The Catbird Ballerina Bracelet

As it turns out, some unexpected developments in court have made it so my last big push at work before I start my parental leave will almost certainly come to an end by early October, which cuts my total workload significantly from what I originally expected. But that doesn't make this month's intensely busy period at the office any easier! For other attorneys familiar with US litigation, we are right in the middle having seven briefs due in five weeks in one major case, with three of those briefs being for summary judgment. (And our team just came off another busy period of expert depositions and other filings in another case, no less!) 

I recently had my first ever near all-nighter for work - I was able to lay down for an hour and a half before going back to the office the next day, though I wasn't ultimately able to fall asleep - in connection with the biggest filing of the seven. After that, I decided I was going to buy another gift for myself, even if there wasn't strictly a professional milestone involved. And because my near-third trimester belly is too big to feel particularly good in clothing, that gift was another piece of jewelry: the Catbird Ballerina Bracelet. 

I've been looking at this piece for at least a few months. I even mentioned it back in March as a potential alternative to the Jennie Kwon Jadeite Equilibrium Ring I ultimately chose to commemorate my first defense of a deposition as the first-chair attorney. My interest in the Catbird Ballerina Bracelet came in part from wanting a fine jewelry gold bangle bracelet someday, but all such things are extremely expensive. (Which is natural, because gold is also very expensive!) With the solid bar portion of the design, this bracelet is sort of two-thirds thin bangle, one-third chain bracelet. 

Over many years of browsing Catbird's website - they're quite trendy amongst many NYC-dwellers! - with much of the jewelry they stock, I often worry it'll be a little too dainty to really look good on me, or to have a presence and be particularly visible. Though now that I've dabbled a bit more in dainty jewelry like the Jennie Kwon ring (not a design Catbird carries, but they have many other Jennie Kwon designs) and this bracelet, I'm coming around to the idea of this more dainty jewelry. 

I've been wearing this bracelet 24/7 since it arrived, and I think it's lovely and looks good even if it's small. I hope that the design will hold up to that kind of wear and tear. It's a little finicky to take on and off, so it's easiest to just wear it all the time.  (The bar portion is a bit bendy and flexible by design, and as for the chain, I know Catbird sells chain bracelets designed to be soldered on permanently, so the chain should be hardy enough to withstand long-term wear?) 

Another Professional Milestone Gift to Myself

The Jennie Kwon Jadeite Equilibrium Ring.

Back in March, I mentioned that I thought I might get the chance to defend my first deposition as the first-chair attorney soon. I wasn't 100% sure this would happen - there were some potential complications with client preferences for more senior attorneys to do important things - but it ultimately came to pass. That's another professional milestone in the books, though one that doesn't feel quite so big or daunting as taking a deposition for the first time!

Ever since paying off my substantial - mostly for law school - student loans last year, I like to commemorate my professional milestones by buying jewelry for myself. For defending my first deposition, I took a few months to decide what I wanted. I ended up choosing this Jennie Kwon Jadeite Equilibrium Ring, which I've been wearing almost every day since I received it. 

I wasn't initially sure such a dainty design would work for me. With super-small or dainty pieces, I sometimes worry they might not have as much of a presence, or that they might not suit me as much as something a bit bigger. It turns out I really love this piece, and it makes me curious about potentially buying more Jennie Kwon jewelry in the future, especially because I now have some interest in slowly building a collection of stacking rings for daily-ish wear. (I'm somewhat influenced in this by @myjewelrydiaries on Instagram, she has a sizable collection of yellow gold rings that she wears in various combinations.) 

One other Jennie Kwon design I find particularly intriguing is the Diamond Wave Band (affiliate link), which I think might stack nicely with my engagement ring and wedding band. I also like the look of the East West Green Sapphire Equilibrium Ring. I love how sapphires come in such a wide range of colors! 

Life Lately: Back From Vacation

One of K's photos from beautiful Grace Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos.

I just got back from a lovely and rejuvenating vacation or "babymoon" to Turks and Caicos, and am now settling back in for several more extremely busy months at the office before our little bean arrives. Today's post is a grab bag of a few smaller, non-pregnancy related things that have caught my attention recently. 

I greatly enjoyed this Harper's Bazaar article about the history of Tibi as the brand reaches its 25 year anniversary. There won't be too much new information here if you've followed the company and its founder Amy Smilovic for a while, but I still find the story of Smilovic's complete reinvention of the brand around 2011 fascinating. It's particularly interesting because Tibi was first founded with its original more preppy, print-focused aesthetic - so different from the brand's approach to design today - in 2008, around when I first became interested in fashion (though I didn't have any sense of my personal style and just read about what was popular in fashion magazines and other blogs). Many brands I remember from back then are no longer around.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links that could result in my earning a small commission - at no extra cost to you - if you click and make a purchase. Thank you for your support!

