A Year of Blogging: March 13, 2011

Today is Jewel Day. The idea is to give or receive jewelry. Well, now, this is a day I could really throw myself into! I love jewelry. I have an armoire full of jewelry. And yet, I still drool over the pretty ads that come in the paper, and dream about pretty pieces. I probably would not have as much jewelry if I hadn't worked in the jewelry department at JCPenney. I started working at JCPenney in 1996, during my junior year of college. I actually started in the Men's department, which at first was very intimidating. Sure, I'd shopped with Mom for clothes for Dad. But I knew nothing about fitting men for a suit. I had the benefit of having an assistant manager who was incredible. He taught me how to fit men for a suit, how to measure their neck and sleeves to get the right dress shirt size, and even how to match ties to suits. I learned you could match patterned ties with striped suits. I actually became really good at it, and worked with the male customers easily. We were in a predominately farming community, and often men would come in to buy a suit when they had a funeral to attend. These were men like my father and grandfathers- who consider neckties to be a noose and only put on suits when it is absolutely necessary. I was able to relate to these men, and they were comfortable with me. They left no happier that they had to wear a suit, but feeling better that they could do it. I also learned how to tie a tie, something that has remained a valuable skill. More importantly- I learned to tie a tie, and then loosen it enough so that you could hang it on the hanger. When you put the tie on, you only need to tighten it and not worry about making the knot. This was something my customers appreciated too. After a couple of years, I moved to the jewelry department. Although, even after I made the transition, I was frequently called to the mens' department to help. I loved all of the pretty things in the jewelry cases. While people are buying clothes as necessities, jewelry purchases are luxuries. The customers are happier. It's an entirely different mindset. I transferred to a JCP in Ohio when I moved here to Middletown, and was promoted to department manager. I also became one of our best customers! I like to color coordinate my jewelry to my outfits. So I have a lot of sapphires, amethysts, tanzanites, and diamonds. Diamonds go with everything! The purples and blues cover 90% of my wardrobe, and the rest is covered by diamonds. I also have a lot of pearls. Pearl is June's birthstone, and I happen to love pearls. I don't wear my jewelry every day at my current job. We have a very casual office, I wear jeans to work. No one sees my jewelry because I work in the basement, and the only people I see on a daily basis are the handful of employees. So right now my jewelry sits in the armoire, waiting to be worn on special occasions. Someday, it will probably all go to Sydney. She already loves jewelry. Between my mom, my sister, and I; she'll have more than she could ever wear!