Jewelry Preferences

As much as I'd like to burrow into my blankets and hibernate until April, I decided to poke my head out of my little nest and share some jewelry ideas with you!

I'm actually not a huge fan of jewelry.  I rarely wear it on a daily basis.  I don't have "signature pieces", and most of it was purchased on the cheap, or given to me.  But, as I've been thinking lately about how my jewelry preferences have changed throughout the years, I wanted to document where I'm at now.

So, travelling from least favorite to most favorite, we start with...

This one's a gift from my sister, Andrea.

Bracelets:  I don't know if it's because I have very petite wrists, which cause things to slide around all the time, or if I just never got into the habit of wearing them, but bracelets are my least favorite jewelry item.  I think I own three.  Sometimes, they add a nice bit of sparkle, or pop of color, but overall, I prefer other jewelry options.

These were included as a bonus gift in a blogger's giveaway I won, years ago.

Earrings:  It's not that I don't enjoy earrings.  I really do.  I have my ears pierced five times - two on the left (cartilage and conch) and three on the right (twice in my lobe and tragus) - but I don't change my earrings very often.  Once I find something I like, it stays in my ear for months.  There was a period when I changed the earrings in my lobes frequently, but after the hole in my left earlobe got torn (long story, but gratefully, not a painful one), I gave away a lot of my fun earrings.  Now, I go for silver earrings, of various sizes and shapes.

Bicycle pendant - Forever 21

Coin - I think it's a Euro?

Heart - a gift from a boy I used to mentor

Necklaces:  Necklaces have always been at or near the top of my list of favorite jewelry.  There was a pearl necklace period and a long necklace period.  I have necklaces that double as watches and ones from overseas.  I don't wear chokers anymore, but other than that, I've kept most of the necklaces I've gotten throughout the years!

I bought my sisters and I matching mustache rings for our birthdays a few years ago.

I'm pretty sure this ring is broken now.

Rings:  Rings are my current favorite, especially stacked rings.  In the past, I've had eczema on my hands, which requires lots of special lotion.  Since I don't like to gunk up the diamonds on my engagement ring, I kept having to take it on & off.  Stacked rings give an interesting look without stones, so I've moved more in that direction lately.   As I said, I have very petite hands, so finding rings in general stores (like Forever 21, etc) can be challenging, so yay for Etsy!  However, a dozen or so years ago, I found some awesome stacked rings, that actually fit my hands, at a department store, but lost them at a bowling alley.  I don't even like bowling, so it was insult to injury.  I miss those rings...

What are your jewelry preferences?

Festivities in Review

Happy 2014!

With the festive season behind us and the new year fresh ahead, I want to take a moment to reflect on the time that has recently passed and face the promises made for that yet to come.

Like last year, I found myself with an abundance of celebratory occasions at the end of the year.  Of the ones with photographic evidence, in chronological order we have:

The Viewing of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special

TARDIS t-shirt: Threadless | Boots: Merrell | Corduroy skirt: thrifted | Stripey socks: gift

Reaching back to November for this one, but it was post-Soup & Pie Potluck (our church's holiday kickoff, held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving) so it was officially part of the festive season in my book.  2013 was the Year of the Doctor for us-- we'd watched all the reboot episodes of Doctor Who, seven seasons' worth, between Christmas and July.  The anniversary special was enjoyed with good friends, DW-themed food & drink, and drawing straws for choice minifigs of the Doctor's various incarnations.

The Church Christmas Party

Dress: Anthropologie | Stripey socks & boots: same as above

Our lovely community does something different every year for a Christmas party -- talent show, dessert social, hymn sing...this year, it was a ceili/barn dance, complete with an accordion-wielding caller.  It's been ages since my last ceili, and I had an absolute blast, watching and dancing with everyone from our octogenarian churchbuilders to the toddlers up way past their bedtimes.  Afterwards, not wanting to waste an amazing dress by heading home at 9, the mister and I got to know some of our neighborhood beer havens a little better.  We clean up pretty nicely, don't you think?

The Most Joyful Wedding of All Time

 Dress: Modcloth | Sweater: thrifted

This was a love story to make cynics weep, something a decade in the making and straight out of a Jane Austen novel.  (No, seriously, the groom is even British.)  The last wedding amongst we four dear girlfriends (hey, look, there's Charlotte!), long-awaited and joyfully experienced.  A father's address, lovingly given, marvelously wordcrafted and speaking straight to the heart of marriage for the newlyweds and even more so for the rest of us.  An absolutely perfect winter day; dearly beloved friends and family; a happy couple buoyed up by the love and celebration of all those around them.  This was a day where Good Things Happened, and I am so thankful to have been witness to it.

Holiday events without photographic fashion evidence: the Holiday Work Party, the Doctors Terry Host a Christmas Shindig, Christmas Day Feasting, and New Year's Eve. 

And speaking of New Years -- I have one resolution this year, but it's a substantial one: I will not buy any new clothing.  No thrifting, no swaps, nada.  It's not about spending less money -- though that is a benefit -- but about cultivating a mindset of "enough," of using what I have, and of not chasing the New Shiny.  There are a few very important caveats: undergarments and an interview suit are not bound by this resolution.  (I am also not going to turn down gifts, that would be ungracious.)

So, here's to 2014!  A year started in fantastically good spirits, with hope and promise and a challenging-but-exciting clothing constraint.  Happy New Year to all!