The sample was too small for Josh – but you get the idea. Here are my rings in all their glory!

My first month post marriage proposal centered all around THE ring. Driving became more than just driving, but rather the ideal time to see the sunlight hit my ring in the perfect way. Doing dishes became thrilling because the ring sparkled a bit more after it was showered in bubbles and warm water. I loved showing off my ring and was really proud to have a visual representation of our love and commitment to each other.

Besides my fiancé Josh, my cats (Shluffy & Rigby), and my complete infatuation with sleep, the love of my life is my engagement ring; she is perfect in all of her sparkling glory.  Josh admitted to me that at first he was nervous as he learned the ropes of diamonds.  Now ask him anything about the 4 C’s (cut clarity, color and carat), and he’ll proudly respond with his knowledge of all things diamond.  Josh enlisted the help of my dear friend Jaime, who works for a lovely shop on Jeweler’s Row in Philadelphia (Ben Sorkin Jewelers–highly recommended!)   He felt completely comfortable purchasing my ring there, and I’d almost go far as to say he was glad to fork over his hard-earned savings for this ring.  He proposed to me with a brilliant center diamond hugged by two gorgeous baguettes, all set on a pave band of 36 diamonds on a platinum band.   She is perfect – a handmade and one-of-a-kind ring.  To me – you can’t get more ideal than that.

Who cared if the wedding was still 333 days away?  The next step seemed obvious to me–looking for wedding bands!

I decided I needed a band that would compliment my engagement ring without taking away from its stand alone beauty. Money is tight and we didn’t want to spend a month’s mortgage on the bands, but we also realized how significant a purchase this would be. We headed back to my dear friend Jaime, at the same jeweler who offered us several options. We narrowed it down, and one hour later, ended up with two sexy and stunning wedding bands.  Josh’s is a 14K white gold bound with a satin center and high polish edges. Mine is .55/100 ct, platinum and channel setting. My dream wedding band for an affordable price tag? UNHEARD OF! I felt like doing cartwheels on the corner of 7th and Chestnut after finding my E-ring’s soul mate.

I feel so lucky to have another thing checked off my ever-growing wedding to-do list. I own very little jewelry besides the occasional gift I’ve received over the years and random costume jewelry.  Therefore, these two rings mean so much to me. We plan on engraving the bands as well (any suggestions?) In less then 11 months, these will be permanent fixtures on our hands!

After my graduation, my fiance Loren and I, along with our parents went to our favorite Mexican Resturant in St. Louis,  Mi Ranchito. I wanted to wear my graduation cap all day, but it was so hot that it only lasted through lunch.

After lunch we went to Target to add items to our wedding registry. And yes, I registered and registered, but the only thing that I am still 100% entirely devoted to are these Jade Moon dishes.  I know, I am such a freak, I registered for 4 sets!  But I have been dying to own these dishes for the last 3 years…

I wrote a note on the registry saying that these dishes are what Maya wants MOST!

Then we decided to get creative on MyRegistry.com and registered for the things that reflect who we are. Our picks included Mahzor Leyamim Nora’im, Halachot of the Ben Ish Hai,  and The Metsudah Midrash Tanchuma.

THE RING:

I have a thing for BIG rings.  I LOVE them, yes I often lose them, but again I LOVE them! Here is a photo taken of me in Madrid in 2005. I think I am wearing 6 rings!

My engagement ring is turquoise, lapiz, and garnet (my birthstone).  We got it from a Swedish hippy named Martin in Guatemala in 2006.

Jamie, my amazing Maid of Honor is trying to help me find a wedding ring.  We haven’t yet found “the one,” but here are some options that she picked out for me. I think we’re getting pretty close.

Tomorrow we go wedding dress shopping. Stay tuned…

I asked my bridesmaids to wear black, because I figured everyone would have a black dress and that way they wouldn’t need to buy anything new. Each of them will have a different color flower in their hair (naturally in rainbow order). Loren is having his groomsmen wear black suits, white shirts- slightly open with no tie, and Converse All Stars. I wanted his groomsmen’s boutonnieres to match my bridesmaids flowers, but he wasn’t having it :)  He said his dudes weren’t going to wear anything floral!

I love things in rainbow order. These are some spools from my art studio.

As for my own dream off-white mermaid cut/ sevillana style wedding dress…  it still  has to wait another two weeks… My thesis exhibition opens May 8th, I graduate May 15th, then on May 16th I will FINALLY go wedding dress shopping!

That’s us! (We were way overdressed – people were wearing jorts!)

The wedding was a total culture shock, but it must have inspired something. On the way home, as we pulled the car in front of of our newly rented house, my fiance pulled this out:

Taken a few minutes after he proposed… my favorite part is that my seatbelt was on the entire time. Safety first!

Afterward, we celebrated with my fiance’s family and some friends. The celebration included wine, matzo balls and my personal favorite, hard boiled eggs (I always call dibs on Elijah’s).

How did two Jews find each other in Louisiana? We were two out of a handful at our huge university and were both on the board of the newly formed Hillel – I was President, he was Secretary. The commentary he inserted into the minutes from our first board meeting was one of the funniest things I’ve ever read and I knew then that I was interested in him.

After a brief period of not seeing each other when Hurricane Katrina shut down our school for two weeks and we both went to our respective hometowns to help at shelters, I received a text message – “Will you go to Kol Nidre with me?”

Now here we are 3 years later, planning our wedding for late June. Stay tuned for updates including the frustrations of explaining a Jewish wedding to Cajuns – especially our vendors, who seem to think I am mistaken when I tell them our wedding is being held on a Sunday!

1. Diamond Ring Keychain,  $2.40-$2.80 at Beau-Coup Favors
2. Candy Ring Pops,  $12.95 for box of 24 at Topps
3. Diamond Silhouette Ring Pendant, $125.00 at Carrie Weston
4.  2-Carat Cup,  $14.49 at Perpetual Kid
5. Acrylic Diamond Rings, $10 each at Elsewares

The ring pops are great. I gave them out at my bachelorette party because I wanted all of my friends to feel “engaged” that night even if they were single. At the end of the evening we all wore our ring pops. It made for a really fun shot and was truly a blast.