Speaking of things I first came across in part because of my interest in Tibi, here's another jewelry brand somewhat in the same design vein as Smilovic favorite CompletedWorks (also here, here, here, and here): I recently learned about Agmes Jewelry (also here, here, and here) from fellow Tibi fan TheCreativeClassicist, who in turn discovered it in part because of new J.Crew head of women's design, Olympia Gayot. Agmes is somewhat similar to CompletedWorks in that both favor very contemporary, more sculptural designs. Some Agmes pieces I like can be found in the widget below: 

These days, I find I have many ideas for longer-form posts, but not much time and energy to write them because of my long hours at work. Among other things,  I haven't really written about personal finance or money for a long time. 

One big idea is for a post about K and I's experience with negotiating and signing a fairly straightforward and simple prenup, which then became a postnup - a distinction that generally doesn't make a significant difference under New York law - due to getting time-crunched in the weeks before our courthouse wedding last year. Throughout the process, I did learn that some of my original assumptions about prenups were a bit incorrect. 

In general, I feel like many people around my age in the US have a fairly accurate sense about how prenuptial agreements generally work and why both people entering a marriage might want one. For instance, when the topic comes up on r/MoneyDiariesActive (e.g. here, here, here, here, and here), most replies are in the zone of reasonably correct. There aren't too many people whose views are completely off-base. People do sometimes forget that because prenuptial (or postnuptial) agreements are contracts, they can be negotiated and customized to a potentially very large extent by the parties. Thus, relatively few things are inherently true about all such agreements. 

Entertainment-wise: This year's Formula 1 racing season has been incredibly dramatic, but often not for happenings on the racetrack. K and I continue to derive tons of amusement from following the sport. 

We also recently took advantage of a few months of free Apple TV+ through one of K's other subscriptions, and it's been fun watching some of their shows, in particular Foundation and For All Mankind. The writing quality on For All Mankind can be uneven - it's an alternate history about the space race with very long time-jumps between seasons, which can cause some issues with character development - but we've still been really enjoying it so far. 

Another Gift to Myself

Ever since I knew I'd soon be taking my first-ever deposition, I couldn't help but start thinking about a gift for myself to commemorate the occasion. That was before even factoring in that this deposition would be in a billable case concerning mid-seven figures, where my opposing counsel would likely be from a top 10 biglaw firms, no less! It may have looked like a bit of a David and Goliath situation because I work somewhere so small and niche  (I'm not sure most other NYC-based litigators have even heard of us.) Quite a set of circumstances for my first bit of "stand-up" litigation experience! 

For more junior litigators in biglaw these days, it's generally not that common to get much "stand-up" experience (whether in court, arbitrations, or depositions), particularly outside of pro-bono work. Many of my closest law school friends are biglaw litigators, and from our collected experience, getting that first piece of stand-up experience outside of one's pro-bono cases by the end of one's fifth year may require a bit of luck. (Though it's also not that uncommon or rare. Once you do get your first one, two, or three instances of stand-up experience in a billable case by around your fifth year, that alone isn't enough to make you a standout associate or particularly special.) 

Things work very differently at my much smaller biglaw-adjacent workplace, so I'm lucky to get my first go now, at the start of my seventh year. It was stressful, but I really enjoyed it and I think I did a reasonably good job thinking on my feet while taking my deposition. 

That Gift to Myself

If you caught my Instagram stories on July 22, then you've already seen a spoiler about what I ultimately decided to do for that substantial gift to myself to celebrate the end of my student loan repayment journey! By coincidence, one of the rings pictured in the Mociun Instagram post I selected as an illustration for my blog post ended up being the piece I chose for myself. (As it was an older Instagram post, I think all the other pictured rings were sold long before my visit to their store.)

At present, one needs to make an appointment to shop at Mociun in person. Their online booking system doesn't seem to offer appointments sooner than two weeks out, so I actually made my appointment a little early, before I officially finished paying off my loans. I'm not sure if they'll be able to offer earlier appointments if you contact them by phone or email. 

When I made my appointment, I had a clear sense of what rings I wanted to look at: I knew I wanted a sapphire ring with at least one stone that was mostly blue or blue-green in color; I knew what my maximum budget was, up to ~$8,500 or so before tax, which excluded Mociun's larger sapphire rings; and I'd browsed their website so many times I was able to name the specific styles I wanted to look at. That meant my appointment was very straightforward and somewhat quick, they showed me the exact styles I was interested in and gave me ample time to try them on and think about which one I liked best. The sales associate was friendly, and there was definitely no pressure or pushiness. I had all the time and space I needed to figure out which of the sapphire rings in my price range I wanted, if any. 

At any rate, I'm not sure Mociun's line of mostly one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces generally allows for any realistic opportunities to upsell anyone. When I visited, they had a good number of sapphire rings available in my price range, and also a small number of rings designed around much larger stones that were, naturally, a dramatic step above my maximum price limit. This "Flying" Ring, for instance, with a ~4.5 carat kite-shaped sapphire... It looks amazing, but is very obviously not remotely in the realm of things I was considering! (Their current stock of sapphire rings in my general price range is not quite as broad, however.) 

