I was contacted about a month ago by an Englishman named Danel Raymond who told
me that he wanted to come visit Penguin Place in late June and surprise his
girlfriend by proposing to her in my store / warehouse / igloo.
According to Dan his girlfriend liked 2 things, him and penguins (and
not always in that order).  So, it was arranged that Dan would fly in
from London on his holiday on June 24th and on the evening of June 25th
the couple would visit Penguin Place.  Dan contacted some friends of
theirs that live in the states to come Penguin Place, hide in my
apartment and surprise the couple after he pops the question. I even contacted the local Brooklyn Paper and they felt it worthy of sending a reporter and photographer. What if
she said no was never discussed.  My daughter Sophie got to stay up late for the occasion
and spent her post bedtime bonus hour cutting up paper for confetti to shower the happy couple with. Daniel and his soon to be fiancee arrived here around 9 pm and after a couple of minutes of admiring my
penguins and nervous shuffling (waddling) at 9:04 p.m. Dan got down on one knee in front of my old fridge stuffed with plush penguins and opens up his penguin shaped ring
box to reveal a lovely diamond engagement ring to his stunned girlfriend
(Rachel).  Sophie pops out from behind a curtain and begins to throw the confetti like crazy and the
friends all pop out from hiding.  Quite possibly the most bizarre and joyous penguin place event ever.  It even made the paper this week . Hopefully, they'll waddle happily ever
after, and have themselves a family of penguin lovers.  The following is the e-mails from Daniel in cronilogical order.

April 24th, 2008 Hi,
my girlfreind is a penguin lover and i am planning on asking her to
 get married this summer. i was wondering if i could bring her to your
 shop in brooklyn and ask her there?
 thank you
 ps. ive never been to your shop before, do you think it would be a
 sutible place for me to ask her?   Daniel Raymond
 
Daniel,
I know our neighborhood is quite romantic, we're on the water right next to the Brooklyn Bridge with views of lower Manhattan.  The penguin place warehouse has never been described as a romantic destination, but I suppose if you're a penguin lover it can be.  Let me know when you're thinking about coming by and I'll  spruce the place up for you.  I will be away July 11th to the 18th.
Eric

April 25th, 2008    Wow thank you that would be great, it will be sometime in the beginning of july but i will definetly make it before your away. again thank you very much and ill let you know nearer the time with more imformation. is your shop open at night? sundown is at 9ish that time of the year so if your not open that late then ill do it during the day sometime. ill let you know the plan nearer the time anyways.
 
  May 11th, 2008,    Hi, this is Daniel Raymond (the guy who wants to propose in your shop :-))
 
 ok so I have planned everything out and I hope to be asking my girlfreind to marry me on june 26th in the evening (around 8ish), is that ok by you?
 
 let me explain that i am from england and my girlfreind lives in new york so I am coming to see her again on june 24th and want to ask her on june 26th. As I will be with her all the time and I dont want her to get suspicious I will not be able to come to the shop before to speak with you or arrange anything, but I have alot of freinds who live in the area who are willing to help me. she loves blue roses so I was thinking of having some araound the shop (if thats ok!!) I wasent planning on many and will probably use mostly fake ones so that they would not be messy.
 Also the plan is to get a ring box which is in the shape of a penguin and put that somewhere in the shop where she will pick it up and open it.
 I really hope this is all ok but if not let me know and i will tone it down.
 thank you very very much for letting me to this!!
 
 Daniel Raymond

Daniel,
June 26th is not good for us.  What about the 25th or the 27th?
Other than that.
This sounds like a great idea.
my family is really looking forward to it.  We live right next door to my penguin place igloo.
I have a 5 year old daughter who will pop out after the fact and shower you guys with little penguins.
if one of your friends needs to come by earlier in the day to ready the shop that's fine with me.
Also, check out the penguin pendant in penguin shaped box on our web site as you can use this for the ring box. h Eric

 ok no problem i will arrange it for the 25th
 yeah that ring box you sent me is what i was planning on using thanks, also i was planning on ordering the two penguins hugginh each other, ill do that later this week.
 thanks again
 Daniel
 ps. its gonna be so amazing and your duaghter with the penguins sounds like a  really good idea!!
  hope all is well.
 
June 20th, 2008     I now have alot of stuff planned out for the proposal
 
 im just emailing to make sure the 25th of june is still ok for you?
 i was hoping to come around 8pm
 also i have ordered some fake blue roses (as my girlfreind loves them) is it ok if some freinds come round a little before 8 and arrange them around the shop? (they dont make any mess cause there plastic)
 thank you again for letting me do this
 
June 22th, 2008     Daniel Raymond
 hi!
 
 ok so almost eveything is arranged now, i have the ring and i have a penguin ring box for it which is really cool :-)
 i just wanted to confirm your address:
 
220 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY    11201
USA

 
 is that right?
 
  June 24th, 2008     I will be landing in america on tuesday around 1pm and my cell phone number will be 8**-***-****  could you let me have your number just incase
 also i have all the fake blue roses and heres my plan - my freind will come to she shop a little before 8 and arrange the flwoers around the shop
 then they will leave and hide somewhere around the corner, then i will come in with Rachel and propose and then we will pack up the roses and
 leave.
 sounds ok?
 thank you very much and is there anything in particular you want me to bring for you from london cause i was thinking of bringing you some british chocolates.
 thanks again
 
 daniel raymond
 
that's the address, but you won't see anything to do with penguins or penguin place when you get there.
there isn't a buzzer either.  you'll need to call me at 1 877 736-4946 in order for me to come down and let you guys in. Same goes for anyone else who might be coming by.
Eric

June 25th, 2008    Last check.  My friends will be over by 7 pm and I'll be by with Rachel around 8 pm. Thanks for doing this, I hope it goes as well as I've imagined it.  Daniel