OUR LIFELONG CONVERSATION (PART 5)...

PART 5: A BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER
(the real first date)

we wrapped up our trip to france and got back to life in oxford. each year of my life quickly after valentine's day comes another important day- my birthday!

everyone in our study abroad group did a great job celebrating each others' birthdays and trying our best to make the days special even though we weren't in our normal settings. when it came time for mine it was no exception. my birthday is on leap day, but on years without february 29th we typically celebrate on the 28th. so they made homemade cookies for me, wrapped up fun surprises, and bought the english edition of cranium for us all to play together. then for the late night entertainment the girls had planned a big slumber party complete with dance party and pranks.

that morning though, i didn't know what all i had to look forward to and how much better the day was going to get. i woke up sad and really wishing i could just see mom, dad, and sara kate. several of us walked to a sandwich shop around the corner from the houses, on the hoof, for lunch. it was a drizzly, dreary morning and i was trying to fight back the tears. as we sat waiting for our sandwiches to be prepared i teared up a little. evan was sitting on a bench next to me and it was then and there that he squeezed my shoulders and said something to the extent of, "i know today isn't starting out like you wanted it to, but the good thing about your birthday is if february 28th isn't great you can just try again tomorrow on march 1st. how about i take you out tomorrow night for a birthday dinner." i blinked back the tears and looked up wondering if this was a desperate attempt to cheer me up or was he really asking me out. he then cleared things up, "like just you and me go to dinner, on our own." i agreed and never before and never since has there been a year that i was so excited about what was to come the day after my birthday.

L- intently playing cranium

R- our reaction to being
the winning team

FEBRUARY 28th
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

L- mark and evan
balloon heads

R- the slumber party/
dance party/ prank night

after all the fun birthday festivities on feb. 28th, i got to sleep in the next morning. when i finally got up i walked into the city center to do what many girls do before a first date, shop. i bought my first pair of long and leans at gap and then tried to kill time the rest of the day until it was finally time for dinner.

there were just a handful of times that semester that all 30 people would go out somewhere together on a weekend. but wouldn't you know that this particular day would be one of those. that afternoon someone had started to talk up the idea of all going out to eat together. normally we would be all for joining in with the group. but thankfully that night we didn't reschedule our first date and went ahead on our own. of course throughout the day i got asked many times if i was going out to eat with the group. each time i said, "no, i'm going out to eat with evan." and each time i expected a surprised response, but everyone simply said, "well, its about time," "on a date? finally!" or some other similar response. so maybe it was a little more obvious to everyone than i thought!

MARCH 1st
BIRTHDAY DATE

around 7pm evan showed up at house #9 and i came downstairs to meet him. he looked extra cute and was grinning while standing there in the doorway. and then we were off, just the two of us, to eat dinner together. we walked several blocks to a restaurant called zizi (certainly not to be confused with cici's!) it was a nice italian place that neither of us had been to yet. we had to wait awhile for our table and we had another one of our conversations about anything and everything. then the hostess called for us and took us to our seats.

at this restaurant all the tables were very, very close to one another. as in so close you had to shimmy into your spot and try not to bump someone else's food. so while we were sitting at a table for 2, it was actually in earshot of lots more people than just the two of us. we looked over our menus and placed our orders. and then, just as i had finished saying what i'd like to eat, out of nowhere evan comes out with the big question (no, not "will you marry me" yet). he asks me, "so, where do you see this going?"

next thursday's edition-
PART 6: A LONDON BRIDGE WISH COMES TRUE