So there was an agreement that it would happen, but not quite how, when or where!! One thing we did agree on though, that we weren't 'engaged' until a ring had been purchased.
It was a busy summer so nothing really got done until we got back from Italy in September. At the end of September, remember that lovely hot weekend? We went into Leeds, had a lovely meal, and went looking in some of the nice jewellery shops in the city centre. Straight away we saw something which looked a bit like this one and we thought it looked just the ticket. I didn't want anything that looked too "engagementy" and I also didn't want anything which stuck out or I'd end up catching it on things; I'd be too afraid to wear it! Visions of watching a diamond pinging off into the distance!
After thinking about it that evening we thought why go looking for anything else when we both liked the one we had seen in Leeds. We planned to go into Leeds the next day & put down the deposit on it.
Literally, the next morning, just as we were about to go into town, I was looking on a website called Offbeat Bride which is a fabby resource for the 'non-bridely' bride (aka me) and I saw a picture of a ring in the adverts on the right hand side of the page
Well it was a picture of 2 rings - I'm not really a solitaire kinda gal but I totally loved the simple leafy band on the left. I clicked on the advert and it brought me to Valerie K Studio Etsy page.
Ooooooh it was ring heaven! I still liked the leaf one best and then I saw the leaf ring sandwiched between the 2 eternity bands. I *knew* they were mine. I showed Dan and said I really really liked them - they were a little bit different - we both loved that idea - nothing if not unconventional!
We then entered into the conversation with Valerie about gold and diamonds. All that decided we placed the order and then it was a matter of time to wait for it to be made and then to arrive in the post!!!
Valerie lives in Pasedina and so I had a nice little parcel tracking number which allowed me to see our parcel as it went from her local post office, to the central one, to LA, on the plane, to Heathrow, to Leeds, and then to the house!
The whole process took about 4 weeks but I would check the DHL website ohhh about 5000 times a day! In fact Dan sent me this fab cartoon from XKCD on the subject of online parcel tracking...
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| It's from XKCD.com a brilliant online cartoon - link below. |
Yes, that was me. Still in Pasedina. Still in Pasedina. Still in Pasedina!
Anyway, it got here eventually and we set the date of letting the rest of the world in on the secret as being the first weekend in December.
We tried to organise something nice for that weekend - Barcelona, Edinburgh, Kinsale, but nothing quite worked out.
We started looking closer to home, and then one afternoon Dan said 'I've booked something for Edinburgh'. ('Going to Edinburgh' had become our codeword for 'Getting Engaged'!!!) "oh really, where?" I replied. "Not telling" he said. So it was decided. I wasn't to know until we got there!!!
Last Sunday we got in the car and Dan gave me the driving instructions. Up the A1 to start with. I was convinced we were going to 'The Star' at Harome so I thought "Aha! I'm right" We got pretty close to Helmsley, and then turned off and ended up coming past Bylands Abbey we'd been to a few years ago for my birthday after a little stay at the Feversham Arms in Helmsley.
We came up to the Abbey, but then the instructions had us turning away from the Abbey and down a little road opposite...for about a mile.
It was very narrow - good job I drive a midget-mobile - and then we heard 'you have arrived at your destination', we were there!
Part 2 to follow!
Congratulations Liza and Dan. A beautiful post. ♥
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