The purple velvet box

My grandmother's house was small. So as you can imagine, each closet and dresser was packed to its capacity. Open the pantry, there were 10 boxes of Ziploc bags. Open the closet, 20 crocheted afghans in a rainbow of colors might tumble down in a soft, heavy pile. But the charming house was always clean, and was big enough to host family for a weekly Sunday lunch. She woke up around 4:30a.m, I think, to prepare the marinara. I loved her tomato sauce, and can still remember how it tasted. That can happen when you ate it weekly for nearly 15 years. 

 Since I could remember, Mamá, as we called her, only wore simple gold earrings, a gold shell pendant on a gold chain and her wedding ring. 

That's why I was surprised to be given Pauline's 4 strands of pearls after her passing. I had never seen her wear them, but found a photo of her wearing them with an elegant navy blue dress. This was taken when I was 4 years old.

I wore the strands on my wedding day, along with her wedding headpiece, which I am reluctant to call a tiara. It's so much more than that. Here I am with my younger sister, Alexis. 

I have many pieces of jewelry of Mamá's including this lovely ring. I loved it so much, I used to wear it weekly, even while waitressing... Who knows how much salsa and guacamole was stuck on there. I really do wear my treasures, often too hard on them. It survived! 

But my favorite piece of jewelry from Mamá came as a huge surprise. I knew she had scores of jewelry boxes neatly stacked like a Jenga puzzle in her night stands. My aunt Josephine, who gave me the tiara and pearls, also presented me with this:

The pearlized button gave a satisfying pop when pressed, and the lid sprung open. At first, I thought the sparkle was cubic zirconia as so many others. I plucked the ring from the satin pillow and looked inside. 14 karat gold. What CZ would be set in gold? 

But what I saw next gave me chills. A note on yellowed paper was tucked up in the lid.

With trembling fingers, I gingerly pulled out the paper and unrolled the mystery note. It looked like it been taken from the pad next to her rotary phone. Was it the price? Where she bought it?

It read, "Jo, This ring is for Erica when she is 16, Mom." Looking in the lid, the address of the jewelry store listed 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, the city where my grandmother was born and raised my father and Jo. 

To make this special story even better, my grandmother did not miss a detail. The appraisal of the ring from the 1980s was included.  She brought in loose diamonds to a jeweler in Deltona and asked for a one-of-kind ring for a young girl. 

There are so many mysteries with this gift. Why did she not give me the ring on my 16th birthday? Was it lost in the sea of beige boxes or was she saving it for another time? It is sized large, too big for even my middle finger. I debated making the ring face into a pendant, wondering if my white gold wedding band would look strange with the gold of Mamá's present. But that idea was quickly dismissed. This is the way Mamá wanted it for me. 

She introduced me to the Andrews Sisters, as we danced around her living room with the record spinning. She made biscotti a New York pastry shop would serve. A two liter of Pepsi and a box of Junior Mints were always chilling in the refrigerator, in case I visited. She was a ham in front of a video camera. Her hair was always pinned up in a large bun atop her head. She peppered her English with Italian phrases. She would show my friends around her home, rattling off who gave her what, and if she liked it or not. I am very honored to have a few of her personal items. Maybe it's why I love wearing old jewelry. I don't understand how someone else's grandmother's pieces line the flea market booths. Didn't anyone care about Aunt Betty's or Grandma Vera's favorite necklace?  I am giving those baubles a good home, adopting them off the streets. But they can't compare to Mamá's jewels.

A place for jewels

Maybe it started with those stick-on earrings. The triangle, diamond and heart-shaped stickers wouldn't last long on my little earlobes, but they were so fun for this child of the '80s. I could match them to any outfit, and if I wanted to wear 3 pairs in one day.. I could. Where are those now for my daughter?

When my toddler catches a glimpse of my vintage rhinestones, she breaks out into her sing song-"Jewels, Mommy, please, jewels, Mommy, please." She's unrelenting until I pick a treasure for her to carefully wear around her neck. "Oh, pretty," she says.

 Daily she requests her own finery. Silicone teething beads will have to do for now. She was lucky enough to get beads strung on pretty pink ribbon from her godmother, a girl who also knew the lure of those jewel-toned stick-on earrings. 

