Surprising my Future Mother-in-law!

[cutes814]

Hi everyone,

I just finished helping my cousin''s hubbie buy a ring to surprise my cousin for their 10 year anniversary and now working on getting a ring to surprise my future mother-in-law.

For my cousin''s story, here is the link:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/helping-my-in-law-surprise-my-cousin.30993/

So the story with my future mother-in-law...

First a little background:
My boyfriend Sam and I have been together for 3+ years now. We have a 19 month old daughter (Alyssa) together, but we are not married (currently looking at rings, hopefully he''ll propose within the next few months). Sam''s mother is the best future mother in law anyone can ask for.

She takes care of Alyssa while we''re at work (thank goodness, I don''t think I can trust some stranger to watch my kid!

) She helps me plan out parties (we usually cook all our own food for our parties, so it becomes a lot of work but we like it better since it tastes better

). When ever I''m ill and cannot do any of the chores at home, she helps me out with it. She knows what food I like so she always makes it for me...and the list goes on...I''ve never had a bad experience with her!

Anyway, her 50th birthday is coming up next weekend and I had originally planned for Sam, myself, and Sam''s 3 siblings to chip in and get her a diamond band (she never had a diamond ring). Then two days ago, I was cooking dinner with her (we live on the first floor and they live on the second floor), she mentioned to me that her sisters (she has 9 other siblings, wow, i know) were chipping in together to get her a diamond ring. They took her shopping at some store in Chinatown for it....omg, i know, the quality must be poor!

So I gave her 4th sister a call and told her that we were originally planning to get her a ring too. Instead of getting two rings, we''re going to chip in all together and get her a nicer solitaire! Cuz you know that''s the best way to go!

So I told her to call my FMIL back and tell her the ring they had originally picked out was not a good ring, and that they''ll continue to look around. And if they can''t find a good one around their budget, they''ll save up more and get her one next year! LOL, ya I kinda felt bad for making her sad...but it''s only for a week!

So I''m currently working on her ring. I have the stone picked out, and the setting is the surprise diamond ring by Vatche in 14K white gold. Vatche doesn''t make it in white gold, so WF is trying to help me custom make one exactly like it. It''ll be even better since the surprise diamonds will be ACA melees. They still have to get back to me since they don''t know if it can be done in one week.

I can''t wait to see my FMIL''s reaction! I bet she''s going to cry! The thought of this surprise is making my whole week fly by, can''t believe it''s already FRIDAY!! Yay!!

Everyone in the family is bursting with excitement since we all know how much she deserves this. She''s always there for her siblings, taking care of them since they were young (she''s the eldest), taking care of their children when they go on vacation, planning all the birthday events (you can imagine what a nightmare, 9 siblings!), constanting trying to help and never ever expecting anything in return. She has a great heart. I''m so happy we''re doing this!!!

Okay, the specs of the diamond:
Round ideal cut (Expert Selection from WF)
0.82 carats
G color
SI2 clarity (eye clean)
60.9 depth
55% table
34.5 crown angle
15.8 crown %
40.9 pavilion angle
43.2 pavilion %
Thin girdle faceted
Excellent polish
Excellent symmetry
No culet
No fluorescence
Measurements: 6.09-6.13x3.72

The ideal scope view is wonderful too.

Brightspot mention in my cousin''s thread that I was becoming the personal diamond shopper for my family. It''s true, they''re making me in charge of it, but I don''t mind one bit

All the eye candy and searching is so fun, especially when it''s for someone special.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Milly, I really hope you get the ring of your dreams when your turn comes!! You truly deserve it!

I bet your FMIL will be over the moon with her ring!! Can''t wait to hear how it goes

 

[BrightSpot]

Milly,

That''s going to be one amazing ring! Your FMIL is going to love it & be so surprised! I''m glad you guys were all able to pitch in to get her such a beautiful solitaire. (and that you saved them from a Chinatown ring purchase...

)

You''re like the diamond fairy!

You totally deserve your dream diamond when your turn comes! I know it''ll be soon!

 

[ky6]

You really are like the diamond fairy- maybe I should have you come visit me That is so wonderful for your MIL. You definitely have to make sure you get picks this time before it leaves your hands!

 

[cutes814]

Lorelei, Bright, Ky6,

You guys are so sweet! Sam and I are currently shopping for E-rings. More on that some other time...

Diamond fairy...hee

I like that name. And this time I will definitely get pics up. My cousin is supposed to come over today, so I''m going to try to get some handshots of her ring. When I do, I''ll post it in the SMTR forum.


*Diamondfairy*

 

[Lorelei]

Hey Diamond Fairy will you wave your magic wand and send a 5 carat RB my way pleeeeeeeeeeeze

Or a three would do nicely!!

 

[cutes814]

I''m waving, but currently can''t find my wand. Alyssa must''ve hid it from me. As soon as I find it, I''ll get that taken care of for you!

 

[Lorelei]

I hope you find it soon

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh



THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

 

[sxn675]

That is so sweet - she is going to love it!

 

[cutes814]

Thanks 675,

I can''t wait until it''s done. I''m starting to think about her birthday...and I''m starting to feel kinda bad for making her feel like we didn''t get her anything for her birthday. The ring won''t be in until the Thursday after her bday, so she''ll be feelilng bad for 5 days.

