LOAD17 - 31 Things Day One

Jewelry?

I’m really no different than any other girl in this respect. I love jewelry.  But I’m not a dress up kind of girl.  I don’t like fancy clothes and being uncomfortable. And since jewelry tends to go hand-in-hand with dress up, I don’t wear it often. Which is not to say I don’t appreciate it. I do appreciate having a few very nice, very meaningful pieces, as opposed to lots of just “stuff”.

Rings

I wear only one set of rings - the most important pieces of jewelry I own. My engagement ring, my wedding band, and my anniversary wrap. When Jay and I were dating, my ring finger was tiny - size 4 1/2. I was into very simple jewelry. Together we chose a very modest solitaire diamond and a simple gold band. Of course, age and lifestyle have changed things. My ring finger is now size 6. I’ve had my rings resized twice.  And still my wedding band is tight, especially when it is humid.  By the time Jay & I had reached our 10th anniversary, my tastes had changed and I wanted a little more bling on my ring finger. But he made me wait until our 15th anniversary to get that wrap!

Necklaces

I usually only wear necklaces for dress up occasions, but I have a few that are very meaningful to me. 

Strand of Pearls - a gift from my mother when I graduated college. 

Black Coral Pendant from our trip to Hawaii in December 2004. The black coral shape represents the waves of the ocean, the pearl and diamonds are the moon and stars over Diamond Head. The gold leaf represents the Hawaiian royalty. This was both my Christmas gift and my souvenir from Hawaii.

Butterfly Pendant purchased by Jay  for my 50th birthday from the Kay “Open Heart” collection. To me it signifies both his love for me and the change in my life as I move into my fifties and continue on my path to  

becoming my best self.

One Little Word Pendant. This necklace has charms for the word I have chosen to represent each year. It is a reminder to me of being my best self. I don’t wear it much and am thinking of turning it into a bracelet.

Earrings

This is the one place where I indulge my love of color and bling. I own a lot of costume jewelry earrings and like to match my earrings to my outfit. But if I had to give it all up and choose only one pair of earrings, it would be easy - the diamond studs Jay bought me for Christmas one year!  I could happily live with that single pair of earrings.

* Note - scrapbooking, being what it is, has it's limits.  I do have a few other pieces that I need to document. Like the mother's ring that belonged to my Mom which I inherited when she died, the beautiful bracelet Sarah brought me back from her semester abroad, and the Pandora bracelet that my sister filled with charms to tell me how much she loves and appreciates me.  There just wasn't room on this layout for it all.