Archive for May, 2009

Poodle Mad!

May 30th, 2009

beltbuckle 13057 thumb Poodle Mad!It was my aunt’s 50th birthday and I didn’t have a clue what to get her. We had been quite close growing up because my cousins and I were quite similar ages so we used to spend alternate summers at each other’s houses. But unfortunately as I grew up and got older we became more distant. We still wrote to each other once or twice a month but it is never the same as having a chat in person.

When we got the invitation through for her birthday party I couldn’t think of a think to buy her. I racked my brains trying to think of something that I remembered she liked or did in her spare time. Then it hit me. Fluffy! Her pet poodle who was the absolute love of her life since my uncle had left. In fact she had become something of a poodle figurine collector so my cousins told me. So I got one of my cousins to email me a picture of Fluffy (what a name for a poodle!). I then got a custom belt buckle made with Fluffy’s picture inside it! It was fantastic! When she opened it her eyes lit up and you could tell that she clearly loved the present. So now we are under strict instructions that every year for her birthday she wants something custom jewelry with Fluffy’s picture on it. Luckily I’ve got cufflinks, keychains, pendants, pins and rings to choose from. Although I only hope Fluffy lasts that long!

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My Grownup Boy!

May 29th, 2009

ct 611 30348 thumb My Grownup Boy!I couldn’t believe the time had come for my little boy to grow up and get his own place. I remember when he was 5 and I was pushing him round the yard on his trike. It felt like only yesterday and yet all of a sudden I blinked and 20 years went by! My little boy is all grown up and now he’s moving out into his own place, getting an office job and is becoming a man.

After he left school he had a long string of dead end jobs. None of them he was any good at and the ones he was good at he didn’t stick at. So when he told me he had an interview for a big firm in the city I was so excited! I only hoped he wouldn’t mess this one up like the others. When he got the job he decided to find himself an apartment. He borrowed the deposit (and several pans) from us and moved out. I really felt emotional and like I was losing him so I kept coming up with excuses to go over there. I’d buy him gifts, I’d buy him furniture, and I’d even make his meals and put them in the chiller for him. In the end he told me enough was enough. He promised that he would come and see us every Sunday for lunch and that I wasn’t allowed round unless I rang first! But out of all this came some good. He loved his 5-set tie and cufflink set I bought him as one of his gifts! Well I couldn’t have him going to work all scruffy now could I?! The gift set was a great buy, and I get him to wear cufflinks and ties. He is really my grownup boy!

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Flying the Flag

May 28th, 2009

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Every Christmas my husband and I have the same argument. It has been going on for years and it still hasn’t been resolved. What is this argument, I hear you ask? He seems to think that the UK is far better than the US. As you can probably tell he is British and I am American. He says their candy is better, their cars are better, he even seems to think that their celebrities are better! How you can determine how good a celebrity is I don’t know. I honestly do think he fights with me just for the sake of it sometimes! We met 10 years ago when he was travelling around the US. After finding me he said he didn’t want to leave and stayed here instead of going home. He has only been back to his home country two or three times (his parents like to come to us to visit) and he doesn’t even have his accent any more but he still thinks that the UK is better. So when I saw these cufflinks online I just knew I had to buy them for him just to rub salt in the wound! They were a pair of British Flag cufflinks ( from their regional cufflinks section) and they had the union jack on them. They were really good value and were better quality than I was imagining for a pair of novelty cufflinks . So now when he’s at work and someone asks him why he’s wearing them it starts another argument. More people on my side I’d say!

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A Graduation Present to Last a Lifetime

May 27th, 2009

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My cousin is about to graduate from college after studying law. He has been all around the world( Paris, Berlin, London) and has accumulated quite a bit of stuff on his travels. I wanted to give him a present that he didn’t already have and that no one would think to buy him. I didn’t know that much about my cousins tastes because he had spent so long travelling we had grown apart and so now I had the daunting task of finding a present for what seemed like a stranger! The only thing I really knew about him was that he loved law. So I went in search of a gift that was within my price range, which was $100 to $200, and that was unique. When I saw a pair of cufflinks - a work-related cufflinks - in the jewelry store I knew I had found the right gift. I searched on the internet and found these Sterling Legal Gavel cufflinks. They were perfect! Because they are silver they are the type of thing he can pass down to his children and grandchildren and so on. And they came gift wrapped too which was one less job for me. So now we are off to his graduation day and we are having a party afterwards. I know that my present will be one of a kind and that whenever he wears them he will always be reminded of his graduation day. And with a bit of luck I may even get free legal advice if I ever need it!

