I can get back in!!!!

New questions:

1. AB and I are redesigning freaks. Do y'all like?

2. Al and T - the special weekends?? Details!!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Answers

Uh, hi? Am I the only one who can get in?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

The redesigns look great.

Where's T? Where's T?!

My weekend was excellent. Seriously. Once again, I wholly underestimated the MOC.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Y'aaaaaaaaallllllllllllll!!!!!?????????

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Tell us about the MOC!!!! Did he like his gifts? What did he get you?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I'm in! Waiting for FedEx.

The Chao Family weekend with the Meat of Cheese was fantastic.

Oh yeah, Allison was there, too.

Just kidding. We went to Six Flags, and rode some coasters, and ate an order of chili cheese fries that was nothing more than a pool of cheese with some fries floating in it. I think Chris was in heaven.

T! Where are you?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Ew. Those fries were nasty. And delicious.

Chris is all in love with Mad, now. At one point he goes "She's just such a nice kid."

Well, he loved his Iron Chef book. And the Chin-Feng card DID arrive JUST IN TIME, so I got to give him that, and he nearly cried.

People. He gave me the heart key tag from Tiffany... and it is beautiful, but I don't even care about that. He wrote me this letter... y'all. He wrote me a letter about all the keys that might go on it, and it is the sweetest.thing.in.the.world. No, I mean in the WHOLE world.

Also: we saw the Chaos, Slobberbone, Mad Mad and the Texas Giant. We also laid around and watched baseball on TV and drank Ginger Ale and did nothing. It was a great time.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

What a nice thing to say about Mad! And even after her Powerpuff Girls temper tantrum. Hee.

That key thing with the letter is pure genius, Allison. I have a tear in my eye just thinking about it.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Ah, the Powerpuff Girls thing lasted about five minutes after being in the sun all day and two rides on the Mine Train. I was about to have a tantrum myself.

The letter was just so great - and PURE Huff. He's a good one.

Y'all. If somebody doesn't get on here and spill the Lippincott beans, I am going to go clazy!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I do not believe for one minute that Mad Mad had a temper tantrum. Not for a minute.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Well, Berman... I gotta tell you... she did. And it was classic. But not a big deal at all. When AB is your mom, those things are gonna be short-lived.

My FAVORITE part of the whole thing was AB getting frustrated and saying:

"Madeleine, you need to stop crying. You're acting like a five-year- old."

And Mad said "I AM FIVE!!!!!!!!"

I had to run away, it made me laugh so hard. AB was all "Uh... what I had meant to say was that you had been actin' like a three-year- old."

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

But how were the Power Puff Girls involved?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Oh, but she did. Al and Chris and I got off the Texas Giant, and walked back to where Master V and Mad were, and Madeleine was in full pouting glory after not being able to win a Powerpuff doll in one of those games with the claw, where you try to pick it up.

Al's right, though--I think we were all about to have temper tantrums, we were so hot and tired.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Nope. I just don't buy it. I've seen the graduation pictures. She's an angel.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

"Madeleine, you need to stop crying. You're acting like a five- year- old."

And Mad said "I AM FIVE!!!!!!!!"

Oh, it's funny now. But it was right around the time that I was about to start strangling her.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

THE IMAC IS HERE!!! AAAAAHHHH!

I'll be back.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

See, the infrequent tantrums make me love Mad Mad even more - because she's, uh, mad. You know.

And she's really so good all the time, that you forget she's five and could easily act like a baby at any moment, but most of the time she doesn't.

She's a sweet cheese.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Oooooo! The iMac! I can't wait to see it!

Don't break it!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Haha! "I AM FIVE!" That's the best.

Al - sweet MOC. Glad y'all had a good weekend.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

It was a really, really great weekend. Nice and relaxing and full of lo...mmm.

I started crying a little when I read the letter he gave me, and I looked at him and he was sort of crying, too. We're dorks.

You know, I avoid the subjects of marriage and weddings like the black plague, but he keeps bringing it up! I don't get it! And then he acts like it makes him nervous, but I swear, he's the one who's doing it!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Just let him keep bringing it up! But that's great!

