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!

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Sam November 16, 2009 at 11:37 pm

Today I convinced my 13 year old son to name a chicken character on Viva Pinata “beef curtains” before even telling him what it meant. Of course I told him eventually, and with a straight face. That is talent! I want the sparkly!

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Heather November 16, 2009 at 11:37 pm

That old Schmutzli, it’s the least he could do. You and Tania, though, very lovely – thank you both.

I can tell you what time it is without looking at a clock. Mostly because I’m just freakish that way. Oh! And I can twist my tongue into a three leaf clover. Oh, yes, I can.

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Susan November 16, 2009 at 11:38 pm

It’s beautiful, which probably means it goes without saying that I would love to have it. :-)

Talents – how about wiping a nose, while cooking dinner, while repairing a lego vehicle all without breaking stride?

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Erin November 16, 2009 at 11:40 pm

I’m a preemie mom. My talent is just now ramping up. It’s the uncanny ability to worry endlessly about the slightest sniffle or warm-feeling face.

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Sarah P. November 16, 2009 at 11:43 pm

Thank you, Alexa and Tania! :)

I have many unusual talents, some of them not fit for publication. The one I will mention is that I can fold my tongue. Not roll it (although I can do that, too), but fold it like so: the tip bends back to point toward my throat and touches the flat part of the tongue and sticks there. Hmm, words don’t really do it justice, but I am most certainly NOT including a photo! Unless I win. Then I guess I’ll have to. ;)

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Christine November 16, 2009 at 11:45 pm

One of my talents…reading blogs. Ha ha ha.

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Chuck Foxtrot November 16, 2009 at 11:57 pm

I can make my wife go from 0 to seething rage in about 4 seconds…

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Kari November 17, 2009 at 12:05 am

Too Cute!

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krista lucas November 17, 2009 at 12:07 am

i can make dinner, keep two small children away from the oven, mediate brothers wrestling, sing “twinkle, twinkle little star” all while staying somewhat sane. :) also, i LOVE this necklace.

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staciet November 17, 2009 at 12:13 am

I feel that special bond with preemie parents, too. :-)

I was looking for a necklace to celebrate the boys on some etsy sites last week! This one is beautiful and so, so unique. It would be perfect.

My talent: I am the local weather person to all of my friends. I am right almost all of the time. It freaks them out, but now they often check with me before they’ll go to the news!

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robyn November 17, 2009 at 12:14 am

My talent: I can raise either eyebrow freakishly high, a la Hope on Days of Our Lives circa 1985.

Thanks to both of you for the giveaway. :)

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Ruth November 17, 2009 at 12:14 am

What a lovely charm! And I’d love to have it, so … fingers crossed.

As for an unusual talent, Diana already mentioned the one that first popped to mind (and then sat there waving its hand — use me! use me! — while I debated whether or not I wanted that particular skill OUT THERE, so I guess I’ll brag on my ability to remember where I put things in the attic, no matter how long ago. Seriously … ask me where my oldest son’s outgrown soccer shoes are, or which box holds the Christmas tree skirt. I’ll be able to send you right there.

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Trisha November 17, 2009 at 12:23 am

What a lovely necklace! My talent is explaining any complex scientific concept using an analogy.

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Melanie November 17, 2009 at 12:25 am

love that!!!

I don’t really feel like I have any unusual talents…. right now (ok not RIGHT now–cause that would be an unusual talent) I am stitching a stocking for my daughters SECOND x-mas, since I couldnt remember to do so last year…. not that it requires talent….ahh nevermind, forget I said anything!

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sam November 17, 2009 at 12:25 am

Thank you Alexa and Tania! :)

I can do a spot-on chicken cluck. To the point that my mother once thought it actually was chickens clucking and instead of me. Someday I will own a chicken and we will have all sorts of interesting conversations!

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Paulette November 17, 2009 at 12:28 am

I love the necklace! As for talents: with an almost 4 year old and a very needy 4 month old, getting a shower in daily feels like one to me.

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wombat November 17, 2009 at 12:30 am

I love that simple design, it’s so beautiful. My talents are putting both my legs behind my head, remembering people’s middle names, forgetting my keys, and science.

