Little Things....

I thought I'd share a couple of little things with you in this post. The image above is the back of the locket that the boy gave me for my birthday last year, and (in manner of a tedious link) this is what led me to purchasing my New Winter Coat (at great expense-pictures to follow when it turns up!)

Basically my boyfriend is amazing, amazing, at 'getting' my style. No one has ever managed to buy me things that I consistently love and would have actually picked myself-it's a skill, and he has it. He bought me this locket for my 26th birthday and I've blogged about it many times-it's a vintage gold locket which has an anchor on the front, and on the back he had 'lovebirds' engraved (it's our little thing.) The chain is modern I think and I must have got perfume on it as I've managed to tarnish it a little bit, it could do with a good clean, but basically it's 2 swallows holding the locket onto the chain. I absolutely love it, and wear it all the time.

Until recently. I had a massive meltdown a couple of weeks ago because I'd taken it off before I went to dance class-I always do this because it is quite a large piece, and I didn't want to damage it doing my dancing, or get it all sweaty (nice.) Now, I always put it on my bedside table when I take it off, so I know where I've left it, and put it on again after my class.

However, I went to put it on the next day, and it was no where to be found.

Gutted was not the word. I'm SO particular when it comes to looking after my jewellery, and in my entire life have only ever lost 2 pieces, both of which I still get upset about-a gold bracelet that I was given when I was born, which fell off my wrist when I was walking along, I realised, went back to get it, and it had gone, so someone must have picked it up and kept it, and a gold torque bracelet that (this is ridiculous) got caught up inside a coat that I was packing into a carrier bag for a customer whilst I was at work (the perils of retail eh) and I didn't realise until about 10 minutes after the customer had gone, that my bracelet had gone with them. And they never came back.

So as you can imagine, the thought of losing something so precious to me was too much to bear. I turned my house upside down looking for it, went through my whole wardrobe looking in coat pockets, handbags, shoes-anywhere it might have accidentally been stashed or dropped, though I was certain I had left it on my bedside table. But I thought it best to check just in case.

No luck. I spoke to the boy, really upset and he was his usual calm self-'don't worry, it'll turn up.' Which was just what I needed but it didn't stop that niggle of panic that I would never see this beautiful necklace again. He even offered to buy me a new locket for my birthday this year, he said that the last one had had a good innings! But I was just desperate to have the original one back, as it meant too much to me to not have around my neck.

Then I had a dreadful sinking feeling. I had donated a few bags of clothes to the Salvation Army via their clothing collection bins a couple of days previously, before I realised that my locket was missing. The bags had been in my bedroom.....next to my bedside table. I suddenly felt sick-what if the necklace had somehow dropped into one of the bags? A hasty email to the Salvation Army followed, who were polite but unable to help. I suppose they must get a lot of donations, and couldn't be expected to pick through a load of bags just because a silly girl had inadvertently donated her favourite locket in error.

At this point I had just about given up. I kept putting my hand up to my neck, to touch the locket absentmindedly, and then realising it wasn't there-it was awful. The boy was ever hopeful, "you'll probably find it when you move, it'll be somewhere you least expect." But I was starting to think it was gone for good.

Then, on Monday last week, I was over at my mums, talking about this (very expensive) winter coat I wanted to buy. I showed her and she liked it, and she suggested that I should look through my wardrobe for pieces I no longer wear, to perhaps put on eBay to make a bit of extra cash to put towards my coat. I thought this was a great idea, and when I got home I set about rooting through my stuff. I found a Topshop bag that I'd barely used, and thought, hmm, that can go. Absentmindedly I rummaged through the pockets to make sure they were empty (I was hoping to find some money, maybe!) and I felt my fingertips touch something.....

It was like that moment in Sex and the City when Carrie thinks she has lost her Carrie necklace in Dior and then, weeks later, she's at the Gallery opening with Petrovski and she finds it, caught inside the lining of her bag. It was an amazing feeling when I curled my fingers around the chain and pulled out....my locket! In the inside pocket of a bag I've not used for ages. I was flummoxed because I had definitely checked in that bag, I checked all my bags (it took ages!) and obviously didn't find it then. It was especially moving actually because the boy had gone on holiday with his friends that day, so I was feeling a little down in the dumps about that, and not looking forward to a week without him. So to find the locket just cheered me up no end and I couldn't stop smiling. Needless to say I've not taken it off since!

So thank you ASOS coat, and whatever force guided me to finding my locket when I wasn't expecting to find it, on a rainy Monday afternoon. :D

So then the Boy came back from holiday and this is what he brought me back:

Below: Postcards from Anne Frank's house. I have never been there but would love to go, though I think I would find it very hard. I read her diary when I was quite young and also Zlata Filipovic's 'Zlata's Diary' which was hailed as a 'modern day' version to Annes diary when it was published in the early 90's about a young girl living through the struggles in Bosnia. Both are incredibly moving and give great persepctive-Zlata was lucky that she lives on beyond her diary today, Anne, not so. Poignantly I remember finding a lot of Anne's diary humerous and engaging, which is in direct contrast to the situation and conditions that she lived and ultimately died in. It reminds me to be thankful of all the things in my life that I have-a perfect boyfriend, who treats me incredibly and makes me so happy, a wonderful family, a roof over my head, food in my fridge, my health. I won't ever take things for granted and I try to no complain too much about things-it's lovely to have amazing clothes and lots of money but I am so happy with what I've got-anything else is just a bonus.:D

On a less serious note now...I also got these Belgian chocs from the boy in a gorgeous metal tin shaped like a beach hut which will look lovely in my bathroom to hold all my products now that the boy and I have demolished the contents of it. I am very happy with my gifts, and glad that the Boy did not heed the advice of his broken-legged friend to buy me a t-shirt in Amsterdam with, erm, lady bits on the front. I'll stick with my chocs ta!

YUM!

xoxo