What a great gift. Letters are the best.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Can I just say that I love y'all? Because it's true - I do.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

T.

Forget about us! What about YOU?!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Al - you be the only MATHlete not on my notify. Soooo sad. So sad for me.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Fine, fine. I'll get on it. Y'all are determined to force me into getting a notify list just to keep up, aren't you?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

So, for a while, Chris and I had been talking about taking a long weekend trip Charleston. Neither of us had been there, and we've only heard amazing things about the city. A few weeks ago, Chris said, "Hey - remind me to call Kristy tomorrow so she can give me some ideas on where to stay in Charleston - we shoud go ahead and take that trip. Do we have any plans for Memorial Day?"

So the next day, I emailed Chris and tacked on, "Hey - were you able to call Kristy?"

About an hour later, Chris called me and said, "Yep - I got our reservations for Charleston - plus, we have dinner reservations for both nights and tickets to the opera and to a jazz show." (Neither of us realized that it was the same weekend as Spoleto.)

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I gave in to the power of the notify. I know everyone on my list. It's sort of funny.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Anyway. Chris told me where we were staying, but not how much it was going to cost (Because of Spoleto, Charleston was just about all booked up). Clearly, Chris knows me well, because as I am a Nancy Drew, I found the hotel's website that had all sorts of information about the rooms, the history of the mansion - everything.

When I saw the hotel, I suspected that something was up. I mean, that place was nice. I thanked Chris profusely for plannign the trip, taking carre of the reservations, the tickets, all that, and he would always reply, "Well, you wanted me to call Kristy - I figured you might want to go to Charleston." But he said it in a way that was sort of ambivalent, if that makes sense, so I figured that he really didn't have anything planned.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I'm back! T's here! Everybody's happy!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

She's being all secretive with her story. Suspense builder.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

We woke up early on Saturday morning and drove to Charleston. I told myself that I would watch for signs - was he obsessing over something in his pocket? Would he make sure that I went nowhere near his suitcase? Y'all, I got nothing. He wasn't nervous, he didn't seem especialy excited about going to Charleston - nothing.

In fact, I was really convinced that nothing would happen this weekend after he asked me to remind him when we were going to be in New Orleans again so he could talk to my dad then. He kept saying that he would have to tlak to his friend Jeff, since he had no idea how to buy an engagement ring, that he was worried that he'd have to pawn his watch - things like that.

So, we arrived in Charleston, and y'all. This hotel. Amazing. Hands down, it's the nicest place I've ever been in my entire life. The same went for Chris. It's this mansion that they converted into a 21-room inn two years ago. Tiffany glass, inlaid floors, the works. They have this cupola on top that I told Chris we would have to see. Our room was unbelievable - the main bedroom had a gigantic old bed, two cushy leather armchairs, an armoire with the tv, a stereo, cd's from many genres - all that. There was a sitting room to the side that was all chintz and wicker, with an antique ceiling fan and another tv. THEN, there was a terrace in the garden that you could only get to from our room. This place was the bomb. I mean, they served cheese for breakfast. There was wine every afternoon. And cheese for breakfast. I was in love with this place. They called Chris Mr. Anulewicz and me Miss Lip incott. There were willing to do whatever we wanted. It was amazing. I asked Chris, "I wonder where the poor people are staying tonight?" We were in heaven.

(And again, because I am Nancy Drew, I looked to the staff for clues. I thought that maybe Chris had sent the ring along to the hotel, or something. I thought maybe there would be a wink from the concierge - y'all, I was drawing for straws and ultimately, I determined that there wouldn't be an engagement this weekend, but seeing as Chris had brought me to a place where I could eat cheese for breakfast, I was fine with that.)

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

You saluted America's veterans and ATE MORE CHEESE! Hooray!

This is killing me...

