I Can Croon “Hello, Sailors” in Latin.

by Alexa on November 16, 2009

Just about a year ago, I posted about the charm Scott bought me from Julian & Co. I discovered their website when I was searching for jewelry to celebrate Simone’s birth. The pieces are lovely, and the artist, Tania, is the mother of a former 29-weeker (her son Julian, for whom the company is named). I feel a certain loyalty to and kinship with other mothers of preemies. We’re like a sorority: a haggard, traumatized sorority, whose parties are known for their stiff drinks and plentiful hand-sanitizer.
I sent the link to Scott last October when he asked for birthday ideas, and last Christmas I visited the site to buy my mother a tiny charm with Simone’s name below a pair of footprints, her birthdate on the back.

Back then Tania found my post and wrote to thank me for the mention and grant my readers a discount. She has since become a regular reader herself, and last week she wrote again, to generously offer a piece of her custom jewelry to one of you. I don’t normally host give-aways, but I am making an exception. You have all been so good this year. Think of it as an early present from Schmutzli.

And the prize? Well. It’s a new design:
lsquared
The cube is just under 1/2 an inch, and is a bit more interesting than traditional baby name necklaces. It can be engraved on up to five sides with your children’s names and birth dates, or a secret code, or your favorite French pronouns—it’s really up to you. The sixth side holds one large initial:
lsquared_01
This may be used as a wax stamp to seal fancy letters or forge Elizabethan assassination orders, and to that end the necklace comes with a stick of sealing wax and a set of notecards. If you aren’t into that sort of thing, the sixth side remains a very pretty way to wear your initial.
(Though, let’s face it, wouldn’t it be satisfying to seal that collection agency payment with a wax seal, just to show them with whom they are trifling? Maybe that’s just me.)

To enter, leave a comment on this post by the end of Thursday. I promise not to insert myself under a pseudonym, though I can’t promise to avoid thinking covetous thoughts toward the lucky winner, who will be chosen via that random number generator thing that I know exists somewhere on the Internet. Because this is a third party giveaway, and I am not in charge of shipping, the winner has an EXCELLENT chance of receiving her prize in a timely fashion!

One comment per person, please, and I will announce the results Friday.

Now, everyone say thank you to Tania. And to me, because I just typed up this whole entry, all by myself. And maybe in your comment, you could tell us something interesting about YOU, like an unusual talent you have. This won’t affect your chances of winning, but it will amuse us all immensely.

GO!

{ 2 trackbacks }

Leave a Comment

{ 382 comments… read them below or add one }

Felicia November 16, 2009 at 10:10 pm

No way am I the first comment! Cool… but I feel like it will not win, which bums me out. (Don’t try to talk to me about STATISTICS or COMPUTERS NOT HAVING FEELINGS, etc.)

Unusual talent… I can pick things up with my giant monkey toes. Or pinch people, like my unsuspecting husband. :)

Reply

Jennifer November 16, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Thank you Alexa and Tania!

Reply

kathleen November 16, 2009 at 10:12 pm

ooooh. that is just beautiful.

(talents include: sleeping through alarms (yep, like fire alarms!), mixing the perfect hot buttered rum cocktails, and always making a silly laughing face in photos. always.)

Reply

Keri November 16, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Unusual talent? I can touch my nose with my tongue!

Reply

Jennifer H November 16, 2009 at 10:14 pm

I love the necklace. Talent: never winning anything.
Oh, I mean, I can make my stomach growl at will. I like to exercise this talent during boring meetings.

Reply

julie November 16, 2009 at 10:18 pm

Thank you alexa and tania!

Does bending an unruly two-year-old to my iron will count as a crazy talent? It should!

Reply

Karen November 16, 2009 at 10:19 pm

I love it! I’ve been looking for a non-traditional baby name peice of jewelry!

Reply

Kat November 16, 2009 at 10:21 pm

Can’t resist posting to say how lovely the charm is – whoever wins it :)

Reply

Shannon Kinnan November 16, 2009 at 10:26 pm

I never enter these things, but I would really love to win this, as I can think of the perfect thing to inscribe on each of the sides, for my 5 children and my husband.

Reply

Must Be Motherhood November 16, 2009 at 10:26 pm

Cube = awesome
Talent = touching nose with tongue
Thanks, A & T!

Reply

Laura November 16, 2009 at 10:26 pm

That’s a beautiful die, that is.

