seasons

I'm not entirely sure why I have waited so long to post the final few weeks of our jewelry pictures. I would like to blame it on being busy, but the truth is, I think it was just hard to say our year of jewelry is over. I know Staishy and I will never stop wearing these pieces- they have become apart of our daily routine: Get up, pick out jewelry, scramble to find SOMETHING to wear with the fabulous piece, smile at the perfect (or not so perfect) pairing, think of Nanny, and go through the whole day with a little pleasant reminder of her. We didn't exactly have a funeral for Nanny because it somehow didn't feel right, or that we were really saying goodbye even. But its ok because it just didn't seem fitting for her. I'm sure Nanny would have had a great time seeing the parade of jewelry! It certainly was our own way to celebrate her life in a way a funeral couldn't have. This has been a really great couple of years for Staishy and me- so many wonderful changes and life events for us and our families. I think our jewelry adventure has strengthened an already great sister-friend relationship...if that is even possible with us! We love Nanny and miss her every moment, but have felt especially lucky to have had this experience. Thank you for being so fabulous Nanny-with or without jewelry!

I doubled up Nanny's long, gold necklace. It has an Grecian type feel to it in my opinion. ;) I paired it with a shorter gold chain of mine. 

Nanny seemed to love the twisted beads and chains. I just love this twisted gold and silver necklace! It has a matching bracelet which also looks fabulous. 

This gold pendant with a red stone in the middle is a really pretty and unique piece. When I first got it I remember thinking it would be perfect for Christmas, but it just got lost in all the other festive pins and pendants last year. It ended up being perfect for this spring outfit!

I wore this rocky green necklace for Alton and Stephanie's couple bridal shower. I love how natural the stones look-unfinished, yet so pretty! 

This was one of the last elephants in the bunch, although I think we both have a few more among our collection. He went perfectly with my (sort of) bohemian top. I just loved the natural, carved ivory. Such a neat piece.

These little pearly clip-ons are so simple, but pretty.  They are one of the more comfortable among the clip-ons but still caused some aches and pains by the end of the day. How did these women do it back in the day??

 

My zombie eyes must have resulted from a pre-work picture.  This was just a simple gold chain but I love the delicate feel of it. I paired it with one of my gold chains.

I just love this little blue pearl necklace on a gold chain-so dainty and sweet. I don't often think how beautiful just one pearl can be because I am so used to seeing them in full strand! I also think this one is neat because its a pale blue paired with gold. It seems like it would be more likely paired with silver, since its more of a pastel, but the gold looks really nice.

This is the longest of three identical necklaces which I wear often! Its so funny how Nanny liked to buy the same things in different colors or lengths. I do the exact same thing! Its amazing how just a difference in length can give the necklace a whole different feel. Wearing all three together is just beautiful too!  This piece reminds me so much of Nanny. She loved the multi-colored stones and beads. They can be worn with so many outfits.

I fell in love with this piece from the start. Dad's aquamarine stone was in a little bag inside a little red box with this ring.  I assume Nanny had intended to set the stone someday, but just never got the chance. I can see why, because I took this ring out and tried to picture what the ring would look like as a complete piece a million times over the past year but was too afraid to leave it with strangers! I finally got the courage to drop it off at a shop and nearly cried as I left.  But I figured it would be better to try to marry the pieces and take a risk than they just sit in a box beside each other forever longing to be together.  Such a sweet love story! I tried to ignore the thought of what was happening to this ring for an entire week until I picked it up. It was worth the wait because I think it is just beautiful and the perfect completion to this year long journey. The little aquamarine stone that Dad cut is now surrounded by tear-drop shaped diamonds and a white gold band of Nanny's. 

I wanted to throw in a bonus picture-this ended up being one of my favorite pieces. It is just a simple green/jade necklace with little green bead spacers, but it has become one of my favorites. I took this picture on my birthday this year and realized I wore the same piece on my birthday last year when Paul and I went out to a fancy dinner when we stayed at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine. Nanny must have been sending me her birthday wishes both years. 

 

 

 Staishy wore two pieces of Nanny's jewelry: a gold braided necklace and a rainbow gold bead necklace as a bracelet. What a great idea to wear the necklace as a bracelet. The bright colored bead pieces always remind me of Nanny.

