Graciela Asturias, a 27-year-old architect from Manhattan got one of the most wonderful birthday presents of her life this Saturday when her now fiance proposed to her a thousand feet above the ground while floating in a airplane cabin. To celebrate Asturias' birthday, the couple boarded a specially designed Boeing 727 aircraft that creates the experience of microgravity during four-five minute plunges as it flies up and down between 24,000 and 35,000 feet.

"I was so surprised. I'm in total shock," Asturias said as she recalled he memories of her big day to the New York Post.

"He promised me a big birthday surprise all week, so I had a double surprise - the flight and the proposal," she said.

Besides the anticipated thrill, there was one fear that had engulfed her fiance, Alexander Loucopoulos.

"I was afraid the ring would float really far away. It's tough to coordinate," he told the Post.

Loucopoulos, who describes her girlfriend and now fiancee a space enthusiast, plans to celebrate their 10-year anniversary in orbit.

The 90-minute trip which costs $3,500 per person was arranged by Space Adventures of Virginia, the agency which organized former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi's $20 million flight to International Space Station last month.