Hello,
Sitting in my car I could hardly believe my luck. It was so beautiful, more than I remember. So sparkly and so shiny. Finally, peace and harmony were restored.
You are probably wondering what all the fuss was and to an extent is all about. Well following the meltdown of last week's blog post detailing the absolute regret of swapping out my OG engagement ring for a new model, I spent hours hunting high and low for this damned ring. The Revere 9-carat White Gold Cubic Zirconia Oval Halo engagement ring was beautiful, classic and elegant. I should have really listened to the doubt inside my head at the time as I wrote in my blog "Rings and Tings" that week I ask myself if this new ring will have all the same significance and special feels as the OG. I thought so and yet several months down the line I can promise you that it did not.
Silly old me thinking "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. Heartbreakingly, I finally found that Argos have stopped selling it - Literally as of January 2020!
I left my blog last week sad, for alas Revere 9-carat White Gold Cubic Zirconia Oval Halo Ring was the one and I was hasty to let you go for now I regret my decision. In the hours that followed I continued my search online for ex-models or ex-stock items, I only hoped I can find you item 724/8119! Searching the internet high and low, going into forums and eBay listings galore desperate to find it again, growing more and more needier as I trawled through pictures and listings and description's I finally found a handful that looked similar. Not 'The One' though. Amazon.com described it as a 10k Solid White Gold Oval Shape 1.0ct Halo Engagement Ring. At £140.00 it wasn't cheap and came in at more expensive than the OG and the "New and Improved" model.
The listing went on, stating that the classic and timeless halo engagement ring was "crafted in your choice of solid 10k white or yellow gold. Stamped with authenticity and a promise of exceptional quality, this versatile design combines sophistication and effortless style". Vacation safe (whatever that means?!), the affordable alternative to a diamond engagement ring exudes grace and is a quintessential addition to a fine jewellery collection.
Peace of mind is given when the shop states that "all jewellery undergo rigorous quality control processes to ensure that customers receive a durable and long-lasting product".
Parade of Jewels continues to sell the product as "something that has been built to withstand the test of time with a premium, sturdy shank and a secure prong-set cuddling AAA quality Cubic Zirconia with fire and sparkle like no other". The Halo Engagement Ring collection including this ring is described as an elegant jewellery piece and the perfect gift for weddings and engagements or just to say "I love you". The reviews were good too, customers admiring the quality and style with one of them even stating that the ring was "Absolutely beautiful. Looks like the real deal." Although I couldn't pin everything on reviews as a 5/5 for only six people wasn't everything.
All things aside, I double and triple-checked with the Argos Chatbots, only to be told that nope there was no hope. Item 724/8119, the stunning Revere 9-carat White Gold Cubic Zirconia Oval Halo Ring did not exist anywhere. And so I went to bed, defeated and flat. I would have to settle for I was too late. The following morning I continued my search, although kept coming back to the Amazon Special. I succumbed to the fact that if I wanted it I would have to order from the American eCommerce site. But maybe, just maybe my local store might have something?
Heading out on my lunch break I whizzed on over to Argos at the Kempston Interchange, praying against all hopes that I would be in luck and, knowing it was unlikely, I walked into the store. Explaining the situation to the young women behind the sparkling glass desks, she gave me a kind smile and went into the back. She came out with a box and I thought that this couldn't be. Could it? Opening the box was like the first time all over again, right there in that gravelly car lot in Priory Country Park.
"What size is it?" I asked anxiously awaiting a reply. Slipping it on I fell in love all over again. It fitted like a glove, perfect and dainty as I remembered. I could have cried if it weren't for being surrounded by whingey half-term kids and their exhausted and frustrated parents. Nearly biting the sales assistants hands-off I said I'll take it. And so I paid and left, costing me less this time around than it did when Mr Warehouse and I originally bought it all those many moons ago.
Truth be told as I write to you now, distracted with the sparkles, I could need to have it resized still should I lose any more weight. I shan't at the moment, just simply because I am only a mere pound away from losing my first stone, and 1.5lbs from seeing a new stone-zone. Can hardly remember the last time I was in the 17-Stone range?! Nevertheless, I am overjoyed with the find and hopefully, the good winnings can continue tomorrow as I weigh-in!
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
Morning All,
So with last week melancholy nature well and truly put to rest (no pun intended) and with my addiction to boys slightly scarred by the previous few date I have been on I have officially picked myself up and am ready to start again with dating - In more ways than one!
More than six-weeks have passed since I was last laid. Six Weeks! I didn't even know such a drought could happen like this. But whilst I wonder every night laying there drifting off listening to cats killing themselves or my middle-aged neighbours (whom I am pretty sure are swingers) my thoughts turn to why I am not hanging off the end of my black iron bed-frame. I am single. Still. Now this would not be such a bad thing but I feel that in some respects I am more highly sexed than your average female and as a result when I don't get it I end up tense, achy and stressed constantly. The effects of not having regular bodily stimulation takes on a physical as well as mental toll on my gorgeous body (Ironic there you see! Aha). Like today at work. I nearly hid under my desk from all my problem emails and phone-calls but instead I took my lunch and ate Cous Cous to which everyone from the office and adjacent warehouse now thinks I am a Toff! Mental note for future - You know you need to get some when you are reaching for the Ainsley Harriott Red Pepper Couscous in the supermarket. Step away from the freeze-dried goods aisle and hit me up someone on Tinder! And yes I am still addicted ...
