favorite thing of the week: neon cambridge satchel

any one who knows me well knows that I am not one to purchase accessories in muted colors. when I first learned of the cambridge satchel company I fell in love with their classic shapes and great craftsmanship. I knew that this would be the perfect bag to carry during gemstone buying trips and other adventures in new york city. once I was sold on the product, it was time to pick out the color. as I browsed the site I came across theFluoro collection and it was love at first sight. picking out which fluorescent color I wanted was very tough but in the end I decided on fluro yellow and I am so thrilled with my satchel!

these are a few of my favorite things...for halloween!

1. alexander mcqueen skull tapestry cushion

2. katie bartels carnelian and garnet earrings

3. FEED trick-or-treat bag

4. essie, devil's advocate

5. butter london, minger

confessions of a nail polish addict: spooky sparkle

favorite thing of the week: charley harper and todd oldham for fishs eddy

when I heard todd oldham was working with fishs eddy on a line using images from my all-time favorite artist charley harper , I was so thrilled. the first part of the collaborationlaunched this summer and has been a huge hit.

last night I attended the 25th anniversary party for fishs eddy and I was able to catch up with brett harper (charley's son), who has become a dear family friend, and todd oldham and they let me know that the second part of the collaboration, a line based on charley's bird prints is in the works! my favorite flamingo print will be used, hooray!

here are two of my favorite pieces from the current collaboration:

triangle fish sauce dish

angel fish sauce dish

caffeinated in the city

caffeine is an essential part of my everyday routine (multi strand necklaces can't be made unless paired with a cup of coffee or shot of espresso!) and I have spent a lot of time exploring coffee shops in nyc. while most days involve espresso from my beloved nespresso machine, when I venture elsewhere for caffeination I go to these gems:

1. Blue Bottle Coffee

I can never resist drip-brewed coffee. and nothing beats sipping delicious coffee against the backdrop of the high line.

2. FIKA

My neighborhood favorite. I spend many afternoons here doing work and sipping a soy latte.

3. Strumptown Coffee

a west-coast transplant, strumptown has amazing coffee. I love grabbing a cup and working at the desks in the ace hotel lobby.

4. Joe the Art of Coffee

all over nyc and always reliable. they also have drip-brew coffee.

purchasing sparkle

one of the main reasons I received a graduate gemology degree from the gemological institute of america (GIA) is because I wanted to make sure that when I purchased gemstones, I knew what I was buying, what treatments had been done to what I was buying (the majority of stones on the market have been heat treated or had some chemical used to improve their appearance), and the quality of what I was buying. these skills have been essential to my business and I have caught several vendors trying to sell me improperly identified gemstones. with this said, one of my favorite parts of my job is purchasing gemstones because of the inspiration the process produces and the amazing new stones I bring back to my studio. this past weekend I went on a major buying trip to make sure I have enough stones to carry me through until my late january buying trip in arizona.

check out the gemstones I purchased. I had so much fun playing with the different colors.

sneak peak of a necklace I'm working on using various gemstones.

new bracelet I created with quartz and spinel.

icon + sparkle sighting

I have been obsessed with georgian jewelry ever since I first saw anna wintour sporting her signature necklaces in the documentary "the september issue" (necklaces seen above). anna is always seen mixing and matching her necklaces or just wearing one. well, last night I got to see her citrine necklace in person (and of course I got to see anna!). it was a real thrill. I have long admired anna's leadership at vogue and her various projects to help boost the fashion industry (CFDA Fashion Incubator, Fashion's Night Out, etc). I was completely starstruck but managed to get a really good glance at her fabulous necklace (she was literally 3.5 feet from me and probably heard me gasp, oops!).

inside my makeup bag

favorite thing of the week: whimsical ball gowns

while browsing bergdorfgoodman.com for ideas for my next "these are a few of my favorite things" post, I came across several ball gowns that I died over. they make me want to play dress up!

carolina herrera

gucci

monique lhuillier

elie saab

in my studio

I periodically like to give a glimpse of things I'm working on in my studio. with holiday trunk shows right around the corner I'm busy making my one-of-a-kind gemstone bracelets. these are my favorite designs to make because I absolutely love playing with color and as a gemologist, pretty gemstones make me so happy. enjoy!

chalcedony and spinel bracelet

spinel and ruby bracelet

amethyst, labradorite, peridot, chalcedony, carnelian and spinel necklace

nail polish + sparkle

words of wisdom from steve jobs

my desk is covered in post-it notes with reminders of stores to call, gemstones to buy, and other business-related tasks. but there are two permanent post-its that contain quotes from steve jobs' 2005 stanford commencement address and they read: "you've got to find what you love" and "if you haven't found it yet, keep looking. don't settle". the words on these two bright yellow-green post-its serve as my daily reminder to chase my dreams.

two years go when I quit my corporate job to run my jewelry company, I had to take a large leap of faith but I did it because I wanted to have a job from which I could never imagine retiring. and when people ask me the question "if you could have any job in the world, what would it be?" my answer is: "exactly what I'm doing now". I have a long way to go before I get my small company to where I want it to be (I often dream of one of my necklaces gracing the cover of vogue magazine or walking by bergdorf goodman and seeing one of my pieces on a mannequin) but I know I have found what I love and I will never settle.

so this morning as I snapped photos of new designs on my iPhone and listened to music on the pandora app on my iPad, I took a moment to realize how lucky I am that I get to do what inspires me and how lucky I am to live in a world that has been revolutionized by steve jobs' creativity and innovation.

october birthstone: opal

"there are worlds in an opal" -astrid alauda

as a lover of things that with sparkle and color, I particularly enjoy the flashes of color (known as "play-of-color") that opals provide. while most common in white and green, opals also come in black (the most rare), pink, yellow, red, blue-green, and orange

yellow, red, and orange opals, called fire opals, are mined primarily in mexico. this pair of sandra dini earrings is an example of the stunningly bright colors fire opals can be found in

these gorgeous irene neuwirth earrings showcase pink opals.

rare black opals are the focus of these sarah weinstock earrings. adore!

most opals on the market are between 50 and 65 million years old. one of the most exciting pieces of news about opals is that NASA has even found deposits on mars! can you imagine owning a necklace with opals mined on mars?!