Clear Cut Couples: Clinton and Zuri
Clinton and Zuri met online and their first date was on December 28, 2018. They first met up at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. She was a couple hours late to the date since she was running late at work and told Clinton not to head there until she was on her way, but he had gotten there super early. He was patiently reading a book under the atrium when she showed up, sweaty and out of breath from sprinting from the Metro. They walked around for a couple hours while he tried to impress her by showing his “favorite” portrait (which allegedly exists), but she knew he just gave up and eventually pointed to a random painting and claimed that was his favorite. And then she pretended to be super wowed. Neither of them are art enthusiasts!!
From there, they went to this pop-up bar that has elaborate seasonal decorations called Miracle on 7th St. and then spent 2 hours walking around the DC Monuments in 25-degree weather. Then Clinton finally asked her if she wanted to grab dinner at a restaurant in Columbia Heights called Meridian Pint. He teases her today that he kept it open-ended after the Gallery in case they weren’t a good match, but she jokes that she had to pass each level to make it to the final round: sit-down dinner. Since then, they have been together for over two years and have shared so many incredible memories over the course of their relationship! They love traveling and cooking together! Some of their favorite memories include their first international trip together to Japan at the beginning of 2020, weekend cabin trips to Shenandoah, road trips to Zuri’s hometown of Atlanta, meeting each other’s families, and playing Connect Four.
Their relationship really deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve always dated intentionally and talked about their future together, but the realization that they were spending 24/7 together and still had a blast being with each other months later was a wake-up call.
The proposal happened on January 15, 2021. Zuri and her mom will often talk on the phone for hours at a time, so he had her mom call her and distract her while he decorated her basement with roses and candles. He was “on a Zoom call” in the basement and asked Zuri to come look at this person’s crazy Zoom background. In the first half of the room, he strung together a bunch of photos reflecting the great memories that they made over the last two years and blew up the text message when they coincidentally deleted their dating profiles the same day. They went over those photos one-by-one before they shifted over to the wall display reflecting some of the things that they hope to do together. He had a card where he wrote a message identical to the first note that he ever gave her, which she keeps on her dresser. Zuri loves gardening, so he also gave her a packet of flower seeds so they could plant them together and be reminded of their engagement each time they bloom in the spring. Finally, he proposed.
Zuri said, “I was very surprised by the proposal! I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think he would do it so soon after he got the ring. I actually had a hair mask on in my hair and was wearing a bathrobe, but when I stepped into the basement and saw all the candles, I promptly turned around and changed LOL.”
The ring is stunning! They designed it together so she had a general idea of what it would look like. She’d only tried on round brilliants and no old European cuts when they designed the ring, so she took a chance and trusted Olivia’s suggestion that an old euro would go with her style. “I LOVE the faceting so much. It also matches perfectly with my diamond and ruby eternity band I wear every day, also from The Clear Cut, that I had made with my dad’s birthstone when he passed away in 2019.” They are getting married at their church in northern Virginia in November 2022! Congrats you two! We are SO happy for you!
Ready to start designing your dream engagement ring with us? Book a call here
Want to bling it on this season? Shop our curated collection made in NYC with natural diamonds here