my trinity

so this is what i gifted myself last year. woot! a cartier trinity ring! i was already eyeing it when i got my love bracelet, but being the truly restrained person that i was, i stopped myself and came back two years later to retrieve what was fated to be mine :P pat on the back for showing restraint?

the trinity ring is an iconic cartier staple. it is made of three gold bands intertwined to form one ring. the rings must criss cross the correct way when worn or else it feels tight and uncomfortable, a neat little consequence for not having the rings perfectly aligned into a perfect circle. the basic trinity ring is made of three different colored golds (pink for love, yellow for fidelity and white for friendship) and is just plain gorgeous. i bought the trinity ring to specifically wear on my right pointer finger or my right middle finger. love it.

the one thing i learned about brand name jewelry is that the price ALWAYS go up, never down. so if you see something you like and have the means to purchase it without going into debt, then i always advise doing so sooner rather than later. because 2 years later, purchasing this baby meant dealing with a price hike which made me grrrrroowwl. oh wells, still love it and still on my finger baby!

so that was my bday gift to myself last year. this year, it will be even more fabulous. promise.

blue boxes for my sistas

even before i asked my "sistas" to be my bridesmaids, i already had their presents in mind. seriously, that's what a jewelry whore-centric bride would do. and nothing will do for my gals unless it's wrapped up in a pretty robin blue box a la tiffany & co. so my younger sister, my SIL, and my old friend from high school who i call my "soul sista" became my trinity of gals. they were perfect for our wedding gala, so amazingly helpful and thoughtful. a little silver tiffany necklace was just a small token of our appreciation because they did so, so much for us!

each sista received a silver tiffany notes letter pendant to wear for the wedding. it was the perfect accent piece for their dark purple bridesmaid dresses. i also thought it would become a super wearable necklace on the daily. to this day, almost 2 years later, my soul sista still wears her pendant every single day. the other two, not so much. *sigh*

i definitely need to get one for myself though!! it is so dang cute!

the golden legume

if jack, you know the dude with that overgrown beanstalk, was given this pretty golden legume instead of a handful of "magic" ones, i'm pretty sure he wouldn't have gotten in trouble with his momma. instead of tossing it out of her window wondering how her dumb son can trade a whole cow away for a handful of "magic" beans, i think she would have strung this shiny legume on a delicate gold chain just like this to wear around her thick neck...just like me. purty *sigh*

tucked away in that velvety envelope was my sweet gold elsa peretti bean pendant from tiffany & co. amongst all the necklaces i own, this necklace is the quintessential "every day"/ "most wearable" one due to its simplicity and daintiness. it goes with everything, gives your naked neck the right amount of presence, and best of all, it's as smooth as an...ahem, legume, which makes it soothing to rub as you ponder life's questions like "what should i order at starbucks?" or "does this dress make me look fat?"

i heard about the possibility of elsa peretti and tiffany & co parting ways here and here. how tragic! :( i think her designs are universally loved! they are understated, elegant, and i love, love, love the soft lines in her creations. the bean, open heart, and diamonds by the yard are a few of her most popular designs and her collection in general is a fave of mine at tiffs....it would be a shame to lose access to them.

if peretti's deal with tiffany dissolves, she MAY sell her designs through other vendors, but it's hard to think after 40 years that it would be the same to get them anywhere else but tiffany.*sigh* besides, tiffany has pretty great quality control on their products and that may not be the case with other vendors. just something to keep in mind if you were pondering a few elsa peretti pieces for a while now.

IF elsa breaks up with tiffany, i think i will bite the bullet and possibly purchase an open heart necklace or/and a diamonds by the yard. anyways, i never mind adding more robin blue boxed items to my collection so i really don't need much of an excuse...though this is a pretty good one i must say. :P

tiffany stars for my ears

after rocking itty bitty ruby studs that i got from my trip to thailand for over a decade now, i decided to finally upgrade my earlobes to something white and sparkly...my new tiffany diamond studs! woot!

they give just the right amount of sparkle and is pretty as heck when they peek through my hair. and since i don't like to change my earrings at all, these will be great earrings to rock 24/7 and will go well with any outfit, anytime, anywhere.

they will also be perfect for my wedding <3. yay, finally got my own set of sparkly stars to add to my jewelry collection.

everlasting love

10 years ago, i bought a lavender jade bracelet in hong kong. it was tight enough to fit my left wrist securely and it was meant to stay on forever...that is until forever lead me to a work retreat and a masseuse who asked me to take the jade bracelet off and then....it fell off the chair it was placed on! look at the crack! i never wore it again because cracked jade is considered bad luck and i didn't want to mess with my luck. it now sits in my closet lonely and broken-hearted.

since that fateful day, my beady eyes were always on the look out for a bracelet of some sort. i'm kind of enamored with the idea of semi-permanent jewelry but not wanting to invest in another crackable item like a jade bracelet, i went without until....i discovered the cartier love bracelet! full on metal and cute to boot? hell yeah! go ahead and try to crack that you big bad chair with gravity as its accomplice!

