Weddingbee bios

I was meeting my friends at a dive karaoke bar near my place, on one of those days that I really didn't feel like going out.  At all.  I was having a fat day, a bad hair day, and I was grumpy.

But I went to karaoke anyway, knowing it would be a short night.

There were no cute guys there, except for one, who my friend spotted when he was singing. "Ooooh, he's pretty" she said.  I agreed.  But, in a grumpy mood, the last thing in my mind was to meet someone that day.  And what cute guy would even talk to me when I was bloated with bad hair?

My girl friends were not that much in the karaoke mood, and left after singing one song.  I was going to leave after my first song as well, but my guy friends convinced me to stick around for one more song.  "I'm definitely leaving after my second song!"

After singing "Semi Charmed Life" and sitting back down, ready to go home, one of my guy friends reached over and said:

"So, Jim asked if you were single, said his friend likes you.  I told him you're single."  (We know Jim because we have a common friend, but the friend was not there that day.)
"Really?  Which friend?"
"The one in the black shirt, sitting on his right."

I turn around, and to his right is the cute guy, or as my friend called him, the pretty boy.  I start acting like a 15-year old.

"NO WAY!  The cute one?  On his right?  Are you sure?  He said he liked me?  Really?  ME?  Are you sure?  No way!  Are you serious?  You're joking right?"
"Carla, why would I joke?  So you like him?  I'll tell Jim."

Of course, by this point, I forgot that I wanted to leave.  So I stick around a little longer, might as well see where this goes... 

Soon enough, Jim comes to talk to us.  Then my friend says "So, she says she likes him."  Jim, not wasting any time, goes back to his table saying he'll bring him over.

And he did.  He brought pretty boy (!!!) over to talk to me (!!!).  Turns out, pretty boy's name is Karl.  In my head, I think "Yeah, Carla & Karl, that's going to work out..."

So Karl and I talk.  And talk some more.  He gets up to sing, I get up to sing.  And we keep on talking.  He's funny, he makes me laugh.  He must think I'm funny, as he's laughing at my jokes too.  His sister, who's visiting from out of town, comes over and introduces herself.  We all talk some more.

The lights of the bar come on -- it's been over 2 hours, we're still talking, but the bar is closing.  So Karl asks for my number, I give it to him.  Not actually expecting him to call.  We say our goodbyes, his sister chimes in "I hope to see you again, Carla!"

I'm beaming on my drive home.  I still got it!  I do!  A cute boy came to talk to me when I look like crap!  Woohoo!  I wasn't sure if I was actually going to hear from him or not.

Next morning, I get a text from him.  We text back and forth.  He's funny, even on his texts, and makes me laugh.  This goes on for a few days, he asks me out for the following week, the day his sister is leaving town.  He calls later to confirm.  We spend all week texting back and forth.

Our first date is great, but I can't gauge whether he is still interested.

Our second date, happens on the very next day, we decide to order Chinese and watch a movie at his place.

During the time at his place, he again doesn't show any interest.  But I start noticing that every time I lean over to get a drink from the coffee table and lean back against the couch, he is slightly closer.  I know I haven't moved, but he goes from being a foot away from me, to little by little, having our arms touching.

The movie ends, we talk for a good hour.  Without moving, our arms still touching, but nothing else.  Then it's time to go home, it's a work night, after all.

He drops me off, then finally, after all that time, leans in for a kiss.  He was very nervous.  It was kind of adorable seeing this incredibly cute guy nervous to kiss me.

And so it begins...  That week we had another date during the week, then saw each other again on Saturday and Sunday.  We started whispering loving thoughts to each other "I can't believe I met you"  "I think about you all day long"

Two weeks after our first date, we spend all weekend together.  We finally sleep together.  We exchange "I love yous"  We talk about being exclusive.  And yes *hangs head down in shame* we change our Facebook status.

And we joke "how long do we have to be dating to be considered normal?"  "It's ok to say 'I love you' after 3 months, right?  How much longer until we're normal?"

And we spend so much time together.  And we talk marriage, kids, future, retirement. 

When we hit the 3 months mark, we joke that we're finally normal now.

And less than four months after our first date we go on our first weekend trip to NYC.  And it's wonderful.  A month later, we go on a week-long trip.  It's still wonderful.

At month 5, we discuss living together.  We pick a date 3 months away.  But we spend every single night together.  We prepare meals together, he comes to my place straight after work.  He has my keys.

At month 7, he meets my parents who are visiting from Brazil.  They love him.  They mention how they knew they'd like him, but they didn't think they'd like him this much.

After a burn accident on my leg due to a spilled casserole, he nurses me back to health.  After shedding so many tears that I won't be able to complete my first Half Marathon due to the break, he promises to train with me even though he is a much faster runner.  Three weeks after I'm able to run again, we cross the finish line together.

At month 8, we move in together.

Our anniversary is spent in Rio de Janeiro, visiting my family.  There, he asks my dad for permission, which is granted, to marry me.

At 13 months, we travel to Seattle so I can meet his family.  He gets down on one knee, at the top of the Space Needle restaurant, and asks me to spend my life with him, without hesitation, I say yes.

Now we have been living in sin for 8 months, and I couldn't be happier.

I can't wait to marry him this November, in Rio de Janeiro, in front of our family and friends.

I arrived in Seattle on a Tuesday afternoon in early February, after the snow storm that was coming to DC forced us to change our travel plans and leave town almost two days early.

On Thursday, Karl took me out to a fancy dinner at the top of the Space Needle. Dinner was good, we stuffed our faces, even ate dessert.

After paying the bill, he pulls out a card and hands it to me. He says "just read the pre-printed part, I want to read to you what I wrote."

And he reads off from the card. I interrupt him twice to give him a peck on the lips. His words are sweet, they are bringing tears to my eyes.

He finishes what he has to say and stands up. I stand up. I hug him. He kneels down, I sit down. He tells me to get up.

There, in one knee, he asks me to marry him. I say "yes, of course" as I wipe tears off my eyes.

We hug. The restaurant explodes in applause. People go "OH MY GOD! He just proposed!"

Girls yell "show me the ring" "Oh, girl, he means it!" We have our picture taken.

The waiter comes over, and points to a couple two tables away "They are sending you a bottle of Dom Perignon" (now how freaking nice is that?!)

We finish the bottle, and join his sister and husband at a K's Choice concert (I had never heard of them, but they're pretty good!).

The waiter comes over with gorgeous flowers. Then comes back with a yummy dessert (the second dessert of the night, ooops) and in chocolate syrup "No Take Backs" is scribbled on the plate.

It was perfect. I wouldn't change a thing.

Here's the obligatory picture of the engagement ring... (ignore my old-lady-like hands)

It's sparkly. And perfect. And just right.

And Karl? Will continue to make me feel like the luckiest person in the world. I can't believe a little over a year ago, he was just the "Pretty Boy" I met one night at karaoke... It was a long way until we found each other, with lots of bad dates and wrong guys. But waiting for the right person? Totally worth it.

Ceremony at the Igreja da Lapa dos Mercadores (est. 1750) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  This was our "destination wedding" -- I'm Brazilian, he is American, and we both live in DC.  We had about 40 guests flying from the US to Rio.