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Julia November 17, 2009 at 12:36 am

That would be a great gift for my mother, who is also a mother of a former-29-weeker! (Though my mom got to miss the NICU, since my sister was adopted at 7 months.)

My talent is remembering inane factoids that no one cares about.

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amy November 17, 2009 at 12:46 am

Lucky me, I just started learning to toot “I Love You” a la Taladega Nights! It will be a talent soon enough!

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Heather November 17, 2009 at 12:53 am

Ooh – I’ve been looking for some mom-specific (that would be me, as the mom) jewelry. The little boy/girl charms at the department store are too hokey for my husband to deign purchasing for me.

My talent (curse) is an extremely sensitive sense of smell. It is for this reason that I can no longer eat McDonald’s french fries. The chemical coolant aroma can only be the acrylimide molecules wafting upward. Maybe I have a future in contraband detection at the airport?

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heather... November 17, 2009 at 12:55 am

my talent…if you can call it that…is that I can bend my feet in half, and then walk around on them. It’s hard to describe and if freaks people out. It is, in a word, awesome.

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Jenny November 17, 2009 at 1:07 am

Oops…forgot my talent. Obvious why I don’t comment more often!

I am extraordinarily talented at tying knots in cherry stems with my tongue…and procrastinating.

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Martha November 17, 2009 at 1:08 am

What a beautiful giveaway!! I am 38.5 weeks pregnant with my first child and my unusual talent is being able to stick my tongue up my nose. Not that I do it often (it is gross!), but my tongue is so long that I can :-P

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Kirsten November 17, 2009 at 1:09 am

Love the necklace! Talent — superhuman sense of smell. Which can also be a curse with a baby who has started eating real solids.

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Sarah November 17, 2009 at 1:13 am

Gorgeous! My super talent is that I can snort a piece of (cooked) spagetti up my nose and pull it out my mouth. Disgusting, I know. But hey.

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cindy November 17, 2009 at 1:22 am

Thanks Alexa and Tania! What a nice prize :) Special talent, hmmm, I have been accused of being a cat whisperer – I can meet a new cat (even crabby ones) and we are best buds within minutes, lol :)

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Nicole November 17, 2009 at 1:28 am

Lovely. Me want.

I just sewed a totally awesome Yoda costume for a kid I know, without consulting a pattern…I think that qualifies as talent. *pats back*

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deborah November 17, 2009 at 1:30 am

What a beautiful necklace!

My talent is that I can bend my thumbs down so that the entire length touches the underside of my wrist and forearm.

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Brenna November 17, 2009 at 1:31 am

That is just lovely. So much more interesting than a traditional mother’s necklace. Very cool. Special talents….well, I can sleep anywhere. Really, anywhere. I slept on the floor of McCarren Airport once. I don’t know if sleeping is really a talent, but it’s all I’ve got.

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Jessica November 17, 2009 at 1:51 am

I had a slight obsession with medieval things and sealing letters with wax was part of it.

I have double jointed wrists and can stand to have my wrist bent to an extreme. Handy if i ever get arrested, I guess.

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Trish November 17, 2009 at 1:57 am

I’m afraid I don’t have any unusual talents. Well, maybe my ability to change a diaper through tiny portholes in the side of an isolette, but I doubt that would impress you.
I was tongue-tied until I was 23. That was interesting, but not really a talent. Unless you count that my speech was unaffected. That surprises a lot of people.

All I know is the charm is quite beautiful!

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KC November 17, 2009 at 2:00 am

Beautiful charm! My only unusual talent is being able to link my toes. I’m not sure why I think it is a talent.

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Sara C. November 17, 2009 at 4:20 am

oohh that’s a beautiful necklace. I was all excited about mentioning my weird monkeytoes but it seems I’m not the only one. Is toilet training a talent? I mean, I’ve been using the toilet myself for quite a while now, but so has my 15 month old. It seems like the mom equivalent of a party trick. ‘Watch the tiny baby poop on the big toilet!’

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Marisa November 17, 2009 at 4:28 am

I can do make a weird curly shaped thing with my tongue. You know the one? It’s like a triple tongue roll. It’s pretty cool, I’m not going to lie….

PS love your work, both of you! :)

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Celia November 17, 2009 at 4:45 am

oooh. I like that. It would be great to win and wear to the hospital.

