Enchantment: May I Have This Dance? :)

Cassie is my medical resident friend from my Tulane undergraduate days. Her and her newlywed husband, David, have a smittingly sweet proposal story. 

Cassie always spends Thanksgiving in Texas with her entire family at one big get together. Lunch begins promptly at 12pm, regardless of whoever may be late. This particular year, Cassie's mother was insistent that they wait until everyone was there... then her mom said, "you know, it's Thanksgiving and we never have someone give thanks. Her mother asked David [her then boyfriend] to give a Thanksgiving toast. So then David said he had a Thanksgiving Day poem to read, and began to read it.

Meanwhile, Cassie's cousin was joking that David was just reading the Thanksgiving poem being shuffled around on Facebook. While David was reading his poem, Cassie became distracted by some of her youngest cousins and aunt, all of whom were transfixed by making a dessert syrup on the stovetop.

When Cassie turned around from observing the cooking process, David was kneeling on one knee. As he held out the ring box, Cassie teared up and somehow nodded yes. And then, everyone present applauded and captured the moment through taking pictures and video!

Fit for a Fairytale

And now, without further ado, I present to you my little sorority sister in Chi Omega, Sarah and her story of how her now hubby, then fiance, proposed:


In Dallas, Rob had one of Sarah's best friends take her shopping, and he had arranged a personal shopper at Nordstroms with dresses and shoes already picked out in her size! Receiving a text message about being wisked off to Love Field airport, Sarah was then whisked off for a "surprise" trip to New Orleans, one of the most romantic places on the planet. In the Windsor Court hotel lobby, Rob met her and it had happened to be her birthday. Surprising her again, he took Sarah in a horse drawn carriage down to the river where they had both written a few months earlier on a post declaring, "Sarah loves Rob forever." At that point, Rob proclaimed that her birthday was over, got down on one knee and the rest, my friends, is history :)




And for a lil' finale, here is a cute, lovely video on children, ages 5-8, on love and what it means to them:


http://www.dailycandy.com/all-cities/video/96979/Children-Talk-About-Love?refcd=email:526094:10

Enjoy watching! It certainly made my morning :)


Tanya

Why As a Single Girl I am Qualified to Write About Couples

I am a romantic idealist and a pretty long-term single girl (2 years or so). However, I feel like I am qualified to write about couples because I have observed so many of my friends in enduring, stable, and steady plus one relationships. Feeling part wistful about not being in a highly functional couple, and feeling partly sad at my self-sufficient, yet solo existence, this project was to help me believe in finding love for my own self one day from a partner. I am an extremely observant, inquisitive 30 year old woman. My unofficial training was in journalism internships during undergrad, and my attendance at 22 weddings from age 5 and up have given me plenty of inspiration to draw upon.

I also started Plus One: The Love Project to keep encouraging other singles to keep believing that they too would one day find a loving partner (if they wanted one, of course). My provision of successful couples and their stories are supposed to be inspirational. We shouldn't idealize their relationships at all, since nothing in life is a "sure thing," but we certainly can gain a sense of hope from them and maintain glass as half full views about what we deserve.

If I look through a lens of an "outsider," I realize that I am only choosing the capture the uplifting and good. In this dismal economic climate, I believe that people need outlets of joy. And that is why Plus One: The Love Project was established. 

I wanted to post a picture of myself with a cute dog or something, but it seemed extremely insufficient: a cover up sham for my strong individualism. This post will remain without a picture because the purpose is to shift the attention to those who fit each other well and those that have found happiness together. Until then, or until I am coupled, enjoy the sassy postcard compliments of Postsecret someone sent in, which reflects my own mantra:

The Relevance of You and Your Plus One!

I am a self-professed romantic that is an absolute sucker for the authentically sweet. I created this blog to share the true love between two: childhood sweethearts, time-honored couples, the long-time married, the newly engaged, newlyweds, and the recently smitten. I started it in part because I wanted to combat my own cynicsm and hesitancy to believe in the consistency and honest to goodness duration of actual couples' love, because all of those featured are real together and happy. As I refuse to be weathered by bad dates throughout the years or disappointment, this blog marks a celebration of when things meld together: when life is blissful when two souls join. Maybe enchantment will one day come into my life unexpectedly.

It is my goal to get 365 couples to participate, many of whom I know personally. I admire that these plus ones can maintain their own identities, yet still share their lives with that special someone. The stories and snapshots will be timeless - spanning across ages, distances, races, and socio-economic classes.

For my single readers out there (and I certainly hope to gain them), this blog is the literary version of a Jane Austen novel, but much shorter, savvier, and more modern (of course). It shows women that men still go out on limbs to impress women and yes, in fact, chivalry is not dead. It also is meant to show men that women are actively appreciative and completely embrace acts that are gentlemanly and/or thoughtful.

Each entry will feature: their first names, a meaningful picture (perhaps taken by me?), and a story of either how:
- the couple met,
- what their first date was like,
- what each of the couple loves about each other,
- their favorite moment from their wedding,
- and/or (if relevant) how he proposed (Although it's too bad that it's never been accepted in the mainstream for women to propose, although I'd love to feature a couple where the lady herself popped the question. Why not?).

Inspired by the project I participated in, which features solo individuals, http://www.365heartbeats.blogspot.com/, I wanted to come up with my own blog that features duos and pairs. Furthermore, another source of motivation was the Sunday wedding section of the New York Times, where fate unites individuals together in whimsical ways.

Please contact me, Tanya, at: islandgirl.TNL@gmail.com if you'd like to participate! I'm based in Boston, MA and would love to meet you and yours.