Upgrade.

Warning: portions of this post may make some gag. Enjoy.

My birthday has come and gone, but months prior to my big day Ben kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday. I tried to come up with a few things, but thought maybe I would find something on vacation and he could call that my birthday present. Well, the vacation came and went and, besides having a great time and bringing home several bottles of wine, still nothing officially for my birthday. I know, I'm so needy. After opening all my birthday cards and counting the money that friends and family so generously gave me I knew exactly what I wanted.

When I turned 17 Ben was in North Carolina visiting his friend Brandon, consequently missing my birthday. While in NC he bought me a ring. Many of you have seen it because I've been wearing it everyday since. Gold, two hearts intertwined, with little diamonds in each and on the sides of the band. Pretty fancy, and at $99 dollars pretty pricey for a 17 year old. He brought it home along with a bucket of sand, placed the ring in a little handmade sandbox and made me do a scavenger hunt to find it. He left notes in the VCR, outside in a flower pot, in shoes, all over the house. It was fun and the one thing I remember, it was sized perfectly. (Actually, now that I think back, so was my engagement ring, weird.)

Anyway, so now that it's 10 years later I decided that, for my birthday, I want an upgrade. I think I deserve one, especially since I've worn that ring for 10 years, prorated out that's about 80 cents a month, or a little less than 3 cents a day. I would say Ben got his monies worth.

Since entering into the corporate world, especially the fashion industry, I've been introduced to many things, one of those being David Yurman. Sigh... David Yurman is a well known jewelry designer and he has about a dozen shops around the country. Other than those shops, his jewelry can only be found in high end jewelry boutiques or upscale department stores. This is one of those items that even in Vegas, with a little bit of winnings, was still out of my price range and only ever an aspiration.

Not this year. I decided to take the money for my birthday and the money Ben was going to spend on me and buy my first piece of DY. Notice I say first, because now I'm hooked. It's like a girl getting her first little blue box. You want every gift to come in a blue box with a pretty white bow. My new upgrade is from his Noblesse collection, sterling silver with a blue topaz gemstone. I love it. Simple, small, perfect for everyday wear.

I still plan on keeping my heart ring. I'll probably tuck it away and show my daughter some day what her dad got me when we were teenagers. I guess now I need a manicure if I'm going to show this bad boy off. In case you are wondering, Ben has already worked out the calculation on this puppy to see how long I have to keep it before I upgrade again. Glad I like it!