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?!