"The Cedar Room" Doves

Big news from ThaBombShelter Official Headquarters. Yesterday I asked The GF to marry me and she, of course, said yes. This means that I can no longer refer to her as The GF here on ThaBombShelter, and it also means that we're officially engaged. I'm pretty stoked about the whole business and I genuinely look forward to spending the rest of my life with this wonderful woman pictured above (fyi- that's a pipe cleaner moustache she's wearing at Cup O' Joe). I made her a mix CD of a bunch of great tunes we've shared over the past year and seven months and put the ring inside the jewel case - the whole white box thing is a bit overdone, if you ask me. Anyway, seeing as how she is no longer my "GF" I figured now was as good a time as any to formally introduce her to all of you out there in the vast Interwebs; Interwebs, I'd like you to meet the future Mrs. ThaBombShelter, Emily - Emily, Interwebs. Good. Now that's out of the way, I'd love to share a song that is incredibly important to the both of us.

We first started talking in mid-September of 2005, I was working at a hotel, and she'd just moved back to Columbus to start her fourth year as a sculpture student at Ohio State. We chatted via AIM for about 3 days and I decided that I really wanted to meet her. Doves were playing a show at The Newport that Wednesday and I asked her if she wanted to meet up while I was waiting in line, maybe we could get some Chipotle or something. She agreed (and even bought a ticket) and so we met that afternoon when she got out of class. There was immediate chemistry as we sat in the front of the line, me with three soft tacos and her with a burrito (interesting side note- I'd never gotten tacos before [and haven't since] and she was forced to eat the burrito with her hands [which she never does], also, I discovered later that Chipotle is pretty much her favorite restaurant ever, talk about happy accidents!). We talked about all kinds of stuff, most of which escapes me, but I'm sure it was witty and flirtatious. I do remember one thing, she told me how that day she discovered that one of her sculptures had been thrown away over the summer and was now buried in a landfill somewhere in rural Ohio. She was crestfallen and I gave her a hug, even though we had just met. During the show (in the front row, thankyouverymuch) we danced along to VHS or Beta, she confessed how she thought the lead singer was hot, we were pressed next to one another by the crowd and we shared snide remarks about the hipsters in attendance. When doves came on, I will admit that I was transfixed, but that's to be expected when you're seeing your favorite band in concert. But I wasn't transfixed to the point that I didn't still notice the beauty of the woman standing to my right. After they had played "One of These Days" I told her how every single time I heard that song it sent chills down my spine, she stood closer to me after that, which I was okay with. But it was during the breakdown in "The Cedar Room" that I reached to her - standing so close - and kissed her for the first time. It was tender and the press of people disappeared for that moment shared between the two of us, and when it was over the band was still playing and the crowd was still there, but from that moment on, our lives would never be the same. When the song ended, the band left the stage before the encore and she turned to me, surprised by the incredible timing of my move (I was surprised at the serendipity as well), and she said, a look of incredulity plastered on her face, "Did you plan that?" I emphatically denied any such thing, and just laughed and smiled at a girl I had first talked to days ago, and met mere hours in the past, but I knew right away that she was my match, she was perfect for me, and - as I would find out over the next year and a half - I was perfect for her too.

And so it went, as of May 5, 2007, Emily and are officially engaged to be married, and I couldn't be happier. So here is the song that has meant so much to us since that first kiss. I hope you all enjoy it as much as the two of us do (well, almost as much anyway).

Doves Official Site
Buy "Lost Souls" on Amazon.com

"The Cedar Room" doves
***BONUS MP3***
"One of These Days" doves