Ring Shopping

I have to find a suitable wedding band for Groom.  I'm thinking something sturdy and definitely a comfort fit band.  Men's rings have come a long way from the thin gold past of our parents' day. There are those fancy braided looking things, miniature diamond encrusted, or even that 'man' engagement ring look.  Groom inherited one of the latter, and it is beautiful, but very noticeable and probably not something he can wear everyday.  Maybe we'll use it in the ceremony, but even that might be a bit much. 

I just realized that I have not included a picture of my ring, or even blogged about rings for that matter. My camera is out of commision, so once it gets working, I'll post a picture.  While we were looking at engagement rings, what feels like forever ago, the sales consultant was telling us the benefits of white gold over platinum. Price and durability being the top two.  Platinum shows dings and looses it luster quickly while white gold tends to hold on to the shine or masks the dings.  In addition, white gold is also considerably less expensive than platinum.  This was all fine and good until we asked what would happen if I were allergic to nickel.  She stopped her pitch and said to Groom, "Sorry, but platinum is the only way to go."  I felt bad, but realized that he'd budgeted for the extra $1000 or whatever it was.  Luckily my ring is so ornate that I don't want to wear an additional wedding band with it, so he's not buying me a second ring.  

Since all this happened, I've found out that there are ways around the having to buy platinum. Titanium is an option, but you have to like that industrial and not shiny look. This seems to be more an option for men's bands since they like scratching up brick with out making even a scratch on their bands!  Another option is a gold band with a platinum setting (gold is usually very soft and many jewelers won't set stones in it).  The higher the karat, the softer it is...still pretty and goes with an Indian girl's gold sets, but I find that I don't wear my Indian gold that often...I am not entirely sure that my mom ever takes it out of the safety deposit box.  It's like a treasure hunt every time we open that thing up!

Anyways, if your finger or ears turn green or swell up or get all itchy, you might be allergic to nickel. I can't wear fashion earrings for more than a few hours and any other nickel containing jewelry makes my skin break out into a rash.  It's not pleasant and kind of sad when someone buys you something you want to wear all the time!  Since I've never fulfilled my stereotype of attending medical school, I would recommend checking in with a dermatologist to see what your options are. Maybe there's a cure or pill or shot or something.  Although really, why bother, just don't wear white gold and spring for the platinum. It's a girl's second best friend next to that rock in the center, right? I kid.  Groom is my best friend, the rock is just icing. 

Tasting Results are in!

Last night, Groom, F&MOB and MOG along with Groom's sister went to our tasting at Meson Sabika in Naperville.  Groom and I already love, love, love the food at this place.  We had to choose 10 items from the lists of menus to try out.  We were torn between serving all Tapas and a mix of Tapas and Traditional.  As a group, we decided that if our reception is going to be at a Spanish Tapas restaurant, there better be some Tapas on the table.  We were most surprised by the couscous that is served with the lamb chops.  There was a strong cumin and something else flavor that was just fantastic.  Here are the winners:

Tapas

Berenjena Con Queso

Grilled eggplant with roasted red peppers, fennel & Spanish onions, asparagus spears, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Pollo Al Curry

Chicken curry salad with grapes & celery

Queso De Cabra 

Oven-baked goat cheese with tomato basil sauce & garlic bread.

Pincho De Solomillo

Beef tenderloin with horseradish sour cream & caramelized red onions

Entree

Tilapia Marinada

Marinated Tilapia filet served with sauteed spinach and artichoke hearts with yellow plum tomato vinaigrette & lemon butter sauce.

Lamb Chops

Grilled lamb chops served with couscous, Portobello mushrooms, an onion potato cake and drizzled with an herbed garlic wine sauce

Something Random

Cadiz12 tagged me for this six things thingy.  

RULES: Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
Let each person know that s/he's been tagged by leaving comments on their blogs. Link to the person that tagged you. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Here are six random quirks about me:

1.  I don't really like people, but seem to know a lot of them. 

2.  I use the phrase, "I'm just saying," WAY too much and think I got it from my mother.

3.  When I'm stressed out (which is self imposed and the majority of the time), I forget to eat.  

4.  I prefer isolation, but not total isolation, I like to have Tucker (my dog) and Luke (my cat) near.

5.  I'm much more social in the summer months.

6.  If I wasn't super organized, I would never finish anything. 

I tag RomanX, Luci ,Nick, &  Beth.  I don't have 6 friends w/ blogs, apparently. 

Superstars of Dance??

My new obsession is Superstars of Dance where a random sampling of countries are represented by not so native dancers in all cases.  I am not overly impressed with the quality of the show, but mostly am curious of how Team India will do.   Let me just say, I've personally done better (in my prime) and I've seen better and even choreographed better in some cases.  Can't they cast wider nets for these things? Even look at the already in existence national competitions that Indians have been hosting themselves for well over two decades?  Amrapali Ambegokar (pictured above) is the the Kathak (North Indian classical dancing) dancer.  She's done really well. I am NOT pleased w/ the Bhangra or Bollywood duo.  They all happen to be from California and I think one of them is even a former Miss India- California. Who knew such a competition even existed?  

I digress.  Overall, I'm disappointed thus far with the caliber of talent on Team India. They better bring their A game next week.  I think they've cut the Miss India- California and Girl in Green who were on as the Bollywood duo.  Team Bhangra better practice if they're coming back next week.  I suppose the producers succeeded in getting me to watch and care one way or another.