PANDORA.....one of my favorite things!

Last spring, I had been seeing advertisements in magazines and on TV for Pandora charm bracelets (Pandora Website). They really caught my eye because of the beautiful colors of some of the beads....reds, blues, aqua’s, greens, pinks. At that time, I was under the impression that you bought the bracelet complete. Well, that’s not the case, as my friend Jan explained to me. She has been collecting Pandora charms for four years now, and has an amazing bracelet to show for it. Most of her charms were gifts, some were purchased to remember places that she and her husband, Joe, had traveled to, and all have special meaning to her.  

Now, I just had to have one of these gorgeous bracelets!! With our 40th wedding anniversary coming up last October, my husband Jerry decided that a charm bracelet would be a great anniversary gift, and I wasn’t about to argue with him…..so, we went charm shopping at our local Pandora store.

I decided that I wanted to choose glass charms in my favorite color, aqua, and that the silver charms would depict my love of the beach, and also for my sons and daughters-in-law. This would start my bracelet. Since my birthday was prior to our anniversary, I also received charms as gifts for that occasion. How lucky can I possibly be!!!

When our anniversary actually came, Jerry decided that I needed to start yet another bracelet, so when we went to a local Oktoberfest in Ellicottville, NY, I started my second bracelet. This one would be in browns and white for the autumn season, and most of the charms would fit into that category, and also to celebrate our anniversary. Some of the silver charms that I have are a gold/silver acorn, a pumpkin, a heart, a ghost (from my son Todd, and daughter-in-law, Jenna….because Todd said that I had always made Halloween a really special and fun holiday), a giraffe (from my son, Eric, and daughter-in-law, Sarah…because when Eric was little, we made an annual trip to the zoo every October). I also included a charm that I had purchased when on a shopping trip to New York City, a Christmas tree that represents the Rockefeller Center tree…..and a silver & white agate that my Mom gave me this past Christmas.

So now, it was time to think about Christmas…..and once again, Jerry thought that another bracelet would be a terrific Christmas gift…...YES!!!! How ever does he read my mind????? Sooooo, we went bracelet shopping once more!! This time, my color choice was blues and lavenders/purple…..it almost looks like a beautiful periwinkle when they’re all together…...Oh, such FUN!!!!

When I would pick out 3 or 4 to choose from, Jerry would always say, “I think that you should get them all!”. Oh Boy! Oh Boy!!! This bracelet has a variety of glass and silver charms that I chose just because they appealed to me for some reason or another. And again, I received some of them this past Christmas. The last two were ones that Jerry bought for me just the other day, a Valentine’s Day gift….a snowflake with a blue stone, and a lavender enamel charm. I have room for one more on this bracelet and then it will be complete.

I have since started my daughter-in-law, Sarah, and my Goddaughter, Megan, with bracelets. Sarah's is pink and brown, and Megan's is pink and black, each of their favorite color combinations.  These are things to be passed down someday.

So, what is the bottom line of all this? ALWAYS take my husband Jerry shopping with me!!!!!! And in all honesty, I think that HE enjoys shopping for them as much as I do!