I've gotta say, I'm much more on the ball this year than I was after last year's big vacation. I never did do a post about Paris and Reykjavík, nor did I manage to post at all while I was there. But check it out, after writing several posts on the road, and then bringing you a wrap-up of the trip, here I am following up with a multi-post feature on the designers whose goods I purchased in Argentina and Uruguay, just like I promised! Geez, what's next for me, remembering to send Christmas cards?
First things first, let's talk about the BIG purchases, the stuff I really splurged on. Because let
me tell you, it's not really that easy to splurge when you're in Argentina and Uruguay because everything is priced so affordably. It was for this reason that I indulged in some quality jewelery while I was there, which is something I almost never do. But Jess and I stumbled upon the most divine shop, a shop where I literally fell in love with everything they had on display, a shop called Manu Lizarralde. Jess and I walked in the door and were like a pair of crows, mesmerized by shiny objects. It didn't take long for me to hone in on this Inca Rose pendant, which I thought was the perfect thing to bring back from Argentina since it's the national stone. Paired with this 3-stranded silver beaded chain it's right up my alley: chunky and bold enough to stand up to my complicated, quirky outfits, but not so giant as to make me feel like I've got an anchor around my neck.
However, on that first visit to the shop, there was another piece that caught my eye, and which continued to haunt me for days afterwards. This massive
quartz pendant isn't really something I'd normally pick out, but nevertheless I was drawn to it and HAD to have it. To be honest, I have no idea what a quartz pendant of this size would cost in the States because I'm not much of a fine jewelery shopper, but I suspect it would be several times more than what I paid for it, the quality of the stone being so good. At the very first opportunity we returned to the shop, where the wonderfully patient Alejandro let us play around and try on about a hundred different items before we made our final selections. Don't think I was purchasing only for myself, either -- some people in my family might be getting some very lovely Christmas gifts this year (shhh!). Jess scored a beautiful silver and pearl ring, which I'll let her feature in her own post.
First things first, let's talk about the BIG purchases, the stuff I really splurged on. Because let
me tell you, it's not really that easy to splurge when you're in Argentina and Uruguay because everything is priced so affordably. It was for this reason that I indulged in some quality jewelery while I was there, which is something I almost never do. But Jess and I stumbled upon the most divine shop, a shop where I literally fell in love with everything they had on display, a shop called Manu Lizarralde. Jess and I walked in the door and were like a pair of crows, mesmerized by shiny objects. It didn't take long for me to hone in on this Inca Rose pendant, which I thought was the perfect thing to bring back from Argentina since it's the national stone. Paired with this 3-stranded silver beaded chain it's right up my alley: chunky and bold enough to stand up to my complicated, quirky outfits, but not so giant as to make me feel like I've got an anchor around my neck.However, on that first visit to the shop, there was another piece that caught my eye, and which continued to haunt me for days afterwards. This massive
quartz pendant isn't really something I'd normally pick out, but nevertheless I was drawn to it and HAD to have it. To be honest, I have no idea what a quartz pendant of this size would cost in the States because I'm not much of a fine jewelery shopper, but I suspect it would be several times more than what I paid for it, the quality of the stone being so good. At the very first opportunity we returned to the shop, where the wonderfully patient Alejandro let us play around and try on about a hundred different items before we made our final selections. Don't think I was purchasing only for myself, either -- some people in my family might be getting some very lovely Christmas gifts this year (shhh!). Jess scored a beautiful silver and pearl ring, which I'll let her feature in her own post. We returned to the shop a third time. Oh yes we did. By then Jess was haunted too, by a pair of
gorgeous amethyst earrings, and I had decided that I wanted to look for a ring of my own, being the ring enthusiast that I am. Alejandro was a little surprised to see us again, and in fact he seemed slightly dismayed at having just put out some new merchandise only to have us snap it up without another pair of eyes so much as glimpsing it. I found the perfect ring to balance my long fingers and big knuckles, this silver and pearl beauty (Yes, I know it looks gold in the photo; it's from the flash bouncing off my yellow dining room wall. Photographing jewelery is hard, yo!). Mark commented that it looks a little like The Man, which makes it even more perfect.
gorgeous amethyst earrings, and I had decided that I wanted to look for a ring of my own, being the ring enthusiast that I am. Alejandro was a little surprised to see us again, and in fact he seemed slightly dismayed at having just put out some new merchandise only to have us snap it up without another pair of eyes so much as glimpsing it. I found the perfect ring to balance my long fingers and big knuckles, this silver and pearl beauty (Yes, I know it looks gold in the photo; it's from the flash bouncing off my yellow dining room wall. Photographing jewelery is hard, yo!). Mark commented that it looks a little like The Man, which makes it even more perfect. Stay tuned for more posts on our South American shopping experiences!
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