morgiemoolala

Turtle Love Committee has 2 new designs and they're both great! The sterling "stone" one is simple yet creative:
http://www.turtleloveco.com/Sterling_Silver_Stone_Engagement_Ring_p/lg-ob-r.htm

and the white topaz one, which I think I like a little more, is both chic and funky:
http://www.turtleloveco.com/White_Topaz_Engagement_Ring_p/lg-wts-r.htm

Normally I can't stand ring sets (engagement rings w/matching wedding bands) but I think both flow together nicely. I love that they're hammered siver which obviously give them a much more organic and individual texture. It's sort of symbolic, too. You know, that while you're uniting two lives in a "perfect circle," there will still be bumps and glitches along the way, yet it's still whole and unending. Maybe I'm looking too far in to it. Or, maybe I'm not.

Charlotte, I'm seriously considering buying this for myself :p
Want one? I'll order two...they ARE only $8 :p

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38327490&ref=sc_9

Charlotte, this is for you especially.

How cool is this?!:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Victorian-Opal-Persian-Turquoise-Gold-Ring_W0QQitemZ200323999766QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Fine_Jewelry?hash=item2ea43da816

<3 it.

That would make such a funky engagement ring. Yay for colors. Yay for no diamonds. Yay for recycling! :p

I *love* this website:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.turtlelovecommittee.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/adrianneatreidstatepark1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.turtlelovecommittee.com/AboutUs.asp&usg=__XDL773RvIQFclY2vOYdi1lT96pk=&h=263&w=350&sz=79&hl=en&start=19&um=1&tbnid=AC8sVPx3cIChjM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dturtle%2Blove%2Bcommittee%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%

(sorry about the frame...i don't know how to reduce it on a Mac, lol)


For so many reasons...non-diamond engagement rings, ethical procedures, artistic designs.. On top of not agreeing with the majority (or perhaps lack there of?) of "ethics" behind diamond mining, I also feel that they just don't suit my personality...they're too common, too expected...and, to me at least, entirely too boring.


My one qualm is the link to "3 Promises."
I can't help but wonder, "why isn't love there?"

I know that love is encompassed within those three promises, but why not blatantly state that, or simply make "love" a separate, fourth statement.
Cheesey, I know, but it's when we believe that we're aboove or no longer in need of love that our relationships start to fall apart. At least that's laregely what I've seen in my parents' case. Granted, they hardly support, and just barely protect one another, but each does still comes home to the other...I think they're in it for longevity and warrior's (they're "interracial) sakes, but at this point little more. However, being grown and out of the way, I could be missing *intricate* details regarding their relationship.

All I can hope (and work towards) is if Nate and I get married (should he ever ask), or to whom ever it is I marry, is that I (but really, we) work to make sure that what happened to my parents doesn't happen to us.

I guess I, and no one, really, can no what the future holds, but I suppose, given that, I can also hope.


Sorry, all, for the cheesey entry :p










Blame the wine.

So...
Nate and I now have two cats.
A stray kitten that we've frequently seen around the neighborhood (and occasionally fed because she's rain thin and totally dehydrated) followed us home Friday night.

We fed her (she ate two entire bowlfuls), gave her water, brushed her with both a grooming and flea comb, and went to bed. She slept on my head most of the night.

We rose early Saturday morning to make a vet appointment. Aside from starvation and dehydration, she's in good health. She came back negative on her feline HIV and leukemia tests, but, if she'd been infected in the past six weeks, it wouldn't show up on Saturday's test. Therefore, for the next two months we need to keep her more or less separated from Sammi and Annie, and take her back in November for the final HIV/Leukemia test. They said it's unlikely that she has either, but why risk the health of the other two cats?

So, needless to say, Annie is furious (and sad...) We have to keep her out of the room, since they can't share food or water dishes, litter boxes, and we can't risk scratching or exchange of saliva.

I'll be posting pictures soon (of both!) so you can see how completely adorable these cats are!!

So for post #2...