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

So. We couldn't check in until 4, so we left our luggage with the concierge, freshened up in one of their powder rooms, and went to explore Charleston. Because I am a big dork, I read my Charleston travel book on the drive over. Chris said that he had planned our nights, so I could take care of the days. He dis emphasize that he wanted to buy a Spoleto poster, though. So, that was the first thing we did. Oh - and Chris bought some Tevas. His died, and after the appropriate mourning period, he was ready to buy another pair.

Charleston is gorgeous. We had no idea. My aunt had told me that it was a lot like New Orleans, but cleaner, and that was an apt description. It was great. We walked along the waterfront, ogled the homes on the Battery, discussed how the entire city was one giant Civil War monument, etc. We made it back to the hotel, where they served us iced tea and lemonade.

Matthew, the evening concierge and Chris' favorite person in the world (Chris now wants a concierge of his very own, in fact), showed us to our room and gave us a tour of the mansion. (Now, the fact that he called himself Matthew was funny for us because on the drive over, we were talking about the name Matthew vs. the name Matt, and how only gay men tend to refer to themselves as Matthew.) And like I said, the room was unbelievable. We figured that we had an hour to relax before the cocktail hour, of which we were determined to take full advantage.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Must. resist. eating. cheese. joke.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

EAT MORE OF IT! I'll be doing my part!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

T's being mean with the suspense. But I love the story so far anyway.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

T is mean.

Allison's boyfriend wants to play with the Bee.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

We rested and cleaned up, and drank a lot of wine at the cocktail hour. We had an hour and a half before our rickshaw was scheduled to arrive (again, courtesy of Matthew), so I decided to take advantage of the marble bathtub.

I was walking to the bathroom, and I noticed that Chris was enthralled with the little electronic safe in the armoire. I assumed he just thought it was cool. I was pretty sure that no engagement would be happening this weekend, especialy after Chris made me sing the "Have Patience" song for the seventh time in a row.

I took a bath, put on my pretty new dress, and we took this rickshaw thing (a college kid towed us on a bike - it wasn't as Southeast Asia as I had imagined it might be) to the Dock Street Theater for the opera (Dido and Aneas). It was opera, but it was good opera, if that makes sense. We took a rickshaw back to the hotel and immediately went to the resturant (Circa 1886), which was located in the carriage house of the hotel. I mentioned to Chris that we should go up in the cupola, but he said that he didn't want to be late for our reservation.

Dinner was amazing. We drank a lot of gin and tonic and a lot of wine. I told Chris that I thought that our day was absolutely perfect - that I couldn't think of a single thing that would make it better. He had lamb, I had veal. We each had a chocolate souffle for dessert.

I was positive that we wouldn't be getting engaged that night, and I was fine with it. We really had a perfect day.

Chris reached for something in his jacket pocket. (He was wearing his poplin suit - absolutely my favorite of all his clothes.) The check hadn't come yet, so I thought that was a little odd.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Despite myself, I held my breath. I wasn't too surprised when Chris pulled his wallet out, though.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

We left the restaurant and walked through the garden to the hotel. It was a beautiful night, but it was a little chilly, so I put my cardigan on. We took the elevator to the top floor and walked up to the cupola. We went outside, and really, it was a breathtaking view.

I was standing at the balcony, and Chris was behind me. We'd only been out there for aboue twenty seconds. He turned me around and told me that he had talked to my father last week and that he wanted me to marry him.

I was shocked. I mean, shocked. He had this sparkly ring and I was gasping and crying and laughing and he got choked up and it was all very, very sweet.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Aaahhhhhh! Aw, T, that is so sweet. It sounds like the very most perfect way to get engaged.

Congratulations!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Yippee!!!!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

He had planned this thing, right down to making sure he was wearing that suit when he asked me because he knew how much I loved it on him. I fell into everything - he had planned on doing it in the cupola, and it made it easy on him that I was antsy on going up there. He had chosen that hotel specifically so we'd have a special place that was ours - he wants us to go there for some of our anniversaries. He wanted to make sure we bought a poster so we'd have something to remember the weekend buy. He was glad I had a good sense of humor and would put up with him making me sing the "Have Patience" song with him.

