The Sapphire Story

I browsed through my old posts and realized I've been saying "details next time!", but not really doing any follow up about it. LOL. Okay, here's one!

-----

The story of our engagement ring (first post here):

Lou and I are both not traditional when it comes to proposals. Well, I used to be "semi", I mean, I've always wanted anything tangible to officially mark an engagement - lupa, bahay, singsing, card, pwet ng baso, etc. LOL. Anything tangible, coz I'm a naturally sentimental person, so I love keeping valuables along with their stories. But, I didn't want proposals. I don't see the point in proposing. I just find the question "Will you marry me?" unnatural when you and your partner are in the relationship for the same goal anyway. I see rings as "thank you" gifts for "coming into my life", or something like that (JOHN LLOYD!? haha!). Not really an object that goes with the question "will you marry me?", as if you're trying to buy a girl's answer.

Lou on the other hand, isn't a don romantiko - he doesn't like surprise proposals by the beach or by candle lit dinner and all that. He'd tell me how much he dislikes it, as if discreetly saying "please don't expect that kind of proposal from me!" LOL. I figured it out anyway: He'd rather give me chocolates than flowers - because chocolates can be eaten, while flowers will just rot. He'd rather bring me to the mall for a shopping spree, rather than surprise me with a dress I probably won't like. And surprisingly, I liked his style! I think his lack of romance is well compensated by the quality time, attention and understanding he's always giving me. I couldn't ask for more!

So, late last year, when we started talking about marriage, we instantly agreed on one thing - He will not propose romantically, but he'll bring me to a jewelry store where I can select the ring I want. It was indeed a win-win deal for both of us! As for me, it was oooooh a candy store visit! @-)

Prior to the ring hunting, I first researched on the ring design I want, just so the selection wouldn't be tedious. That was already January by the way - a lot of my friends were getting engaged and/or getting married ....and/or posting their rings on FB. I then realized, OMYGOSH, everyone's wearing the same thing! I don't want a diamond!!!

I immediately told Lou about it, who got kind of thrilled. Being a history buff, he actually thinks that diamonds are overpriced-because-monopolized that are not really rare. So he asked me what I wanted. I've been thinking of color green actually - my fave color! So I said, I want a green gem!

From there, we started researching and canvassing. We looked for green engagement rings in malls, but most of them sell emeralds - a green that's minty in shade, which doesn't attract me so much. So we googlized more for ideas, until we found gemselect.com - an online gem store in Thailand that conveniently lets you search gems by color, size, type, cut, etc! That's when we found THE ONE - GREEN SAPPHIRE!

So I researched more about Sapphires, and gathered even more amazing information, which made me say, SAPPHIRE IT IS.

"Sapphire” is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Shanipriya'. "Shani" means "Saturn" and "priya" means precious or dear, i.e. "precious to Saturn" or literally “dear to Saturn”.

Sapphires can be found in only a handful of locations around the world. At these locations most of the recovered stones are so poor in quality that they never enter the gem trade.

Aside from the diamond, the ruby, sapphire, emerald, pearl (strictly speaking not a gemstone) and opal have also been considered to be precious.

Tradition holds that Moses was given the ten commandments on tablets of Sapphire, making it a sacred gemstone.

Sapphire symbolizes truth, sincerity and faithfulness, making it an excellent choice for an engagement ring.

What convinced me more is the fact that you can't easily find sapphires in jewelry stores (for me, rare=special). We tried it ourselves - In malls within Metro Manila, you'd find about 2 out of 10 jewelry stores selling sapphires, and none of these sold green sapphires. Mostly blue - and I think that's even a pilit addition to stores' selection, a trend set by William when he presented the blue sapphire engagement ring of his mom, to Kate!

Anyway, after failed attempts to find green sapphire locally, Lou turned to plan Z - to buy them from gemselect! The very same pegs above! (That's why I crossed out the prices. LOL) So, YES, apparently I know how much they cost! HAHA! The funnier thing is, since Lou's so mobile, he had them delivered in MY office to avoid shipping problems. Being both new to this shipping thing, we didn't know we had to pay taxes, that cost about the same as the gemstones! AHHHKKK! When the fedex guy came I was so ecstatic-then-surprised, I had to text Lou, "the gems are here!!! but there's HUGE tax!!! Huhuhu, I'm paying for the tax of my own engagement ring!". Lou's reply was, "Ok, how much? Don't worry I'll reimburse!" HAHAHA!

We then canvassed for jewelers -- and that included jewelers of his Mom in Meycauayan, Bulacan - a gold haven as they say. Prices don't vary much with those in malls so, as shared here, we brought the gems to Ocampo's Glorietta 5 for mounting. Because I am more into classic designs when it comes to jewelries, I chose [light] yellow gold. I also think it matches perfectly with green gems!

Its pickup sched was Valentine's day!!! Come Valentine's day, Lou asked me to go to his place ahead of him, to start cooking our valentine's dinner, as our tradition goes. He decided to get the ring by himself to give me a little excitement. He knocked, and when I opened the door, he knelt down holding the opened box, then said "will you marry me?", acting as if it was a big surprise. I laughed saying, "why are you asking, you know it's a YES!" haha! I then turned to ring and said, "It's soooo prettyyy!".



I then let him put the ring on my finger, for the first time....



At the end of that night, he kept on reminding me, "Hey, I proposed right? and I knelt down!!!". Fine. Haha!

