I think a mass majority know what I am talking about with this blog... Claire and Kellen are engaged!!
First of all- I need to thank Kathryn and Laurent for giving me such a wonderful time in Dusseldorf. It was honestly amazing and I hope to get back there again someday. Saturday night the three of us visited a very chic area for drinks and met with Kathryns good friend Kai. The four of us sat for hours at one swanky place, called The Swan, drinking a variety of mixed drinks; chatting a variety of mixed conversation. We eventually were kicked out because it closed so we finished our night across the street for one more round of drinks. Ever since I was a teenager, I always dreamed of myself sitting around a wonderfully ambient setting in a different country with drinks and friends that have lived all over the world. This scene was exactly that. Kathryn from the U.S., Hong Kong and Germany; Laurent from France and Germany; Kai from Asia, South America and Europe. I'll just say that the conversation carried itself very well. It was everything I could've wanted from my last night in Germany. So thank you guys! The last day that I spent in Dusseldorf, Kathryn took me to this cute chocolate shop near the Rhine to try this yummy chili hot chocolate. It was so interesting and so good. It was a bit spicy but so sweet at the same time. My favorite part of all of this was that we sat right at the table in the window that overlooked the busy street. The sky was grey and slightly drizzly so it was perfect to enjoy it sitting inside this quaint little chocolate shop. Kathryn and I talked for 2 hours about EVERYTHING. The conversation ranged from fun light-hearted topics to very deep, personal issues that had curiously plagued our minds for a long time. This reminded me that even through all of the years I have known Kathryn (15 years!!) I'm still able to have such a good friend. A friend that no matter how long it has been since the last time we talked we know that the friendship will forever be. Thank you.
The next day I left for Paris early in the morning and found my way right to the hotel where I had told Claire and Kellen to meet me. They had arrived before me so I was able to conveniently find them already in our room. I knew that Kellen wanted to propose that night but it was hard to hear his exact thoughts and plan while Claire was in the room with us. At a convenient moment, Claire went into the bathroom before we decided to leave for the Eiffel Tower and this gave me and Kellen just enough time to quickly plan.
So there we were... the three of us... marching our way to the Eiffel Tower and only one of us walked aimlessly blind. I'm thankful Kellen wanted to do it that night because it was already getting hard to hold such a huge secret. We found a nice grass spot to sit in front of the beautiful monument. We sat there waiting until dusk and until the tower began to sparkle. The perfect moment came when a stranger came to us and asked if we wanted to buy a bottle of wine from him. We kindly declined and as he walked away from us I looked at Kellen and said, "We should drink wine on our first night, should I go chase him Kellen?" He said yes. I grabbed my camera and ran. I didn't know where I was running but I knew there was little time, I knew I looked completely insane, I knew I didn't care. I don't know if you guys know this but in the fields in front of the Eiffel Tower there are large, beautiful areas containing flowers that are fenced off from the rest of the field. I realized I had a huge area blocking my view from Claire and Kellen and I could have either gone all the way around it or I could've chosen a short cut thru the flowers where instead of being fenced off with normal fencing it was fenced off with thorn bushes. I chose thorn bushes. Let's just say I got the pictures.
Once I gave them their moment, I walked all the way around the planter. While I was heading back to congratulate them and cry a little, a group of people asked me what I was doing earlier. I told them that they (pointing to Claire and Kellen) just got engaged and as I walked up to Claire and Kellen to give them the fattest hug, they all cheered from under their Eiffel Tower tree. It was wonderful.
Today was so much fun as well. We are all very much in love with Paris. Personally, I think it is very hard not to be.
I do miss all of you tremendously. When I write these blogs I pretend like I have all of you in a room and I get to tell you the stories in person. I know that is not the case in actuality but it is nice to pretend. I hope California is wonderful as usual and I will talk to you sooner than either of us know.
