My Other Job

since i have been working part-time, i have picked up a sideline enterprise-- shopping. this is much to Thurston's dismay. indeed, as he has mentioned umpteen times thus far, i didn't make it 48-hours working part-time before i headed up to the outlets. (where i did, as Lola can attest, an excellent job).

that trip included stops and purchases at MaxStudio, Missoni, Banana Republic, American Apparel and JCrew. here is an (abbreviated) sampler of what i bought.


having honed my craft to some degree at the outlets, i proceeded to drag Thurston to start the wedding band search (we're talking finger-wear here, not ear candy). at the suggestion of wedding planners Farrell and Jennifer, T and i headed to Fragments in Soho on a very rainy Saturday.

in the past (specifically, my birthday last year), we had great success at Fragments, but we didn't plan on buying on this particular occasion. the trip was more of a reconnaissance mission. there weren't a ton of men's rings at Fragments, but there were a couple of contenders. i wasn't allowed to bring my camera with me (cough--strict T--cough) but we especially like a few brushed platinum bands, with some tooling/indented lines and also plain.

then yesterday, taking full advantage of my part-time schedule, i headed to the Fifth Avenue shops to explore more ring options. at Tiffany, i found some classic options:

plain platinum 4.5mm Lucida band

with milgraining

somehow, in my quest to find Thurston a ring, i managed to find a band contender for myself as well:

the Tiffany Legacy ring

aren't i efficient? i kind of love that band for me but, at the same time, my engagement ring has detailing on the sides:

so i wonder if it's a lame idea to block those details with a band that has plain, unblingy sides. i also suppose i could have the place that created the e-ring design a band of the same style, that would incorporate the e-ring band details, sans stone basket.

T thinks i should just switch my e-ring to my right hand once we're wed, but i kind of like the stacked look. do i switch? do i stack? do i customize a band?

and if i switch, then whatever do i do with my Trinity ring, which i currently wear on my right ring finger? and also happens to be the very first gift Thurston gave me, when we'd been dating just under 4 months. funny story there, actually. we were sitting around on the couch exchanging gifts and he hands me this small, square box (ring-sized, natch) wrapped in white paper with a red ribbon. now why i happen to immediately recognize this as Cartier ribbon is neither here nor there, but i do. and i will tell you this-- my first instinct was not "oh, my lord! how wonderful that he went hardcore posh with my gift." oh, no, i actually thought, "if he's proposing right now and bought the ring at Cartier rather than from a diamond dealer thus spending money on name brand rather than carats, i will kill him." aren't i just the sweetest girl ever? i bet you all are just dying to give my ingrate self a gift, no? anyway, it was *not* a proposal, but instead the symbolic trinity ring, which i LOVE.

however, all in all, i now am starting to realize the dangers T warned me about. all this free time is allowing me to go completely batshit insane. i literally just spent the last 1/2 hour photoshopping my e-ring to approximate how a band in its style would look. i think this is my cue to head to the gym. for an entirely different kind of torture and stress.