Good ol’ J-swipe! (We like to describe it as the Jewish tinder).  Two right-swipes later and Stu headed out to Oakland to meet Em in Jack London Square. We had our first date at Plank, a restaurant/bar with meh food and decent drinks. After a few of those, Stu taught Em how to play bocce and Em got a kick out of his goofy dance moves when he rolled a good one (Em did not have as many opportunities to celebrate, but danced anyway). Luckily these weird courting rituals didn’t turn either of us off, and we kept having fun, breaking into random dances, and eating (better) food together for the next two years.

Since Em had “a hand” in designing the ring, she wanted the proposal to be a surprise. Stu was up for the challenge. In the weeks before he concocted a series of diversions including a hike, a family trip to the east coast, and a romantic weekend getaway in Santa Barbara. Finally he recruited our friend Albee to invite us to meet him and a friend for dinner on Saturday 5/15/21.Em took her sweet time getting ready and we finally made our way down towards Scott’s Seafood in Jack London Square. About two years to the day since we started dating (neither of us remember the exact date we first met..oops), Stu bent the knee, fumbled for the stand-in ring (a whole ‘nother story) and made it official. He also got bonus points for hiring a photographer to capture the moment. After the joyful calls to the families, we celebrated with a fantastic seafood dinner directly across from where we had our first date. The only disappointment of the evening was that Albee was not actually joining us - what a ruse!

From the start Em knew she wanted a colorful stone. But colorful diamonds just weren't doing the job. Em researched "multi-colored gemstones" and she and Stu stumbled upon Alexandrite. Alexandrite is a rare color-changing gem; it is green in sunlight and reddish-purple in incandescent light. It's been described as "emerald by day, ruby by night" (although Em's is more purple than red). So now we knew the stone, it was time to find it!After lots of stone sleuthing, we learned that the degree and brilliance of the color change can vary drastically. After a few disappointing finds, we enlisted Em's Uncle Rick, a jeweler in Petaluma, CA to see what he could find. Uncle Rick used all of his powers and all of his skills, and found an amazing specimen! He then crafted a beautiful engagement ring that is unique and timeless. Having that love channeled into each engraved groove of the ring makes it that much more special. Thank you Uncle Rick!