A Gift to Myself?

Via Mociun's Instagram page, most of these designs probably exceeded my maximum price limit, however. 

My remaining student loan balance is now down to ~$18,700. At my current rate of repayment - I've been putting in approximately ~$5,100/month - I remain on schedule to finish paying it off in full by late August or early September this year.* It's going to be a huge milestone for me when I finally finish paying off the ~$195,000 or so in student loans I had when I first started working full-time in fall 2015, after graduating law school. I simply can't wait to be done with my student debt once and for all.

Even though I haven't been shopping much for my wardrobe in 2021 so far - and have now proven somewhat disinterested in window shopping for any more clothes, shoes, and accessories while my day-to-day life is still not restored to something resembling pre-pandemic normal - I can't help but think about maybe buying myself a significant gift to commemorate this financial milestone. 

One idea - though, spoiler alert, I'm almost 100% certain this won't actually be it - is a handbag, provided there was a design I absolutely loved and was certain would be highly functional for me and would be something I'd reach for often. This could be the Celine Seau Sangle bag I was seriously contemplating 15 months ago, when I thought I'd soon be visiting Paris as part of a lengthy business trip also including stops in London and Luxembourg. (COVID-19 international travel shutdowns intervened before we got to Paris.) In the end, though, there still isn't any single handbag design I actually like that much and am absolutely sure would be worth it. 

The more likely idea for this milestone-commemorating gift to myself is a piece of jewelry, specifically a sapphire right-hand ring. I've looked at quite a few jewelers and types of designs and don't really have any specific ideas about what my ideal ring would look like, and thus, what the target price range would be. Obviously, there's definitely a concrete upper limit on what I would be willing to spend on this, I'm not planning to go absolutely wild to the point of financial irresponsibility! But there's a fairly wide range of prices I'm potentially willing to consider. 

A Mostly Shopping-Related Miscellarny

Today's post is a bit of a random grab bag of smaller, more light-hearted things. I'm... currently still staying off Twitter and limiting my consumption of the news to protect my mental health. I made an additional modest contribution to the Biden/Harris campaign on Wednesday morning, after the debate (which I understand was awful because our current President behaved exactly as poorly as expected). 

First, the new season of The Great British Baking Show, a.k.a. The Great British Bake Off ("GBBO"), just started last week! Since last season, Netflix has been getting the new episodes almost in real time, on Fridays a few days after the episodes first air on Channel 4 in the UK. The first episode of this season is absolutely hilarious, I hadn't laughed so hard about anything in months. The showstopper challenge at the end of the episode contained some of the most hilarious moments in the entire history of the series. Fun fact: They filmed this season in a locked-down COVID "bubble," with all contestants, hosts, and staff living together in a hotel away from the public during filming. 

Speaking of GBBO, I also really enjoy season six winner Nadiya Hussain's BBC show Time to Eat, which is also on Netflix. Nadiya's also done a bunch of other BBC shows, but sadly, those are not on Netflix. A few recipe clips from her other shows are available on YouTube, though.

Second, now that I've become a bit of a stationery and fountain pen collector, I find myself in need of a little more storage space, particularly for notebooks and bottled inks. The fountain pens themselves don't take up as much space, however, as they currently all fit in a cup I keep on my desk.

Whenever K and I contemplate acquiring any new item of even moderately significant size, we always need to think carefully about where we're going to put the new thing. Our moderately sized one-bedroom apartment - cabinets and closets included - is already perilously close to being at maximum capacity! We probably do have room for something like a small bookshelf right next to my desk in our living room/dining room/kitchen space, though. (Keeping in mind that the room in question is already cluttered-looking, and there's no real helping that, given the furniture we already have.) For context about how cramped things are, anytime one of us wants to do a workout on a yoga mat in either the bedroom or living area, we need to move furniture around to make enough room. 

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The current front-runner storage item I'm thinking of is a three-tiered, wheeled storage cart from Target. They have a number of very similar-looking ones available, but this "Made by Design" one seems to be the most affordable and popular. There's a question of whether we should get a more traditional bookshelf with no wheels instead, but I think this storage cart is a bit more versatile because it's easier to move around when full. I arguably got the idea from Kathy recently, though I think this type of storage cart is fairly common in various settings. For example, the stylists at my current hair salon have been using these for their supplies since they opened last year, as the carts can easily be wheeled from chair to chair to work on different clients. 

One other possible sticking point is that my current stationery and fountain pen ink collection is actually not big enough to fill the entire cart. (See this video from a stationery YouTuber to see the sheer quantity of things that can fit in another very similar cart.) I might actually only need one tier if I'm really aggressive about trying to organize things into as small a space as possible. We do have other items we could put in the remaining tiers, though, possibly including some pantry items or packaged snacks... As you might be able to guess, our storage situation at home is generally a bit chaotic due to the small size of our apartment.

