A “Change” for FSIL Hot Cocoa!
September 4th, 2008 @ 10:59 am by Miss Hot Cocoa
August 28, 2008 was an awesome day. It was a propitious date on the Chinese calendar (the word “eight” in Chinese is a homophone for prosperity and “two” is a homophone for easy, so 8/28/08 = prosperity, easy prosperity, more prosperity). It was the day of Barack Obama’s historic acceptance speech. And it also happened to be a very special day in the Hot Cocoa family. That night, after a viewing of Obama’s speech in downtown Philly, future sister-in-law Hot Cocoa’s wonderful boyfriend proposed! She said yes, and there was much rejoicing around the country (fireworks in Denver!).
Check out FSIL Hot Cocoa’s unique and beautiful e-ring. She designed it with the help of New York jewelry designer Sarah Perlis, who handmade the ring from 22k gold and adorned it with a pink sapphire center stone and ethically sourced diamond side stones. Since some of you out there might be looking for alternatives to the traditional diamond e-ring, I thought I’d deliver some eco-friendly bling for your viewing enjoyment.
A Ring Is Born!
July 13th, 2007 @ 10:32 am by Mrs. Onion
Mr. Onion and I both had our wedding rings custom made. A jeweler friend (who actually went to high school with Mr. Onion) does mostly custom work, so he was the obvious choice. My ring was a particular challenge, because I wanted to have my cake and eat it, too. I had two major criteria:
1) It had to “snug” (i.e., fit perfectly with my turn-of-the-century engagement ring setting which I did not want to change).
2) It had to stand on its own as a design without the engagement ring for the rare occasion I wanted to wear just the wedding ring.
Too much to ask you say? Well he did it and I am thrilled with the results.
Here was my inspiration from WeddingRings.com:
Manly-Man Ring! … with pink accent.
July 12th, 2007 @ 10:30 am by Mrs. Gummi Bear
Yesterday, at 7:30am, I got a phone call from Niwaka. Machiko, the super sweet woman who works there, never did get the hang of calling from NY to CA later than 6-8am PST. She apologized profusely, as she always does in that so sweet way that reminds me of when I lived in Japan, and verified that our order had shipped out the morning before and would be arriving today.
Well, it arrived! And like all things in Japan, it was packaged several times - in one fedex box… within another fedex box.. and then a lot of stuffing and finally this:
Shy About the Shiny.
July 10th, 2007 @ 4:34 pm by Mrs. Gummi Bear
Is anyone else REALLY shy about her engagement ring? I hide it all the time, tucking my hand into my sleeve, making a point to try and keep it out of sight. It makes me nervous, I think I’m paranoid - I feel like people are always looking at it, sizing me up, sizing Mr. Gummi Bear up.
So let this be known, I’m only posting about my ring because I love you all! If asked about it in person, I’d just start sweating and my eyes would slowly cross.
My original ring was cute, Mr. Gummi Bear had it custom made for me…. but it wasn’t really made to have a wedding band next to it. We also felt the jeweler we worked with wasn’t really willing to work with us, just did what he wanted, and it came out so heavy and unfeminine. In the end, we decided that the wedding band remaining a constant in my life is far more important that preserving the current setting of my engagement ring. The only requirements for this new ring was that we incorporated all the current stones and that another ring would be able to sit flush against it.
Summer Ringtones
July 10th, 2007 @ 3:29 pm by Mrs. Butterscotch
Since summertime has finally arrived here in the northwest, my engagement ring has begun to sparkle again under the Seattle sun! And next month my wedding ring will join the fun!
I really thought a lot about the band I wanted - something that was classic, had meaning to both of us and most of all I wanted it to look good on my hand. I didn’t want to get a whole new set because I love my engagement ring. I apologize for the bad nails I am in need a of manicure. 
I chose the diamond and sapphire band to represent both of us (our birthstones).
Made Another Decision
July 9th, 2007 @ 12:48 pm by Mrs. Kiwi
I’m so proud of myself. I actually went to the mall this past weekend to try on wedding bands. I’ve been very lazy thinking about this wedding band thing. I’m thinking that I would like to keep this wedding band forever, and never really upgrade it, so I want it to be something that will look good forever.
I went into Whitehall Jewelers first because the first engagement ring I fell in love with was there. We didn’t buy it, but I still loved it. Okay, I was single, so I had no one to buy it for me. 
Don’t judge me. 
Anyway, I walk in, the only customer there, greeted by two sales associates. When one asks me if I’m looking for something in particular, I say, “Yes, I am looking for a wedding band.” Immediately, the associate closest to me hurries over, calculator in hand, as I inspect the merchandise. I see one band I like in particular, a white gold band set with a half carat of prong-set diamonds. I slide it on (okay, I force it on), and she tells me the price including taxes (that trusty calculator sure came in handy!).
Wow, What a Year!
June 27th, 2007 @ 7:30 pm by Mrs. Corn
So today is my 32nd birthday. I can hardly believe all that has happened in a year. A year ago, Mr. Corn and I were still having awkward conversations about our future based on the fact that he had wanted to buy a house for years and was finally in the financial situation to do so, and he was focused on that rather than the future of our relationship.
As it was, we ended up looking at houses together and choosing the home we now both live in over the course of last summer. Shortly after Mr. Corn moved in, he proposed to me over dinner.** It was our first non-macaroni-out-of-a-box dinner at the new house and it will forever be special to me that we shared that moment at our dining room table in our first home.
I moved in not long after the proposal and the wedding planning began. In the meantime, Mr. Corn was promoted at his job, his brother got married in December and I got a really great new job in January. Read more…
Engagement Ring Polls
June 13th, 2007 @ 4:14 pm by Mrs. Bluebell
Commenter Ms. Mouse asked in my post on the Slate article about engagement rings if I could do some additional polls…and seriously, does anyone think I’m going to turn that request down?? 
Hope these answer your questions Ms. Mouse! 
[Don’t] Mind The Gap
June 13th, 2007 @ 9:31 am by Mrs. Lime
We ventured downtown this past weekend to get the guys their suits (more on that later) and get our wedding bands. All in all, it was a successful trip - suits bought, altered next door within two hours, rings bought and brought home, engagement ring steamed/cleaned/polished, and cheap dim sum inhaled - all in half a day.
This is what happens when the on-call Mr. Lime has to bust out his internet-anywhere-in-the-world-ready laptop to resolve some emergency at work while sitting in a random parking lot downtown. I get snap happy.
his [4 mm brushed white gold band]
Diamonds Are a Girl’s Worst Friend?
June 12th, 2007 @ 3:24 pm by Mrs. Bluebell
<from JayBee Jewelers>
There is an article on Slate today titled Diamonds Are A Girl’s Worst Friend, picking apart the diamond industry and the reasons why women want diamonds in the first place (and no, “it’s sparkly!” isn’t listed 
) and the inherent gender inequity behind engagement rings.
What do you guys think of the article? What are your thoughts on diamonds and engagement rings in general?
And….some polls!