Staishy wore Nanny's clear faceted bead earrings! I agree with Staishy that they are glamorous, but I think we can both agree beauty is pain when wearing clip-ons.

 

 I think we both started pulling out as many pieces as we could of Nanny's at the end of our adventure- Staishy is sporting Nanny's red, white, and navy scarf and silver rose clip-on earrings. I know I always felt so excited when I could wear two pieces! 

 

I just love the pairing of Nanny's delicate blue flower drop earrings with Staishy's blue top-one of the many purchases I'm sure we both made based on her jewelry!  

 

This may be one of my favorites of this bunch- Nanny's silver ring with a green stone. So simple and casual but pretty! 

 

I have to agree with Staishy- Nanny's cocktail rings are the perfect way to glam up your day! I absolutely love the one I have. So beautiful! 

What a sweet pin! Nanny's gold rose pin with a blue rhinestone flower-looks so perfect for spring. So glad Staishy was able to get a picture of one of the ones she wears often. I had so many pieces that I wore many times and would finally get one good picture!

 

What a fun pin! I remember when we were looking through Nanny's jewelry and saw some pieces that seemed extravagant to say the least! We both accepted the challenge to wear pieces we wouldn't normally choose. It was fun to look through our fun pieces and find a perfect opportunity to wear them. I was equally as proud I think when I wore my bright yellow flower clip-ons! 

 

I love the simplicity of Nanny's gold chains. I have quite a few of hers and love them. Staishy noticed several people wearing a similar classic style. I noticed a lot of similar styles in stores or on other people too with many of my pieces and felt good knowing even the costume style pieces have remained popular.

 

 I love this picture! We were lucky enough to be together upon the completion of our jewelry adventure. We had a crazy week of shopping for my wedding dress and seeing Alton and Stephanie get married, but we also got to honor the memory of Nanny and complete our journey the way it started-together! This picture was taken at Stephanie and Alton's wedding. I love Nanny's pearls on Staishy! They are a perfect length doubled and the natural aged color looked perfect with her dress. I'm wearing Nanny's long white pearl beads-a mix of different strands of bead shapes that I mixed with one of my necklaces. It ended up being one of my favorite pieces.

We both had the same idea to throw in a bonus picture. It seemed only appropriate to honor Nanny for Nurse's week with her medical cross pin. I'm sure this will become tradition every year for Staishy to wear her pin.

I can think of no better person to have had this experience with than my big sister and best friend! Staishy and I have always been fashion challenged but thankfully have found a way to be bold with our accessories. To think! Only just recently we steered away from yellow gold! This has been a wonderful journey to honor our grandmother and strengthen an already wonderful bond. Shortly after our weekly jewelry sharing was over we started doing weekly tea time video chats! Now, if only we can find a way to fit more elephant bling in our lives.

rock candy

Last week I wore Nanny's multi-colored stone necklace!  I felt like it looked very springy and yummy like rock candy.  I am wishing warm weather will come soon!  Staishy wore Nanny's rose ring which looks delicate and beautiful on her!  I love it with the colorful flower scarf and french blue sweater.  Nanny would have loved the ensemble. :)

heart

Happy late Valentine's Day!  What neat picks we had this round!  I love all the jade elephants Nanny had!  I adore jade and have always wanted to have some someday so I feel so lucky we each got some of the many pieces Nanny had.  Staishy wore a really cute jade elephant necklace a couple of weeks ago.  I love it with that bright green shirt!  I agree with Staishy- I always feel closer when I wear an elephant piece even though I know they weren't her only loves.  Last week for Valentine's Day Staishy wore Nanny's silver heart bracelet with a red rhinestone.  So sweet!  Staishy mentioned her concern with the simple clasp and I too had that fear the first time I wore a piece like that, but they are surprisingly sturdy and they are so fun!  This was one of the few bracelets that Nanny had, so I know Staishy felt special wearing this piece.  The week before last I wore Nanny's amethyst and diamond necklace-I don't usually wear a lot of long, nice necklaces like that but I have really been branching out since getting Nanny's jewelry.  I know how much she liked the longer necklaces.  Last week, I didn't have anything especially Valentine's looking, but I really enjoyed this celtic pendant on a long silver chain.  The chain itself was so pretty aside from the beautiful pendant, and was such a nice length.  I think this one may be a new favorite!  

pins

Nanny's gold, emerald, and rhinestone pin and earring set looked just perfect with that blue and black dress for a christmas party!  What a lovely combination!  Staishy looks gorgeous.

