Best Christmas Present

I have more Christmas stuff to post, and I'll get to it, but first...my favorite Christmas present.
When my husband bought me my diamond engagement ring about 7-1/2 years ago, he made a deal with me that I could have the diamond (he's got pretty strong moral objections to diamonds) if he never had to buy me any more jewelry again.  I respected his opinions but perhaps somewhat shallowly had my heart set on a traditional diamond wedding ring.  Otherwise, I'm not a huge jewelry fan - you won't find me pining away inside of Tiffany's - so I said fine to the deal.  That was alright with me.  And it actually has been fine with me.  I have a couple of necklaces that I wear occasionally and about two pairs of earings that I wear maybe four or five times a year each so it's not that big of a deal.
Well.  My dear husband totally surprised me this Christmas with the coolest necklace I've ever seen.  I love it.  He said he was nervous buying it because he wasn't sure I'd actually like it - it is, after all, a little silly.  I think it's great.  When my mom saw it, she said "oh, he knows you so well!" and agreed that it is SO me. 

Yep.  It's a sterling silver LEGO.  And it's a perfect lego too - it must have been created using a mold from a real, authentic LEGO.  This is just one of the many benefits of living in a quirky little neighborhood like ours with lots of interesting shops.  My husband loves to bring me gifts from these stores that I rarely go into.  I always assume what I'm going to find in them is not a necessity, and I probably can't afford it.  He looks at it completely differently, going in with an open mind.  He really doesn't enjoy buying gifts but I have many times been intrigued with what he has come home with and I like seeing myself through the lens of his gifts.  It makes me feel unique and special.

Baking Soda

I'm really not a jewelry-person. I wear my wedding ring (which I adore), but that's the only jewelry I wear from day to day at the moment. Probably something to do with two little boys, but also because I am just not good with accessories. If someone wants to be my accessories-consultant, I would greatly welcome the help.
Anyway, it occurred to me yesterday to wear a necklace. Thinking to myself that this was an unusual thought, I decided to pull out a necklace I used to wear a lot but haven't since oh, I don't know, the birth of my first son.
My grandparents brought this back for me from Finland. I absolutely love Finnish art and architecture. The Finns have such an interesting and clean, modern style. Since I am part Finnish, and seem to prize that part of my heritage more than all the others, it is that much more special. I love how this necklace has all of that textured sterling silver. It is completely my style.
Well, the necklace was very tarnished. So tarnished that toothpaste and an old toothbrush didn't make a dent in all that texture. I decided to go without embellishment once again. Sigh...can't say I didn't try.
I was talking to a friend about this and her eyes lit up and she got all excited. She told me she had the greatest tip for polishing silver AND it was really easy. Since it is such a great tip, I am sharing it in the blogosphere:
~~Take a pan (I used a glass loaf pan) and line it with aluminum foil.
~~Lay the sterling silver jewelry in the bottom.
~~Cover it with a healthy dusting of baking soda.
~~Pour boiling water on top.
~~Let it sit for a few minutes, maybe shake the pan once or twice, rinse and voila! Completely clean jewelry as seen in the picture above.
No scrubbing involved. No harsh chemicals. No minty-fresh smelling jewelry. I was completely amazed. Apparently there is some sort of reaction between the baking soda and the aluminum when water hits it that magically cleans silver.
Try it! You'll be amazed too. It made me wish I had more jewelry just so I could watch the magic happen.