One hundred and eighty five miles separated Molly McCabe and Ian Arena during their college years—while she attended TCU, Ian was at The University of Texas at Austin. Thanks to mutual friends, they often visited each other’s college town and ran in the same group. The pair started dating their senior year of college, and after three and a half years of long distance, Molly moved to Dallas in 2016. Total it all up, and when December 2018 rolled around, they had been together for nearly six years.
Ian’s family typically visits San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for New Year’s, and this past year, Molly’s family accompanied them. In line with tradition, they exchanged Christmas gifts during the trip, but Molly and Ian made the decision not to get each other anything. Molly followed suit with their pact, but Ian had a different idea.
“We started exchanging gifts with his mom and sister, and he looked at me and said, ‘I actually got you a Christmas present; Will you come outside with me?’ At this point I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve been dating five and a half, six-plus years—it’s finally happening. I’m going to get engaged,’” Molly says. “Then he handed me this huge gift, and it was heavy and I was thinking, ‘Well, I guess I’m just going to have to wait a little longer.’”
As Molly unwrapped the package, she pulled out a Miron Crosby boot, and realized it was happening. Having worked with the brand in the past and attended school with one of the founding sisters, she always had her eye on a pair of the boots’ unique design and intricate leather work.
And Ian didn’t just stop at getting her a generic pair of Miron Crosbys. He selected boots from Miron Crosby’s custom program and called on his mother and sister to select the leather colors, stitch colors, and font.
“I saw that my future initials were inlaid in leather, and I just lost it,” Molly says through tears as she retells the story. “Then the ring was tied to one of the boot pulls, and Miron Crosby allows you to put a message on the inside of the boot, and the message said, ‘Will you marry me?’ “
While Molly doesn’t plan to wear the boots until after the wedding (since legend says that it’s bad luck to wear your future initials before you’re married), she does plan to don them during the reception.
“I just think it’s a super special thing to have [these] in addition to marrying my best friend,” Molly says. “Every time I see them, it’s just an instantaneous reminder of the love and thoughtfulness that [he] has for me.”