Christmas pin!  I know Staishy couldn't wait to wear these silver bells for Christmas.  Both of us have had our Christmas selections picked out from the start!

I love the color of Nanny's grey butterfly pin. Usually butterflies are colorful, so it is neat to think of this one being grey but still so pretty and sparkly.  Staishy actually reminded me I have one just like this in a brown/tigereye color which I can't wait to wear!  So many pins, so little time! 

I love Nanny's double strand white Hawaiian beads with green and gold accents.  I have a couple of these that will look beautiful for spring!  Can't wait!  I know how much Nanny loved the Hawaiian bead necklaces.

This silver flower necklace is so beautiful and added such a sweet touch to the outfit Staishy wore to her sister-in-law, Stephanie's, father's funeral.  Staishy said she felt especially close to Nanny that day.  What a pretty piece.  Staishy's new haircut is super cute and the 10 inches cut off went to Locks of Love. :)  

I love this sweet flower ring.  It is so delicate and pretty!  

I thought the silver flower necklace was going to be my favorite this round, but I adore this blue chunky necklace!  I love the pop of color!  I am a fan of the pop of color myself but I definitely do not have those beautiful blue eyes to go with it!  

I think this may have been a bonus picture that I snapped-I just couldn't let the holidays go by without displaying this crystal pin- it reminded me of a snowflake. :)

I wore both of these pieces to Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas celebration. It was too hard to pick between the two, so I wore them both!  The ring is so beautiful and I have been really wanting to wear it.  I think the stones are rubies, but not sure-I meant to ask Dad's expert opinion.  I love the stacked design of it, and I don't see a lot of rings like that now.  I wore this ring instead of my engagement ring, which created alarm with the extended family, haha.  Paul said it didn't matter to him what ring I wear since its the symbol that matters and I think he was especially ok with it since it was Nanny's.  I have 2 diamond stack bands of hers that I like to wear a lot too- which I posted the first week.  These  earrings are so fun and look like holly, so they were perfect for Christmas.

Paul and I went for our 2nd annual Chinatown feast on Christmas day.  Again, I could not decide which piece to wear and I threw fashion caution to the wind again for Christmas!  The little silver circle pin looks kind of like a wreath of leaves and just seemed so delicate and Christmasy-I realized after that I actually posted it before. :)  Of course, the snowflake pendant was a must too!

This has to be one of my new favorites.  I am so lucky to have gotten this little hidden treasure-Nanny's triple strand pink pearls with gold accents.  Papa actually found this after Staishy and I went through Nanny's jewelry and gave it to me on Christmas Eve.  I felt like it was a Christmas gift strait from Nanny.  It was in need of a quick repair and was placed in the guest bedroom to await its renewal.  I wonder how long it was waiting there!  I am so excited this beautiful piece got to shine again.  Staishy has a love for the multi-strands so I'm sure we might have put up a fight for this one had we had it initially when we went through everything.  I feel a little guilty that I got it, ;) but not TOO much because I love it, hehe.  Thank you again Papa!  If we come across another piece, Staishy must have it to be fair.  :) I wore this to Grandma's 80th birthday party and then ran a quick Target errand afterwards, and I think this necklace sets the record for the most compliments, which warmed my heart since this piece almost got missed. 

I look buzzed in this picture, but I promise it was just REALLY bright that day.  Paul and I visited the new Perot science museum in Dallas and went for Hibachi afterwards- what a lovely Saturday.  I felt very Katniss Everdeen in this silver circle pin with seagulls. ;)  So unique and beautiful- one of my favorites.  

I have been really wanting to wear these orange bubble earrings which perfectly match one of Mom's bangles she let me have years ago.  I love how I have a piece from Nanny and Mom-I felt surrounded by love for sure!  

A little dark and a little blue, but I wore Nanny's parrot pin last weekend.  I was having a particularly rough week and I just wanted something comforting I think.  There were elephants, yes...but Nanny also loved birds.  I remember as a little girl Nanny had a parrot keychain hooked to her purse and this reminded me of that.

