Friday, June 29, 2007

the jewelry party

If you know me, you know the unadorned truth: I am not a jewelry person. Oh, I wear my wedding ring and a pair of diamond earrings, but that’s as far as my accessorizing goes. It’s not that I don’t admire people who are put together and polished. I do. I just have no idea how to do that.

One of my dear friends has a theory. In junior high, all of the girls were rounded up and taken on a weekend away where they learned how to apply make-up and put together outfits and do hair. She missed that weekend and has been playing catch-up ever since. I feel much the same way. It was just never a priority, and now I simply don’t know how. It’s sad, really. A thirty-five year old woman who doesn’t know how to accessorize, and, quite honestly, doesn’t really care.

I wanted to laugh out loud last night at my neighbor’s house. It was like the jewelry lady was speaking a foreign language and I only understood every fifth word. She actually asked, “Do you prefer Jewel or Dominicks? This is a great necklace for Jewel. And if you’re going to CASEY’S, well, then you want something more dramatic…”

Is she kidding? Seriously. Wearing jewelry to the grocery store because…why exactly? Is this what housewives do after their children go to bed? Polish their jewelry for the grocery store tomorrow? Come on. I’m too busy wiping pee from the toilet seats to worry about my jewelry.

Sometimes I think I live on another planet from everyone else.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Get a couple of nice peices of jewelry(the real stuff for me!!) and make those your basic pieces. You already have your wedding ring and those beautiful earrings, now you need a necklace. That's it! Don't make them trendy, just get something classic. Then wear them to BOTH Jewel and Dominicks!! Oh and Casey's too! Really shake things up!

Llama Momma said...

I bought this chili pepper necklace w/ earings to match.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Premier-Designs-Granada-Chili-Pepper-Necklace-Bracelet_W0QQitemZ130128615030QQcmdZViewItem

Of course, I should have bought it on ebay! Much cheaper. I also bought another, more delicate necklace.

I will get out of my comfort zone and force myself to wear them.

Anonymous said...

Too funny! I've often thought that about purses...I never carried a purse but always felt like at some point I would become an "adult" and suddenly want one. When I was pregnant with my first son I bought a purse...which is a very plain black leather sac. I bought it mostly because it just seemed like Mommies always have purses and I would need one. Then I found I usually just use the diaper bag. I can't figure out what all the other women are carrying in their purse...maybe jewlery for quick changes between stores? :)

spaghettipie said...

Too funny. I can relate. At Mount Hermon this year, I finally broke down and asked my friend how to use the eye shadow my mother-in-law bought for me. I knew I was supposed to use the four colors somehow, but the lady at the counter had done it so quickly...

Llama Momma said...

Alice -- thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!

SP -- I'm glad I'm not alone! Maybe you missed the weekend away too? :-)

Halfmom, AKA, Susan said...

yep - the big diamonds just clank on the tile floor when you're scrubbing up the pee because both boys decided to have "sword" fights - so I agree competely - no need for jewelry in the grocery or in course of normal "moming"

thanks for the welcome home! lots to rebuild but it didn't look like I was ever going to find help so I just decided to do an end run!

Lara said...

I'm glad somebody busted open the whole girly weekend secret. I've always wondered if I'd missed it too, especially in the hair department. Now with three girls I'm having to learn how to do french braids & all, but I still feel like it's too much of a chore and not natural enough.

A bunch of years ago I found a bracelet that I loved, sparkly but sturdy and I wore it every day for a few years. You're inspiring me to dust it off again.

Do you think the sales lady was taking the name "Jewel" a bit too literally?

Llama Momma said...

halfmom - exactly! What's the point of jewelry? The lady was very into impressing people. That's the funny thing. I really could care less, honestly. And even if I did, will it really impress people that much to wear jewelry when my boys are wiping boogers on the couch?

AMM -- I am so grateful I have boys and not girls!! My hat's off to you!!

Eshtemoa said...

Hey this is great - finding out I am not alone in the world. Although I love to look at jewelry on the rack, I rarely buy any. I'm a "wear one bracelet till it wears out" kind of woman myself. Of course, that also works with purses, shoes, and watches. I have enough decisions to make every day as it is without adding more.

Unknown said...

Ok, so I AM an accessory girl (no babies to pull on necklaces or rolling on the floor with toddlers I guess), but I think I would have choked on whatever fancy finger food they were serving after the "Jewel" comment. Too ridiculously funny.

I love to wear jewelry because I've started to make it a habit of buying little inexpensive pieces whenever I travel. It reminds me of the fun times or people I was with.

Oh, and do you suppose they have a secret adult women's weekend in case we missed the first one?

JungleGirl said...

Maybe it's a missing gene? I missed the weekend too. I wear my wedding ring and have a few earrings that don't cost too much. I can relate to the pee wiping and not having time to figure out where they'd get the time but also .. who buys this for them? Not my hubby. Tupperware, there's a party I can get serious about.

Llama Momma said...

myrna -- thanks for stopping by!

Maybe we need to plan an adult outing to learn this stuff.

Stacey could teach us! (I'm afraid my deficiency has nothing to do with my children. In fact, the noisy boys think it's great when I dress up and wear jewelry. "Mom - you look BOOTIFUL!")

Family of 5 x 5 -- I had a tupperware party a couple of weeks ago, actually. It was so fun. And PRACTICAL!!

Craver Vii said...

Halfmom talked about "swordfights." I suppose after Ghostbusters, there were kids out there "crossing streams." It's all a very messy business, isn't it? Do you remember the commercial for Daycare Daddy, where Eddy Murphy looks inside the bathroom to see the mess some kid made? Then he reacted after looking at the walls, and even the ceiling?

Llama Momma said...

craver -- my kids have never seen ghostbusters, but they've made up all sorts of interesting games. As long as they put the seat down when they're done, I'm fine with the games! :-)

Raising Cains said...

i not only refuse to wear jewelry to the grocery store, i also refuse to comb my hair or wear any kind of make up for the gym. i'm just going their to sweat and then take a shower. but i'm afraid not everybody's with me on that one either. i literally saw someone working out with heels the other day. i didn't think anyone REALLY did that.

Llama Momma said...

clc -- yeah. I'm with you on this one too. Make-up to work out in? Heels at the gym? Is that even SAFE?