Burak & Kim.

Kim had no idea where we were going Saturday morning, but after a scenic 2-and-a-half-hour drive we ended up at the Mayflower Inn in Connecticut.

We were greeted at the door with a fresh bottle of champagne. We decided to spend some time in the beautiful Shakespeare garden before lunch.

Our view of the Inn's main building from the garden. It's a colonial farmhouse on the outside and beautifully decorated on the inside.

Our hotel room was ridiculous. We arrived to a fruit spread and a bottle of Pellegrino on ice. We had a giant bedroom and sitting room, two balconies, and two
great full bathrooms:

The hotel and spa are so accomodating that they even have a "pillow menu"... unfortunately we didn't think to try ordering anything from it.

The sitting room was great for flopping.

Behind the camera is a world-class 20,000 square foot spa. A "relaxation room" — basically a 2,000 square foot room built of couches, blankets, and warm towels — has a 30-foot long window that looks out over this view.

We walked the grounds for a little while taking pictures in between our couple's massage and our dinner reservation. The spa has the best bathrobes and
amazing accomodations.

Kim watching some guy do laps in the outdoor pool. I spent most of my time in their indoor pool, hot tub and steam room, but the outdoor pool looked nice too.
Stop watching that guy do laps, Kim.

Many of the vegetables in the restaurant came from this garden on the 50-something-acre estate. Dinner was great, and stuffing. Foie gras, lamb, corn scallop chowder, NY strip, and chocolate lava cake were enough to put us
to bed early.

We woke up early to enjoy room service and the paper on one of our two balconies. Unfortunately(?) we didn't get a chance to use the other balcony at all, but c'est la vie.
Can't have it all, I guess.

After breakfast we headed off on a short 30-minute hike through the woods around the inn's grounds.

These two selfie-taking goons finished their hike and spent a good hour and a half relaxing at the spa. We didn't take any pictures of the spa — that's how good it was.

The "Kim and Burak of wrought-iron patio chairs".
After the spa we had another filling, delicious lunch, bought a couple of bathrobes and drove back home wishing we could stay at the inn for another year or two.

The drive back was smooth and relaxing for Kim, but horrifyingly nerve-wracking for me. Kim expected to have a few hours at home to rest up and do some homework before going out again later that night, but I knew better.

We open the front door to an apartment glowing with candlelight and filled with flowers. Kim started crying before she even got a foot into the apartment! So far, so good.

Secretly, our wonderful friend Brianna — with the help of her boyfriend and Kim's aunt Gayle, a florist — decorated our apartment with 92 candles in mason jars, a few gorgeous floral arrangements, new runners for our coffee table and piano, and twinkling lights with gypsophila (baby's breath) bouquets above the window.

The view was stunning (and warm!) and even I
was surprised!

But Kim was beside herself with excitement. Luna, safe in the other room, was meowing with excitement too!

A speech on one knee was soon exchanged for a heartfelt and teary-eyed "yes!"

"But wait, there's more! We've got reservations for dinner!" Where, secretly, our mothers were waiting to cheer for us and take this picture of the happily engaged couple:

Love, Kim & Burak.