If you follow me on Instagram (you can find me under whimsyandspice), then you know that Mark gave me a Satomi Kawakita ring for our 20/10 anniversary. He told me that when he went to pick it up from the store, the shop person yelled out “congratulations!” as he was leaving. Congratulations, as in, good luck with the proposal, haaaaa.
Anyway, the ring…yes, so it sort of amuses me to look down at my hand because it reminds me how tastes change sometimes as you get older. I really love this ring, but when we were looking at rings 10 years ago, I didn’t want anything that looked like a diamond engagement ring. It just wasn’t me, but I felt like the simple platinum band with the small tension set diamond that we picked out was just right. When I showed that ring to my parents over dinner soon after, they both peered at it through their glasses, shrugged and said, “I guess this is the new style”. I like looking at this new ring with the others. I like that it commemorates the occasion. I also like the extra sparkle.
So I don’t know what’s at the root of me feeling like I need to reign the spending in (maybe it’s the ring. Yes. No. Or estimated taxes, yeah, that’s it) but I challenged myself not spend any money this month. This means not opening any email promotions from stores, not getting tempted by any sales, not wandering over to Fab (seriously now. What did we do before the internet? Did we not spend as much money?) But of course this self imposed spending hiatus has me itching for new things.
Like this mint green rubber watch. I don’t even wear watches anymore, but geezus, that color. Or any of the other colors for that matter.
And I never did end up buying these Nikes from a previous post (out of my size), but now I’m newly obsessed with this pair. I’ve seen it in person. That color slays me (and the all pink one too) and the translucent mesh is just SO interesting. When did sneakers get so pretty?
Or this ombre skirt. Again, I don’t usually wear long skirts, but..but…ombre! I can sort of see myself floating around the city in this if I was the sort to float around in long skirts. (Curses! Out of my size again!).
And this Nars lipstick in Funny Face. See how serious I am about my spending ban? Won’t even buy a tube of lipstick. I mean ok, it is a $24 tube of lipstick, but still. I stand by my challenge. I am serious.
But next month…next month…we start fresh…
ps. I started something I said I wouldn’t do. I started a Pinterest account. You know, to gather all the pretty. I know, I know, hell really has frozen over. But I promise to pin responsibly from only original sources, ok?
I have the same ring. I live in Toronto but my husband and I went to NYC to get married at City Hall. Satomi actually came to the house we were renting in the village with a selection of rings for me to choose. I literally bought my ring a day before the wedding. I love her rings so much, I would love to have a stack of them!
hello from Greece.
love the ring
katerina ff
Beautiful, Jenna! I must’ve missed this on Instagram. I was just thinking today that I haven’t bought anything since Christmas, and I’m very happy for that to continue perhaps until this Christmas. A whole year!
Ronnie xo
What a beautiful ring! Love the thin band. And welcome to Pinterest!
@Carol that’s so cool! And yes…a stack would be nice!
OH! My engagement ring is also hexagonal. It’s my favorite shape for rings. Nice job, husband!
my goodness, that ring in gorgeous.
beautiful lil’ sparkler!
Nice choice, Mark. That is a gorgeous ring.
Congrats on 20/10.
Do you remember (window) shopping midtown circa 2001?
Your post reminded me…
@Ray Did we go window shopping for rings together? I can’t remember!
beautiful ring!! and i LOVE that ombre skirt, so pretty!
@Jhope You give Mark a lot of credit! Let’s just say I dropped a lot of hints.
Love the ring! 🙂
Pinterest is the greatest internet invention ever in the history of the world. yes yes. It’s My Happy Place.
@Melissa@Julia’s Bookbag I don’t really want to get into it here, but I have a problem with how images, artwork, photos and other intellectual property get improperly credited or not credited at all. And it gets even more out of context as things get repinned. I also don’t really like seeing personal photos on Pinterest, again, out of context a blog post, especially if it’s of the girls or the apt. But I do agree it’s a nice place to aggregate things.
So pretty and I love the stack and the journey it represents. I met an older woman once who had a large stack of tiny rings. She said when she was first married, her husband bought her a small band, which is what he could afford. Since then, every five or ten years he’ll gift her another and the stack is the growing culmination of their years together, each band a little different than the others. I like this idea.
@Aye I love that.
@Jenna Ha. I totally assumed he picked it out w/out hints. Prob b/c he carries a good tote, knows how to dress, and is married to a designer 🙂
@Jhope I totally buy all his clothes hahaa. He’s not much of a shopper. He never buys ANYTHING ever.
Bling-a-bling! Beautiful, beautiful…also, I do think jewelry is a special gift because it can be handed down to future generations be worn, remade, etc. I love the longevity of a jewelry gift. And late congratulations, btw. It’s a marvelous milestone!
I tried to do something similar. What did I end up doing? Buying a dress the first day of my spending ban on Gilt. Seriously, internet, stop.
You could try talking yourself out of some of those purchases because those colors are very “trendy” right now and will probably be out of style soon. But I totally know how hard it is to resist the pretty colors in style right now.
@jacqueline Oh, I’m pretty good at self control. I can totally do this. I know what you mean about those colors being trendy, but I don’t really care if something is in style or not. It probably won’t stop me from liking and wearing something.
