Not many love stories involve moving back in with your parents, and even fewer a global pandemic. But if 9 months of sheltering in place with your soon to be mother-in-law has taught us anything, love does in fact conquer all… Now the most impressive feat during that time, beyond maintaining sanity and space, was Mike’s ability to conceal a 6 week plan to propose. Through thoughtful planning, he miraculously convinced my father to play a game of tennis (emphasis on the miracle), where he asked for his blessing and my hand in marriage. With many hugs, tears and heartfelt encouragement, the covert operation began. To be clear, there was a time in my life when the running joke was that I should become a spy. Nothing, and I mean nothing gets past me. However, with the support of a few undercover agents I was effectively lead astray. Under the guise of a Valentine’s Day weekend getaway, Mike booked a room at the Santa Monica Proper Hotel and it wasn’t until then that my spy senses began tingling. The not so subtle hints of my mom encouraging me to paint my nails white, to finding LOADS of Michaels craft store bags shoved in the shower all began to make sense. When we arrived to the hotel I braced myself to enter the room and I saw…nothing? It all looked perfectly normal. Mike started anxiously looking around for a way to open the curtains. “We NEED to get some light in here, I know there is supposed to be a button here somewhere…” Like any woman on a mission I took matters into my own hands and moved the curtains aside. Amateur spy or not, there was nothing that could have prepared me for what I saw: rose petals on a private deck with a photographer ready to catch the moment of a lifetime. And when the love of your life gets down on one knee to ask you to marry him, there’s really only one thing to say. YES!!