How I Met Serach, Part XI: Central Park & Starbucks

Wow. It's been four and a half years since we celebrated our engagement; it's been quite a ride.

This is Part XI of a series about how I proposed to Serach. Part I is here, Part II is here, Part III is here, and Part IV is here, Part V is here, Part VI is here, Part VII is here, Part VIII is here. Part IX is here. Part X is here. Or, you could simply use the dropdown menu on the right side of the blog or this link right here titled "How I Met Serach".

We left off last time with Serach forcing me to eat raw fish as part of our second date. Our third date was going to be far more up my alley than hers, but God seemed to be smiling down on us to make it perfect. What happened that was so perfect?

It SNOWED!

For those who are lucky enough to not live in New York City, there's very little that measures up to a real snowstorm in New York City. The reason for this is simple: The city completely shuts down, in almost comical fashion. They have no clue how to handle the snow, so it turns everything into an almost complete standstill. This turns NYC into a beautiful vision - a quiet metropolis, undisturbed by anything, with white snow covering all its blemishes. At the same time, Central Park, like most parks, is absolutely gorgeous in the snow, and I love snow.

Serach and I walked around the park for a while, finally sitting down on a bench after a while and just enjoying the park, the people, the snow, and one another's company. It's pretty hard to describe that, so I'll just talk about what we did after that, which was throw snowballs at one another. (Note: NYers really aren't skilled at the whole snowball-throwing thing, probably due to the quick turn into slush and ice. For lessons on snowball throwing, ask G's dad, who always walks into my parents' home on Purim and nails my dad. This is true even if it is 75 degrees and sunny outside.) Afterward, we walked out of the park and headed to the closest Starbucks, which surprisingly enough was more than 2 blocks away. While there, I bought my old favorite drink - a venti caramel latte - and I believe Serach got a grande caramel or vanilla latte (both with whipped cream, one of Serach's favorite things in the world).

One of the cuter parts of Starbucks was the cardboard cupholder that they put around the cups when you buy a hot drink there. They often say interesting, cute, funny, or thought-provoking sayings, but because it was winter, they had one that was particularly cute, which we still have:

Two Winter Walks through snowy streets inspire a wish for warmth.

This had been our second winter walk, so it held particular meaning. And it was freezing, even for my own cold-blooded body. (Ask any SerandEz guest about my feelings on the A/C vs. Serach's feelings on it... including in the middle of the winter.) All in all, the date went on and on, as we were just talking and walking, walking and talking. In the end, I think we were out for about seven hours before Serach had to catch a bus back up to Monsey, but we knew there would be many more dates to come...

Next time: We (or, I) make a huge error in First Big Bump.

Ezzie: I'm writing the story as I remember it, and unfortunately that sometimes results in skipping some details. When I remember them, I'll try to fill them in; possibly in the comments, possibly in the posts if it won't make it too disjointed. If anything is unclear or you have any questions, feel free to ask! Serach won't admit it, but she's been reading the story [and lately, other posts, too!] - maybe she'll fill in some of the details and her perspective at some point. I'm still hoping. :)