Beautiful ring…congratulations on so many wonderful years together! I followed you on Pinterest too 😉
So I really love the watch you linked to. Green is also my favorite color. I saw it on the site, hemmed and hawed, and even posted about it yesterday or so. Well today as I finally decided to buy it, it is sold out from anthropologie and selling for $168 on ebay lol.
You know how to pick them. Beautiful ring too. Good luck on your challenge.
I’m holding out & salivating for Fall fashion … don’t forget PUMA footwear .. sneaker classics
@Kris what? They’re sold out? oh no. I guess that makes that one easy!
hi! love the ring and the unique shape.. it’s so pretty! regarding one of your concerns about pinterest, i believe there is a way to block people from pinning your personal images.. i’m not sure if it’s a code you type in (i don’t have a website and am not tech savvy so ya, i could be totally off) or what, but i know it exists!
omg, i’ve been obsessing with almost the same things. the watch i was able to justify since it’s utilitarian; check. was gonna get another nars item but holding off until i completely empty the case. “techno” sneakers – don’t have my size either – thank goodness.
That ring. Wow.
what a sweet ring.. i am planning to get a satomi kawakita wedding ring. if only, i lived closer to ny (i’m in sf), to try on and compare. i am in love with her work. happy summer <3
Jenna, usually I really enjoy your blog. I want to start by saying that I am open to seeing why I am wrong about this, and I know it’s just my opinion…but I am curious what you think. This post struck me as odd because you are writing about how you need to reign in spending and then you follow it with a paragraph of rewardstyle.com links. I know this has been rehashed several other places on the interwebs and others might not agree with me, but personally I think that bloggers do have more of a responsibility to disclose to readers when they are making money off of links (I think you had a whole post about how you were opening up advertising on the side section of your blog…and I really respected that, as I respect a lot of what you write here, but this seems different). It just seems weird to me to build a “personal” relationship by posting “authentic” content about what’s on your mind, then turn around and say that what you’re doing is writing a magazine and you deserve to be compensated for your labor (as @joannagoddard has explained in some of her interviews). To me, I don’t come here because I need a personal shopper. I actually started reading this blog when I realized how monetized the content was on blogs like Cup of Jo, and how refreshing it was to get some candid and reflective talk on the ups and downs of life… It seems like your philosophy is more down to earth, and that life for you is a lot more than work/business/commodity goods. Anyway, I do appreciate that you need to support your family somehow, and I guess it is unrealistic to think that you would put a lot of work into this blog and not get compensated. Sometimes it just feels that bloggers get readers by opening themselves up to real human connection and then turn around and cash in on that trust — do you know what I mean? Or maybe from a blogger’s point of view that is not what it seems like at all. Anyway, I’m sorry if this post upsets you. I don’t know you at all, but it seems from your writing that you are a pretty honest and unconventional person so I trust that you’ll understand the funny feeling that I’m trying to get at but may not be expressing very well.
@Annie, I appreciate your comment and that you are questioning things that make you uncomfortable (as you should), however, I don’t feel I need to explain why I am doing this again since I explained it here – perhaps you missed this post? Not sure how much more explaining I can do beyond what I wrote there. I do not, however, believe I am doing a bait and switch by luring readers with “authentic content” and building trust and then becoming a product hawking magazine and all of a sudden “cashing” in that trust, as you put it. I’ve been blogging here for 4+ years and have only recently decided to include affiliate links in 1 or 2 posts a month after some careful deliberation. Since I have written about products in some posts before (though not often), I don’t believe it changes my content and this is clearly something that I talked about it that post. Also, most readers have been very encouraging about my decision and have also expressed interest in wanting to know more about the things I like. I AM also disclosing the links because I mention it in the FAQs but if I need to add it in my sidebar to be more explicit, then I will consider doing so.
Obviously, all this to say, if you do not feel comfortable with these kinds of posts once a month, then there isn’t much I can do outside of explaining why I started using affiliate links. I know that some bloggers make a very decent living off of monetizing their blog. I am not one of them. I am only trying to cover the real costs of running this blog. Thanks for your comment, I always appreciate the feedback.
Hi Jenna!
I just stumbled upon your blog and absolutely love it. Congrats on your 20/10 anniversary! 🙂 I don’t mean to be tacky, but do you mind sharing the carat size of your Satomi ring? I’ve been eyeballing the exact one, and I love the size of yours/how it sits on your finger. Thanks so much for any guidance you have to offer! 🙂
@Sarah, it’s the .16ct. Hope that helps.
Agh, I love Satomi’s rings so much and have been occasionally, every now and then, deeply saddened that I didn’t know about her when I got my own ring. Which is lovely. I’m not complaining. It’s very clean-lined and has a tiny rectangular diamond in it—and any time I try on one of Satomi’s rings next to it it looks horrid and I get just a tiny bit sad all over again. I’m awful.
Hi Jenna,
I just found this ring online and followed it up with a massive google search for anyone who had the ring and by chance posted a pic of it on their blog/flickr to see what the different sized diamonds look like on a finger. Lucky shot, but you helped a girl out! My boyfriend and I are discussing what size to get (between the .2 and .33ct). What size is yours? I ask because I really like the proportion of it to the size of your finger. I don’t want mine to be too big or too dinky. Thanks for your help!
Hayley
@hayley it’s actually the .16ct. If it’s the only ring on your finger that you will wear, I would go up a carat size at least.