Friday Love Story: A Surprise on the Ice

             

                It is a wonderful Friday and I am pleased to share another amazing proposal story!  It is such a cute story and we are lucky enough to have a video as well.  There is something that is so touching when you see the tears of joy on video! 

                

          Chris and I were engaged May 6, 2012 on the ice after winning the Championship at the First State Broomball tournament in Delaware. Our team was 'Del Boca Vista' from Seinfeld...we each had a name on the back of our shirt. I was Man Hands...Chris was Mandelbaum.   After the final game, coming out champions, we were presented with the trophy on the ice and had some pictures taken. After the first few Chris said he wanted to take "one more".  He began rearranging us and pulled me out to the front. He got down on one knee on the ice and asked me to marry him. He said he couldn't think of a more romantic place for me than on the ice ...ha ha:) I was VERY surprised but it was very fitting as we met playing broomball!  Only two people knew about the proposal beforehand...our best player who also happened to be a videographer and our second best player who was needing some motivation going into the finals as we were playing last year’s championship team. Chris took him aside before the game and showed him the ring, and said if we won he would propose.  In which he replied, "Dude that's a lot of pressure!"
                I love Chris and I love sports, it could not have been a more perfect engagement for me.  Many people asked "what if you had lost?"  It wouldn't have mattered...it would still have been one of our happiest days.  My best day was our wedding on November 10, 2012! The tournament trophy was a candy dish at our wedding. Since we were lucky to have a videographer there,  our video is on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wobJPDxusEk  ....'brooks pops the q'

~Kara

         

     

Thank you so much Chris and Kara for sharing your special moment with us!

                                                       Xo, Kelly

Friday Love Story: Isaac's Live Lip-Dub Proposal

            It’s Friday!!! We decided that this Friday we would share a very different proposal story.  I can’t believe how sweet this proposal is.  If you had a bad week, need a pick me up, or just love romance this video will make you feel amazing.  To feel the amount of love that surrounds this couple is unbelievable.  Not going to lie, I cried!  Isaac Lamb’s video will make you tear up too!

Click on the link to You Tube and feel the love!

Isaac's Live Lip-Dup Proposal

XO, Kelly

Friday Love Story:Where you least expect it!

                I hope my Friday Love Stories have given inspiration!  As I keep working on James and Lily’s new website, I get so excited looking at our new bridal pieces that will be available.  I know each ring will have its day to make someone very happy.  This week’s Friday Love Story is so cute I couldn't wait to share it!

Isabela was taking a routine trip to the dog park with her darling Keanga.  As she was traipsing through the park another dog took notice of Keanga.  The two dogs couldn't stop playing!  Finally the other dog’s owner, Eric, caught up with them and noticed the dogs were having such a good time they probably needed some water.  Well, when Eric asked Isabela if they should take the dogs to the water fountain for a drink, she though he said “would you like to go for a drink”.  Well if he was asking her on a date she said, “I can’t dressed like this”.  Through the miss communication Eric found that well if he asked her out she would wouldn’t turn him down!  With such a cute beginning Eric had to make sure the engagement was just as special.

                Halloween was around the corner and all the preparations were in order.  Eric made Isabela’s favorite dinner while they were tending to the trick-or-treaters.  It was Isabela’s turn to answer the door and standing there were a little boy and girl dressed as bride and groom.  The little girl handed Isabela a bouquet of roses and the little boy held out a box.  Eric emerged at her side on bended knee and opened the little box and asked her to marry him!

~Isabela and Eric

                Such a cute story!  Could you imagine how cute the two little kids were?!  This is such a special post because this June will be Isabela and Eric’s ten year anniversary!  Congratulations!!!!  

                                                                             XO,Kelly

The Four C’s of Diamonds

As James and Lily is gearing up for the launch of our new website, we are excited about a new feature that will make a whole variety of diamonds available through our site!  While studying to becoming a graduate gemologist I spent quite a bit of time studying diamonds because there is so much to learn about them.  All these qualities work together to make diamonds sparkle and shine beautifully.  When looking for diamonds they are graded by the four C’s.  I thought I’d give you an explanation of the four C’s to get you ready for James and Lily’s new site!

Cut:  When looking at diamonds we use cut to tell us how well the stone was cut to achieve the most   sparkle and shine.  The way diamonds play with light is so unique we can’t help but love it!   There is a whole science in proportions and percentages that help diamonds graders decide what quality the cut is, but they make it easier by putting diamonds into categories to tell us the quality of the cut.  The categories are: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor.  The measurement differences can be so minuscule between an Excellent graded stone and a Very Good.  Sometimes if you compare two stones visually, one Excellent, and another Very Good, many people will choose a Very Good not knowing the two stone’s grades, because the way a diamond looks is a combination of the four C’s.  If you compare an Excellent stone to a Poor stone, you would probably see the difference.    

Color:  The color grade tells us how much color, or lack of color there is in the diamond.  We use a D-Z scale to grade amount of color in a diamond.  Because diamonds form in nature, there can be extra chemicals and minerals that get caught in the formation of the diamond.  This is what causes color in the stone, typically yellow.  Starting at D there is no color, and as you progress down to Z there more color progresses.  D,E,F is often considered colorless.  G,H stones are near colorless.  I,J will begin to have a little color, and as your progress down in the alphabet the more color you will find in the diamond.

Clarity:  Just like with color, because diamonds form in nature, there can be other things that are caught up in the formation or caused during the formation.  If you have looked at diamond grades before you will be familiar with the terms F,IF,VVS1,VVS2 and so on.   These are how we grade the amount of inclusions that can be seen in the stone under 10X magnification.  It is important to remember that clarity grading is done under magnification. Inclusions are things that can get caught in the stone or are created during the formation of the diamond.  One example could be a crystal.  Another example would be what we call a pin point, a small speck within the stone.  The grade is not only based on what is in the stone but the location as well.  Often the closer the inclusion or inclusions are to the center of the diamond or to the top of the diamond the lower the grade, because it is more likely to be visible.  

F, IF: Flawless and internally flawless

VVS1, VVS2:  Very very slight inclusions

VS1,VS2: Very slight inclusions

SI1,SI2: Slight inclusions

I1: Included.  These will sometimes have inclusions that can be seen without magnification or the amount of inclusions will earn a stone an I grading.

Carat:  The size of a diamond is based on Carat Weight.   Carat weight is factored in the stone’s value because the larger the diamond the more rare it is to find in nature.  Two stone with the same carat weight can be worth  different values because of the rest of the Cs’: Cut, Color, Clarity.

The four C’s can help a stone buyer understand the value of the stones they are looking at.  Choosing a stone is such a personal decision because of the range and different combination of the four C’s.   That is what makes your diamond so special!

                                                  XO, Kelly