January 2019 Shopping Reflections

The period between Thanksgiving and now has been a hectic one, to say the least. Because of a big mid-January deadline, I was working most days between Christmas and New Year's, and I hunkered down to work even harder from practically the first day of 2019. I was even, for the first half of this month, on pace to bill 3,000 hours this year (a formidable number, even to some of the hardest-working biglaw associates), and that was significantly busier than I had ever been before. Thankfully, things have calmed down now, and should hopefully stay that way for at least a few more weeks!

I'm still trying to suss out whether I think working like that, particularly if it's for longer periods and/or on a more regular basis, would have the consistent, noticeable effect of increasing my spending or shopping. Work-related stress and long hours do make me more likely to rely on delivery food and a daily latte, and at some point it could drive K and I to finally make the decision to hire cleaning help, so it definitely affects my spending in all kinds of areas outside of shopping. And of course, I've often confessed that I'm prone to online window-shopping when I'm stressed out, which can easily lead to buying more things, so it definitely has some effect on my shopping as well. At the same time, as some of my peers in the industry have noted, there is definitely a point at which one might be working so much that it has a sharply depressive effect on spending and shopping, if there simply isn't enough time to do anything but wake up, go to work, go home, and fall asleep promptly, rinse and repeat (including on the weekends sometimes), at which point even the limited mental energy required to browse an online shop and order something may be a little too much. 

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I'd say that my recent busy period at the office helped with not buying clothing this month, but it wasn't for lack of trying. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I ordered some clothes, but none of them worked. And after that, I even ordered and tried on one more extremely extravagant thing, a deeply discounted. but still very pricey, Mansur Gavriel braided cashmere sweater in dark gray (also available in blue), which was, let's just say, proportioned for a woman closer to six feet than to my actual height (5'3''), and also ran bigger than expected all around.

For next month, I may still be tempted by all the cozy sweaters out there, especially if the end of season clearance discounts get any better. The Vince funnel-neck sweater on my wish list seems to be fully sold out in my size everywhere, but maybe I'll see something vaguely similar from another brand. Oh, and although I'm typically not a shoe person, I ended up in an elevator with a stylish woman wearing those Gucci loafers that the Sam Edelman ones I like so much are, er, essentially imitating, and I must say, the contrast is dramatic. The Gucci loafers definitely come off much better in the comparison, as they probably quite naturally should, for obvious cost, materials, and craftsmanship-related reasons. Even though I'm perfectly happy with the Sam Edelman loafers and expect them to last quite a while with occasional reheeling, and even though the Gucci ones are far, far more expensive than any other pair of shoes I've ever tried on, much less bought, I would be lying if I said I wasn't still daydreaming a bit about the Gucci loafers now, they're so sleek and beautiful. 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $171.63)

• Alexis Bittar Hinged Lucite Bangle - $108.28* - (I haven't seen this exact design elsewhere, but somewhat similar new ones can be found here and here; or used ones here and here.) This wasn't on my actual shopping list, so I've technically broken the only actual rule I set for my shopping this year. I'd been tracking it for quite some time on another Pinterest board (the one I send to K with Christmas gift ideas), however, so I gave myself a pass. I only rarely like Alexis Bittar designs, his larger, more statement-making pieces are generally a little edgier than my usual style, but his lucite pieces, many of which are textured to resemble stone, can be intriguing. Separately from that, I've been interested in jade bangles, both more classic, plain ones and ones with metal accents (like from Choo Yilin). But I don't dare buy one myself. I don't know anything about jade, nor even about what a "good" bangle should cost. Also, I've never regularly worn a bracelet of that thickness or weight, so who knows, maybe I'd hate wearing one. For whatever reason (lucite and jade are, obviously, not at all alike), I became convinced that an Alexis Bittar bangle, in green or blue-green, would be a good way to try out this general look. I hunted through eBay and TheRealReal for quite some time to find ones I thought had the right look. This was one of my favorites. It's gorgeous, and is another one of those pieces I can't help but admire throughout the day. I'm still not used to wearing a bracelet of this thickness on a regular basis, though, it does feel like it gets a little bit in the way when I'm typing at my computer. 
• Mejuri Dome Ring - $63.35* - I'd been thinking about this ring, or something like it, for months now, and this also came straight from my current shopping list, so I have no qualms about having made this purchase. I was going to feel compelled to try this, or a design very much like it, at some point, whether it happened now or later. Also, I went to the Mejuri showroom to make sure I got the right size, and that the design looked good on my finger. Alas, despite my diligence in seeing this item in person before I ordered it (something I almost never do), I think I may still have chosen wrong. This purchase may yet turn out to be an error in judgment after all. I'm just not used to wearing rings, I hadn't worn a single one out of the house since shortly before I started law school, so it feels fussy to me to have this on. The size 9 that fit correctly on my index finger at the showroom is now a little too big most days. (The weather's been quite cold, maybe my fingers will swell more normally throughout the day once it's warmer?) The sizing issue is making the ring even more fussy. 

