Dear Diary

A few weeks ago I opened up about a project that’s super close to my heart with BluBoho, and today I’m sharing the big reveal, plus a little bit more of the full story.

As previously mentioned, I brought some of my “forgotten gems” to the women at BluBoho to be reimagined, giving new life to old pieces with negative connotations. Jewelry is such a precious marker of special memories, and often those memories can turn from positive to painful as life moves forward and changes course. I’m not the kind of person to forget those I have connected with, even if things turn cold and dark, and I feel the same way about jewelry – it’s important to salvage what’s good from that time and turn it into something positive and sparkly to carry forward.

The earrings were a simple fix – a momento from a past relationship, the diamonds had turned black and were crafted with a poor setting which made them impossible to clean properly. We swapped out the setting for a simple rose gold backing that’s easy to clean, and they’re back to being sparklier than they ever were in their original white gold casing. I proudly wear them everyday, and can’t wait to start layering on more piercings and glimmering ear additions from the shop.

The ring was a different story. Like I said in my first post, I wanted to redesign my grandmother’s engagement ring into something more wearable, something clean from the pain of losing her, something that truly mirrored the amazing, golden woman she was.

I worked closely with the team at BluBoho and together we decided to replace the chunky gold solitaire-style setting of the original ring with a more flat rose gold design, crowned with a halo of tiny pink sapphires. A big bit of her, and a little bit of me, I dreamed it up as a new family heirloom that holds no connection to a man or marriage, instead signifying the strength and unity of the women in our family.

In all honesty, as I get older and those around me settle down with massive sparklers on their ring finger, I can’t help but feel a little bit left out… but all along I had my answer. Whether an engagement is in my future or not, near or far, I can absolutely wear a big beautiful diamond ring that stands for something altogether different and in some ways, more special. I hope one day I can pass the story of my sassy, stylish grandmother and her love of all things gold and sparkly down to my daughter, along with this ring, and the idea that you don’t need a life partner to sport a really big, really pretty ring.

The women at BluBoho have been a constant source of inspiration and support for me, and it was such a magical experience to go on this journey with them. I am so deeply thankful to the entire team for all the love they put into my new pieces. If you need custom work done, especially for a special occasion, I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Some of our current favourites from the shop:

Rings //

10k Rose Gold Vista Ring
The Gemini Ring II
10k Yellow Gold Opal Aura Ring
10k Yellow Gold Diamond Aura Ring

bracelets //

10/14k Yellow Gold Hold Me Tight Bracelet with Diamonds
14k Original Coco Rose Gold and Nylon Bracelet

Earrings //

10k Rose Gold Vista Earring (Single)
10k/14k Rose Gold Diamond Tripod Earring (Single)

Necklaces //

10k Yellow Gold Choker
14k Yellow Gold and White Diamond Flirty Necklace

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Dear Diary

I have a really hard time with any sort of waste – I loathe throwing out groceries and feel ashamed when I lose track of an item in my closet, totally unaware I even own it. In my case, the most shameful on this list of “forgotten treasures” is my massive jewelry collection.

I come from a long line of women (and men) who love the sparkle. My dad’s side specifically subscribes to the “all gold everything” rule, and in a way jewelry always brought my grandparents and I together, especially my grandmother Joanne.

My grandma taught me a lot of who I am today – we both adored the sun, and I spent almost every winter growing up by her side in Palm Springs eating fruit, soaking up the heat, and combing local flea markets for coveted treasures. She had impeccable style, somehow always managing to look fun and classy at the same time, and I was always so proud to introduce myself as her granddaughter. In recent years I’ve been told we share the same taste in cocktails, and I wish more than anything we could’ve had the chance to get tipsy and talk woman to woman about all the strange surprises of adult life.

Sadly, I never got the chance. When we lost my grandmother to dementia about five years ago, I flew home from Vancouver with a broken heart and a handful of the treasures I had gazed at with longing my entire life: a heavy charm bracelet with tiny momentos from every beautiful place my grandmother had been, an intricate gilded ship complete with glimmering sails strung upon a simple chain. Perhaps most painfully, the engagement ring my grandfather had given her when they were only 18.

Unfortunately things had turned sour between my grandpa and I over the years leading up to my grandmother’s passing. I won’t get into it too much here, maybe in the next post in this series, but it suffices to say that when I lost her, I felt like I had lost both of them, and everything I had believed about their marriage. As a romantic, this was hard to swallow, and when I got back home to Toronto I tucked my grandmother’s treasures away in a box under my bed along with all of hurt I was feeling.

When I was in California this past winter, following a snowbird tradition my grandparents had honoured every year I knew them, I found myself thinking of those beautiful treasures, gathering dust with no chance to sparkle. I almost felt panicked that I had left them, abandoned them in the shadows, something my grandma would definitely have frowned upon. As soon as I got home, I scheduled a meeting with my dear friends at BluBoho to launch a new project centred around giving forgotten treasures a new spot in the sun.

Again, this is only the first post of the series so I don’t want to give it all away upfront, but together we’re going to be talking about jewelry care, curation, and crafting new pieces from those that have become outdated and unwanted. The ladies at BluBoho and I strongly believe that jewelry should serve as memory markers, as glittering moments spun into something solid, and even if those memories have shifted or soured, the memories can always be spun into something special and new.

Comment below if there’s anything specific you’d like to learn about building the ultimate jewelry collection, or just come along with us for the *sparkly* ride!

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