a wedding planner's wedding: The proposal...Sneaky little devil

Ok, so Shane asked me if I would like to goto L.A. as a birthday gift/ weekend vacation. Of course I said ok. I love to travel and I have never been to L.A. Unfortunately, after I thought about it, I was being very closed minded due to media and the preconception that L.A. was nothing but fake women, fake men, fake boobs, and a bunch of faker McFakerson's and tourists. BUT, Shane used to live there and he has very close friends there. So I went along with the idea. We stayed with his friends, Jason and Michelle, who were AMAZING! (see it never pays to be negative). So the first night we were there in L.A. Jason arranged for a visit to a place called Magic Castle. It was their friend Brandi's birthday so it was kind of a surprise, Shane is here for your birthday kind of thing. We went and it was fun! Basically you watch some magic shows, eat and have drinks. I know Shane enjoyed seeing his friends and hanging out with them. It had been a long time since he had seen them. I enjoyed meeting them all as well. Brandi was so happy and excited to see Shane! It was adorable. And honestly these people were so super sweet to me, the unknown girlfriend. They acted as if I had been around forever.
Saturday, Shane and I woke up at 6:30 AM (like we did everyday we were there, stupid time zones). So we got up and went for coffee and headed up the coast to a beach he knew of. It was a great drive, lots of amazing beach front homes. When we got to the spot he knew of we walked on the beach, and saw some baby seals ( i say baby but I think they were adults. They were so cute and playing in the water, so in my head I think baby). It was actually pretty cold, like 55-60 degrees so the visit was somewhat short lived. We went back to Jason and Michelle's because we had plans for Jason to take us out on a Cessna plane for a short trip to Santa Barbara. That was all I knew. I also knew that the idea of a guy whom I really didn't know, flying me in a teeny weeny plane scared the shit out of me. BUT, once again, I played along ( I am a team player apparently) and we all headed to the airport and met Brandi (who was equally as scared as I) and got into this 4 seater aircraft. I knew we were going to tour some vineyards and do some wine tasting so that was an incentive for me to go. (i think that was plotted). After we got up in the air, I was like WOW! this is not bad AT ALL! Jason was a great pilot and Shane's arm was a great grabbing tool. The view of California was BEAUTIFUL from the altitude we were at. We landed in Santa Barbara were we were met by our cab driver, that the guys, or Jason arranged for. He took us right to the vineyards. He even recommended which ones to go to. He was a good cab driver with stories and all.
So we got to the first winery which was Sunstone, it was beautiful. We got our tasting glasses and started tasting. I have never done wine tasting before so this was so much fun for me. The wine was excellent. We finished our 6 samples and loaded up into the cab and headed to #2. It was okay. More of a fun casual atmosphere though. A bachelorette party was going on, in a not so cool kind of way. The wine was ehhh.. the whites were ok but the reds were terrible. So anyways, jason could not drink since he was flying and I suggested that we get a bottle to take back so he could try it. We decided the 2nd wine we tasted at the first place was best. So we went back. Me, being a smoker (yuck I know I start Chantix tomorrow) said I would wait outside while they went in to get two bottles. So Brandi and I waited and in a few minutes the guys came out, wine in hand. Shane suggested that we go get some photos in this area that looks like it was a "wedding" spot. There was a terrible wire arch wrapped in dried grape vine and as we stood under it for our photo I said "Shane, if we ever get married we WILL NOT have one of these at our wedding." next thing I know he says, "well let's pretend we are getting engaged." as he gets on his knee. WHAT?!!?!?! I was absolutely blown away. So blown away that after I said "Shane! What? Really? and than hit him on the arm (jokingly of course)" I said "yes". I had NO IDEA he had been planning this. I mean the chit- chat of marriage was going on, but I still did not expect it. I had showed him a ring I fell in love with. It was a black diamond in an antique setting. So AMAZING! And he totally listened, because that is exactly what he had in that little red box. I love the ring, I loved the proposal, and I love the idea of us having a life together forever. So here are a few pics.