**Indicates that the price included sales tax and/or shipping charges. 

One thing I'm realizing, when it comes to my rather loose set of rules and guidelines for shopping this year (the "put everything through one consolidated wish list" rule is the only particularly concrete one), is that I may not have had a clear sense of what my larger goal actually was, except for there to be "less" shopping than the year before. Sounds simple enough, but I may not even have known what "less" was supposed to mean, exactly. It begs the question, "less" of what?

It isn't really about "less" total spending, though I'd be pleased if it turned out that way. (I know that sounds absurdly extravagant, but I trust myself to manage my overall finances well, and it's always been easy enough for me to cut from other budget categories to make room if I overindulge a bit in shopping.) I don't generally count total individual items bought in each category, though I have the data to go back and calculate it, and I did find the totals a bit sobering when I looked back at the past four years, so it is sort of about "less" of that. It definitely meant "less" purchases that were not as good an idea as I originally thought, in which case my track record for the year is already not great. Was it also supposed to mean "less" time spent thinking about shopping and "less" packages from online shopping going back and forth? It probably should mean both those things, but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to that yet.

How's your shopping year looking so far? Is anyone else also working on some kind of goal to shop less this year? How's that going so far? Also, does anyone else have as much trouble with ring sizing for fashion jewelry as I do? Way back in the day, when I was in college and was into the statement cocktail ring trend (anyone remember those YSL "Arty" rings? I thought some of the colors were gorgeous, but could never dream of owning one), none of the standard ring sizes quite worked for my index finger. A size 7 was definitely too small, but it was sometimes hard to find size 8s, much less the size 9s that may be closer to the right fit. 

October 2018 Shopping Reflections

I was going to say this month was a fairly low-shopping one because I was traveling, but then I realized that it's already been nearly a whole month since I got back from Japan. Time sure passes by quick! Things have been a a bit busy at the office in the weeks since I got back. K and I have also had a few houseguests, which, given our slight tendency towards housecleaning delinquency, resulted in needing to spend a good chunk of weekend time cleaning. In the months since that post, our cleaning skills have improved slightly, though that's added extra time to our cleaning routine, which now requires a bit more energy. I may be close to the point where I would vote to hire a service to come in once or twice a month, even if our space is quite small and a thorough cleaning still doesn't take K and I that long to do together (maybe two-and-a-half to three hours total, with each of us tackling different areas of our place, depending on how recently we last did a big clean).

This month, all I shopped for was jewelry, and I bought a single piece. As I mentioned in my previous monthly budget/shopping post, I've only recently become much more conscious that now is totally not the right time to shop for most clothing. So I won't, or shouldn't be, in the market for much until I know if I'll get the go-ahead for certain plans or not. 

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There are still a few things I could be in the market for in the next few months. 

First is a very small thing. I may need another pair of tights after I recently ripped a pair of Wolford Neon 40s (due entirely to my own clumsiness, not any problem with the product). There's a jagged edge on one of my desk drawers at the office, at the exact height where my knee often bumps into it while I'm working away at the computer. All my tights that I currently wear, from Wolford, Falke, and Uniqlo Heattech, have survived many encounters with this edge of the desk drawer without any real issues up until now, only a tiny snagged thread or two that doesn't show any signs of developing into a real tear. This time, though, I bumped into it much harder, at the exact angle and with the exact motion to rip right at the fabric. The damage that time was immediate and dramatic, as seen below.

Second is a niche in my wardrobe that is currently unfilled. I've been mulling over wanting a pair of comfortable-enough-for-weekend-wear, non-denim pants; probably in black; probably with a skinny or straight leg, so that they can easily be tucked into boots in fall/winter; and probably in a fall/winter-friendly fabric, definitely not silk or linen. Recall that company policy changed to disallow jeans on casual Fridays at my office this past March. Now that the weather has started cooling down, and I can no longer wear jeans like I did last winter, I'm starting to miss having comfortable pants I could wear to the office on Fridays. However, I'm extremely averse to shopping for pants, it's hard to find ones that fit well through the hips and thighs, and it's also a total pain when one is short enough of leg that even some petite pants are slightly too long, at least when one is also quite lazy about going to a tailor. Chances are, I'm not going to start seriously looking for these pants for months. The only idea I have for where to look, gleaned randomly from a r/femalefashionadvice comment about comfortable outfits for air travel, is the Athleta Wander pants, but that's a half-formed idea at best.