Much much love
~Kim
First of all- I need to thank Kathryn and Laurent for giving me such a wonderful time in Dusseldorf. It was honestly amazing and I hope to get back there again someday. Saturday night the three of us visited a very chic area for drinks and met with Kathryns good friend Kai. The four of us sat for hours at one swanky place, called The Swan, drinking a variety of mixed drinks; chatting a variety of mixed conversation. We eventually were kicked out because it closed so we finished our night across the street for one more round of drinks. Ever since I was a teenager, I always dreamed of myself sitting around a wonderfully ambient setting in a different country with drinks and friends that have lived all over the world. This scene was exactly that. Kathryn from the U.S., Hong Kong and Germany; Laurent from France and Germany; Kai from Asia, South America and Europe. I'll just say that the conversation carried itself very well. It was everything I could've wanted from my last night in Germany. So thank you guys! The last day that I spent in Dusseldorf, Kathryn took me to this cute chocolate shop near the Rhine to try this yummy chili hot chocolate. It was so interesting and so good. It was a bit spicy but so sweet at the same time. My favorite part of all of this was that we sat right at the table in the window that overlooked the busy street. The sky was grey and slightly drizzly so it was perfect to enjoy it sitting inside this quaint little chocolate shop. Kathryn and I talked for 2 hours about EVERYTHING. The conversation ranged from fun light-hearted topics to very deep, personal issues that had curiously plagued our minds for a long time. This reminded me that even through all of the years I have known Kathryn (15 years!!) I'm still able to have such a good friend. A friend that no matter how long it has been since the last time we talked we know that the friendship will forever be. Thank you.
The next day I left for Paris early in the morning and found my way right to the hotel where I had told Claire and Kellen to meet me. They had arrived before me so I was able to conveniently find them already in our room. I knew that Kellen wanted to propose that night but it was hard to hear his exact thoughts and plan while Claire was in the room with us. At a convenient moment, Claire went into the bathroom before we decided to leave for the Eiffel Tower and this gave me and Kellen just enough time to quickly plan.
So there we were... the three of us... marching our way to the Eiffel Tower and only one of us walked aimlessly blind. I'm thankful Kellen wanted to do it that night because it was already getting hard to hold such a huge secret. We found a nice grass spot to sit in front of the beautiful monument. We sat there waiting until dusk and until the tower began to sparkle. The perfect moment came when a stranger came to us and asked if we wanted to buy a bottle of wine from him. We kindly declined and as he walked away from us I looked at Kellen and said, "We should drink wine on our first night, should I go chase him Kellen?" He said yes. I grabbed my camera and ran. I didn't know where I was running but I knew there was little time, I knew I looked completely insane, I knew I didn't care. I don't know if you guys know this but in the fields in front of the Eiffel Tower there are large, beautiful areas containing flowers that are fenced off from the rest of the field. I realized I had a huge area blocking my view from Claire and Kellen and I could have either gone all the way around it or I could've chosen a short cut thru the flowers where instead of being fenced off with normal fencing it was fenced off with thorn bushes. I chose thorn bushes. Let's just say I got the pictures.
Once I gave them their moment, I walked all the way around the planter. While I was heading back to congratulate them and cry a little, a group of people asked me what I was doing earlier. I told them that they (pointing to Claire and Kellen) just got engaged and as I walked up to Claire and Kellen to give them the fattest hug, they all cheered from under their Eiffel Tower tree. It was wonderful.
Today was so much fun as well. We are all very much in love with Paris. Personally, I think it is very hard not to be.
I do miss all of you tremendously. When I write these blogs I pretend like I have all of you in a room and I get to tell you the stories in person. I know that is not the case in actuality but it is nice to pretend. I hope California is wonderful as usual and I will talk to you sooner than either of us know.
Much much love
~Kim
Kim - I was so glad to have you there even if it was only a few days. We really enjoyed having you visit: me because it was nice to share my life with a close friend, and Laurent because he finally got to meet a friend of mine from my hometown! I am following your blog and enjoying seeing how much you are enjoying your trip! BTW-Congrats to Kellen and Claire!
ReplyDeleteMuch love and two kisses,
kathryn