Historic Firsts

Tonight we participated in a few notable firsts:

1. The first time we walked into a jewelry store together and made a purchase at that very same store, that very same visit, without having to examine the selection of every other jeweler in the metropolitan Milwaukee area. (Made possible because it was...)
2. The first time we went shopping to pick out a wedding band for the groom-to-be! (Which was loads of fun, and ended up causing the owner of the store to comment that this was...)
3. "The first time I've ever been asked to inscribe *that* on a ring."

Just what was "that", you may wonder? You'll just have to wait until November 3 to find out!

Disproportionate Fabulosity

So there we were, scanning our shared email account for any particularly good wedding-related spam, when we came upon a message from TheKnot.com with the subject line Let VH1 Film Your Fabulous Wedding! As the details of our wedding come together, we don't mind saying we think there's a pretty respectable degree of fabulosity surrounding the event. Granted, our venue is such that we're not sure all of our guests will fit, much less a film crew. But, although it's been a while since we've had cable, VH1 conjures up all sorts of fond memories...Pop-Up Video, videos in general (O! how we miss early MTV)... We figured we owed it to our inner-children-of-the-'80s to open the message.

"We hear about gorgeous, over-the-top weddings every day – but does yours take the cake? If so, you just might get your own show for it!
VH1's hit series The Fabulous Life is currently producing a new spin-off series about real couples (t&r: There is no denying: We keep it real...) who are throwing the most beautiful (t&r: Check...), lavish (t&r: Well...okay!...), and -- of course -- fabulous (t&r: Naturally, darling...) weddings! The Knot has teamed up with VH1 to reach out to exceptional brides and grooms (t&r: You're too kind...) who are sparing no expense (t&r: Ummm, maybe we should discuss this...) to make their big day everything they've ever dreamed of! (t&r: What exactly do you think they mean by "sparing no expense"? I mean, we already decided the life-sized ice sculpture replica of our first meeting was a little out of reach...)

So if you're planning a wedding between August 2007 and Summer 2008 (t&r: Yep...) with a budget of approximately $300,000 or more (t&r: *blink*... *blink*...), and are interested in having your one-of-a-kind nuptials on television, we'd love to hear from you! E-mail us at castingcall@theknot.com."

(t&r: [Delete])

All right, all right...

Gentle Reader,

We apologize if the deep sea creature photo montage alarmed you. ("Where is that fish going with that diamond?!")

Without further ado, we are delighted to present the...*ahem*...non-artsy photos of the ring.

Herewith: Top view, mostly . . . (9 out of 10 doctors agree: Staring at this ring while walking down a flight of stairs is not advisable. Good thing your steps are carpeted, Tilney.)


Front facing view . . . (POW! I'm a superhero!)



Side profile view . . . (A superhero who loves beautiful tulips.)

(And fishies . . . )

It Came From the Depths...

Ring Alert!

We got a call from the jeweler tonight saying the setting has arrived (early! imagine!) and so we sped on down the highway to drop off the diamond. It will still take 1 week to be mounted, but what that means is that we get to pick up the finished ring on January 31!

Considering that we were not expecting it to be completed until Valentine's Day, this is fantastic news indeed, not least because it reduces the number of days on which my ring-showing-off gestures are vaguely mime-like and are accompanied by the words "Picture, if you will..."

Hand is Not To Scale

...Just kidding!

Still another 2-4 weeks until the setting arrives, so I try to tide myself over by looking at the stone in this manner.

A diamond in motion...

...tends to stay in motion.

Russian Dolls - A Pictorial

Ring and Run

Seems the UPS man for our area is actually a young hooligan fond of mischievous pranks, such as preparing a "Sorry we missed you" label while sitting in the truck, parking it just out of sight around the corner, stealthily approaching the house (crouching below our sight line, perhaps using the shrubbery as cover), silently pasting the missed-delivery notice to the storm door, adjusting his tennies and crouching into the ready position, then pressing the doorbell and running like hell back to his hiding spot where he can watch with glee as we answer the door, look around, see no one, notice the missed-delivery slip, peel it off the door, check our watch, observe that the time written on the notice is one minute in the future according to our watch, and raise our fist to the heavens as we shout something not appropriate for network television into the unseasonably warm January air. Yup.

Ringing in the New Year

Yay! We found a great ring setting on Saturday (the photo from the jeweler really doesn't do it justice, though)...

And we found a great diamond today (sorry, the GIA certificate just doesn't do it justice either, so we're not going to post a thumbnail of that)... Woo hoo!

Delayed gratification is the phrase of the hour, however, because while the diamond arrives just as quickly as our FedEx man's little legs can carry him, the setting won't be ready for 4-6 weeks!! (Something about having to be hand crafted or some such excuse...)

Those weeks will surely fly by! And that will put us right about at Valentine's Day, so the timing will be perfect to enjoy the completed ring.