Lord of the Rings, or How we met our Ring Master ;)

So Mike and I had been talking about marriage for a while, of course there is a ring involved in the process. I had been thinking about using my Grandmother’s engagement diamond as the center piece of my ring. One day while at work, relaxing in the shade of palms at the bay, I started drawing what I would want my ring to look like. The drawing was simple and I was happy with it.

I shared my doodle with Mike and we decided to look for a Mom & Pop jeweler as opposed to the enormous diamond galleries that are advertised 24-7 on San Diego radio stations.

Fast forward a few weeks later: We were in Ocean Beach of the annual street fair & chili cook-off, collecting signatures to get Ralph Nader on the California ballot and eating various chilies. Mike suggested looking into the jewelry stores and inquiring if they did custom work. The first shop we tried did not do custom rings however they suggested a little hole in the wall across the street called “The Golden Seashell”. I have been to OB on many, many occasions but this was the first time I had ever seen the Golden Seashell.

Upon entering the store we were greeted by a hearty “Hello There M’ Lady, and Good Sir”. I was a bit surprised, thinking this guy is just being silly. It ended up however, that he was not being silly; this was just his natural demeanor. He continued referring to us as M’lady, and Good Sir throughout our conversation, and when all was said and done, we could not refuse his charms, and decided that this would be the man who would assist us in making Rachel’s design a reality.

A couple weeks went by and we returned our Lord of the Rings, with Rachel’s design in hand, and he assured us he was up to the task. Exactly one week later (3 days early!) Mike received a phone call, letting him know that the ring was finished and ready to be picked up. He snuck off, claiming he had to pay for his car insurance (which he really did have to do!) and went to pick up the ring. He was completely shocked when he saw the ring. It was EXACTLY how Rachel had it drawn out. He thanked the good sir a thousand times over, and had to wait another few days before giving it to Rachel, which proved to be VERY difficult, as he was very excited over how well it turned out.

The proposal story will follow.