so once my birthday rolled around, and i completed my second masters, and passed my comps, i had enough reasons to go on a vegas trip to splurge on myself one last time before i funnel all my efforts and resources on our wedding. i purchased this pink gold, size 16 cartier love bracelet on my berfday and have happily worn it since then.

i really LOVE LOVE LOVE it. the best part is that the pink gold looks lovely against my skin tone AND i have no fear of losing it. since this baby is rather shiny, i've been extra cautious about not scratching it up. but it's inevitable that new things don't remain new forever and i say so because i discovered my first scratch this afternoon :( but like a good relationship, it should be better with time and i look forward to the formation of a lovely patina on my bracelet as i rock it old woman style for many, many years to come. *happy sigh*

*******background info*******
cartier created this "love bracelet" in 1969 to symbolize everlasting and faithful love because the bracelet is locked on with two screws that fits the bracelet intimately to your wrist. they even provide a gold plated screwdriver in your metal color to complete the package. traditionally, your lover locks the bracelet on you and possesses the screwdriver to the bracelet. but if you're an independent lady and appreciate jewelry for the aesthetic value of it like me, then lover or not, this bracelet is quite gorgeous on the wrist. oh hell yeah i would buy it again!

ok, so the love bracelet is in that box, then what's in THIS BOX?!

ENGAGED! say whut?!

seriously, my momma can't believe it either. for the longest time, she thought i was a lost cause, a spinster in the making because i never brought a boyfriend home. i would if they weren't so darn old school. with the older generation, dating is not part of their verbage so bringing home a boyfriend was an announcement to the world that marriage was imminent. like book a banquet hall ASAP and call all the uncles and aunts. so for the longest time, i didn't even indicate to my parents that i was even dating, until it got rather serious with the ex. to make a long, painful story short, let's just say that this is not my first engagement ring in my life, that i made a very painful but mature choice, and that things finally ended between me and the ex. i think my mom felt rather devastated for me. that in itself, was the hardest burden to bare.

i think for two years, my momma must have prayed rather hard for me because about a year ago, buddha finally answered her prayers and i started dating my boyfriend, now FIANCE :) he is a wonderful man, caring, kind, and considerate. he reminds me every day that loving someone can be effortless, drama free, and completely mature. i feel so content right now. so, so, content.

we knew we would eventually get married and last weekend, he proposed with the most beautiful tiffany engagement ring. ahh, the dude knows me so well! :)

i feel so, so blessed to have found a great partner in life. and to be spoiled with such a lovely engagement ring is like delicious cream cheese frosting on a spectacular red velvet cake. completely decadent!

being engaged makes me feel so nervous. i don't know if i can handle "wedding planning" when the easiest, most bagnatic thing to do would be to just run off to vegas and make it short, simple, and sweet. ack, but the parental units are involved and the initial convo we've had sounds like a full out chinese banquet to me. i'm thinking the wedding might be in 2011, after i'm offically done with my 2nd masters and we can save a penny or two. but till then, i'll continue to blog about the process, my other loves, and all the other stuff that makes this online outlet my escape route of choice when i need an escape.

*sigh* engaged. what an odd feeling it is. if you haven't already guessed, my momma is THRILLED. in fact, i think she likes my fiance more than she likes me! you should see the lunches she packs for him when we visit my parents on sunday. i know she's already counting down the days till i pop out her first grandkid. 2011 is not sitting well with her at all...to be continued!

lotus x 2

i cook. not top chef delicious, but good enough for you to possibly want seconds, lest you're a smart woman and know when to stop before your belly stretches your pants. i have yet to master that art myself, but i digress like i always do :)

my honey thinks i cook well, but i know he says that cuz i always shake my fist when i ask him what he thinks of my cooking. "it's delicious honey." "oh, i love eating your food." "this taste so good, i can eat it for all my meals." as you can tell, my honey is a keeper. he knows how to lie with a straight face.

as i hone my cooking skills, i've learned that when you cook, you can sometimes "fix" things that go wrong in the recipe. for instance, if you oversalt something, you might be able to add a little more of another ingredient to diffuse the saltiness. example, oversalt your mash potatoes, then add more mash potatoes! when i bought my baby alex lotus, it was a cooking experiment indeed. i had thought it looked really tiny and though cute on its own, i wanted to ADD something to it so that i can "fix" the look. my answer to that problem was to get ANOTHER LOTUS and a spacer ring and stack all three! then it will give me the presence i needed in a right hand ring.

i decided on a honey citrine asscher cut lotus. i REALLY adore asschers and this was the best fix i can get. i absolutely love the color of the citrine, but am a bit disappointed that i can't see the step cuts of the asscher clearly because the color is too dark :( no wonder these cuts work better with lighter gemstones or gaw gaw gawgeous diamonds. but the color of this ring is rather darling and i loves it so i am totally smitten by it.

the beautiful, beautiful lotus setting once again. every time i look at this setting, i fall in love....

and here it is worn with my rose gold rope ring. i'm using the rope ring as a spacer when i stack them all up....

like this!

NOW, i'm perfectly in love. i think the baby alex looks lovely next to the honey citrine. in fact, if my fingers were longer, i would stack another one and make it a threesome. in any case, just like cooking, i "fixed" it and it's 100% delicious.

lotus love

when i was studying abroad in hong kong during my last leg of undergrad studies at ucla (last leg meaning i could have graduated in 4 years even with my double major but decided to borrow another year's worth of money to study abroad and back pack through asia for the 5th year...ahh the loans...still paying for it, but exusey my tangent) i went to thailand during one of those many backpacking excursions. in a snapshot, thailand to me means street vendor eats, buddhism, hiking, almost drowning, and getting ripped off. yes, i experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly there. even though it was many, many years ago, i still have interesting, fond memories of it. so what does that have to do with what santa brought me from thailand?

haha, nothing except that this present to myself comes all the way from thailand, and specifically from chiang mai (which is possibly one of the most BEAUTIFUL locations in thailand). the seller makes these GORGEOUS lotus ring settings and when i first laid my eyes on them, i had to, i was compelled to, i was mandated from buddha to...purchase one for my growing jewelry collection. here is my teenie weenie itsy bitsy alexandrite in a yellow gold lotus setting. the color change is from green in natural light to either a dark blue or light purple depending on the artificial light in question.

it is really small, really small! look at the relation of this baby alex lotus to my super ginormous thumb nail! i must admit, for the price i paid for this baby alex ring, i was unpleasantly suprised by the size. well, live and learn.

no wonder i had to go buy this too after a few weeks of light consideration :) i love how santa just brings me more gifts.

a latch key kid

many years ago when i was studying abroad in hong kong, i picked up a very fine, thin gold necklace with a gold heart pendant. i wore it that way for many years until i acquired a tiny gold key to go with it. people always asked me if it was symbolic for "a key to my heart," but naw, it's just two dainty pieces that looked cute together. but every since that first tiny key, i was hooked! i wanted to be a latch key kid!

when i saw that tiffany & co came out with a key collection, i really wanted to get one, but as you know, i was sidetracked and bought my tiffany diamond pendant instead. excercising self control only went as far a few months because when i went to vegas not too long ago, i KNEW i had to pay tiffany a visit, and i did.

i went in knowing that i wanted a gold key on a simple gold chain, but was COMPELETELY smitten by the super cute oval link chain! i bought a 30" chain because i liked the idea of wearing it long like this (a modified mr. t look):

and wearing it layered and short like this:

in my head, it seemed like a "deal" cuz it's a 2 in 1 look. anyways, i really love the necklace and am happy to add it to my growing jewelry family. it's so fun to be a girl!

stripping down

i've been to a male "strip joint" twice. once in las vegas with a bunch of my giddy girlfriends to check out "thunder from down under" and then to hollywood men for my friend's bachelorette party many years ago. both times, i felt CHEATED yah know. i always expected to see some shlong, but instead, there's a line-up of gayish looking long haired men reenacting some fat housewive's fantasy on stage. gyrating on a motorcycle? um, no thanks. shower scene with your speedo on? ack, nope, not feeling it. unlike the female stripping equivalent where's there titties galore and sometimes some bush, a male stripping show is just a long winded teaser....which leads me to the stripping of my tiffany box.

(cue the porn music...*bowchickabowow*)

"take it off baby... ow!"

"show me what you got in there! ow!"

"don't tease me baby...take it out and show me!"

"oh lord have mercy...you're hard like a rock!"

and it is....this is my mini tiffany diamond circlet pendant in platinum. harder than a rock and oh so delicious.

the end.

purty in pearls

oooh la la. here's my tres delicious gift to myself! a strand of pearls! i know...pearls? i LOVE pearls. you don't know this, but i use to rock a fake strand in elementary school for a year. i would venture to say in 3rd grade i think. i still remember my youthful pearl wearing days because i distinctly remember my mom buying me a fake strand at one of those chinatown swapmeets. i also distinctly remember BEGGING her to buy me another fake strand when the one i wore (i never took them off), broke. yah, i was a pearl lova from way back!

that's me in elementary school rocking my fake strand of pearls and a gingham dress. i was SO stylin'. you might recognize my double chin.

here's me totally not in elementary school anymore, finally rocking a REAL strand of pearls. i do have a real pearl pendant too, but nothing beats a strand of them. *sigh* they are so lovely. they have a nice pinkish tint to them.

i was able to get them because of gift number 4 to myself. i had a tremendous amount of gift cards and needed to spend them before they expired. once i moseyed on over to the fine jewelry section, my eyes zoned in on the pearls and my search was clearly over. i knew i had to get myself a strand! i had originally eyed the south sea pearls, but those are TREMENDOUSLY EXPENSIVE. i finally settled on a good size freshwater strand. i love them a lot :) maybe some day, i can work myself up to a strand of yellow south sea pearls.