't really a surprise (I was told he was going to do it just hours before), I had butterflies in my stomach and can't remember one word of the wonderful stuff he said while he was down on one knee. Notta one. I think that might mean I love him more than 3.43 much.

Tags: awesome crap, engagement, wedding

Okay, okay - I'm sorry I have to do this, but if there is someone out there who hasn't seen this yet, watch now. You won't regret the 5 minutes you spent doing so. I was starting to like Tina Fey more and more with each episode of 30 Rock, and now I really like her.

Done with my lunch now, so must get back to work. I've done something idiotic and joined a coed soccer league that plays on Wednesday nights. Last game I pulled both of my quad muscles and hobbled around for the next two days on my 'wounded stumps' (Doug's sweet reference to my legs). I'll blog later and let you know what kind of pain I'm in as a result of tonight's game (for your information - I didn't play more than 2 minutes of the game last week - I pulled them before the game even started).

Tags: awesome crap, pop culture

My view landing in Portland:

I couldn't have asked for a better culmination to my summer travels than the beautiful state of Oregon. For my readers: WARNING - I still think I work for the Oregon Tourism Board. Even though I actually haven't, I tout Oregon as the best place on earth. I heart Oregon the most of all. Browse my pics of Oregon, as well as a few from Jess and Dan's wedding. If there is one thing I've learned over the years - professional photographers take much better pictures than I do, so I don't even try.

My summer travels have seen me in Austin, Texas, back 'home' in Delaware (YEAH JOE BIDEN), New Jersey, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon (twice), Taos/Angel Fire, New Mexico, Crested Butte and all over Wisconsin. Yep - it's been a busy one. I never did get around to that pop culture contest, did I? Okay - I promise it's coming in September. I'll have a lot more time this month. Who would have thunk that Dolph Lundgren would be such a popular topic...

Back to Oregon. Ah, Oregon. Do I miss thee. I would move back to Portland in a heartbeat and I don't think I speak only for myself. I'm pretty sure that most of the close friends that I met there would move back, too. You see, the thing about Portland is that no one knows just how great of a place it is. When I was moving to Colorado, I used to get so annoyed, and still get annoyed when people say 'Oh, Colorado, Beautiful!' You know, it is gorgeous and there are a lot of things that I enjoy about my life here. However, it's not even close to how much I enjoyed Portland. Not even a tiny bit. I could go on forever, but I'll spare you.

Another thing I know - I have an amazing set of friends. I'm sure all people say that, but I really do. I'm still close with the guys and gals from high school, most people I met while in college, and those I've met in Portland and Colorado. Driving through the Columbia River Gorge in the morning, only to catch sunset over the Rockies led me to realize how lucky I am. I'm lucky to have lived in and traveled to such gorgeous places, and am really lucky to have the friends I do. I wish that the contingents of people that I know on the east coast, west coast and the fly over states could all just move to one central place. That would be the life. Anywho...I should stop now before I start crying balling like I did during my speech at the wedding this weekend.

Summer of travels '08 is now over.

Oh, and to top it all off, Burnie (no, it's BURN-IE - that's some pop culture trivia for you, right there) not only pet sat for us once again, but I came home to an autographed copy of Mike Gordon's new CD that he got from the Fox show. Pretty sweet gift and he owes me nothing, nada, zero. I owe him a lot more, believe you me. See - good friends, I tell you.

Tags: travel, friends, phish