In my experience every little girl is concerned with the small things in life: how far her dress flies out when she twirls, a baby doll to dress and care for, how many pieces of Mom's jewelry she can get on, etc. One of my concerns when I was little? Charm bracelets.
I had one going for quite a long time, full of fun girly things each with a significant meaning. The flip flop for all those trips to the pool or lake, the flamingo for the trips to the beach, a piano for the lessons I should have been taking instead of going to the pool or beach. There were also reminders of what I wanted to accomplish like an Eiffel Tower for (hopefully!) a trip to France. There were also the reminders of what I was caught up in at the time. The ballet slipper, the cheerleader, the catcher's glove, the newspaper. And reminders of who I was fell to the four leaf clover and dream catcher.**
Unfortunately, the hard work that went into collecting my jeweled wrist biography was lost to the Indiana High School Athletic Association rule that no jewelry could be worn during competition. In the taking off, putting on, taking off, process there must have been a hole in my bag or something.
Recently, I found several websites that make it much easier to create a charm bracelet online! Some of my favorites include Fossil, Juicy Couture, and Tiffany's. They change every season and have everything from arrows (I prefer a Golden Arrow worn over my heart, but this will do :), to pizza boxes, to snowflakes. More lipsticks, stilettos, shopping bags and cocktails than a Sex in the City episode. Enough cupcakes, ice cream cones, and donuts to make my hips bigger just looking at them. Pretty much a little bit of everything, making it so difficult to choose (my Tiffany's wishlist was more than $6,000 because there were so many charms I liked).
I just cannot get over how easily I could share little pieces of myself in a bracelet. Although I am not as concerned with the same things I was when I was little, I still want the most sparkle-licous, most janglely charm bracelet I can get! It's a good way to mark where I've been, who I am and where I'm going. If only I weren't on the budget of a college student...
Just remember not a shred of evidence exists that life is serious
**You don't get more Irish than Kelly Shea Nash, courtesy of my dad's side. I'm still figuring out how my mom's Native American heritage has manifested in me.
_______________________________________________________________________
