I knew very early in the relationship that I would propose to her on our one year anniversary at Tao, where we had our first date.

The date was approaching quickly and I hadn't yet found the perfect stone. Even if I didn't have a diamond or a ring I was still going to propose on that date. It would have been a bit ironic for me to propose to her with no ring because my father Steve, proposed to my mother Susan with no ring. I could follow in the family footsteps. 

When I was about 10, my mother told me that when I was ready to propose I could have the ring that Steve gave to her. When Steve got home I ran up to him very excited saying "mom said I can use the ring you proposed to mom with to propose when I am older" he laughed and I didn't know why. Then he told me the joke was on me because he had never given her a ring.

A day before I was going to propose I found the perfect diamond for Victoria and it was in NYC. I had a jeweler pick up the stone so he could mount it in a temporary setting, as I sat in my car on a NYC street for 4 hours until it was ready.

We walked down the long hallway at Tao to the hostess, who brought us to the table where we had our first date, I asked her to take a picture of Victoria (I had spoken to the hostess prior and asked her to start filming when I gave her my phone). Victoria sat down at the table and instead of sitting next to her, I got on one knee……Victoria had a look of confusion on her face. I said to her what was in my heart and how I felt. I then took out the ring and in Russian, I asked her to marry me. It was perfect. She was not expecting it. After she said yes, everyone around us in the restaurant clapped and cheered. It was perfect.