Whiteflash-Diamond Playground

We got engaged!!! We got to Napa late Friday night after work for a belated V-day celebration, and despite the fact that Jonathan had told me he’d booked the Quality Inn, he completely surprised me with a gorgeous room in a beautiful little inn. Our room was soooo nice, with huge windows that overlook a picture-perfect creek that runs alongside the back of the inn. When we walked in, there were the usual little boxed chocolates on the bed, along with an origami container. I opened the origami and found two little metal squares with a picture of spaghetti on one and coffee on the other… That’s odd, I thought. Probably some gimmick to get you to come back to the hotel and collect more of these little trinkets? I put them away for souvenirs, and didn’t think anything more of it. 

…The next morning, we had a delicious, hot breakfast delivered to our room with fresh juice, rich french pressed coffee and a basket of mouth-watering pastries from bouchon bakery. mmmm! And what was this? There was another piece of origami in our basket of food! I opened it up, and there was a picture of a dancer and the Stanford “S”!! Now I’m not thaaat dense, so I looked at Jonathan, and he just shrugged his shoulders and said “Wow, the Napa Valley Tourist Bureau seems to know us so well!” I still couldn’t figure out what these little metal squares were for, but I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to see what the next metal squares would be. :)  Jonathan had mapped out our winery visits, and with the GPS all set up and reservations booked, I was looking forward to smooth sailing with lots of good wine and good food with my best friend. Over the course of the day, the little origami figures popped up everywhere about 8 or 9 times for a total of 19 squares - the waiter at Bouchon gave it to me with my soup, one was in our bag of wine that we bought at another winery, and a carrot-shaped origami ended up on my plate next to my squab at dinner! It seemed that they could link up to each other and were slowly forming a bracelet. Each one had a picture representing something about me or something that Jonathan and I had shared in our relationship. At the end of dinner, I got a heart-shaped origami with squares that said “I love you” and a picture of two little penguins holding hands. Jonathan had mentioned on Valentine’s Day that he’d gotten me something small for a v-day gift, and he had tried to give it to me on that day, but I’d asked him to wait until Napa so I’d have time to get him something (but I didn’t. doh!). So at the end of dinner, I figured that the bracelet must’ve been what he’d wanted to give me, and I loved it! I was so thrilled and happy at his thoughtfulness and the way he surprised me throughout the day, showing me how well he knew me and loved me for all my good (and bad) qualities. Tired and well-fed, we returned to our room ready to go to sleep. …. but there was one more heart-shaped origami on the bed. More??? I opened it up, and there was just one more square that asked “Will you marry me?” So that’s the good news! - Daphne & Jonathan, CA