A Gift to Me

My very generous in-laws sent M. and me some money a little while back for defending our dissertations and graduating with our doctoral degrees.  Since it wasn't enough to cover a trip back across the Midwest and to purchase gowns and hoods for us and since we weren't really able to mark the occasion the way we wanted because of the move, I knew that I wanted to spend my money on something celebratory.  I wanted to use it for something I wouldn't otherwise buy for myself - something that every time I looked at I would feel a sense of my accomplishment.

I had been coveting and stalking the Wendy Brandes Boleyn Necklace from afar for months, so I knew that it was what I wanted to spend that money on.  It arrived this weekend, and I couldn't wait to wear it!  I wore it for the first time yesterday. Even though I wasn't teaching or going into campus, I had a lot of work to do on Labor Day.  There was a lecture to write about family life and gender roles in the Renaissance, a writing project to get off my desk, and photos of a sixteenth-century manuscript to go blind over for another project I'm working on.  In other words, since I was spending the day largely thinking about things that occurred during the sixteenth century, it seemed fitting to wear a necklace inspired by a sixteenth-century queen.

 1. Dress - Vintage Sears (via Leproust Vintage and remixed), Cardi - Anthropologie (purchased last month), Shoes - Kensie Girl (remixed), Necklace - Wendy Brandes

Although Wendy will make the necklace with the letter of your choosing and my first name doesn't start with the letter B, I knew that I wanted the "B" hanging at the bottom of this chain.  And it's not because I have an Anne Boleyn obsession - in fact I rather dislike her.  But you see, my last name does start with that letter, and I thought this necklace was the perfect way to commemorate the fact that I'm officially Dr. B.  (I know you're shocked that my last name isn't really de Moda!)

I love the necklace, and I anticipate wearing it at least two more times this week.  It was totally worth the wait, and I can't thank my in-laws enough for providing the fundage for its arrival into my life.  Have you ever given yourself a celebratory gift or reward when you accomplished a major milestone?  Is there anything you have been coveting and stalking from afar for quite some time?

And don't forget that you could celebrate yourself by winning a piece of Wendy's gorgeous jewelry!  Just enter our current giveaway for a chance to win one of her Little Woolf Necklaces.