By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune Gov. Charlie Crist is engaged to marry his girlfriend of about nine months, New York socialite and novelty business

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON AP Writer TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Charlie Crist won't be sleeping alone in the governor's mansion much longer - he is engaged to a woman he met in New York City last September who quickly captured his heart.
Crist, 51, asked Carole Rome to marry him Thursday morning at his St. Petersburg apartment, giving her a blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. She immediately said yes.
elty Co., her family's New York-area Halloween costume company, though she stopped managing its daily business when she moved to Fisher Island near Miami in 2006. Crist said they met at a dinner where he and friends were discussing fundraising.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist and Carole Rome poses for photographers in their arrival to The Bloomberg Afterparty in Washington on Saturday, April 26,

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Gov. Charlie Crist won't be sleeping alone in the governor's mansion much longer - he is engaged to a woman he met in New York