Funny that it was never meant to be cheesy or what, but I still giggle a bit inside when I remember his fake-propososal-kneeling-down and the very first time he wore the ring on me. We were both smiling, happy, and excited to tell our loved ones. When I recall that day, it still makes me smile. :) Then I always say it was perhaps the most unromantic "proposal" [with quotes!] ever. But when I think about the effort we both made to come up with this ring, I realize that the entire thing is as special (or more special) than proposal stories out there. And, at the end of the day, it's not how he proposed that matters, nor the ring, but the fact that we both agreed to enter the stage of marriage preparation! And made it official, on the love month of 2012!

-----

A friend commented that my ring looks like an heirloom ring. I then asked Lou, "what if we have a son who will marry soon, are you willing to pass this ring to him as a family heirloom?". He said, "sino siya? si Prince William!? NO WAY, LET HIM WORK HARD FOR HIS OWN ENGAGEMENT RING!" hahaha!
 

and it's... official!

I'm engaged! This should have been "effective" months ago, since we've been talking about marriage anyway, but I guess SOMEWHERE you have to pinpoint when exactly it became "Official", right? And for me it's not when I started wearing the ring nor when we started talking about marriage. It's when you happily get the approval of the people closest to your heart.

I never knew I'd come to this day - when a man would talk to my parents with such level of seriousness. LOL. One thing I realized: to finally have a man to tell your parents that he's marrying you, is one of the things that girls dream of... BUT it can be NERVEWRECKING at the last minute. When Lou told me of his plans (and script. LOL), I felt more nervous rather than excited. It was like having someone/something to trigger my dad's heart attack again. It was like saying something as huge as "I can't graduate" or "I'm pregnant!" (haha). It made me think exaggeratedly of what ifs scenario and family drama, and all that. But I guess it's a natural thing, getting married will always be something big.

But Lou was chillaxed as always, up to that day. Which I found really ironic. Because it's actually him who'll do the talking, while I was the one being super nervous. I asked him why he's not nervous, 3 times. And he gave a different answer each time: 1 - "A man is nervous when he knows that his capacity to build a family is still questionable" 2 - "I am confident." 3 - "Ewan ko ba sayo bat ikaw ang kinakabahan!". haha!

So he first talked to my mom (no biggie, she kinda expected it), then to my dad probably at his best state - after dinner. When Lou said he's planning to marry me, he was just silent, slightly nodding, staring at space. Then I asked, "pa, ano masasabi mo? okay lang sayo?" He then turned to me and said, "oo naman okay lang sakin. Ikaw, okay lang ba sayo?" HAHA! I laughed, saying "oo naman!". I figured he's probably confused that Lou asked him first, not me. He was smiling but teary eyed. One thing I remember in that conversation: he said he is fine, he never objects to his daughters' decisions, just like how he was to my sisters.

It seemed though that he wasn't telling something, so we just waited. Finally, he softly said "Alagaan mo si Leda, kase bunso namin yan...", then tears rolled down his cheeks. AHK! that's it, I started crying too! and my mom too! haha! I knew though, they were all tears of joy. As for papa, they're both tears of joy and sadness. I've seen this in the past when my sisters decided to marry. Papa can nonchalantly agree, but will be too sentimental at the end of each day. starting today. Until God knows when! Of course, as expected, Lou said, "Opo, aalagaan ko po si Leda" -- I hope it's not because it was in his script! haha!

What broke the drama was my sister, holding a furry dust cleaner. She started walking around the house singing TENTENTENENNN..TENTENTENENNN, teaching my niece Sofi to walk as the flower girl. using the dust cleaner as the bouquet! hahahaha! I kissed papa on the cheek, saying "Thank You" -- I know that at the end of the day, only my decision matters. But admit it, a wedding can't be 101% happy without approval of the bride's father!

When Lou was about to go home, I walked him to the gate, saying nothing but THANK YOU, GOOD JOB over and over. To which he replied, "See, just a piece of cake!" -- Really my future husband is the most [reasonably] confident man ever ...one of the reasons why I love him!!!

WHEW. one down! Next item on the list: PAMAMANHIKAN.

P.S. My ring:

(details next time!)
 

Ring and Wingin' it!

DID YOU KNOW that: There are about 6 jewelry stores in Glorietta 5, and only 3 of which can customize rings if you have your own gem/s. And among these 3, only one gives reasonable rates (and friendly and accomodating staff!) giving me and Lou the reason not to go to Meycauayan anymore (heard a lot before that it's a jewelry haven!).

Ocampo's - I highly recommend them! site here.

And so yesterday we brought my gems for customization. Enough of the googling, canvassing, jeweller search and all! I was being half "jewelry connoisseur", talking about the specs I've researched these past few months, and half tuliro just thinking about that day I'll finally get my pretty gems on a ring! haha! The feeling became even more awesome when they said we can pick it up on February 14 - WOW, ON TIME FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

Funny when the girl measured my ring finger...
girl: 5.5! *turns to Lou* ayan sir, alam nyo na ang sukat ni mam ha...
Lou: ah hahaha di na kelangan! yan na yun!
me: oo yan na yun! *giggles*
girl: (confused face)

yeah, confusing nga. even this post. Well, I just really need to vent out my excitement NOW. Other details next time!

---

About the title. Lou and I had a little celebration by cooking chicken wings! Fine, it's not even a little celebration, we just need an excuse (as always) to satisfy our long time craving! mweheheh. aaah, happy. :) [recipe here!]