It’s been a while! We left Hong Kong, went back home for the summer, and then moved to Germany. During all that, we got a puppy, got ENGAGED! and basically planned our whole wedding. It was wild and crazy, and in the span of a week in July, I got the two things I’d been wishing for most.
But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about my favourite place in the world, Zane’s cottage. The cottage holds such a special place in my heart because it was where we spent so much time the summer we first started dating and fell in love. When Zane moved back to South Korea and I was missing him so badly, his family would still invite me up to the cottage with them. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it eased the pain of missing him being surrounded by his family in that special place. This past summer, the cottage took on new significance by becoming the place where we got engaged.
In short, the cottage is my happy place. When everything was wild and crazy with planning a wedding and raising a puppy, while trying to balance work, seeing family and friends, the cottage became my place of refuge. As soon as I arrived, all my stress would just wash away. I felt at peace. For me, the cottage is a sacred place, and I am so excited to spend a lifetime with Zane there making memories.
It’s hard to put into words what makes the cottage so special. Watching the sun dip below the horizon across the lake from the front porch, colouring the sky like a Monet watercolour painting. Cocktail hour everyday at 6:30pm, snacking on smoked trout and spinach dip from Port Sandfield. Driving the boat to morning power yoga in a boathouse, watching the ducks swim by while in tree pose. Rosé filled lunches on the beach under the sun. Afternoons swimming and playing corn hole on the dock. Jumping into the cool lake after a rainstorm or an afternoon nap. There’s just a feeling you get up there that is so specific, almost magical, and you never want to leave.
Zane proposed to me on one of the smaller islands around their cottage. We took a canoe out to have a champagne picnic and watch the sunset. It was perfect!
I took this picture right before jumping into the water. A huge thunderstorm had rolled through that afternoon, and just as quickly as it came, it went, and the sun re-appeared. Everything was bathed in that perfect late afternoon glow, the air was fresh with that smell of nature right after the rain, and the lake looked so inviting.
Zane got a film camera as we were leaving Hong Kong, and below are some of my favourite pictures he took with it this summer. The first one is right after he proposed. The second is my sister and her boyfriend dancing while my Grandpa played the accordion. The third is my favourite picture of Bao. The last one, even though it’s blurry, is my favourite picture of me and Bao.
