12 of My Latest Obsessions + Tips on How To Stay Focused

1. My diamond collection: diamonds make me happy and so does my collection of antique elongated rings. Just looking at these brings me joy and satisfaction–I see hard work, long hours and lots of dedication. I love my new antique ring box given to me by Sarah of Sarah’s Vintage & Estate Jewelry from my latest #JewelryRoadTrip adventure.

2. Luckily for me, my office (where I sit and complete almost every single blog post) is incredibly inspiring to me. My walls are filled with treasures I’ve collected over the years–like these gold frames. I’ve turned an entire wall into a gallery wall which houses them. The other walls feature a gallery of gold mirrors, book shelves filled with jewelry books, and the last and final wall is in the works. Can’t wait to reveal that one soon!

3. Speaking of jewelry books, they are definitely an obsession. I’ve been loving my latest favorite–Wartski: The First 150 Years by Geoffrey Munn, given to me by Mr. Munn himself. I pinch myself sometimes reminiscing about visiting that store in London back in 2014. You can read the blog post from that visit here and you can order the book here.

4. My crystal point collection makes me happy as it is eye-catching in every way possible. It is one of my newest collections, so watching it grow has been fun– it has been slow but steady. My first ones I ever got came from my trip to Raleigh when I went to a local gem show that happened to fall on the same day I was making an in-store appearance at Bailey’s Fine Jewelry. Such a special memory.

5. My newest acquisition–the middle lapis ring from Sarah’s Vintage & Estate Jewelry, paired with a turquoise ring and a funky bypass ring set with lapis and chrysoprase. Funny, I bought that bypass ring off of eBay back in 2008 for $79 and I remember feeling like I paid way too much. lol

6. I have a secret, well not-so-secret, passion for photographing the sunset. The colors get me every time and no two are ever alike. The collage I made here starts with the upper left which I took with my iPhone and is the sunset from a few days ago from outside my bedroom window! The one next to it is a sunset from our honeymoon, directly below that is a beach sunset from our Florida vacation in April, and the last one is from Arkansas the night of the Roberson’s jewelry event.

7. Pretty colors and embracing color is what I’ve been working on this year. I tend to gravitate toward neutral colors in most aspects of my life, especially clothing, but this year I’m changing that. Mixing colors in gemstones and wearing a rainbow of gems is something I’m really enjoying. The middle finger ring is one of my favorite acquisitions, found on Instagram and traded with a few pieces of mine. Trading is fun!

8. Everything Walters Faith is doing right now is very inspiring–not only their jewelry designs but their latest campaign called the “I AM” campaign. It highlights the fine jewelry line’s capacity to transcend one generation to the next and features five women spanning ages 20’s to 60’s, whose diverse appeal is as timeless as the jewelry they are wearing. Love it!

9. Excuse the inappropriate photo but I just LOVE these socks. It is all in the details here and I bought three pairs for myself and haven’t found it necessary to wear my plain black ankle socks. I only want my “Fuck off” embroidered socks from Brandy Melville. Now if I only lived in someplace like NYC where people would get close enough on a flight of stairs to read these.

10. My growing Figa collection brings a huge smile to my face and has been becoming one of those things that I actually don’t really wear, I just like to stare at them. I know that is so wrong on so many different levels–and I know I’m the first to say, “Jewelry is meant to be worn!” but gosh, I just love staring at these!

11. One day I knocked down all my rocks and minerals that were displayed in a vintage type setter tray that hung on a wall. They fell down onto a black nightstand and lay just beautifully against the dark color for a background. I ended up taking my entire collection down and rearranging them like so–then I took this photo. To date, it is my favorite photo of my gem collection. I have specimens in this collection that I got in 4th grade. So many memories in one photo.

12. I’m not much of a “less is more” person, but some days I like to go minimal with my style, including my rings. My favorite piece to do this with is my Otto Jewels heart ring. Pairing this style with vintage t-shirts and my Converse is a look I can’t get enough of.

With my travel schedule and being frequently discombobulated, sometimes I go through ruts of being uninspired. Whether it is feeling out of sorts, tired of seeing the same old designs, or content that seems regurgitated from influencers–lately I’ve been the MOST uninspired ever!  

I found a great remedy for this–so if you ever are feeling this way, here is what worked for me!  I immersed myself in all things that I love: my obsessions, things that I collect, favorite items, designers’ work that inspires me. I decided to round up all of my favorites and show you! Above are all my current obsessions, with captions explaining each. The above twelve things helped me get reinspired and feel like myself again. Here are some other tips that help me readjust my attitude when stuck in a rut, along with my favorite Pinterest board from @GemGossip on Pinterest–the “My Style” board. Hope all these tips help!

>> What inspires you?!

Tips for staying focused and freeing yourself of negativity: 

1. Too much of something is never good. Sometimes I notice overstimulation when it comes to social media can be a culprit for feeling overwhelmed or uninspired. The people whom you follow may be constantly posting negative things, politically driven articles, or going off on rants. You don’t want that in your life!  There’s something very exhilerating with blocking that out–a simple unfollow or unfriend can do wonders. Feeling guilty for unfriending? No one will probably notice anyway. 

2. Try to make a schedule or To-Do list to keep you on track! I’ve noticed on days where I don’t, I feel like a lot of time is wasted or I seem to go off on tangents that lead me nowhere.  Having goals and tasks to do each day is key.

3. It’s ok to say NO! I was really bad at this, however now I feel like I say “no” too often! Ha! Whenever I’m approached with something, I like to think how it applies to me, my website, my aesthetic…how is this going to benefit me? How is this going to benefit the other person? Keeping in mind my original goal for Gem Gossip since day one has helped with making a lot of the decisions I make on a daily basis. 

4. Distance yourself from people who are simply using you. This is the strangest and most recent lesson I’ve been working on. Never in a million years would I have thought I would have to think, “why is this person wanting to be my friend?” and really try to figure out the answer behind this question. Gut instinct has helped a lot with this and it is sad that there are people out there reaching out to me simply for themselves, or to get a shoutout on Instagram, or to try and learn what I do so they can do the same. Be your own person.

5. Spend time with people that really matter. Close family and friends that have your back no matter what are the best. Sometimes getting caught up in the day-to-day busy schedules of life can result in not getting to see or talk to these important people. No matter how busy you are, take time to call, chat, or hang out with your favorites. A dinner date with your husband, a surprise visit to your parents’ house, babysitting for a friend–those experiences will have more of a positive impact than watching tv, scrolling through social media, or answering emails.