I am really tired tonight. Which is weird seeing as how it’s summer and I can sleep as much as I want. What’s with that?

Last night Hubby and I went out on a date. Because K told us to. I don’t know how long this sending-her-parents on dates phase is going to last, but I really like it. We didn’t do anything super exciting, just Olive Garden and then some shopping. (There hasn’t been a good movie out in months. I think the last good one was Star Trek. The Proposal was pretty good too, except the one scene, with that one guy… just ick. They really should have edited that out.)

One of the places we shopped was a jewelry store. Because I’ve recently decided I need a more substantial ring. Don’t get me wrong, I love my wedding ring, it has huge sentimental value. But it’s, um, kind of small. Let’s put it this way, back when we got engaged, a woman I worked with told me my diamond was “delicate”. Said in the same tone people use when they call a really ugly baby Darling. We were dirt-poor college students and I really didn’t care how big the diamond was, I was young and in love and besides I have very small fingers. The wedding band went with the engagement ring, in a sort of supporting role. About five years ago, I lost the engagement ring. I still feel really bad about it. I was away with my friends for a girl’s weekend and when we packed up the car I realized it was missing. I imagine it fell into some dark corner of the hotel room. Probably someone from housekeeping found it. So anyway, I no longer have the diamond ring, I just have the band. It looks rather sad and lonely all on its own. Most of the time I don’t care. I’m not a big jewelry person and even my little diamond used to be kind of pokey and annoying. Plus I figure we have a zillion other things to be spending our money on. And there’s all those starving people and whatnot. But, lately, I’ve been wishing for just a little tiny bit of bling upon my finger. So I’ve been dragging Hubby to jewelry stores. Because I’m subtle like that.

The first store we went to last month was at the mall. Oy was that a mistake. Very snobby saleslady, very expensive rings. And then I committed a cardinal sin. I asked if they had any lab-created diamonds. (I read about such things in Hubby’s wired magazine a couple of years ago. I really like the idea that no one would have to suffer or die just so I can have some shiny bling.) Another saleslady overheard and looked at me with Utter Disdain. “You mean Diamonique?” (or y’know, some cheesy fakey glass-jewel sounding word like that). And I said, “No, they’re real diamonds, but they are made in a lab instead of dug out of the ground.”
“Those are not real diamonds,” she sneered (in a pretentious kind of way, not a freaky Batman-badguy kind of way.)
“Oh” I say, “Well, can you tell me where these diamonds came from?”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the equivalent of lighting up my bra in the middle of their store. Egads did I set those people off. The store manager/owner guy came over and gave me this long spiel about how no one’s hands were cut off for these diamonds (Eeew. Had not even thought of that, thankyouverymuch.) They were all certified as “conflict free” – though he had no idea *where* any particular diamond came from. Blah blah blah. I quickly stuttered something about not meaning to offend and I was really just curious and then we high-tailed it out of there as fast as we could. Suddenly my “delicate” ring didn’t look so bad.

Last night we went to a chain store located away from the mall a bit, where the prices are more reasonable and the salespeople a lot less snobbish. And I didn’t say one word about those faux diamonds that are actually real. All in all it was a much better experience. And I even found a ring I liked.

I prefer rings that have some personality to them – a little bit of a vintage look. But also they have to be somewhat dainty because I’m not kidding, I really do have small fingers. Size 4 1/2. (And also they’re kind of stubby fingers, not nice and long and sophisticated at all.) The one I liked was a three stone “anniversary” ring. It had a little bit of scrolling kind of detail on the sides and the diamonds were set up a little so the light could shine under and through them. Those jewelry store lights make the rings look soooo sparkly. Kind of mesmerizes you and makes you want to say “I’ll take it” on the spot. But my willpower was strong. I had the lady write down all the info and give it to Hubby. Because as modern and hip as I am, I still think of jewelry as a gift the husband buys for his wife. Bonus points if it’s a suprise. (“Surprise” being a rather loose term in this instance, clearly.)

My wedding band is yellow gold, and the ring I picked out is platinum. So obviously I wouldn’t wear them both together. Would that be weird, to just wear the anniversary band? Would it look like I’m not actually married? And is it sacrilegious not to wear the ring my husband put on my finger on our wedding day? Oh the conundrums and angst!

So I was going to babble on about the other shopping we did (appliances) and about R’s private gymnastics lessons but this is getting long and like I said before, I’m tired. So let’s save that stuff for another day, okay?

*A quote from The Princess Bride. But then, you probably guessed that.