Sailing on the SF Bay

One of Matt's coworkers generously offered to take us out sailing on the San Francisco Bay the other weekend, and we gladly accepted. The day started out cold and a bit rainy as we headed out, but by the early afternoon, the weather cleared up and it was almost warm out on the water with a steady wind. Matt especially enjoyed learning about the different sail configurations and how to maximize efficiency and speed. He was also a natural at steering (something which I never quite got he hang of). I snapped a couple pictures before things got too wet and wild.

DIY wedding bands

Last month, Matt and I made our wedding bands at a jeweler's studio in SF. Adam, our jeweler for the day, was a fantastic teacher and helped us turn a little hunk of platinum into two gorgeous rings. First, we cut the bar in two; a larger piece for Matt's ring and a smaller one for mine. Then we used a press to roll the two pieces into thinner strips. With Adam's guidance, we bent and pounded the strips into a rough circle, then brazed the joints together with platinum solder. What followed was a few hours of pounding, annealing, and sanding to get the rings completely circular and looking polished. We sent mine off to a professional engraver and stone setter for some extra sparkle. We couldn't be happier with how they turned out!

    

Matt sawing the joint of my ring so that the two ends are completely flush

Annealing the rings after pounding them into circles

Matt really liked all the steps that involved fire

Our rings after a day in the studio

All finished and lookin' fancy