Charm Bracelet

My charm bracelet. Organized roughly by date, starting from the right:

1. I played clarinet as a kid. I also played--and still play--the piano. My repertoire is limited to about five songs*, which I play over. And over. And over. And badly. And Loudly.
2. I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding, and this charm with my initials was my gift.
3. I was a cheerleader in high school.
4. My first trip to Europe was over Christmas break during my freshman year of college. I went to Vienna and Salzburg.
5. Son No. 1
6. I finally received my B.A. from Penn State (after three other colleges and two months in Dallas Texas). At the time, I thought I might start a gold charm bracelet but that never materialized, so it's the only gold charm on a sterling silver bracelet. I think it adds a certain...charm, no?
7. Son No. 2
8. During my first career, I worked briefly in the Sears Tower. 62nd Floor!
9. I was lucky enough to live on the Monterey Peninsula for a couple of years, This is the famous Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach California. A part of the charm broke off. I still have it, in case I ever get up the guts to try and solder it together.
10. My husband and I took a trip to lovely Bermuda. On the charm, you can see a moongate and Bermuda's distinctive longtail bird.
11. I went to law school, then grad school, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
12. To celebrate the end of law school and to recuperate from a grueling summer of preparation for the bar, my husband and I spent an incredible week on Nantucket. This charm represents one of the beautiful Nantucket Lightship baskets, and has a faux scrimshaw on the top. It used to have a penny inside, but it tends to fall open and the penny is long gone.
13. After grad school, I moved to Los Angeles and taught at the University of Southern California. I've since moved back to Illinois, but my youngest son just finished his freshman year of college there.

I started collecting charms when my parents would bring them back from their trips. Now I usually buy them for myself. I love how individual charm bracelets can be; I determined that this charm bracelet was going to reflect milestones in my life alone, and so I all the charms my parents gave me from their travels have been relegated to a sterling silver charm necklace that I wear on occasion. But that's the beauty of it! I'm considering creating another bracelet on which I could document my passions, like fashion, books, and travel, because there are so many gorgeous charms available! For example, if you have children, you might consider splurging on these Absoleutely Precious charms by Lester Lampert:



In addition to personally selected charms, I also covet charm bracelets put together by someone else. Like this Chanel charm bracelet:



Or this slightly garish, but nevertheless fun Juicy Couture model:



And I would love to get my hands on this Louis Vuitton scarf with charm drawings. (Scarves are my first love, and I'm working on a future scarf post.) A limited edition from 2004, this beauty was created by artist Jeffrey Fulvimari, the illustrator of Madonna's book The English Roses.


Charm bracelets don't have to be expensive, though, since you can add charms over time and if you opt for sterling silver, they won't break the bank. While talking about bracelets, I do recommend you buy a Bracelet Buddy. It's not foolproof and generally takes a few tries, but what else are you going to do when a guy isn't around to get the clasp for you?

Now, I tag anyone who has a charm bracelet to take a photo and share on their blog! Then, please put a comment on this post with a link to your entry so we can all enjoy.

*In case you're interested, they are:
The Entertainer (duh)
The Merry Widow Waltz
Lara's Theme, from Dr. Zhivago
The Missouri Waltz (a Truman favorite, I'm told)
Gypsy Song, from Carmen