Ok, so this is going to sound kind of strange. I never thought I wanted an engagement ring. I have never been the type to go gaga over engagement rings and I'm not a fan of the huge monstrosities that a lot of women find beautiful. In my mind I was perfectly content with just having a beautiful wedding band. My now fiance of course wanted me to have something as a symbol of our engagement so I thought it over and decided why not? When I decided that I was ok with an engagement ring I knew that I didn't want a ton of money to be spent on it. Since I can be a bit of a control freak, I took the reigns and started looking for my own engagement ring :) I searched Craigslist and other online sites looking for previously owned pieces before venturing out to the stores. I never thought that I would want an engagement ring from a "mall" store but hey, sometimes life works out in unexpected ways.
Our first stop on our engagement ring hunt was the Zales Outlet. Sandra was our sales person and she was awesome. I knew that I didn't want a traditional ring and beyond that I was really open to whatever. She was so patient and genuinely seemed to have fun showing me a bunch of different styles. The very first ring that she showed me was the ring I ultimately ended up with. Looking back on it it was like she knew my style right away. Of course since I am an over analyzer I had to go look at other stores and try on more rings before making my decision. Not once did Sandra pressure us into making the sale. I cannot say enough how much I appreciated her patience.
When we went back to purchase Sandra was gone for the day but the store manager rang the sale for her and took good care of us. The process was painless and I left with an uniquely perfect engagement ring!