My talent is… I worked in daycare for seven years, and I can get up to twenty, five year olds lined up according to size in under two minutes.

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Belinda November 17, 2009 at 5:02 am

Oooo pick me! pick me!
My special talent is that i managed to amuse a ratty 9 month old on a train journey recently for a whole 20 minutes using only a sock, a bottle of water and straw and stale piece of rice cake. BTW i’m UK based and understand that this might disqualify me in terms of astronomical postage – lovely charm none the less

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Hairy Farmer Family November 17, 2009 at 5:16 am

Ooooooooo! Mememememe!

Can I suggest a YouTube-submissions talent show for Alexa’s readers? I’m desperate for a viewing of some of these!

It’s quite depressing how long I’ve sat here wracking my brain, and even more depressing now I’ve come up with an answer: I can judge toddler accidental head-impact sounds like a complete pro. I can assess the seriousness or not of a thud 3 rooms away, and either be travelling at speed before the echoes have died away, or calmly dispensing “I’m SURE that didn’t hurt”s.

Love,
Haggard & Traumatized of Stratford on Avon…

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Kelly, In Seattle November 17, 2009 at 5:39 am

Pretty bauble. :)

I am freakishly skilled at thinking up Worst Case Scenarios. Yay, catastrophic thought process! LOL

I can also parallel park nearly anything.

Cheers to all! :)

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Rachel November 17, 2009 at 5:40 am

Pick me.
Really not sure about a hidden talent. Perhaps lugging one 20 lb mini-person around the globe? Alone, of course.

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Veronica November 17, 2009 at 5:50 am

Thankyou Tanya!

A special talent? Uhm. Uh. Well. (Is it bad that the only one I can think of probably shouldn’t be mentioned in polite society?)

So I guess my other special talent is that I can relocate most of my dislocately joints by myself. I can also walk in a straight line, without falling over, despite not knowing at any point in time exactly where my feet are.

I can also eat my weight in chocolate. That’s a pretty special talent.

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Just Me November 17, 2009 at 6:47 am

I want to play……..Really neat.

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Heather November 17, 2009 at 7:01 am

Thank you Tania! My fingers are crossed. As for special talents? I can touch my nose with my tongue.

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Heather November 17, 2009 at 7:07 am

This is such an awesome giveaway! I LOVE Julian & Co stuff, and this is such a beautiful piece! Thank you to Alexa AND Tania for such a great chance to win something cool.

What’s unique about me? I was a preemie in 1980! I was born almost three months early and weighed 2 lb, 12.5 oz. I spend the first few months of my life in the NICU, and I still grew up smart and strong. Power to the Preemies!

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Sara November 17, 2009 at 7:14 am

Beautiful necklace. Sigh. My talent is being the most uncordinated person in the room at all times. :)

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tash November 17, 2009 at 7:18 am

Wow that’s beautiful. I realize now if I win this thing I’ll actually have to think of six sides of writing and given my memory recently, I’ll be hard pressed not to inscribe the grocery list on five sides and my VISA number on the last.

Everyone loves my coffee. My secret is hardly ever cleaning my coffee maker.

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Adriane November 17, 2009 at 7:26 am

I would love to win this necklace! Thank you both! Unusual talents…I can single-handedly wake up my babies by just thinking about them. Happens every time.

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wyo November 17, 2009 at 7:28 am

I am a de-lurking sucker for a give-away (though I never, ever win). Thank you, Tania and Alexa!

Beautiful necklace! My “talent” is being able to find four-leaf clovers ridiculously well. (Talent is in quotes since this ability does NOT bring me loads of good luck.)

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Kathi November 17, 2009 at 7:31 am

What a beautiful necklace – thank you for the offer! My talent? Decorating my house very cheaply with things that look expensive! I get tons of compliments on my good taste…and I can smile to myself and think “if you only knew what that really cost…” :-)

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Mel November 17, 2009 at 7:41 am

Nice! I have been looking for a charm that would fit the names of my kids (3 living, 2 not).

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Bobbi November 17, 2009 at 7:46 am

Thank you Tania and Alexa! What a beautiful necklace! My talent is that I can drink more diet coke every day than anyone else I have ever met! I really need to get a soda fountain machine!

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