One week // V Day and The Mystery Box

With just a week to go until I head out to Dubai to see my fiancé, after eight weeks apart, I'm seriously excited! The weekend has been filled pre-holiday chores and errands, and apart from meeting up with one of my friends for coffee and a little shopping, I haven't done a great deal else that was very interesting. So, I thought I'd show you a few snaps of my Valentine's Day instead.

Since the Mr is a few thousand miles away, I spent the evening alone, trying not to eat every last Hershey's kiss and chocolate truffle! I was moderately successful, but only because I got distracted by something else though. The Mr sent me a couple of photos (see below) of a mysterious white Shopbop box which he said is special belated Valentine's/sorry-you've-been-on-your-own-so-long-I-know-it's-sucked gift that's awaiting my arrival in Dubai! Eeeek, exciting!

Trying my best not to eat the lot.

I don't actually remember how exactly the petname came about, but my fiancé is known as 'Bear' to me. And, over the
years I've grown a strong affinity for bears of all kinds. This little guy is to add to my growing family of teddy bears :)

Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Gel  //  The Body Shop  //  Smells divine but makes me want to eat candy!

The mystery box

The goods wrapped up inside...and that's all the clues I have!

Of course, I've spent the last few days telling him my curiosity really cannot stand it and asking him to pleeeeaase tell me or at least give me some clues but he's not giving anything away. Soooo, any guesses people??

Naturally, the combination of being reunited with him, taking a vacation and a surprise gift has my excitement levels through the roof! I can barely sleep at night and I'm spending the majority of my downtime on the internet researching things to see/do in Dubai. I've already had a few very helpful suggestions from some blogger friends but any more suggestions that you have would be very welcome. 

xxx

PS: If you blogged about your Valentine's Day feel free to share a link, I'd like to see what you lovelies got up to!

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Ring a Ring a Rose Gold (and diamonds!)

Here it is, my beautiful engagement ring! It's rose gold, diamond paved with a round brilliant cut centre diamond. I'm in love, I can't stop staring at it!

My fiancé proposed in December but wisely used a stand in ring, still beautiful just not a diamond (they're the real deal sealers!). We'd actually had the odd hypothetical, very roundabout conversation, about rings and getting engaged. In amongst those he'd asked something along the lines of 'if you were ever one day maybe going to get married what kind of ring would you sort of want?' 

To say I was undecided is an understatement! I'm the girl who has trouble picking what I'm going to eat in a restaurant and tells the waiter 'two more minutes' three times!! So, you can imagine the difficulty I have selecting the most meaningful thing I'll ever wear. Given how many times I've changed my mind since we got engaged it's a good job he let me choose!

At first I couldn't even settle on a shape let alone the 'four Cs' (cut, colour, clarity, carat). A family friend is a jeweller and told me round brilliants reflect the highest percentage of light back and thus sparkle more.

Now...if there's one thing I did know, it was that I wanted my ring to sparkle!

Since sparkle was highest on my priorities I opted for the best cut, colour and clarity possible rather than a very large size (carats) diamond. After selecting the diamond, we then ordered a platinum setting but I realised I hardly ever wear silver and I wasn't really sure why I was getting a silver toned ring...?! I think I'd chosen platinum because that's the 'in' colour these days.

I finally decided I wanted a slightly more individual style ring so we had the halo setting custom made in rose gold. I love the softer more neutral tone of it as opposed to yellow gold of silver/platinum. As you've probably noticed, my taste is quite feminine, so this delicate style is perfect for me. The band is paved with diamonds and the centre stone is circled with them too so whilst it isn't chunky it's still very eye-catching. 

As soon as the diamond was set this weekend, I fell in love, I can't explain how pure and white the centre diamonds look! I wish I could do my ring justice through photos but no matter how hard I try I can't capture just how sparkly it is.

My rose gold diamond engagement ring - New best friend, there's truth in the saying!

I tried to get a few shots of the ring on my hand today but in the end the photos I took using my iPhone on Saturday, right after I got it are much better. You'd be surprised how hard diamonds are to photograph! You'll be seeing it plenty of times in outfit posts from now on though!

Choosing my ring was definitely one of my most difficult decisions to date. Every detail comes down to personal preference and although it would have been a darn sight easier if my fiancé had chosen one for me, now that I have my ring I'm so glad he didn't!

So, what do you think, would you ever choose rose gold? Would you like to pick your own ring or do you prefer the idea that your husband to be selects it?

xxx