If you know Ashlynn, you’d know that she was waiting for this day her entire life.  Weeeell maybe not her entire life... once upon a time she was determined to become a nun, but that’s beside the point.

THE PROPOSAL 

Ashlynn and Patrick met a little over 9 years ago. As with any average female, Ashlynn was starting to lose her patience in waiting for “the ring”.  Last Christmas, she convinced herself that Patrick was going to propose. During their annual gathering with friends and family, with tons of gifts under the tree, Ashlynn waited eagerly for her gift from Patrick. When she retrieved it from underneath the tree, Ashlynn thought the box was MUCH bigger than it should have been, but maybe it was Patrick’s way of tricking her. Savoring the moment, Ashlynn started to open the box... a brand spanking new Deep Fryer!!! Needless to say, Ashlynn was disappointed. Today the Deep Fryer is STILL sitting at the bottom of the closet.  

When Ashlynn and Patrick first met,  he tried time and time again to woo her in to dating him by promising to take her to The Top of the Hub.  9 years into the relationship and they still had not visited The Top of The Hub.  On October 12^th, 2016, Ashlynn had plans with her sister to have dinner in the Seaport. That abruptly changed when Patrick called her and told her to put on something nice and that he would be taking her to a nice restaurant.  Ashlynn thought to herself. “This is it! I’m finally going to get my ring!”  When they arrived outside of the restaurant, Ashlynn realized that they were at The Top of The Hub!!  She was soooo excited and happy... even more convinced that this night would end with a proposal.  They ate fancy food that neither one of them enjoyed, drank some of the most expensive wine and had a delicious cookie platter for dessert. At the end of the night they took the elevator back down 52 stories, found their car and went home. The ring never came.

Fast forward to the good stuff... 

A few days later, Ashlynn’s sister, Joanne, organized a birthday brunch  with a small group of family and friends to celebrate her birthday at Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen, a laid-back lounge in Boston with live jazz music.  Ashlynn is naturally quiet and does not like surprises unless she is the one throwing it.  However, unbeknownst to her, this would not be the typical brunch.  After a couple of rounds of buffeted food, Valerie Stephens - jazz vocalist at Darryl’s, called Ashlynn up to the center of the restaurant having everyone join in on serenading her with Happy Birthday.  Surprisingly Ashlynn danced and sang along.  Maybe it was the “Dirty Dianne” drinks she had ordered?  Patrick took this opportunity to join her in the center and said “I have another gift for her”.  He got down on one knee, ring in hand and FINALLY popped the question!  The entire restaurant clapped and cheered while Ashlynn’s closest friends and family had tears of joy.  Ashlynn was so overwhelmed that she hid away from everyone for the longest few seconds of Patrick’s life, almost making the crowd think she would actually say no.  But she indeed returned and tearfully said “Yes”!