Tag: wedding

In The Loupe

Ashley2 Comments

For you non-jewelry folks out there – no, I didn’t spell loupe wrong. The title of this post is my attempt to show that I can be clever! I know, I’ve got some major room for improvement in that department. At least I tried! 🙂

With Thanksgiving only two days away, Christmas around the corner and countless holiday parties on the horizon, I wanted to talk about how to care for some of our most cherished possessions. After all, us ladies will likely be sporting our diamonds, pearls, colored stones and gold to some of these upcoming gatherings.

Like I said, jewelry can be one of our most intimate and cherished accessories. Understanding how to care for and protect our treasured jewelry can make a world of a difference in maintaining its beauty, while keeping it dazzling for generations to come.

First, let me tell you why I’m not just a random woman pretending to know what I’m talking about. My love for diamonds, colored stones and pearls really became apparent to me during my time working at Tiffany & Co. During the time I worked for the company known for its famed blue box, I wanted to become a Gemologist (I still want to, but have put it on hold to be a stay at home mommy). I took courses with the Gemological Institute Of America to get the ball rolling on a process that can be quite lengthy. Although I have yet to become a Gemologist, I did receive my certificate in diamond grading and can call myself a GD, or Graduate of Diamonds.

This picture shows me in action when I was with T & Co., and yes, I got the sale:

Why do you even care? Well, I have gained the skills to grade the color, clarity, and cut of diamonds. I’ve learned to determine proportions and estimate diamond weight. I have also studied diamond treatments, synthetics, and simulants, and understand the effect of fluorescence on diamond body color.

Mind you, I haven’t actively done this since my daughter, Gia, was born, so I have some brushing up to do. Looking at diamonds and knowing what to look for is a practiced skill that requires the right equipment too. Even though I don’t get to work with diamonds everyday as of now, I am still constantly reading and learning more on my own with the materials I have been given from the G.I.A. (It’s a complete coincidence that my daughter is named Gia, by the way.)

Anyway, I digress. Now let’s get back to caring for our jewelry.

Be careful around light and heat with your jewelry. Light and heat can affect a colored gemstone’s color and durability. Over time and in excess, some colored stones can fade and their durability can be compromised.

Pearls, which are very delicate, can bleach if exposed to extreme light. When heat is excessive or if there are sudden extreme temperature changes, some gems can actually fracture.

Look at these gorgeous aquamarine earrings:

This next tip is kind of a no-brainer….keep your jewelry away from chemicals! Chemicals can damage and discolor your precious metals, like gold, silver and platinum. Chemicals can even damage some gemstones.

Even everyday items like hairspray, perfume and lotions can permanently damage the surface of your pearls or other porous stones, like turquoise. As a rule of thumb, you should always remove your jewelry before washing dishes, jumping into a chlorinated pool, spritzing with perfume and setting that hairstyle with spray. It can be tough for some to break these habits, but I’d much rather take the extra time to make sure my jewelry is safe from damage.

Use ultrasonic cleaners with caution! Not many people have these machines in their home, as they are a bit of a luxury to have. Your local jeweler will probably have more than one though. Not all gems and jewelry can safely be cleaned in an ultrasonic. Organic gems such as pearls, coral, ivory and amber absolutely CANNOT be cleaned in an ultrasonic.

The vibration generated by the machine can also shake loose your stones if they aren’t mounted properly. Ultrasonic machines are great for your tarnished silver pieces. It’s best to let a professional decide what can and cannot be cleaned by using this method.

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so let’s make sure we always show them the love they deserve. I hate when I see people handling their diamonds the wrong way. What I mean by the wrong way is that they are touching the stone itself, instead of holding the band that the stone may be mounted on.

Diamonds attract the oil that’s naturally occurring on our hands and fingers. If you touch the diamond, the oil from your fingers will make dirt and dust adhere to it, dulling the fire and brilliance. Minimal handling of the diamond will keep it sparkling much longer.

Ultra classic round brilliant:

The key to a diamond’s sparkle lies in its facets – which work like a series of many tiny mirrors reflecting light in and out of the stone. Regularly cleaning the facets will keep your diamond sparkling and your diamond jewelry in gleaming condition, ready to shine for your next special occasion.

Pictured below is a gorgeous 2.69ct pear shape, D color and internally flawless. (I sold this ring a few years ago – It commanded a $155k price tag.):

If you have additional questions about how to care for your jewelry, feel free to comment or shoot me a message! I’m happy to help!

May your holiday season be bright and merry, just like your jewels!

Love, Marriage & A Baby Carriage

Ashley2 Comments

Today is as good a day as any to publicly talk about how wonderful my husband is, especially because it’s our wedding anniversary.  This year has gone by faster than the last, simply because we are always chasing our growing girl, Gia.  I now know what it means when people tell me to cherish special moments because time goes by in the blink of an eye.

