her side of the story.....

When I moved to New York in 2010, I wanted to experience the gritty city life and had absolutely no expectations of meeting the love of my life.  I soon joined a Real Madrid fan club, so that I could more properly watch fútbol with other people that love to yell at the top of their lungs at the TV.  The first day with the Peña, I met César and thought...."Ooh, he's cute" and then I saw what I thought was a wedding ring on his left hand. Boo. So we became friends instead and soon after I learned that Spaniards wear their wedding ring on the right hand. Yay! He soon convinced me to go on a date with him, but since he was planning on moving back to "the motherland" (as he calls it), I just didn't expect that we would work out and refrained from using the term "boyfriend." He stood by my side anyways through the days, making me laugh uncontrollably and most importantly making me genuinely happy.

Then one day he couldn't take it anymore and told me he loved me. Yes, ladies, he said the "L" word first! After being friends first, then dating, I finally knew I loved him too.

Fast-forward to June 1, 2013. I was getting off a two week stretch of the night shift and he decided when I came back on Sunday morning, we should go for a bike ride. I absolutely love bike riding around NYC, as does César (he so often makes me ride bikes around in heels...as in....I want to wear heels to brunch, and he wants to bike there) so I agreed. I got my usual three hours of sleep and we strapped our helmets on and started riding. We first rode to have brunch at a little restaurant in the Upper West Side (yum), then continued on to the Bronx Zoo. New York summers are HOT and I was definitely getting a tan on the ride up. We had a day of saving baby ducks, trying to see all the animals who were also hiding from the heat and, of course, taking a photo in the zoo's photo booth. I was going to put the photo in my purse, but worried it would get bent, César mentions he can put it in his folder. (Huh? Folder on a bike ride?) But I was so delirious from the lack of sleep that I didn't think twice.

We left the zoo and I was tired of riding bikes through the torn up Bronx roads in the sweltering NY summer heat, so I suggested a subway ride back home. He said "Sure, baby!" (he rarely says "No" - I know he enjoys making me happy...what a perfect man!) As we were traveling back, I thought to myself, we should keep riding once we get into Manhattan again, so changed my mind and we got off at the first stop in Manhattan and rode down the Hudson River bike path.

Fifteen minutes into the ride back, all I wanted to do was get to the Frying Pan for a cocktail and Cesar stops his bike for a rest. He wanted me to sit next to him (I didn't feel like sitting). Finally I sit, he just keeps drinking water. We are looking out onto the river. And then he reaches into his backpack and hands me a piece of paper: "Reasons why I love you" with a pie chart of reasons. Awww. He's so cute, I think to myself. And he hands me another piece of paper: "Reasons why you should love me," now with a bar graph. He's funny too! Then another sheet of paper: "Reasons why we are good together." I swear I'm so delirious I don't even know what's coming next, even though he just made me a handmade powerpoint presentation. And then the last sheet of paper (drumroll) telling me why he loves me; he gets down on one knee and here we are! (And to think, he was going to let me ride the subway back home). I was sweaty, exhausted, and turning browner by the minute and he still wants to marry me. {smile}.

Thankfully I did not crash the bike on the way home (as I couldn't stop looking at the ring), so I am here today ready to marry the most incredible, funny, honest, and loving man I have ever met.

his side of the story.....

There are only three ways I usually describe myself to people: I’m Spanish, I’m incredibly sexy, and I’m a huge Real Madrid fan/hooligan (¡No estamos todos, falta Raúl!) So it was only fitting that I met the love of my life at the Peña Madridista New York City.

It was a hot September day in 2010 when Real Madrid was playing Deportivo de la Coruña (we won 6-1, yes, I do remember scores), and out of nowhere, a new, beautiful face was sitting at the bar. Luke – the husband of the Peña’s President, Elena – introduced me to Sharmeen while he told her “be careful with this one.” And he was right. I remember thinking to myself, “what a gorgeous little brown girl.”

That day, we hung out quite a bit (amidst all the celebrations for Madrid winning) and became fast friends. Fast-forward a couple of weeks later when the Peña was hanging out after a game when I texted her, “ditch that guy you’re with and come hang out with me” – yes, she was on an informal date with someone else. Luckily for me, my aggressiveness paid off, as she quickly made an excuse and hung out with me.

The rest, as they say (and by they, I have no idea who I mean), is history. We became closer and closer and the realization that I loved this woman became even more apparent. We debate over who said “I love you” first, but I’m pretty sure I would lose that battle. She’s definitely the woman for me: we both love to explore, we love to travel, and, most importantly, we love to enjoy life together.

So I did what any sensible 28 year old would do. I freaked the hell out while ring shopping. For any guys that haven’t experienced that yet – it is the most overwhelming experience ever. Ever. But after absorbing all the information in the world, and pitting 6 jewelers against each other, I finally had the perfect ring for the perfect woman.

So I concocted the perfect plan – I would ask her when her defenses were at her lowest, during the doctor-dreaded night shifts. For two weeks at night, while she was working, I was scouting the entire city on my bike for the best place to propose and planning the day and its execution with the help of my favorite (and only) brother’s amazing wife, Marga (!muchísimas gracias!). Ultimately, I planned to bike to brunch (two things the Sharminator and myself love), then bike to the Bronx zoo (because animals!!!!!) and bike back to the Frying Pan for a cocktail (the Frying Pan is a dock with a boat that’s also a bar, how cool is that?). And I had prepared a hand-made presentation with charts and graphs (content of those may or may not be suitable for children…) that I was going to propose with during the bike ride in the West Side Highway Bike Path.

So, I woke up Sharmeen after three hours of sleep so she could get ready while I packed a backpack with champagne, the “presentation,” and the ring – all under the pretense of having extra clothes to have after the ride. So we rode, we ate, we saw animals, saved some ducklings from certain death, and then made our way back to the city. In the meantime, she had asked me 100 times why I wasn’t taking off my backpack… I kept making excuses but the truth is that I was never going to put that thing down with the ring in it!

Anyway, we took the train back to Manhattan and started biking down the West Side Highway. I had scouted a couple places, and good thing I did, because some douchebag was chilling in my first spot! So at the next scouted place, I stopped with the pretense of needing water, she refused (repeatedly) and I was finally able to convince her to sit down (she wanted to get to the Frying Pan as soon as possible). Right before I gave my “presentation,” she burped! And I thought to myself, “Damn it! What a beautiful woman!” So I got down in one knee, proposed, and she made me the happiest man in the world.