If you know the story of how Kam and I got engaged and married, you know that it all happened pretty quickly.  To make a long story short, we basically decided to get married, and then realized we had to get engaged in the meantime.   We didn’t exactly spend a lot of time ring shopping before the big event, and so when we got to it we were pretty overwhelmed.

I loved the ring that we picked.  I remember how I couldn’t stop glancing at it throughout the day, always a little surprised to see this new addition on my finger.  My ring.   At first, I couldn’t stop playing with it and was surprised to see it there when I happened to glance down.  But before too long, I couldn’t take it off without feeling like something was missing.

But, I am one lucky girl.  For our anniversary last month, Kam decided that my ring needed an upgrade, and he took me ring shopping to pick out something perfect.

And you know what?  Ring shopping is really hard.  I mean, really.  I have no idea how guys do it while worrying about whether their girlfriends will say yes.  I mean, at least we already crossed that threshold.

I know, I’m a little weird.  I had kind of an idea of what I wanted, and apparently I am the only woman in Chicago who wanted a sapphire rather than a diamond.  I don’t know, I blame it on my mom, who had a ruby ring for as long as I can remember.  Or maybe it’s just my burning desire to be different from everybody else.  So I thought, vintage-y looking ring with a princess-cut sapphire.  Not common, I know, but shouldn’t be impossible.

Kam and I made a visit to Jeweler’s Row, where most of the salespeople either looked at me like I was crazy, or tried to walk me through a very painful sales process. One gentleman even sat down and drew a square on a notepad and said, “Is this the size of stone you want?”  I mean, what??  I just wanted to look at settings and then find a stone that looked good with the ring.  I definitely did not want to pick a stone based on a pen drawing on a piece of paper.

Fortunately, we found one jeweler at Love and Promise Jewelers who got it.  Seriously, within a few minutes she found the exact setting that I wanted – petite and dainty with vintage-y details – and then actually had a collection of princess-cut sapphires for me to look at.  Amazing.

So, guys, hats off to you.  I have no idea how you buy a ring for somebody else, it’s hard enough to buy one for yourself!

And, to brag a little bit, here’s the new baby!