He's had the ring in our house for TWO WEEKS, y'all. He told me that he would go look at it in the morning when I was in the shower. Two weeks. IN OUR HOUSE! I had no idea. Suddenly, all these odd conversations made sense. "Do you think I have good taste?" Yes. Of course. "Do you think I'm cheap?" What? No. You make me look like Scrooge. That sort of thing.

He wanted to ask me on Saturday night because that way, we could spend all of Sunday in Charleston, engaged.

It was even my idea to buy a bottle of wine to have for our hotel room, y'all. So, we went back to the room, opened the wine, and sat on the terrace.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

And the best part is - it was still a surprise. Good, sneaky C.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

He's very sneaky. All this time, I thought I was a little Nancy Drew, but really, it is so easy to fool me. And I can't keep a surprise worth a damn. I mean, EVERYONE knew. My family, Chris' family, most of our friends, the entire staff at the hotel - everyone.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

First of all, all opera is god opera!

And, uh, SECOND OF ALL:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAH! T, I'm so so so happy for you! What a BEAUTIFUL weekend and a BEAUTIFUL story!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

It's just all so great.

How many hours did you spend on the phone on Sunday morning?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Oh, I love it so much!

What does the ring look like? I hope it's not quite as breathtaking as some of the ones I sent you last week.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Never -- NEVER have I been so glad to have been in a meeting for the past hour and been away from the board. Else I'd have died of the suspense. This way, I got to read it all at one sitting.

Congratulations! That's awesome!

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

We STILL have calls to make.

It's going to be crazy. I was reading Emily Post until 2 this morning.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Oh, I wish we could see the ring!

T, take a picture of your hand.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I need a digital camera.

Y'all, this ring is gorgeous. I should have known that when Chris makes up his mind to do something, he does it right. It's a round solitaire, platinum, four-pronged Tiffany setting. Stunning.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Oh good Lord. I just fainted with pride and jealousy.

I can't wait to see it.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

So like this: http://www.tiffany.com/html/jewelry_expertise/diamond_set_6pro ng.asp

but with 4 prongs instead of 6? Gorgeous.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Exactly. Just like that, but with four prongs.

Chris is so funny - he bought the ring through a wholesaler that his guy David referred him to. Allison - you know David - he's the one with the Christmas Card. With the baby and the tuxedo t-shirt.

Anyway, Chris knew that the guy was a great diamond wholesaler, but he also knew that because Davie had bought his wife a rather, um, busy ring, he knew that the ring for me would be the opposite of that.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

And T, you know how hard it is to work the words "emerald cut", "plain", and "platinum" into everyday conversations. Which is what I tried to do for about 6 months.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

What's her busy ring look like?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Did it work?

Chris is very proud of his choice. He agrees that it's the sparkliest ring, ever.

Y'all. My dad. They were jogging when Chris said, "Mr. Lippincott, I bought Teri a ring, and I wanted to let you know that I wanted to give it to her next weekend."

My dad, who thinks that he is funny for everyone, said, "Oh - a dinner ring?"

Chris said, "No, something a little more permanent than that."

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Hee. That's something everyone's dad would do, I think. Poor Chris.

This is what mine looked like, T, so I think I did okay:

http://www.tiffany.com/html/jewelry_expertise/diamond_set_emer.asp

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Oooh - AB. That's gorgeous.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I think platinum makes everything look so pretty.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

The MOC is so chatty today. I love it.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Where did everybody go?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I'm catching up with email.

And trying in vain to work. I don't think that will happen today, though.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Work? You just got the rock. Walk around and show everyone. Nobody expects you to work the day you get back from being engaged anyway.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

If only I could. The people I work with are so odd.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Only one more hour.

Did you ever email the band AB had?

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

I love how I get google hits for "j crew wallet." And I must come up as one of the first pages on Nad's searches.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Y'all, topica is getting all uppity with my list, and it makes me sad.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Hey - it's 6 here, and I just got home. Just checking back in.

M, is Topica trying to step? Because we'll beat their asses.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001