Talents: ripping apart others’ prose; lightning-fast successive nostril flares (would have to film it for proof); cartography.

Reply

Alexis Kent November 16, 2009 at 10:31 pm

Thank you Tania and Alexa.

Now for the interesting thing about me.

I sat on Shamoo. I was chosen out of a crowd at Sea World when I was five. Actually, my kid sister was chosen but she was too scared, so there I was grinning wide eyed at the divers. It was a proud proud moment in my life and we have no pictures of the event.

Ok, I know this was random but I when asked to share something interesting about myself I just had to share the Shamoo story. I mean, it was Shamoo!

Reply

Sara November 16, 2009 at 10:32 pm

Thanks Tania!
I am not sure about talents, I do a pretty good impression of a duck for my one year old!

Reply

Julia November 16, 2009 at 10:32 pm

Thank you Alexa and Tania! It’s a lovely necklace! My talent? I can visualize complicated spatial things very well. :)

Reply

Elizabeth November 16, 2009 at 10:33 pm

Hi – thank you!! My talent is hiding the blogs I read behind work on the multiple computer screens in my office….

Reply

Catherine November 16, 2009 at 10:36 pm

Talents, talents. Hmmm…. I can make a pretty mean ginger mojito, and drink it while simultaneously changing a diaper!!!

Reply

Shavahn November 16, 2009 at 10:42 pm

That necklace is gorgeous! Very classy. As for a hidden talent… hmmm… does getting places on time even with a small child count?

Reply

Gina November 16, 2009 at 10:43 pm

Thank you Alexa and Tania!

I can write my name (and other various other words) upside down and backwards.

Reply

Marie November 16, 2009 at 10:46 pm

Lovely, lovely necklace. May forward site to husband who is currently on my grump list (see also: doghouse) for Christmas/birthday (Dec 26) ideas.

My very special talent? I am the best procrastinator in all the land.

Reply

May November 16, 2009 at 10:46 pm

Talent: I know all the words to R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”

Reply

diana November 16, 2009 at 10:48 pm

thanks!

and i can fit my whole fist in my mouth. or, at least i could in college. i haven’t tried in a while!

Reply

Aunt Becky November 16, 2009 at 10:48 pm

Unusual talent I have? I semper ubi SUB ubi. HA.

Reply

Skye November 16, 2009 at 10:48 pm

Thanks Tania and Alexa!
Hidden talent is to lose huge amounts of time reading blogs whilst baby boys sleep!!

Reply

sarahdoc November 16, 2009 at 10:51 pm

That is really cute. If I win, I’m going to give this necklace to my cousin, who is expecting her first baby in December.

My talent? I have an excellent taste in blogs :)

Reply

Deanna November 16, 2009 at 10:52 pm

So pretty! My hidden talent? Hmm…I can double-knot a cherry stem, but I suppose if you went to college with me that’s not so hidden.

Reply

Michelle November 16, 2009 at 10:52 pm

So very pretty. Thanks to you both for the chance to win.

Weird talent? I can correctly adjust the idle on a 1974 Porsche 914 using a quarter. In a formal gown.

Reply

Juli November 16, 2009 at 10:53 pm

So pretty! Thank you, Tania and Alexa :)

My special talent is fetching ping-pong balls from under ping-pong tables. And I can cross my eyes independently of one another.

Reply

maren November 16, 2009 at 10:55 pm

Thanks Tania and Alexa! My hidden talent, taking care of my farm on farmville while checking in passengers at work.

Reply

jen November 16, 2009 at 11:01 pm

Thanks to you Alexa for your writing. And Tania for offering her beautiful jewelry.

Hidden talent. Hmm, well I can taste whether or not something has been frozen or refridgerated. For example, if someone cooks hamburger for tacos but puts it in the fridge first, I’ll know. It’s a gift.

Reply

Sarah November 16, 2009 at 11:04 pm

Gorgeous, thanks to both of you for sharing it!

Special talent? Today it appears to be making five year olds laugh mid-tantrum. Unfortunately this only delays the continuation of the tatnrum, so maybe my other talent is turning the car radio up loud enough that i can hear NPR over the screaming kid.

Reply

carmie November 16, 2009 at 11:05 pm

Thank you Alexa for writing about your life. I think Simone is so cute.
Thanks Tania for this awesome giveaway!

