Michelle Kwan is engaged!!

[GoldenMichelle]

I think this would be gorgeous on Michelle....but in white.
http://www.verawang.com/EN/wedding/b...3/1315-kirsten

[aftershocks]

A couple pictures of Clay Pell and family http://www.newportseen.com/archived-...at-mrs.-pells/

Thanks for the link. It appears to be from 2009. Clay's hair was a bit longer.

Michelle could have any hunk she wanted. Her being with Clay is just further proof that she isn't superficial. I bet he has a rockin' brain!

I think you are probably focusing on his receeding hairline. Don't let that overwhelm you, dear. He is brilliant, grounded, accomplished and, according to Michelle, has a delightful sense of humor. The article I read quoted Michelle as saying that when they studied for the fellowship together she was laughing until she had tears in her eyes. She also said she had never believed in love at first sight until she met him. She knew he was "the one" shortly after meeting him. He obviously has a fantastic personality and wonderful qualities that caused Michelle to fall in love with him.

ITA with you guys, and also with skatesindreams and centerstagequeen. Also, I think Clay is attractive and a very accomplished young man, obviously brilliant and he possesses a sense of humor too! Michelle has dated "hunky" before. Been there done that, I'd say. The point really is when you find someone you have great synchronicity with in terms of goals and aspirations, outlook on life, superior accomplishments, kindness and love for humanity, as well as hitting it off romantically, then that is something very special. It doesn't happen for everyone. Michelle and Clay are very blessed and very lucky. But they also have made their own luck. Being able to laugh together and to be friends first should never be under-rated.

I think this would be gorgeous on Michelle....but in white.
http://www.verawang.com/EN/wedding/b...3/1315-kirsten

Yes, this would look beautiful on Michelle, in white, of course! Looks like Vera is taking some inspiration from Ven of Project Runway, season 10 fame.

[Spartacus]

Yay!

[aftershocks]

I think this would be gorgeous on Michelle....but in white.
http://www.verawang.com/EN/wedding/b...3/1315-kirsten

Getting a better look, although I do like this dress from Vera's Spring 2013 wedding collection, I think some of the fluff on the bottom would have to be tapered down for Michelle's small figure. In any case, Vera will surely be making something specially for Michelle and not exactly like any other dress in her collections.

[aftershocks]

From the article on Michelle's new job at the State Department:

... Kwan shared with her seminar audience one little career disappointment: She was turned down for a White House fellowship. “But I got the fellow,” she joked — fiancé Clay Pell, who beat her out for the prestigious program and now works there. No date set yet, but she said they’ll probably wed in Rhode Island — where he’s from, and where they got engaged — sometime next year.

Another interesting Kwan tidbit from the article:

...Does [Kwan] see herself with State for the long haul? You never in politics, she said, but “I’m very goal-oriented. I do see myself doing something in public service.”

Not foreign service work, though. “I like living in the United States too much,” she said.

[l'etoile]

[BaileyCatts]

Interesting. I just found a 2 degrees of separation to the Kween. One of the guys in my department went to school with, and apparently is still friends today, with Clay Pell. Hmmm .... now how can I get him to wrangle an invite to the wedding and take me instead of his boyfriend.

[RickInSanJose]

Hmmm .... now how can I get him to wrangle an invite to the wedding and take me instead of his boyfriend.

Perhaps abject groveling would be worth a try.

[maureenfarone]

Perhaps abject groveling would be worth a try.

Good post!

[aftershocks]

^^^

[RickInSanJose]

INT. WEDDING HALL ON MICHELLE KWAN'S WEDDING DAY

Michelle has just made her entrance -- and she is absolutely radiant and stunningly beautiful, almost angelic, in her Vera Wang wedding gown.

BEAVER: Jeepers, Wally, Michelle is even purtier than Miss Landers!

WALLY: Gosh, Beav, why does my face feel so hot all of a sudden?

WARD (Mesmerized by Michelle's beauty): Oh, my word! I've never seen such a beautiful woman in all my born days! Why, compared to her, June-bug, you look like a sack of lumpy potatoes.

JUNE (Staring daggers at Ward, steam rising from her pearl necklace): WHAT...DID...YOU...SAY?

