the cherry Tahitian

Pearls of Joy provided this necklace for review.

Pearls of Joy hoped to see how I would style a new necklace they are offering; a stunning cherry Tahitian pearl on a delicate gold chain. I was more than happy to oblige.

IMG_7015The pearl shows purple-red in the center and peacock teal at the edges. It is beautifully round and unblemished with a size range of 9-10mm (the piece shown measures in at 9mm). As with all high quality pearls, it looks even better in person.

There are only a limited quantity, so investigate now if it catches your eye. On sale at the moment, too ($145): cherry Tahitian solitaire pendant.

The piece is very versatile to my eye. Simple enough to be the kind of necklace you could wear every day, quietly adapting itself to every style and context, luxurious enough to wear when things get fancy. This strikes me as having a professional elegance, and I immediately wanted to pair it with silk and a pencil skirt.

IMG_6856And heels.

IMG_6879Silk is such a great partner for pearls, it has that same luxurious glow. I essentially wanted the simplest, most casual form of a professional uniform (in grayscale) and a bright cherry lip. Like the necklace, the silhouette is eloquent yet unobtrusive.

In person the cherry color shows at a greater distance than on camera. The requisite neck shot:

IMG_6850The gauge of the chain is in very nice proportion to the pearl, and the chain itself very fine.

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IMG_6962There is a pattern developing where I think I look a lot better in blurry pictures…or somehow the pictures look more interesting.

IMG_6920Seriously, this was my favorite shot of the day.

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Black silk camisole from Fondue (thrifted), American Apparel interlock pencil skirt, Cole Haan pumps (thrifted), necklace from Pearls of Joy, earrings from Michel Michaud, vintage Timex watch. On the lips: Tom Ford lipstick in Narcotic Rouge.

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p.s. Speaking of pearls, I’m giving away a gorgeous pair of freshwater studs this week. Giveaway open through Sunday. Details on how to enter here.

weekend distraction: succulents

I don’t have the best track record for keeping plants alive. I wanted to have something green and living my room, though, so I decided to find some hardy succulents able to survive my attentions. They can thrive in dry, low light conditions, and instead of growing weak when they reach the maximum size their pot allows, they simply stop growing. Put them in a larger pot, and they will grow a bit more.

These are the plants for me.

Also I find a lot of the shapes and structures of succulents appealing (read: cute). I’d like to get more.

I picked up an adorably fuzzy panda plant.

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I combined a jade, a zebra, and an elephant or rainbow plant in another pot. Called an elephant plant (portulacaria afra) because native to South Africa and elephants eat them. How cool?

Put a small carved elephant in the pot and immediately it took on the look of an oasis diorama. I quite like that.

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They are cheering up the windowsill considerably, along with some lavender plants (different lavenders, there are so many lavender varietals) I haven’t killed off yet. There is hope for me, still.