1.14.15 You're never fully dressed without...

...earrings.

We have a wonderful neighborhood coffeehouse/pub that is a regular gathering place for those who live nearby.  It is essentially my second kitchen - as we are there several times a week for coffee, breakfast or dinner.  There are several large tables which seat about a dozen people - it is what my husband, who spent 18 months living in Germany calls a stammtisch.

Photo credit: Scarlet Mare Studio

One frequent member of this group is Jonathan - who owns a specialty mobile hardware store - but is also a jewelry designer.  When we first met, some time ago, he commented on the earrings I was wearing - and that sparked what has become an ongoing discussion about jewelry in all its incarnations, including curating and writing about it.  Without Jonathan's encouragement, I might not have started this blog at all.

The past couple of times we've run into Jonathan at breakfast on the weekend, I've been in my sweats, sans earrings.  Last Sunday, as we were headed out the door, I thought I'd better wear a pair, just in case.  I was wearing an aqua colored hoodie, so I grabbed these wire

wrapped hoops from Scarlet Mare Studio on Etsy. Sure, enough - we saw Jonathan, and he commented them. 

He also had a surprise for me - two pairs of beautiful sapphire and oxidized silver earrings!    He said this is a new design for him - and he explained to me how the earrings were crafted (and I use that word very intentionally - jewelry artists are craftspeople) - rolling out the silver from the ingot, hand forming the bowl and bezel, oxidizing the silver for color, setting the stones and fixing the earwire.  I love them - and will be wearing them a lot. 

As if that weren't enough, after taking our daughter to the airport to send her back to college, my husband and I went to dinner - this was in my fortune cookie....


I think the universe is on my side.    Til next time...