Now whilst being single is definitely not a problem, in fact I think I much prefer myself out of a relationship, at least one that was as stifling as the last one I encountered; I still find that my needs are not being met. You see I am unfortunately a girl whom is unable to satisfy herself. Odd as it sounds and as strange as it may be I have never taken much pleasure in twilight antics of a lone nature. I find it tedious and boring. Its not that I don't like it, its just I don't see the point if I am alone. Besides, for moi, it is so much more thrilling and exciting when it is with someone else. Especially when you have been with that person a fair amount of time and you know that they have the history and skills to bring you there but sometimes just choose to keep you just beneath the peak for pure torturous pleasure until you beg them to stop. Even when your begging it doesn't always have to end. If you have a strong partner who can keep his (or her) cool then asking for something and not getting it is almost as exhilarating sending you into a wild frenzy, just itching for that release. I also have never experienced 'The Big O' yet. Now many men have tried, but most I feel have failed in there quest to bring me that wave of heat and excitement. Disappointing as it is I know that I may be one of the many women of this wonderful planet that never ever get to feel what it is like. But then again a question I always ask my friends - How do you know? I may well have had one and never even known about it. The annoying thing about all of this is that if anyone was even close to getting me there it would have been Mr. Workaholic or Mr. Cheese both of which are slightly absent right now!
Frustrating as this all is I know that I cannot wholly become fixated on what happens between the sheets. Whilst sex is a fairly sizable part of my relationship with someone, I understand that it isn't for everyone. I need someone who I can have fun with. Something fresh and new, exciting and clean (or filthy). I want to feel giddy and woozy as well as the horn. Am I looking for Love or am I just looking for a good time? This is the question that has been battling me for several weeks now and I feel that now is the time to decide. A boyfriend is just scary and not a necessity I really can deal with right now. A relationship (of sorts) that can be loose and free within reason is something I am tempted by. It intrigues me and teases me with all the possibilities it entails. As time passes by and the longer the dry spell continues the less my 'Number' seems to matter to me. I mean, I could always lie about how many people have seen the downstairs. I remember someone telling me a rule of thumb once - Divide your 'Number' by three and then add one?! That brings me out to 3.33 recurring. How does that work?
Maybe I need to work backwards rather than forwards with this whole dating thing! Start with the sex and see if it leads anywhere good. And whilst I like the idea of a NSA (No Strings Attached) set up I know it would be unlikely to work for both parties. An NSA programme is good in theory but it can never work when you live somewhere like Bedford where men that are pleasing to the eye are scarce. Plus I think that in the long run it would make me unhappy stuck with someone who I will inevitably fall head over heels for only to realise they like the back of my head rather than the front. If I wanted just sex I would have found that weeks ago but I am not. So what the hell am I looking for? Maybe I am therefore looking for a friends with benefits thing. The two are very different as I have come to discover. Where NSA sex is very much what it says on the tin - wham bam thank you ma'am; a friends with benefits situation is much more pleasant I feel. A place whereby if left long enough and seeds planted a fruitful, loving, nurturing relationship could blossom. The thing that I probably enjoyed most about the first few months with Mr. Cheese was simply having the freedom to do as a single girl can whilst having someone to snuggle up with and go on dates to the local ice-cream parlour. I want the cuddles at night, the spooning, the curled up TV days and the giggles and play-fights that turn into lazy but mind-blowing weekend afternoon sex. Yes, that is where I want to be.
Naturally I invest too much in people. even in dates that are not dates. It was only just this last weekend I spoke to Miss Tweedle-Dumb of a few dates lined up in the coming weeks jokingly mentioning how Abbey *Insert Last Name* sounds blissfully better than the last few. And as my dear best friend looked at me oddly I secretly envisioned our entire wedding day together like something from a girlie Rom-Com! I seem to start making the omelette before I have even loaded up my egg basket never mind how much is in it. Always thinking far too much into stuff and not letting things go with the flow. As my father said to me the other day after nearly an hour of showing him how to use Tinder that I should slow down and stop hunting for something that will make itself known when it is ready. Pappa Bear explained that I should take a moment for myself and remember that although I am nearly twenty-three, my clock still has a lot of tick left in it. Throughout what he was saying I knew he was being truthful but it still didn't silence that little part of me that thinks that if I reach thirty and am not at least married then I will defiantly be eaten by Alsations by the time I reach thirty-two. He told me I should be young and free, making mistakes and cringingly laughing about them with friends over a bottle of wine or two. I think he was talking about Love, but it could well have been a moment of insanity in which I seem to indulge in - Alot!
And with this in mind I my thoughts immediately turn to a naughty little thing I did the other day. An UnDate - Basically Date that is not a Date or whereby one of the attendees does not acknowledge the alterer motives of such a meeting with said other party. Make sense? Probably not. But not too worry all will be revealed soon after my trip to Ireland but for the time being I can't spill too much, but all I can say is that I better get some oven mittens because I could quite well get burnt by this one ...
''Til Next Time, Love A.Lou xx