Third, I'm also kind of kicking myself for not keeping that J.Crew Juliette Collarless Sweater Blazer in burgundy when I had the chance to get it on sale. Although J.Crew's new marketing strategy appears to involve near-constant waves of 30% to 40% off sales on broad categories of items, that specific sweater blazer has been excluded from every promotion this past month without fail. It's such an impractical desire, given how many sweater blazers I own, and how I'd need to layer it under my coats as soon as the temperature drops to the low 50s Fahrenheit or below, as I recently discovered. (I often don't like layering thicker sweaters under my coats, as I start feeling too bulky very quickly, and I don't like feeling overheated if I'm walking around a lot.) 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $88.80)

• Baroque Pearl Drop Earrings with 14k solid gold wires - $88.80* - This is the second pair of earrings I've bought on the recommendation of Kathy at Feather Factor, who has excellent taste! (I previously got a pair of Nordstrom-branded cubic zirconia studs that she also recommends, which usually only get discounted during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.) Before deciding on this pair, I spent some time researching other baroque pearl drop earrings on Etsy, and I thought this was the best size for my tastes. I also liked that I had the option of getting them with solid gold wires. (My earlobes can get irritated by earring posts that aren't sterling silver or solid gold, but I prefer gold-tone jewelry.) These are lovely, not too heavy, and a good size to be noticeable without being too showy. I'd be happy to wear these to the office a few times a week (though probably not to court or a job interview, where I'd definitely wear small stud earrings). I'd never paid much attention to baroque pearls before, but after seeing how Alighieri uses them (i.e. in these "Beacon" earrings or the "Infernal Storm" earrings), I started to appreciate their irregular, more organic-feeling shape a bit more. I really like these, and they're a bit more in my comfort zone than a pair of larger earrings would be, as I get unusually and maybe irrationally anxious about whether heavier, more dangly earrings could possibly get caught on something and cause injury. 

*Indicates that price included shipping charges and sales tax. 

How often do you find yourself needing new tights? With tights that are equivalent to 40 or 50 denier or thicker, I don't need new ones often. I generally got at least three years worth of fairly heavy fall/winter season wear from my Uniqlo pairs before they got stretched out and started sagging, or until elastic threads started coming out of the fabric. I haven't had my Wolfords or the Falke pair long enough to fully assess long-term durability, but they've been doing great outside of my recent mishap with the Neon 40s. (I often snag my tights a tiny bit on the zippers of my boots or booties, or on that desk drawer edge, and it's only caused a tiny loose thread or two, but no damage more serious than that, no rips or runs, except for that one time last week.) Have you noticed the changes to J.Crew's sales strategy? 

Thinking About: Weighty Gold Jewelry

It's no secret that I've had a jewelry phase recently. By now, because of my sudden and intense obsession with Alighieri, which resulted in purchasing two pieces in two months, I've spent enough that it's unlikely I'll be buying anything else in that price range (or upwards of it, but that was always a given) for quite a while, unless I cut clothing expenditures significantly in coming months. Still, jewelry has long been a category I window shop and plan for, sometimes for years, without actually buying anything (mainly with that opal ring I've been thinking about since 2015), so I might as well keep up that tradition. At the very least, it doesn't hurt to look and admire, but not buy!

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Lately, I've developed an interest in what I call (for lack of better or more accurate phrasing) "weighty" gold jewelry, items that, while fairly simple in design (though with a bit of interesting or unusual detail), have a bit more substance or texture to them, a bit more weight or boldness than a lot of the smaller, super-dainty pieces that have been popular (i.e. most of Catbird's catalog), though they don't quite rise to the level of being "statement" pieces or particularly "big", at least when compared to some of the louder jewelry I've been interested in and worn in the past. This new interest of mine is mostly in earrings, bangles, and rings rather than necklaces, though I suppose the J.Crew Chain Tassel Necklace from two months back could also count.

This isn't a category I've ever really shopped for, so I don't know the market well. I would need to do lots more research to know what I actually wanted to get, and for how much. So the things I've been looking at while window shopping are completely random, from a range of wildly different price points, and may not be from the best or best value places to shop for anything in this genre.

I've never had an interest in hoop earrings before, for instance. I generally wear the same pearl studs every day, including to sleep, and only rarely switch to a pair of small dangle earrings (from Porcelain and Stone) on special occasions. In the distant past, on occasions when I wore anything bigger, I always worried that the earrings would get tangled in my hair or on my scarves, and I found them fussy. (With bigger earrings, or ones that dangle down too low, I start getting paranoid and worrying about outlandish and unlikely accidents, the earrings getting caught on something and causing injury.) Still, I've now become very taken by the idea of small, but not exactly dainty, hoops. The closest thing I've seen are the Mejuri Bold Hoops, or their Dome Hoops. In fact, I'm quite taken by the entire Mejuri Dome collection, which also includes a bangle and rings (all pictured above, with some of the other pieces named in this post).

As for bracelets, I have this simple gold bangle from Coach, a Christmas gift from K's mom, and I adore it, it seems to go with everything. (There's nothing similar in stores now from Coach, the most similar thing I've seen is one of Kate Spade's simpler bangles.) I'm also quite fond of the idea of bangles with similar heft and thickness, but an edgier design, something like Meghan Markle's Shaun Leane Tusk Bracelet (which she wore here, but with diamonds, and it's definitely not at a price range that's amenable to being impulsively purchased!), or the Mejuri Dome Bangle. Rings are probably the category I have the fewest opinions about, because I never wear any (and again, I've been balking on one particular purchase in that category for years now), and so I'll probably also never actually get one. I do like the look of signet-style rings though, particularly the Alighieri False Promises Ring. (Their Wreckless Pursuit Ring is also cool!)

