The proposal.

Let me tell you a little story. It all starts here...

photo courtesy of the lovely Leigh-Ann

In January of 2009, myself (Erin) along with my partner (and boss from Para Mix) Candy and I decided to open a cafe! We spent almost a year creating recipes, taste-testing (read, fattening up), designing the interior, and brainstorming our baby, Kawaii Crepe, a creperie with sweet and savoury crepes, and bubble tea!

It was a very challenging year, but in November of 2009, we opened the doors for the first time! It was extremely overwhelming and exciting after working so hard for so long. We were confident in our menu and we had the best staff around, we were ready to take on our hungry city!

I truly couldn't have done it without the help of my family, friends, and now-husband, they were SO helpful, patient and giving, I can't even begin to write about it because I will destroy my keyboard with tears!

The crazy long hours started to take a toll on me, I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating, and I couldn't make time for my family, friends, and boyfriend! I knew ahead of time that the hours would be long and I would have to make some sacrifices, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth it. My loved ones were just too important to me!

So, I did what any exhausted, stressed out crazy person would do...

I booked a flight to Thailand for 6 weeks with my good friends Tiffany & Amy!

Little did I know the life-changing things that would unfold in the next 6 weeks...

We spent the first 2 weeks power tanning, eating, dancing, shopping, and relaxing! The 3 of us had flown separately but met up eventually (with a few bumps in the road) in Bangkok where we shopped till we dropped for two days and then we headed down south to Koh Phangan, to park our butts at Seaflower Resort!

Here's the whole story:
Tiff, Amy and I were fast asleep at 8:30 in the morning after a late night of dancing at the other side of the island with our friends Tomas and Emelie from Sweden; when we woke to a knock on the door! It's all kind of a blur, but one of us stumbled to the door to find DEREK! At first we thought it was Tomas but we knew that he knew better than to knock on anyone's door that early in the morning! We all rubbed our eyes, and then it clicked, it really was Derek! I was super confused because he was supposed to be on a snowboarding trip with the boys in Banff, but low and behold, he came in our hut! We were all freaking out when he told us that he got the time off of work and would be joining us for 3 weeks! After about 10 funny minutes, he told us the truth for him coming all this way was to ask me a question...

What happens next is a total blur, he got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him! Everyone started crying (Amy & Tiff were still in the room!) and screaming and I said YES! The ring was perfect! The proposal was perfect! And we spent the next 3 weeks pinching ourselves as we travelled through Thailand-engaged!

The 4 of us went to Malaysia after Thailand, and then Derek went home without his new fiancée.

 Next the 3 of us girls headed on to Laos where we met up with our friends Pascale & Manelle, partied hard, went tubing in Vang Vieng, made a tonne of new friends, and then headed back to Bangkok.What a whirlwind 6 weeks!

Side note: When I returned home, I decided not to return to Kawaii. Even though I am no longer involved with Kawaii Crepe, i'm so glad I did it! I learned a lot, and it pushed me towards where I am today, and I couldn't be happier! It is still a little bitter sweet walking through those doors, but I still wish Candy and her husband Phil all the best! Kawaii will always be my first "baby".