It’s hard to believe that Craig and I have been together for seven years total, three of which are as a married couple.  This last year has certainly been one of the best because we don’t just share life as a family of two anymore.  Seeing how far we have come since our first days as boyfriend and girlfriend is pretty cool.  To some degree, you always imagine what your life will be like when you’re married – I couldn’t have dreamed up a better life or found a better partner for myself.  Marrying Craig truly is the best decision I’ve ever made.

Here we are on our wedding day:

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How our relationship began is a pretty good story too, so I’d like to share that with those of you who don’t know it.  For those of you who’ve heard this tale before, feel free to step away from whatever device you are reading this on and move on to whatever is on your to-do list.

I first knew of Craig when I was in middle school.  Yes, we happened to go to the same middle school, as well as live approximately one mile apart from each other.  I’m not going to say I “met” Craig then because we were like 10 years old and only passed each other in the halls.  What I do remember of Craig from that time was he always had a baseball hat on and had a big super hero type of grin (he still has that grin today).

This is the type of smile I think of when I see Craig smile:

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I do remember hearing my dad talk about Craig and his baseball achievements often though.  I mentioned in my last post that our dad’s worked together as police officers in the same city for almost their entire career – well, they would brag about whatever it was that their kids were up to to anyone within earshot.  For Craig and I, our dad’s liked to share our sports stories.

I played softball my entire life, all the way though college.  Craig played baseball through college and played with the Colorado Rockies system for six years.  I guess you could say we had some things in common.  I’m not sure if Craig will or will not admit to hearing about me growing up, but he does tell people that we had an arranged marriage.  He can be a jokester, just like his dad.  Both of them are really just kids in adult bodies.

Okay, so back to going to school together….Craig went to the local high school in town and I went to an all-girls, Catholic high school in another city.  We didn’t see much of each other during our high school years, but I do recall hearing sporadic sports stories about him.

We both went off to college, Craig was closer to home at Cal and I was a few hours away at the University of Nevada.  During our college years we both were in “serious” relationships, but clearly that didn’t work out for either of us, and thankfully so.

I remember I had just graduated and wanted to continue living up in Reno, where I had also found a job.  I got a Facebook message (sign of the times!) from Craig, and yes, it was very random.  He asked me if I was living back in our hometown and I said no, but I was getting ready to move back.  I wasn’t happy with the job I was in and knew there would be more opportunity for me back in the Bay Area.

I didn’t think much of the message he sent me until I was settled back in at my mom and dad’s, saving money.  Craig was home for the off-season from playing with the Rockies organization and wanted to meet up to hang out.  I thought, okay, why not?

Craig invited me and one or two other friends to go out one night to the local watering hole.  Looking back on that night, I realize we totally ditched Craig’s friends and sat at the bar and talked forever.  There was a scruffy man sitting next to us who butted into our conversation to ask how long we had been together.  Both of us laughed and said we were absolutely not dating and we were just out for the evening with friends.  That was the very beginning of our relationship.

Here’s an early photo of the two of us at my grandma’s:

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It took a few months for either of us to actually admit that we were dating.  At the time, Craig was adamant about not having a girlfriend, clearly that backfired!  I knew from our first time hanging out together that I really, really liked him.  I tried to play it super cool, acting like I didn’t care if he was interested in me or not.  Good thing I did because I totally won him over.  Who could resist me anyway?! – I’M TOTALLY JOKING!    🙂

Craig and I dated for three years before he proposed to me.  At the time, a lot of my friends were getting engaged, getting married, the whole bit.  I always wanted Craig to work at his own pace regarding engagement, but the little girl inside me was waiting for her forever love.  Of course we had talked plenty about wanting to be with one another forever, but I was starting to think the worst and that Craig maybe didn’t want to marry me.

Just before Thanksgiving four years ago, Craig gave me the biggest surprise of my life. We had a fun day planned at Artesa (where we are now wine club members) to do a wine and chocolate pairing.  At the end of our tasting and tour we went out to the terrace to enjoy a glass.  I didn’t even notice that there were two bottles of wine on our table, which should have given things away.  (I’m a lightweight when it comes to booze, so one bottle was more than enough.)

Almost immediately after sitting down, Craig grabbed the second, unopened bottle of wine and showed it to me while he got down on one knee – it said “Will you marry me?” on the label.  From there I just remember crying tears of happiness – I didn’t even see the ring he was putting on my finger.  I just kept crying and saying, “Are you serious?!”  Yep, I was riding high on cloud 9.

The day I said, “Yes!”:

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A year later we were married in St. Helena, CA in front of our closest family and friends.  I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding day.  Now, here we are – three years in and a lifetime to go.

Although I’m no marriage counselor, there’s one thing I do know:  The secret of a happy marriage is finding the right person.  How do you know they’re the right person?  Well, you know they’re right if you love to be with them all the time.