Not quite sure what was happening with the hair, but I wore Nanny's delicate gold chain with pearls yesterday on a date with my love.  I have always loved this piece- it has so much potential to go with so many outfits and is a new favorite!  I love how dainty it is.  I have a similar one which I probably could have worn with this one, but I may debut that one later!

I hope to be a little better about posting regularly now that the business of the holidays has settled down...but of course I make no promises! ;) 

12/13/13

This past week Paul and I celebrated our pre-anniversary!  Less than a year now until the wedding. :)  We went out on a special date and I wore nanny's pearl beads.  Each strand has different shaped pearls which makes it so unique and and fun twist on the classic pearls.  I wore a dark blue dress with a black sweater and black tights, so the pearls popped and went nicely with my white clutch purse!  I felt very wintry and felt like I had little icicles around my neck!  We stopped by some lit trees on the way home to take this picture.

Staishy chose Nanny's silver elephant pin to wear on her pretty blue scarf this week.  I love the silver and blue for winter!  So beautiful!  I know pins can be worn all year round but somehow they just suite the cold months better in my opinion.  I actually wore a pin on Sunday but I will be wearing my selection on Saturday to Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas celebration.  :)

ice

I have been so excited to post these pics!  Here it goes!  The necklace I wore to Meredith's wedding was absolutely perfect- simple and sparkly.  I didn't want to compete too much with the halter strap, sweetheart neckline of the beautiful blue dress, and the sweet earrings Meredith got us.  I wore Nanny's clear glass/stone pendant on a gold chain.  It was perfect if I do say so!  The following weekend, I went to a baby shower and wore Nanny's pearl bracelet.  It dressed up the outfit just a touch. :) The next picture is my first pin!  It was one of the first really cold days and it just screamed winter- Nanny's silver wreath pin that looks like garland!  So pretty!  This may have been my first pin ever and definitely a first in our jewelry adventure.  For Thanksgiving I chose Nanny's tiger eye necklace which is absolutely one of my favorites and perfect for fall.  I bought new earrings to match too!  I have always had a soft spot for tiger eye jewelry.  It just seems so vintage and swanky.  I feel like its the equivalent to wearing animal print clothing...which I probably never would do..hehe.  This past weekend I managed to get out of the apartment and in to the ice to show off Nanny's clip-on elephant earring, turned scarf pin!  It actually worked perfectly because there was no fear of snagging or it falling off!  I think I might try it on the edge of one of my black clutch purses next!  This poor thing was missing its mate but luckily I was able to make it a really fun piece!  I really need to take more pictures in the natural light- it makes it so much easier to see the jewelry.

I usually find it hard to choose a favorite of Staishy's choices, but I had a definite fav this time!  All the pieces are wonderful though!  Staishy's first pick was Nanny's green and purple stone necklace with a periwinkle sweater- Nanny's favorite color. :)  Love the necklace!  Staishy chose to go with a blue stone and diamond ring the following week!  So pretty!  Staishy and I think they may be sapphires but she said they may possibly be aquamarines since the stones look different in some lights.  Although... I stare at my aquamarine (Cinderella as I have affectionately named her) quite often and these look more like sapphires to me..but there are so many variations to both stones its hard to tell.  Lovely ring!  Staishy would agree I'm sure, that there is something so special about wearing Nanny's rings.  Somehow it just feels that we are that much closer to Nanny and feeling her past experiences and presence.  I look at Staishy in these pieces and she reminds me so much of Nanny!  The next one compliments Staishy's polkadot scarf- Nanny's' clip-on pearl and silver earrings.  I have the exact pair in gold that I almost wore this week!  Thankfully Nanny bought in pairs as Staishy and I do, so no fighting needed!  I agree that these are very comfy clip-ons!  I will be debuting mine eventually as well!  So elegant.  For my favorite- Nanny's long gold chain with pearl beads!  I think it is just beautiful and simple and looks beautiful on Staishy.  So classic and very much classic Nanny.  :) Last week Staishy chose a really fun multi-strand white and gold necklace!  So fun!  I can't wait to see what Staishy picks out this week!  I have something in mind to wear for my weekly coffee with Stefan tomorrow!