I never thought I was much into diamonds. I’ve never owned or worn a diamond.

That is, until MainMan popped the question.

I certainly noticed engagement rings on other women, once I got to the age where I started wishing for marriage and monotony. But before MainMan put the diamond ring on my pinky last Friday– it was too tiny to fit over my ring finger knuckle — the only jewels I’d ever owned were pearls (and were it not for my car being burglarized on Riverside Drive in Manhattan almost a decade ago, I’d own more of them).

My mom and I often shop when we’re together and I remember her distinctly asking me a few weeks ago in Greenwich, “Honey, did you see the jewelry?”

“Yup!” I answered.

“Eh, you’re not really into jewelry,” she remarked.

“Nope,” I responded.

Don’t get me wrong. I love a big, bulky ring or a loud necklace with a simple top once in a while, but I always cared more about shoes and bags.

Well that was then, this is now.

MainMan took the time, effort and thought to ask his parents for heirloom rings to give to me. I wear one on my pinky now, while the one he proposed with is at Swiss Jewelers in Marina del Rey getting sized. I cannot wait to have it back. I never knew I had it in me, but all the sudden my eyes have seen the beauty of a diamond ring and I can’t get it out of my mind, nor what it symbolizes. The 10 days it’s going to take to tweak it feel like an eternity. But as Kola pointed out, I get two engagements and when I get the ring back we’ll get to celebrate all over again.

In the meantime, Fashionista shared a few fun links with me that I will share now, in case some woman somewhere needs some help picking out jewels. Had MainMan asked me what I wanted I would have had NO idea. None. I barely knew a princess from an emerald cut. Kohl’s apparently has some solid jewelry. Who knew? Blue Nile is a really fun site where you can pretty much build your own ring from “scratch.” And there’s no rule saying you have to go with only diamonds. This sapphire ring is a beauty. Tiffany has a wonderful selection, and we probably would have ended up there had we not discovered the mom and pop shop right by us.

I met a cool guy last night who volunteer dives for the California Science Center where MainMan works. He manages a fantastic restaurant/bar in Hollywood called Velvet Margarita Cantina. MainMan and I sat at the bar with him while he treated us to wonderful Mexican food and, you guessed it, margaritas. I noticed a wedding band on his finger, but MainMan had told me he is only engaged. We were all laughing and chatting about our engagements, how nerve-wracking it is for the guys, and how his fiance gave him the “man-gagement ring” so girls wouldn’t try to hit on him at the bar. I cracked up and shook my head that it’s definitely something, whether men or women want to admit, everyone notices.

It’s not important to me that everyone notices a diamond ring on my finger, but when I’m having a bad day or I’m cursing the Los Angeles traffic, it’ll be nice to have that small piece of iridescent stone shining back at me to remind me everything will be OK. MainMan loves me.