I’m sure we will have our ups and downs on our continued journey, but I look forward to all of it.  After all, life would be pretty boring if it was perfect.

The Longest Week Ever

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It’s been almost a week since my last blog post and I’m beating myself up about it.  My goal is to try and post every other day, if I’m feeling inspired.  I’d hate to write just to fill the page to hit my personal quota.  I would much rather go without content for longer than I’d like, in order to feel like I have something I’m really wanting to talk about and share.  In today’s case, I have to update you all and let you know why I’ve been so absent!

As I’ve mentioned a few times throughout the last couple of weeks, we’re moving.  Now I can say “we’ve moved!”  Yay!  We are officially out of our old house and moved in with our new roomies – my mom and dad.  😉  This last week was kind of chaotic and most definitely would not have happened without the help from our families.

Here’s Gia with some great bed head, relaxing on bedding that needed to be packed up:IMG_0019

If it wasn’t for my father-in-law, and some of our friends, the grunt work of this move might have never happened.  Let’s just say they helped us move all of our crap into two, count ’em, two, storage units.  As of a couple days ago Craig and I were very seriously contemplating getting a third storage unit.  How asinine is that?!  Where did all this stuff come from??  We didn’t end up getting the third storage unit because the facility we are using is totally full.  I guess that’s a sign to start purging more of our things.

I’m so glad that we can get back to some normalcy in our lives now that we are in my mom and dad’s place for the next month and a half.  Gia had a fun time this week playing with both of her grandma’s while the Craig and I got things squared away with packing up.  G-girl had quite a few adventurous trips to the local park, as well as her first trip to the Nut Tree – – To this day I remember going there when I was little with my grandparents.  My grandpa even made me a replica of the giant rocking horses that they used to have there.  Don’t worry, I still have it stored away for Gia to use when she gets bigger.

Photo of Miss Gia having a blast at the Nut Tree:

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We ended our week on a really high note, celebrating our sweet friends, Sean and Jenn.  Craig and I had the pleasure of attending their wedding yesterday in Jenn’s parents backyard.  We had so much fun and thought it couldn’t have been a more perfect day.  Their adorable little girl Isla stole the show as she came down the aisle in her Radio Flyer just before her mommy (who couldn’t have been more beautiful) made her grand entrance.

Photo of the lovely couple after saying I do:

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Jenn and Sean looked fantastic and had a beautiful cake made by Wildflour Bakehouse, who I mentioned last week.  It was almost as stunning as the newlyweds!  Thank goodness Sean was a gentleman and didn’t shove the cake in his bride’s face after cutting into it.

Photo of the cake with signature macarons:

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As a sidenote, a few people have asked me this past week what the difference is between a macaron and a macaroon.  There is a BIG difference and I’m sure any pastry chef out there would cringe if someone called either of these treats by the wrong name.

A macaron is a meringue-based cookie made with almond flour, egg whites, granulated sugar and powdered sugar, then filled with buttercream, ganache or fruit curd.  It’s a delicate treat with a crunchy, yet chewy exterior.  To add the the confusion, it’s also called a French Macaron.

A macaroon is a totally different type of confection.  Mostly, this term is equated with a coconut macaroon, which is dense and moist.  It’s composed of egg whites, sugar and dried coconut, and sometimes dipped in chocolate.

I dunno about you guys but I like both!  I’ve never met a sweet treat I didn’t enjoy.

Speaking of sweet….I’ve got another pretty sweet collaboration going with a company based out of the UK, called Curly Ellie.  I found out about them through another mommy blogger who is based in the UK as well.  She has three daughters, all of which have beautiful curly hair.  I knew I wanted to try these products on Gia because taming her hair after bath time can be such a process.  Not to mention, I don’t want to hurt her little head getting those tangles out!

To make a long story shorter, I tagged Curly Ellie in a photo on Instagram with Gia in it, showcasing those curls in all their glory.  Curly Ellie said they would love to collaborate with me, as they mentioned how lovely Gia was.  I couldn’t agree more – obviously I’m biased!

I’m so excited to receive all of their products and try them out on Gia.  I’ll be sure to give you all a full report on what we think of them.  I might even try them myself.  After all, Gia did get her hair from me.  So for any of you mom’s out there with curly haired babes, stay tuned.  Or if you have beautiful curls yourself, you might want to think about looking into these products.  I hope they work wonders on Gia because I love discovering a brand or product and telling everyone about it.

I should also be receiving the leggings I got from the other company I’m collaborating with – Pineapple Clothing.  The shipping process has been delayed due to the horrible damage caused my Hurricane Irma.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of Houston, Miami and Puerto Rico during these times.  May we all remember how lucky we are while others are facing such hardship.

To help efforts towards hurricane relief please visit the Red Cross.  There are many ways to help, donating through Red Cross is just one of those ways.