These days, my earrings are either pearls or clip-on vintage finds. If I'm going to a cocktail party, and my outfit is decidedly modern, I throw on a pair of clip-ons... And that retro flare is right up by my face. Aside from sporting a tiara, earrings are the closest jewelry to your natural sparkle, your eyes. People are more likely to see your earrings than any other piece. So make it count!

To keep my eyes on all my vintage finds, I keep my jewelry in plain sight. I have seen many a Pinterest project using a framed piece of chicken wire for earrings.  A bit too country for me. I happened upon this cabinet face in an architectural salvage warehouse in Jacksonville. The owner told me it came from a downtown penthouse overlooking the St. Johns river circa 1960. Sold. I had two more, but got rid of them in a move. I had plans for this one. I love the quatrefoil design, which is metal, and the Moroccan style knob. It might be painted one day, but for now...It looks lovely.

I'm lucky enough to have a husband who didn't think twice about my insistence upon an entire shelf for jewels. 

 Though I do have a framed picture of Frank Sinatra (which I found behind a family photo from grandma's house), I chose to feature another hunk near my precious collection. A wedding day snapshot of my husband keeps my clip-on earring collection in line. Each pair is clipped to a ribbon, but the frame keeps them from slipping. And shouldn't every girl have a photo of her beau nearby?

For my bracelets and a rotating choice of brooches, a pink glass tray.

 For studs and rings, retro ashtrays plucked from my antique store trips. I love this one from a Christmas trip to Kentucky. 

Something about the guarantee of dancing at the Stardust Inn made this a must have for me. 

I had to pick up this tray at my all-time favorite restaurant in Nashville. The Loveless Café has the cutest gift shop. This retro spin on a new ashtray will never see a cigarette butt, just rings and runaway earrings.

I do have a lovely jewelry box that is more of a piece of furniture than a box. A gift from my Mother, it hold all types of treasures. Just like I loved to try on every piece in my Mother's velvet lined jewelry box, my daughter is no different. She pulls open drawers and finds handwritten notes from loved ones, vintage handkerchiefs, hair flowers, old watches and sorority pins. There are gifts from old boyfriends that will soon make their way to eBay, and gifts from students. 

She knows what she is allowed to play with, but I've definitely had to pry a vintage brooch or fraternity button from her little hands. I don't know if she'll ever want to borrow my vintage beads or brooches.  I do know she's already learned to appreciate the beauty of these old pieces. And her old lady.

Red shoes-kind of my thing

I have found them. The cutest ruby red shoes I have ever slipped on. I thought I had the cutest pair a few years back. But they were flat, and earned many miles when I was a reporter. My dear friend and fellow reporter, Sara, also loves snappy shoes. Here we are back in 2007.

 I loved those Rampage shoes so much, they earned a coveted spot in my suitcase for Spain. A gal must pack red shoes when she is to live in Spain. Funny thing is, I accidentally left them overseas. Probably a good thing since I fell three times wearing those shoes in the Granada rain. I was a master of telling my Spanish teachers, "I fell yesterday" when they asked me to use the past tense. 

 I mourned the loss of my red flats. I drowned my sorrows in some peep toe, sling back pumps with alligator detail... Very 1940s. I liked them. But my dog loved them. Loved them so much he ate them. Another pair gone.

I scan the shoe section of Dillard's every time I go, hoping for a scarlett beauty to catch my eye. I'm really hoping for red patent leather. To me, that's a classic combination. But they are hard to find nowhere to be found. 

With these Oka-B shoes, I have the high shine of patent leather, with the comfort of a jelly shoe! The insole is structured and padded, like an expensive tennis shoe might have. They are insanely comfortable. I wore them for a night out with friends, then all the next day. 

To up the adorable factor, perfectly shaped red hearts garnish the peep toe. It is a wedge heel, but from the back, it sports a thinner profile. The perfect height for shorts, especially for a 5-foot munchkin like me. Red is a welcome punch of color to any nautical navy and white. Red is also a must for my love of black and white. I'll be wearing these for a long time.

 I love them so much, I bought them in tan, too, with a bow on top. I highly recommend these beauties! Find them locally at the Pin-up Parlor or online at https://www.oka-b.com/ 

Sent from my iPhone