Hrm, unusual talent….seeing a word one time and never forgetting how it’s spelled. Ever.

Reply

Heather November 16, 2009 at 11:05 pm

I can turn both feet all the way around.

Reply

Alison November 16, 2009 at 11:05 pm

I almost never comment on giveaways, but this one is awesome! Thanks!

Reply

Tina November 16, 2009 at 11:05 pm

Thank you thank you thank you!

My talents include fake-tying cherry stems into knots with my tongue, pinching with my knuckles & playing the piano with my toes.

YAY!

Reply

Val November 16, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Oh right, the hidden talent. My not-so-hidden talent is skimming the details and forgetting something, you know, like listing a talent in my other post. You can delete this one if you like, I don’t want to skew my chances. Or do i?

A real hidden talent would be the ability to smell a skunk from 3 miles away. Yeah. I’m blessed, I know.

Reply

sileg November 16, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Covet the charm.

My talent is this: I learned how to play the wood saw (yes, those kinds of wood saws) in grade school.

Reply

Angela November 16, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Love the necklace!
My special talent procrastination – and blog reading – and super bargain shopper… I think the last two are really because they help me procrastinate…

Reply

Mrs. Spit November 16, 2009 at 11:10 pm

Whimper. . .

My talent is picking out superbly attractive men, for my friends.

Reply

Cris November 16, 2009 at 11:12 pm

Gimme! :) Special talent–ability to get lost when driving o places like the local super market and the mall.

Reply

jana November 16, 2009 at 11:13 pm

My talent is my ability to still do the splits (all three ways) at the age of 32. Although the last time I did them it required a bit of limbering up via beer.

Reply

Sam November 16, 2009 at 11:15 pm

That is an awesome piece of jewelry!!! I must have one .. and if I don’t win I will buy myself one!!!! Can I buy one?!? Please?!?
I have no talents. I am completely untalented.
Thanks for hosting the giveaway!!!! SAM

Reply

Jennifer November 16, 2009 at 11:20 pm

Thanks Alexa for hostessing and Tanis for donating.

If I were to win, I would cultivate a new talent for sealing Elizabethan assassination orders with my new necklace!

Reply

Karishma November 16, 2009 at 11:21 pm

oh now that’s awesome. my talent is being able to bs my way through just about anything! :) very helpful on final exams, that.

Reply

Leah November 16, 2009 at 11:22 pm

Me, me, me!! Pick me!! [gesticulating wildly over here]

My unusual talent is writing backwards. Meaning that I could write an entire novel that you’d need to flip over and hold up to a light to read. Hell, my backwards cursive is actually better than my forwards cursive. Tell me what kind of mental defect THAT represents…

Reply

Amanda November 16, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Wow, what gorgeous jewelry. When # 2 gets here, I think I’m going to have to get myself a necklace for both.

Hidden talent: Wasting extreme amounts of time at work on the internets.

Reply

Darrah November 16, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Lovely!

Talent? Uh…I make a mean fried chicken. Does that count?

Reply

NGS November 16, 2009 at 11:25 pm

Thanks, Tania!! MY SIL had preemies in May. They are home now, but things are still tough going! I’d love to stick this in her stocking. She’s love it!

My talent is that I can explain the ratio of the sides of an isosceles right triangle to anyone and have them understand it. I am a math goddess.

Reply

CarrieP November 16, 2009 at 11:28 pm

Funny, I was just looking for the perfect finishing touch to my Elizabethan assasination orders! Really, though, such lovely stuff.

Talents: Picking up hip-hop choreography quickly; cracking my feet like you crack your knuckles. Related? Possibly.

Reply

Jodi November 16, 2009 at 11:33 pm

Thanks for showing the pretty necklace!

Talents: Making the best chocolate chip cookies ever; learning 75% of the lyrics to many songs.

Reply

Kim November 16, 2009 at 11:36 pm

I’ve been reading your blog since we were infertile cyclesistas together but have never commented. I absolutely LOVE the idea of this necklace and had seen Tania’s website before you posted last year about the charm Scott got you…I had coveted one of these pieces of jewelry, but never acted on it. My special talent: I can make an astounding variety of weird noises with my mouth! Wait! It gets weirder: my now 19 month-old daughter can make a lot of the same sounds…she just does them randomly…I think it is so cute, but my husband is a little scared by it all!

Reply

Previous post:

Next post: