Anatomy of a Jewelry Box

This is my jewelry box... well part of it. I was unpacking and reorganizing it when I realized how much of my life all of this represents and how many stories it all tells.

Front and center: Engagement ring, and wedding ring. Placed in the box Jimmy had monogrammed with my new initials when he proposed.

To the right of that: Gold Charm necklace. This I made while we were on our honeymoon in New Orleans at The Bead Shop. It has a gold disk on it with our wedding date and our initials, as well as a key, a gold feather and a heart.

Top Center: Satin Flower. I wore two of these in my hair on my wedding day. There's no telling where other one could be.

All Around: Earrings. I have so many earrings in which I've gotten over the years, and were given to me as gifts. I love looking at all these thinking about where I've worn them, and where I got them. I've got them in all sizes, but lately have been wearing the big, round ones a lot.

Center: Other Rings. My wonderful ring collection. I still have weird, plastic, beachy rings, my class ring, rings passed down from Mom and Nana... my lovely costume rings that use to dorn my left hand pre-engagment and silver rings that used to be really in, that are now waaay tarnished.

Second drawer, on the right: Real, REAL pearls. My mother gave these to me as a gift when I graduated college. One of the few real things in this box. I treasure these, and rarely feel as if my clothes are good enough to match.

Right to the left of the pearls: A gold sapphire necklace. This is a little treasure that Jimmy got me one year for my birthday. I forgot about this and was excited to re-discover it.

Third drawer: Chunky bracelets. Love my bracelets. I got a new one while on Honeymoon, then two more gold bengals on sale at the mall. It appears I'm into gold now, which I never thought possible.

I can't talk jewelry without talking these: My grandmother's earrings. I always would sneak in Nana's room and clip these sparkly suckers on while growing up. I remember them being a lot bigger when I was little, but wasn't everything? When my Nana passed and my mother cared about treasuring her real jewels, I cared about these. They are the only thing I asked for. I got a few other things, but these... these are good.