I just got engaged last weekend. It is the second wedding for both of us, so no fancy proposal, we just both realized we were ready to make that commitment again. (The four children we share asking when we were getting married probably helped a little too!)
With my first marraige, I had a simple gold band from Wal-Mart which was up graded (by myself) two years before my divorce to a 1/8th caret diamond. Anyway, I feel, that at this point in my life, 33 with three children of my own and a step-daughter, I'd rather spend the money on the ring of my dreams than some big huge wedding. (We are planning on hosting a nice small wedding and reception for about 75 people).
Anyway, I live in rual Iowa and don't have direct access to a lot of major or designer jewelry stores. I guess my question is, is there a "mall" jewelry store that anyone has used, or is there a jewelry store in the twin cities or chicago that I simply must make the trip for?