Living in Regret

Heyy, 

Last week I spoke about the regret of not ever living in London and the city and the life that I could have imagined living if it weren't for different other life events that lead me on the path I am today. And yet again I sit here in regret. 

Back in the Autumn of 2018, my Mr Warehouse proposed. I remember it so clearly, walking on ahead with my little winner following a fun dog show which our (now) eldest pooch (the only one at the time) won for coming first as "The dog that the judges would most like to take home". So in my own world was I, I didn't notice as Mr Warehouse came up alongside me and almost in slow motion, my boyfriend of nearly four-years knelt down on one knee and pulled out a grey box from his pocket. As if it was yesterday I recall how I felt as my mind adjusted to what my eyes were seeing, he opened the box only to reveal a beautiful White Gold Diamond ring. A part of me had not quite realised that this was it and instead was just thinking how nice it was that he had bought me a nice gift. Then I think everything caught up with me and as my gorgeously handsome, cute bottomed Mr Warehouse asked: "Will You Marry Me?" 

After choosing the wrong size I had to re-pick my ring, mainly as they could only size up and down 2 levels and I needed more than that. I selected the beautiful Revere 9-carat White Gold Cubic Zirconia Oval Halo Ring, classic and elegant. After whizzing over to Stevenage to collect it in my size, I was overjoyed and couldn't stop staring at my hand for months. But soon enough the whirlwind had worn off and I found a new shiny thing to think about. 

Back in the Summer of last year, I was sat in a meeting in early June and noticed a small spec of dust on the desk. I swiped it onto the floor, thinking nothing more of it. A little while later I ended up looking down and playing with my engagement ring. However, on closer inspection, I realised a stone was missing. Panicked I realised that the "speck of dust" was actually one of my stones! There I was, on all fours in this bloody sales meeting. I picked up the crystal and wrapped it in a piece of paper, stuffing it into my bra for safekeeping. Calling the store Mr Warehouse (and I) bought it from, I explained what had happened and asked if I could bring it in with a photo of the receipt that I had on my phone to be repaired. They said it would be fine and I brought it in that evening once I had finished. With weeks before we jetted off on our last holiday as an unmarried couple, I was itching to get it back. 

Several weeks later I was days away from mine and Mr Warehouse's holiday and I was even more desperate to get it back to go on holiday with. It would be the first time it had been on holiday and would be the one and only time it would be seen on a beach, fore next time it would be accompanied by my wedding ring! Eeeek! But after calling several times I was told that the ring was not back yet and they would be in touch soon. I did have a contingency plan though. I had ordered a lab-created diamond ring from eBay that looked similar, although disappointingly it had not arrived in time for my holiday only adding to my heartache. However, once it had (eventually) arrived was not quite for me and so I sent it back, awaiting any day for my beloved ring to be back with me. And so, regrettably, I skipped off on holiday without my ring. 

Coming back home from Malaga Mr Warehouse and I waited in the airport, ready to board our flight home, swollen and in pain with blisters and sores. I had a phone call from the store we sent the ring back to get repaired. Unfortunately, it would have happened that when the repairers went to fix the ring, it bowed and warped so much so that whilst they had been able to fix it, the repair was not guaranteed and that if any more stone fell out I would have to go through the whole six-eight week process again. I decided not to accept the repair and instead opted to have the ring returned and have a replacement, thoughts of the new shiny thing I had seen in the shops a few weeks before. 

Truth be told I had fallen in love with a 9ct White Gold Cluster Ring. The claw set cushion design is a real beauty. Handset with DiamonFlash Cubic Zirconia it creates a ring of perfect proportions with lots of sparkle and style. A fabulous accessory for any outfit - Including my wedding dress. Lusting after it for a while I was still waiting to hear about my ring being returned, I couldn't help myself and after calling a local branch in Milton Keynes and being told that my exact size was in and was on sale, I dropped what I was doing (which was decorating our hallway at the time) and headed over. However, on making the half-hour round trip and paying for premium parking, I was more than annoyed to try on the ring and for it to barely get past my knuckle. 

"This is not the correct ring size," I said to the sales assistant. She disagreed saying that of course, it is. 
"I can assure you that this is not my ring size," I said again asking her this time to size it on her ring chart and, sure enough, it was wrong, coming up nearly three sizes too small. Fuming I tried to control myself in a shop busy with people, but explaining politely to the sales girl that I have come in especially for this and what it is simply not really acceptable to just say sorry and make an excuse that someone had labelled it incorrectly, especially when I had called in advance too. Nevertheless, the young girl helped by ordering the ring in, although not before trying to charge me more because I was ordering a "bigger size". I paid in full and left, sitting in my car before I left and typing out an angry tweet. Venting through the interwebs seems to help as I had a response within a few hours and was told that because of my troubles I would have my ring especially shipped in from the manufacturers directly and that I could collect that Friday. 

What happened to the other original engagement ring? Well, whilst I loved it, I love this one. Although I should have listened to the doubt inside my head at the time. Writing in "Rings and Tings" that week I really had to ask myself if this new ring will have all the same significance and special feels as the OG. Several months down the line I can promise you that it does not. Silly old me back then thought "I mean of course it will look a little odd in photos and I will have to explain every time someone asks what happened to my old engagement ring, but this one is soooo sparkly and soooo beautiful it won't be hard for them to see why I fell in love with it." Oh how wrong I was. 

I have since just spent pretty much the entire evening looking for this damned ring. The original of course. I am absolutely gutted though as Argos have stopped selling it, literally as of January 2020! Alas Revere 9-carat White Gold Cubic Zirconia Oval Halo Ring, you were the one and I was hasty to let you go for now I regret my decision and whilst I continue my search online for ex-models or ex-stock items, I can only hope I can find you item 724/8119 ...  

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx