Joe: So, here's how it all went down...

Kate: Joe proposed on a Tuesday night on the beach at sunset - very cute. I had the day off, and I had just finished working out, and he came home early and said: "Let's go to the beach!" It was a little chilly and I was coming down with a cold, so I'm like "Why don't we wait 'til tomorrow, it'll be warmer." He said the weather was perfect, and it might not be tomorrow. So, I throw on some sweats and am all sweaty and had tube socks tied around my neck as an ascot…Pretty picture huh?

Joe: So, I was planning on doing this the following day, but the weather was the nicest it had been in a week, and I was a little anxious to get this taken care of. I'd been planning things since November!

Kate: We lay down the blankets and he had snacks and champagne (This isn't unusual - we do that a lot when it's warm). Then he said it was 4 months until my birthday and we needed to start celebrating. I said "Hell yeah!" (Because as we all know that IS the most important day of the year). So he gives me a present.

Joe: I'm freaking out a little bit right now…

Kate: I open the present and it's a huge, hardbound, Italian-to-English dictionary…I open the cover and inside there are plane tickets to Italy! So, we talk about going to Italy, I find out we're leaving Thursday, and there's also an inscription in Italian. So, I'm like, well, I better look this up! I open the book and about halfway through he had cut out the inside and there was the ring box! And then he asked me to marry him! Very cute…very surreal.

Joe: …And she said "Yes." That was good news.

Kate: Yes. So, anyway...I find out I'm leaving for Venice in a day! We'll be there for a few days, and then head to Rome for a few days, and come home on Valentine's Day. This was my first time out of the country - first time using my passport - very psyched.