Janine and Ajani

Q: How did the two of you meet?

A: Janine - We met in 2008 at Macy's, we both worked in Loss Prevention. I was a new transfer from another store and Ajani had been an agent there for about a year. Everyone on the team was pretty close and we all often hung out together. We quickly realized that we had a lot in common including our love for animals, horror movies, being goofy, and traveling. What really attracted me to Ajani was the fact that he was extremely cool, calm, and collected. Many people often say that he is wise beyond his years, which I completely agree with. In addition to that, he's incredibly compassionate, handsome, supportive, hardworking, and he makes me laugh.

Ajani - What I love most about Janine is her independence, her beauty, her ambition, her intelligence, and the fact that she's a little feisty.

Q: What made you choose this ring to be the one?

A: Ajani - I chose a single solitaire moissanite engagement ring for Janine because I know she prefers conflict-free gems over others. She's talked about Fire & Brillance for years. She has always liked the look of classic, simple rings; she's not really into the popular halo styles. I also like the fact that we were able to support a small local Bay Area business. That's something that we try to do whenever we can.

Q: In each your own point of views, can you tell us what the days leading up to the proposal were like? How did he propose? 

A: Janine - I had a hunch that a proposal would be happening soon. Ajani had asked for my ring size about a month or so prior. Getting engaged this year was something that we both wanted to pursue, so we had a pretty open dialogue about everything. Ajani ended up proposing after we got into a stupid mini argument (I think it was about his work schedule). He went into the bedroom because he had work early the next morning right as I was getting prepared to watch a brand new episode of Game of Thrones. Not even thirty seconds into the intro, he came out of the bedroom then got down on one knee.

His proposal speech is a bit of a blur just because I was completely blindsided; he told me that he was proposing and knew that it would be a total surprise. My intuition is excellent, so surprising me is tough. He even apologized for the argument during the proposal... talk about a way to say sorry! I cried and then we spent about 20 minutes trying to take the perfect post-proposal image to share our news via social media. This goes without saying that I had to catch up on GoT another night.

Ajani - The proposal itself was bittersweet, we had just got into an argument. I knew Janine was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with... so I decided to show her with an unexpected surprise. I thought the ring was beautiful when I first saw it; I knew she'd love it.

Q: What was your overall experience with Fire & Brilliance like?

A: Ajani - It was easy and simple. I liked the box that the ring came in.
Janine - I think I may order my wedding band from you guys!

Q: When did you first know you two were in love with each other?

A: Janine - We are lucky in the fact that we both knew we were in love with one another at the same time. One evening at Macy's, we went down to apprehend a shoplifter. The man had taken a comforter and was a bit on the older side. Once we stopped him, he told us he had a gun. Within seconds we put him on the ground and in cuffs. He did not end up having a gun on him, just a small knife... but the threat was enough for us to act quickly to ensure that we were both safe. I vividly just recall looking over at Ajani and instantly thinking "Damn, this man is going to one day be my future husband." We have a lot of insane arrest stories from Macy's, but that one is certainly one of the sweetest... in a far-fetched way.