The widget below contains some other random, mostly costume jewelry (except for one pair of thicker gold hoops, which are fine jewelry from Saks Off Fifth) choices that also sort of fit the general look I'm thinking of. It was actually surprisingly difficult to find items that had the right look, particularly with a costume jewelry budget constraint in mind. Anyway, I don't know the jewelry market well at all, so I'd need to do considerably more research before I actually thought about buying anything, and these are not things I'm currently actively shopping for. 

Where do you shop for jewelry? What are your favorite styles of earrings or bracelets? Do you prefer silver or gold-tone metals? I personally think the look I have in mind here lends itself a bit more to gold jewelry, though I'm probably biased because I generally have a strong preference for gold-tone metals over silver or white metals on me. I guess it might be because my skin has warmer undertones!

Jewelry Collector: Porcelain and Stone, Alighieri

Dress: Grana V-Neck Silk Slip  Dress (old, updated version)

Necklace: Tiffany's Diamonds by the Yard (graduation gift) (similar $$$, similar or similar $$)

Necklace: Porcelain and Stone Buoy Necklace

Necklace: J.Crew Tassel Chain Necklace

I mentioned recently that I've gone through at least two distinct phases in recent memory, when it comes to my taste in jewelry. For quite some time, I was very much a statement necklace kind of gal. And not just any statement necklaces, but those 2011-ish colorful crystal collar or bubble necklaces that are no longer popular, and generally aren't sold anywhere these days, except for Kate Spade and J.Crew sometimes. I regularly wore them to work as recently as summer 2014 while interning, and thought they were a great way to add color to my otherwise sedate business casual outfits. But by spring 2015, even though I had just purchased a very statement-y J.Crew necklace secondhand, I'd stopped wearing those necklaces much. By the time I started working full time that fall, I'd stopped completely. 

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I'm not sure what caused the sudden change in my jewelry tastes, because I still like the statement necklaces I have, and am totally still holding on to a substantial collection, hoping there will come a time when I could wear them again, without feeling like they're hopelessly dated. I suppose I realized, somewhat abruptly, and probably later than most, that they'd become obviously dated very quickly. I must have realized that I never saw anyone wearing those statement necklaces out and about anymore, even in NYC, with all the wide range of styles one sees people wearing, so maybe that's what accounted for the change. 

After my "statement necklace phase" I stuck to dainty jewelry for a long time, most days just the pearl studs I wear daily (from Amazon) and my graduation necklace. I was occasionally inspired by something more interesting (K was kind enough to get me that Alexis Bittar bracelet for Christmas), but was generally not buying or wearing new jewelry much. Anything new I was inspired to look into (including that dainty opal ring I keep mentioning), I'd mull over for a long time, and often never actually bought, except for my Porcelain and Stone Buoy Necklace (my sister W bought me the Porcelain and Stone Navigation earrings as a combined birthday and Christmas gift).

More recently, I seem to be getting into more assertive jewelry again, mainly with that J.Crew Tassel Chain Necklace. I've also gotten into layering my necklaces a bit more, which wasn't really a thing I could do with those statement necklaces of yesteryear, when my collection was solely pieces of approximately the same length, that would definitely not go together.

This post is mostly intended as a way to talk about two very different women artist-led jewelry brands I'm currently loving, and looking to shop from, both of which I've mentioned before. In large part because I expect my proportions and clothing size to change fairly dramatically in the foreseeable, though not immediate, future, it's not a good time to shop for clothes. I seem to have replaced my usual interest in clothing with a suddenly powerful interest in acquiring more jewelry to build my collection.

via

Porcelain and Stone, designed by Kimberly Huestis in the Boston area, is a longtime favorite. Her jewelry, which is mostly made of porcelain and often glazed to look like marble or natural stone with gold accents, often has a classic, nautical, and somewhat preppy vibe. She does a good mix of larger, more statement-making pieces (like the large Uni sea urchin pendant in progress on the right of the photo) and smaller, more subtle pieces like my buoy necklace (which comes in a few other color combinations and shapes).

She sells a bigger collection on her website, and is also starting to work with turquoise. She also regularly posts an even wider collection of her work on Instagram, and seems to sell at a lot of craft fairs and small shops nationwide. I've been thinking of adding another piece or two of her work to my growing collection of her pieces, probably starting with the small Uni necklace that's in progress in the upper left corner of the photo.

via an interview with the designer

Aligheri, designed by Rosh Mahtani in London, is a new discovery, and one I mentioned a few weeks ago. I'd never heard of the brand before seeing it mentioned on r/femalefashionadvice, and was drawn in immediately by the imperfect, organic, and antique-inspired designs she makes. (She uses the lost-wax casting method, and makes most of her pieces in brass that's gold-plated.)