Charlotte, I think you'll appreciate this site. The jewelry is amazing!
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.glsjewelry.com/Citrine-Ring-ws.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.glsjewelry.com/Rings.html&usg=__lFDDAa69v5sOZi8Zntqm1Kqo_38=&h=645&w=650&sz=75&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=pl0Swaie3l7DXM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcitrine%2Brings%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

I think I may be in love with moonstone:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_430xN.71815228.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php%3Flisting_id%3D25371626&usg=__1RFHTNDlzaeHjm9wBt0Qp9eRGEU=&h=355&w=430&sz=25&hl=en&start=52&um=1&tbnid=6tGvF60L0Ms5BM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmoonstone%2Bengagement%2Brings%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40%26um%3D1

Moonstone and citrine, or turquoise, would go so amazingly together.

This is interesting, too:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.eclecticala.com/ringsetc/508moonstone.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.eclecticala.com/ringsetc/rings10b.htm&usg=__S5uqqaVAgTjn8ZHR2xn-DJMaM9M=&h=408&w=354&sz=22&hl=en&start=59&um=1&tbnid=5jsjcu7GVCV-qM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmoonstone%2Bengagement%2Brings%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40%26um%3D1

Here are some more really interesting and funky ring sites.
The one directly below has all antique rings (most appear to be from England), and a huge diversity in pricing. Take special note of the multi-colored 1920s rings...so gorgeous!
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hattonsantiques.co.uk/gallery/640x480/ring-gold-turquoise-pearl-f.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hattonsantiques.co.uk/gallery/antique-rings.html&usg=__4xJhnS4eRni1v8PtlIYTLIvkeS4=&h=480&w=640&sz=124&hl=en&start=64&um=1&tbnid=OiqF3k96j6F-LM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dturquoise%2Bengagement%2Brings%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D60%26um%3D1

This is also lovely (I'm surprising myself with all of this gold). For a long time I didn't even know what citrine was (I just knew it looked amber-ish, and I love amber).
What do you think?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-48185403238781_2067_20949881&imgrefurl=http://www.affordablevintagejewelry.com/esweba.html&usg=__9KDn2fQj_x-au20xQlcfMjVqRDc=&h=150&w=143&sz=8&hl=en&start=38&um=1&tbnid=dG60Cmv8Fv68ZM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcitrine%2Bengagement%2Brings%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1

Since so many of my friends are now at the cusp of heading down the aisle with their soon-to-be hubbies, I'm understandably tempted to look around and consider my own "tastes" so to speak, regarding rings and the like.

I'm not a very big fan of diamonds. They can be pretty, but at the same time, I can easily live without them.

I'm also not a big fan of gold; every now and then something with gold or gold-hued settings will catch my eye.

Such was the case with the following link. The band is gold, but it's thin and simple, rather than in your face and tacky. The design of the stones (I'm not even sure what they are) is a pretty flower, and I love the saturated amber color. I have a ring (just a piece of Phoenix-purchased costume jewelry) that's simpler and less refined, but still along the same lines. I think it's just lovely:

http://engagementrings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Image:Flower1.jpg

Of the few diamond engagement rings I've liked, my grandmother's is definitely at the top. It's an art-deco era "pauper's" engagement ring, since my grandfather could afford very little during the Great Depression and the years immediately following. The setting is a thin, silver rectangular "basket" shape with a square-cut diamond at the top. It's simple and elegant. I think I like it more for the fact that it was my grandmother's, and that she wore it affectionately throughout her life, rather than it actually appealing to me as a style. When she passed, it was given to my mother.

Ultimately I think a ring that reflects a promise, and not only the recipient but the giver, too, is the most important goal. People shouldn't be breaking the bank proposing to spend the rest of forever together. If anything the act should be affectionate and genuine, but frugal, so that the life following can be happy, healthy and abundant not only in fiscal terms, but in ways far surpassing income.

Sometimes, as much as I enjoy classical music, I get so sick of it, and the people who shape the particular genre. I feel like I'm going to become another pedantic corpse, blurting out rules and reasons without any real conviction, personality, novelty or knowledge.
That's when I dream about expanding my musical horizons, playing in new genres, new instruments, and being truly creative.

This made me so happy. I wish I could do this. I'm not entirely sure what "this" is (whether it's singing, simply the genre, improving, or what), but to "this," you made my day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l74d1fmZbw