it's so easy sometimes to imagine chris as a little boy, and i mean this in the most endearing way possible. from his aversion to vegetables and his love of ice cream to the way he has to press every button that he sees, he truly has the sweet innocence of the kind of child that every barren mother would pray to adopt.

yesterday, he came home late after work and said, "i bought you a present for our two year anniversary, but you can't have it until next tuesday." next tuesday will be the big 24 months, you see. so i said, "oh, okay," and went about making a pizza. fifteen minutes later, he asked, "do you want your present now?" i said, "nah, i can wait a week." ten minutes later, he asked again, "do you want your present now? because i want to give it to you now." so i said, "okay, what the hell," and sat myself onto the couch with my eyes closed and hand outstretched.

he handed me one of those burgundy boxes from helzberg diamonds. "open it," he said giddily, and i instantly became one of those women who love their boyfriends more due to the fact that i was now recieving jewelry from him. inside the burgundy box was a gold necklace with a peridot stone nestled inside a gold setting. as some of you may know, my engagement ring is a big peridot stone in a gold setting surrounded by ten little diamonds. he really took my birth stone and ran with it, he did. "they're going to call you the peridot girl," he proclaimed as i oohed and ahhed over my beautiful gift. neither of us knew who "they" were, but i wished that my first name began with a "p," so i could be "peridot patty" or "peridot penelope."

pricewise, chris lucked out that i was born in august and not april. if i had been born in april, my birthstone would have been the diamond, and i can tell you right now that i wouldn't be sitting around surrounded by big honking diamonds. the peridot? it's not only pretty, it's affordable.

now all i need is a peridot bracelet, to go with my ring and earrings and new necklace. lucky for chris, christmas is only a few weeks away.