My ring: (Please igmore my fat fingers) Despite my chubby digits, my ring is sooo beautiful, it is my dream ring. It's a round-cut diamond with 2 tapered baguettes on each side in a basket setting, which means it is a slightly raised setting, like a pedastal, and the main diamond sits in a "basket" so you can see the bottom tip of the diamond. It's so sparkly and pretty! It's actually a Tiffany setting, although the ring itself is not from there, but I didn't know that until after I picked it out, but it was a pleasant surprise!
We had gone ring shopping several months earlier, actually almost a full 10 months earlier in the year! My good friend from high school had family jeweler connections so we went to try on rings with her. I had so much fun, even though I rarely wear jewelry. I wear the same silver necklace every day, and unfortunately I am allergic to most metals, including GOLD which really limits my options. Fortunately I am NOT allergic to platinum! It was at my friend's uncle's store that I really looked at the round diamond with the tapered baguettes. Initially I thought about a princess or asscher-cut stone but they honestly made my fingers look even fatter, so I quickly changed my mind. The round-cut was the most sparkly and prettiest! But it was several months later at a store in the diamond-district of manhattan that I saw the basket setting for the first time and knew that it was the one for me. It's just so elegant and sweet!
I recommend looking at rings if you and your significant other ever intend on getting engaged. There is no point in spending that much money on something a girl is only going to like so-so. I've been reading wedding magazines and in it are some horror stories about girls getting rings they thought were heinous. I even met someone who wants to exchange her ring for something she likes better. In each case though, the girl feels bad about offending her FH by returning or exchanging the ring, and/or upset that she doesn't feel as if her man "knows" her. So I guess it's better to do your homework before someone ends hurt!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2007 was a blast - mine sure was, I got engaged! December 2nd 2007 was one of the happiest days of my life, as you can see from my pic on the left which was taken just hours after my bf popped the big question. Here are all the juicy details:

How it Happened: We were on vacation in Hollywood Beach, FL, a low-key and very relaxing spot close to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, without all the crazy hoopla and crowds! It was the 2nd day of our trip and we were already in full vacation mode. I already had a great tan, went swimming to my heart's content, and eaten a (very) large breakfast and lunch. That evening we had dinner at a local seafood restaurant on the Hollywood Beach boardwalk. The restaurant was quaint and the food delicious. We sat on the boardwalk itself and looked out onto the beach at night. We saw stars and pointed out constellations to each other. Well, bf did, I didn't know any names of constellations so even if he was wrong, I wouldn't have known! Throughout dinner, I could tell bf was a little nervous, mostly because he didn't seem that hungry, which was good for me because I ate half of his food in addition to my meal! I could tell something was up but in any case I didn't seem to think about it too much.

After our scrumptious dinner, we decided to go for a walk on the beach. Since it was nighttime, the beach was empty. It was only us and the lights of faraway boats, plus the background humming of the restaurants on the boardwalk. I went to put my feet in the water and to splash around a bit while bf sat in the sand facing the ocean. It is so much fun to wear flip flops in December! We both live and work in NYC which had freezing temps that weekend, so it was really nice to get away to someplace warm. I envy those of you who live in warm weather year-round! Anyways, after thoroughly getting my feet wet and sandy, I walked back to bf. He slowly stood up put his arms around me and gave a little speech. It was really sweet because he's not usually a very romantic guy, he's more of a guy's guy (sports, beer, video games, period). He told me he saw us creating a future together, and how much he loved me and wanted to take care of me forever (awww). He then held both my hands, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He then slipped the ring into my hand, and I was so excited I almost dropped it (not a good idea in the sand at night). I gave him my tearful reply of "yes!", slipped the ring on my finger, then playfully joked about how I'd waited FIVE years for this day (more tearfully than playfully). We then proceeded to call and text our family and friends for the next hour to tell them the happy news, and I managed to take pictures of my ring from every possible angle in different types of lighting! I'm such a girl!