I rarely fall so hard and fast for items from a brand that's entirely new to me, particularly items that are on the expensive side of my general price range for the category (the prices are understandable and fair, given that the jewelry is made by a small, independent brand and artist). Because it's a smaller brand that's based abroad, specific Alighieri items are a bit difficult to find here. Net-a-Porter is one of very few few larger US-based retailers that stock them. There are also some large international retailers that ship to the US for reasonable prices and stock Alighieri, such as SSense, Matches Fashion, or Luisaviaroma. And one can buy direct from the brand too, but that could take more time for them to make it to order, and does come with higher shipping costs. (It's also important to factor in the exchange rate. With that in mind, some of the retailers, particularly Luisaviaroma, charge more for certain specific items than the brand itself does.)

Spoiler alert for this month's shopping post, I ended up buying an Alighieri necklace after constantly browsing the brand's items online for a few weeks. I'm completely in love with it, enough that I'm still browsing constantly for a possible second purchase, even though it's quite extravagant of me!

Some of my favorite pieces that are available from the online retailers that ship to the US are pictured in the widget below, though I'm much more likely to pick something that's only available on Alighieri's website at the moment. My favorite of these is the ancient amulet-looking Deceptive North Star necklace (it's cheaper to buy direct than from Luisaviaroma), the antique gold coin-looking Other Side of the World necklace, or the Surreal gold hoops that are a Net-a-Porter exclusive.  In actual practice, most of her earrings are probably too heavy and large for me (I'm not used to large, dangly earrings and my earlobes get irritated easily) but her earring designs are also gorgeous.

The brand encourages layering, as seen from the above photos. From browsing their selection online, the length of most of her necklaces is ~16 to 19 inches. The Alighieri necklace I bought (~18 to 19 inches) hangs at around the same height as other necklaces I own (which are adjustable in the range of ~16 to 20 inches), which means that all the pendants hang right in the same narrow zone between my collarbones and the top of my chest, and tend to cover each other up, rather than look good together. I suspect that they customize the necklace lengths for photoshoots sometimes, and even then, it often looks like the pendants are hanging closely together that they might bump into each other frequently during the day, possibly get tangled, and not be entirely practical to wear together. Either way, most of my collection (the buoy necklace and the Mejuri zodiac necklace) is too different in style to look harmonious with my new Alighieri necklace. So I guess layering jewelry properly, particularly necklaces, is a bit difficult for me so far, with the items I have.

What style of jewelry do you favor? Do you have any favorite jewelry brands or designers? Do you have any favorite combinations of necklaces or other jewelry to layer together? 

Pretty Things: Handmade Jewelry from Porcelain and Stone

all photos via Porcelain and Stone Etsy shop

I've been thinking of making a jewelry purchase for myself for almost a year now, on and off, and I've finally decided what I would like. I was originally thinking of a dainty ring, something more on the fine jewelry end of the spectrum, though the price on that was always going to be a little high to fit comfortably in my month to month shopping budget. Also, I haven't worn rings since a brief period before law school when I was obsessed with bright cocktail rings, before I decided that they weren't practical for me. Long story short, I think a necklace is the way to go. In the past year, I've transitioned rather decisively to being no-frills with my accessorizing: Just a teeny-tiny necklace, barely visible over the neckline of most of my clothes, and a subdued watch most days. It's a big change for someone who used to get heavy use out of a rather sizable collection of brightly colored statement necklaces, and it sometimes feels too somber. I'd like to dip back in to wearing more substantial jewelry, and I think a necklace from Boston-based company Porcelain and Stone is the way to go, most likely the bar necklace below. (I might be ordering mine from Moorea Seal.)

I first heard of Porcelain and Stone through my undergraduate school's alum Facebook group, from someone who had purchased one of he necklaces. I went to college on the East Coast, so the tie to the Boston area has a bit of a geographical connection to us alums. Kimberly Huestis, the artist behind the business who also hand-makes each piece, specializes in ceramic or porcelain jewelry, often with really beautiful marble or natural stone-looking colors and textures. (She also makes more colorful pieces than the ones pictured, and you can see the process on her Instagram.)

Anyway, I've mentioned that I struggle with fully taking the leap into shopping more ethically for clothing, which I think requires relying on shopping secondhand. Figuring out a way of balancing my budget-consciousness with the minimalist ethics that I really want to embody is tough. It all feels even more complicated because work leaves so little extra time and energy for shopping from anywhere other than my usual mall retailers online. With this one purchase, I'm glad that the decision is simple: I'm supporting a small business, one that also happens to be woman-owned, and I'm buying something handmade in the US. The pieces I thought about are also more comfortably within my month to month budget than the other possible jewelry purchases I thought about these past few months, which is another big plus. I wanted to treat myself to something that felt a little indulgent, partially to sort-of celebrate a recent industry-wide raise even if I'll only benefit for a few weeks on this end, while still operating within the constraints of my monthly budget.

Whichever necklace I end up buying, it'll pop up in July's shopping budget. Kimberly's work really is beautiful and unique, and I highly recommend checking out her shop, whether on Etsy or her website, and her Instagram is lovely too.