Photo Challege Part 4

Day 7 of the photo challenge asks for a picture of your most treasured item. After much deliberation, I decided to go with my immediate gut reaction -- my engagement ring and wedding band! 

One of the pictures from our wedding album

Beyond the obvious sentimental reasons, I treasure the rings because we I designed them from scratch over the course of many months. In keeping with my desire to have something entirely different, Jim and I inscribed our wedding bands with the Roman numerals signifying our wedding date and "Mau Loa," which roughly translates to forever in Hawaiian. 

Shopapalooza!

We had absolutely gorgeous weather for early March in the northeast on Friday (sunny/mid-50s) and it gave me the urge to shop. I had all I could do to keep myself from staring out the office window all afternoon! Since Jim was already sick with a nasty cold, I decided I would head to the Premium Outlets in Lee, Massachusetts for the evening.  While I prefer Woodbury Common downstate and the Manchester Designer Outlets in Vermont, Lee is only a 30 minute drive from my house and, thus, an
easy trip on a week night.

I'm sure glad I had the shopping bug because the Banana Republic Factory Store was having a major sale (40% off, plus an additional 20% on top of that). I scored some amazing stuff for less than $200: navy dress pants, tan yoga pants, gray sweater, purple sweater, berry blouse, pink sundress, brown belt, silver belt, three necklaces (2 silver and 1 gold), silver bracelet, sunglasses and a gift for Julie (not shown here):

Do you like shopping at the outlets? What is your favorite store?

A New Trend?

Asscher-cut stone

      Once I discovered decided our engagement was imminent, I began a quest for a unique, yet elegant engagement ring.  After an extensive search, I finally found the Asscher-cut and absolutely fell in love with it. This origination of Asscher-cut diamonds can be traced back to the 19th century, but they didn't become popular until the 1920s -- one of my favorite eras! Many people think of it as an art-deco piece of jewelry, but I don't think it has to be because there are so many options with side stones and pave diamonds these days.

     As you can see from the picture, an Asscher-cut diamond is a uniquely shaped square, which resembles an octagon, but has cut edges. The second (and, I  think most beautiful) quality is the "hall of mirrors" effect when you peer deeply into the stone.  Some jewelers also call it a "square emerald."  Production of Asscher-cut diamonds was severely cut during the Great Depression and they are only now starting to regain prominence. 

The ring we used to design mine

    I eventually stumbled upon "my" ring (Asscher-cut center stone, two trapezoid side stones and two baguette side stones) on the internet, printed a picture and decided we had to replicate it with a local jeweler. It had exactly the timeless, vintage, sophisticated feel I was hoping for. After working with a jeweler for MANY months, Jim completely surprised me one night after work in August 2009 with a bouquet of roses in the backyard. Of course, once I picked up the roses, the ring was hidden underneath. It was a really special moment and  Jim even thought ahead to make sure Buster was there to 

witness the whole event. I'll never forget it!

    Fast forward about a year to when Chelsea Clinton became engaged and began sporting an Asscher-cut diamond. Then, last month, I was catching up on celebrity gossip when I saw that Nick Lachey proposed to Vanessa Minnillo with an Asscher-cut diamond flanked with trapezoids!!! I later found out that Jessica Alba and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz rock Asscher-cut engagement rings too! I just hope that they don't become too popular :-)

Less than a month to go!

As I type this post, there are numerous "to do" lists scattered around the house and I cannot believe that we leave for Hawaii less than a month! It seems surreal and I don't think it will fully hit me until we are driving to the airport at 3AM on February 4th that Jim and I really are getting married in a few days.

My exact dress: Pronovias Reyes

In addition to tying up all the loose ends for our honeymoon (getting a rental car for the Big Island, purchasing our snorkel excursions, booking golf teetimes), not to mention updating all of our legal documents to reflect our new status as husband and wife (eek!), I am trying my dress on at Something Bleu for the first time today!!! I cannot wait and am keeping my fingers crossed that my measurements from July stayed the same. I must admit I'm a little nervous after indulging during the holidays. I'm also super excited to try on some accessories.

Last time I was at the boutique, I picked out these gorgeous earrings by a London designer and there are also corresponding hair pins. (I want my hair to look something like the pic on the left.) I don't think I'm going to wear a necklace because I want the neckline of the dress to stand out, but a bracelet and earrings are a must. I also have to figure out what type of lingerie to wear on the wedding day, plus I haven't decided if I am going to buy a garter or not.

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something old, something borrowed and something blue...the new could be the dress or the shoes. I think I could incorporate blue on my lingerie, but otherwise I have no ideas...I'll have to talk to some friends to get some ideas.