BIRTHDAY MUSINGS
Last July for my 40th birthday, all I wanted to do was go antique shopping in London. I wanted to plan a fun family treasure hunting adventure where we would discover new things together. It took awhile for our work schedules to line up and we (cautiously) journeyed to London in-between the recent attacks.
One morning, we spent a glorious few hours perusing Gray's Antique Market in Mayfair. While I talked shop with the dealers my children searched for their birthstones in jewelry, case after case, on every floor.
At the end of our search, I chose nothing (much to my husband's surprise!) and went home without a glittery London souvenir.
We stayed in Covent Garden for its location and accessibility to great restaurants, but with London on high alert, it threw off my mojo and shopping was no longer the priority.
I prefer to think about my purchases carefully, especially since I can create anything I would want. Every year I try to find something special to commemorate the occasion, to pass down to my loved ones. These items tend to be antiques I feel connected to or inspired by, and they may be a large purchase, or very small.
I may still reconsider a ruby ring I left behind. Who knows, maybe it'll end up in my stocking with a note from Santa, or it just wasn't meant to be mine.
I hoped this trip would inspire some of the details for the new collections I have been working on, and it did, just not in the ways that I expected.
I think my husband was happy that I didn't "need" anything and I finally curbed the insatiable curiosity of antiqing in England. Well, for now anyway ...
Have you been antiquing in London? You are welcome to reach out and email me, I'd love to see your well-traveled, personal collections and hear about all your favorite spots!
Also in JEWEL DIARY
THE BIRTHSTONES OF OCTOBER