I was thinking of printing a picture of her ring and placing it in a her bday card and giving it to her at her bday dinner. That way she''ll have something to be excited about for the 5 days after. But I talked to Sam about it and he said, "no, she won''t be surprised then." But I going to feel terrible knowing she feels bad if she doesn''t get anything from anyone of us except a nice dinner.

I don''t know....what do you guys think? Should I do the picture thing? or should I just hold off and give her the ring 5 days late?

 

[sxn675]

Can you get her something small for her birthday? Like a scrapbook of pictures or something like that which is "meaningful" but not expensive (since I assume most of your cash is tied up in the ring)? That way, she doesn''t feel like she got nothing, but she will still be surprised by the ring.

One thing you can do (if you don''t have pictures) is get a pretty book with blank pages (I''ve seen these for cheap at TJMaxx) and have everyone write a page in it about how much they love and appreciate her. I bet she will cry when she gets it

 

[cutes814]

675,

Pictures will be very hard since we don''t usually take too many pictures. I love the idea about everyone writing something meaningful into a blank book for her. Unfortunately, she doesn''t know how to read...anything, not even Chinese, her own language. She was the eldest of kids, so she had to take care of them while her parents worked. She never went to school.

I appreciate the ideas. What else can I do? You''re right, most of Sam & my funds have been put into this ring, so we can''t get something too expensive. Keep the ideas coming.

 

[sxn675]

Hmmm, do you have pictures of her grandkids? Or maybe you can have every immediate family take and email you a picture and you can make a book out of that? Snapfish and mypublisher.com can help with that.

Does she own her own home? Maybe you could plant a tree or rosebush for her? As a more lasting gift?

I found this link about Chinese birthdays for the "elderly" - maybe it will spark some ideas?

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa021901b.htm

 

[cutes814]

Thanks 675 for putting so much thought into this. I went and checked out the site. A lot of stuff listed we are already doing, but not to extremes, because she''s only turning 50 and not the big six zero.

We are actually doing a big dinner thing at home with family. Her only grandchild is my 19 month old, Alyssa. The rose bush is a great idea, except that our garden has like 5 different kinds of trees planted on the side of the yard and she likes to keep the middle section of the yard clear.

I talked to Sam and he said the dinner is good enough to hold us over since we usually just give her a red envelope with money. She never expects any actual gift, so she''ll just be kinda thrown off when we don''t give her a red envelope on her bday.

She will be extremely surprised when the ring comes in tho. Thanks for being so thoughtful and taking the time to help. I really appreciate it!

 

[dazedland]

I just saw this thread, that is so thoughtful and sweet! Are there any updates yet?

 

[cutes814]

Hey Dazed!

The ring doesn''t come in until Thursday. Her birthday dinner went very well. The day before her birthday, on Friday, I was talking to her about her bday dinner. She asked me if we should stay in or go out for dinner. I said let''s go out since that way we don''t have to cook and clean. She liked that idea. I told her to tell her husband to pay for dinner cuz Sam and I are so broke!

She said okay, that sounds fine. I knew dinner was going to be around $300 at least (for 9 people). So on Saturday, she was talking to her youngest daughter, Ada (Sam''s lil sis), 11 years old, and she knew Sam and I were up to something otherwise we would pay for dinner. She was expecting a gift....We went to dinner and there was no gift of course. So she looked a little disappointed....

But we all knew what was going on....heehee....felt kinda bad though....

So now we''re just waiting for the ring. I can''t wait until it comes in. Will definitely post pics when that baby gets on her hand!

Oh ya, we also decided to change the diamond. We decided to go with ACA instead of the expert selection. It costs a little bit more, but we decided the ACA looks so much better. I will post the new specs for the ACA when I get the ring in.

 

[cutes814]

Okay, so the ring is here!

Here are the specs:

ACA H&A
0.808 ct
G color
SI2 (eye clean)
62.1 depth
57 table
34.8 crown angle
40.9 pavilion angle
medium to slightly thick girdle faceted
ideal polish
ideal symmetry
pointed culet
negligible flourescence
measurements: 5.94-5.94x3.69

The setting is in 14K white gold. It has two hidden ACA melees on each side. 0.10ctw for the melees.

I was taking pictures of the ring, but then my camera ran out of battery.

The battery is being charged as I type. As soon as the battery is back up, I will upload the pics that I have so far. As for now, I have attached the pictures that WF has sent me. So enjoy!

 

[jaysonsmom]

Milly, I''ve been following this story, and I can''t begin to tell you how excited I am for your MIL! Are you guys gong to give it to her today? Please take pics of her reaction, I bet it''d be priceless!

The ring is absolutely beautifully, clssically elegant....she is lucky to have such great family.

 

[MissAva]

It looks fantastic Milly! What a sweet couple ya''llare!

 

[cutes814]

Our aunt (my FMIL sister) spilled the beans about the ring yesterday. So she knew about it, but it was still a surprise when I gave it to her. She was really really happy with the ring. She loves it!

 

[jellybean]

It''s a beautiful ring! I''m so glad that she loves it!

What kind of band will she wear with it?

 

[cutes814]

She actually won''t be wearing a band with the ring. Her current wedding band won''t go well with this new ring. So she''ll just be wearing them seperately. Until she can get another w-ring....

 

[Blue824]

Awww, I''m glad she liked it! Even if she knew she couldn''t have had any idea of how it would''ve looked on her hand, that''s the best part!