WARD: I, uhh, I was just saying, dear, that your lovely potatoes last night were scrumptious!

BEAVER: Gee, Wally, I think Dad's in big trouble.

WALLY: Boy, Dad, you sure put your foot in it this time.

INT. HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM, ONE HOUR LATER

Doctor is studying Ward Cleaver's x-rays.

DOCTOR: My goodness -- worst broken nose I've ever seen.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

^ Um...ok.

I don't quite get it.

[aftershocks]

RickInSanJose, maybe like me you must have recently been watching back-to-back episodes of Leave It to Beaver! I recently finished viewing Season 3 on DVD, and it has been entertainingly nostalgic and feel good hilarious at times. I never got to see the revamped 1980s show, but I'd like to after I finish viewing all the season episodes from the original 1957 - 1963 series.

Perhaps viewing the shows back-to-back has made you come up with your "wedding" plot. Because of course there doesn't seem to be any notable connection between the Kween and the Beav, outside of family values and family togetherness. The dialogue in your imagined episode is priceless and spot-on! However, June's character on the show, while written up in the manner of a perfect Mom, well-dressed with every hair in place, her dialogue also tended to make her appear to be clueless and not too bright about some things. She was portrayed as the perfect homemaker, but she didn't really seem to have a life or a brain of her own without her husband and kids. Of course all the scripts were written by men.

In any case, all that to say I don't think any of those old scripts would have ended up with Ward in the hospital with a broken nose at the hands of good old sweet innocent June Cleaver. However, that may be your point: a more updated script centered around the mesmerizing shock and awe impact of Michelle Kwan's beauty. I can almost see your write-up as a cartoon strip.

Now, how about another MK wedding scenario with dialogue involving Condoleeza, Shep Goldberg, Evan Lysacek, Vera Wang, the Clintons, and the Obamas (just to name a few possible guests, though probably the Obamas and Clintons wouldn't want to crash the festivities -- ya know Secret Service detail and all!)

[RickInSanJose]

Now, how about another MK wedding scenario with dialogue involving Condoleeza, Shep Goldberg, Evan Lysacek, Vera Wang, the Clintons, and the Obamas (just to name a few possible guests, though probably the Obamas and Clintons wouldn't want to crash the festivities -- ya know Secret Service detail and all!)

I have the feeling that Michelle's wedding will be a modest, intimate affair with only her family and closest friends in attendance. I just don't see her staging a humongous garish "Wedding of the Year," filled with A-List celebrities and politicians, with paparazzi helicopters flying overhead with telephoto lenses trained on the proceedings. Michelle just doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would go in for some ostentatious affair. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if we learn of Michelle's wedding date only after the wedding has already taken place.

If the Cleavers happen to be invited, Ward would be 102, June 97, Wally 67, and the Beaver 64, so I don't think they'd cause much of a disturbance.

[IceAlisa]

I think this would be gorgeous on Michelle....but in white.
http://www.verawang.com/EN/wedding/b...3/1315-kirsten

You have to be rather tall to pull this particular silhouette off effectively, which Michelle is not. I recall seeing her in a similarly structured dress and not really liking it. I think a simpler, even more body conscious silhouette would suit her more but I love all the draping on the bodice!

Here's MK in a mermaid gown: http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/ori...lwde45tu85.jpg Not her best, she looks very short in it.

The VW Kirsten would only exaggerate the effect but being so pouffy in the mermaid tail area, making her look wider, rather than taller.

[aftershocks]

And the dress speculation is answered.

https://twitter.com/olyphil/status/2...900992/photo/1

[IceAlisa]

Yes, she hit it out of the park with the soft, romantic mermaid, not even close to the pouffy OTT Kirsten dress. Kudos to VW and MK!

[skipaway]

Looks like bridesmaids in plum. Very beautiful bride, again much happiness to the couple.

[seabm7]

Kwan has arrived in Korea for her Special Olympics role.

https://twitter.com/2013special/stat...963008/photo/1

[l'etoile]

^ I created a thread for Special Olympics but couldn't decide whether it belongs to GSD or Other sports.