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Neckties For My Golden Boy

May 22nd, 2009

cd 32.1 65729 thumb Neckties For My Golden Boy

My four year old son just graduated from his toddlers’ class last month. We were so excited since it was his first time in school. Amazingly, we never had any problem with him, he was really very sociable and cooperative with his teachers and his classmates. For a while though, we had tearful scenarios especially when it was time for me to leave him, but apart from the usual separation anxiety there was really not much trouble. Their graduation getup was white long-sleeved shirt and black pants. But they were all required to wear neckties, which made the fashionista mom in me happy! So off I went and searched for the necktie that will make my son shine in a sea of many white shirts. I found this cufflinks and tie set which was really such a brilliant idea. I got the gray cufflinks and tie set and removed the buttons from my son’s shirt and instead placed the cufflinks there. He looked so formal with his necktie and cufflinks, and it was really then that I realized my baby is growing up. He doesn’t even want to hold hands with me while we marched! He said that he can do it, probably because from their practices he was walking alone and he wanted to stick to the routine. I really didn’t mind, I was just happy to walk alongside him. He had two awards, and he performed twice on stage. He was the most cheerful of the bunch, and he had all the words and lyrics memorized. Brilliant and handsome, what else can I say!

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Cufflinks for my Mathematician Brother

May 21st, 2009

cufflinkspremier 2022 54807771 69167 thumb Cufflinks for my Mathematician Brother

There are many wedding cufflinks available in the market, and it will please all to-be married couples to know that they can choose from a host of many cufflinks out there. Personally, I have several pairs, not because I have been married several times but because I make it a point to buy a new pair of cufflinks whenever I attend a friend’s wedding. When I buy the cufflinks, I make sure that it reflects the personalities of my friends, or perhaps something that we shared in the past. This way, I will always be reminded of who I bought it for. A couple of times, the couple has already separated by the time I wore my cufflinks again! Sad story but true! Anyway this year my brother will be getting married and he is a mathematician. I remember that he used to struggle in math when he was young but when he was into his teen years and until he got old, he was a wizard! So it was not unexpected that he should graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and work for one of those software companies. He’s really well off now and we were all surprised when he told us he was getting married. Pleasantly surprised, of course! So I am in the market now for what to wear on his wedding. Hmm, I kinda favor this infinity cufflinks I chanced upon. Yes, I think that will be it. It will always remind me of my mathematician brother who used to struggle in math, who is now earning millions doing math. Haha!

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Religious Cufflinks for Religious People

May 20th, 2009

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A cousin on my mother’s side finished his theology classes last month and will soon be entering priesthood. Although he doesn’t expect anything from us, I thought he deserved a graduation gift. I had actually been thinking about this for weeks now but haven’t really made a decision. Priests take a vow of poverty, don’t they? I know they will all also be asked to live in Spartan accommodations provided by the parish in which they would be assigned. Money and expensive items would therefore be out of the question. I thought hard about his hobbies and interests as well. When we were kids, I remember that he used to love collecting insects and studying them. I don’t think that is something he will be allowed to do in the seminary either. I do recall, however, that his teachers and the priests at his seminary usually wore long-sleeved shirts with collars. Cufflinks seemed to be a good option. I’m pretty sure priests wear cufflinks, too, perhaps even religious cufflinks. I saw a pair of simple but elegant Celtic knot cufflinks made of silver the other day and just knew that they were the right pair to give a priest. The design was sleek and suited someone who wanted to keep a low profile. It was like an accessory yet with functions that were truly useful. Seeing as how I am not likely to think of anything more appropriate, the cufflinks were my gift of choice. I have already placed an order and plan to hand it to my cousin in a small blue box. It suits his new stature and purpose in life. It may not have been a lifelong dream but the peace in his gaze tells me he’s made the right decisions.

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Custom Photo Keychains Make One Memorable Souvenir

May 19th, 2009

customkeychains 20788 thumb Custom Photo Keychains Make One Memorable Souvenir

Nina, who has been a close friend since first grade, is moving to Africa to work as a volunteer for the World Food Program. The World Food Program is actually the United Nation’s frontline program which was designed to battle global hunger head on. The fight against poverty and global hunger is a difficult task; volunteers like Nina ought to be commended for giving up a life of luxury and putting their careers on hold to help a worthy cause. This is why my friends and I planned a send away party for her on the weekend before her flight. Instead of spending a lot of money for a fancy party, however, we just pooled our money together to donate to the Program. Nevertheless, I thought I just couldn’t send away my friend without at least a small token to remember home by. Luckily, I came across these custom photo key chains on the net. It looked like custom jewelry or fashion accessories, actually. Yet what it meant to both me and Nina was that she would have a small token of home wherever she went. It was easy to carry around, highly personal and not likely to be an object of theft. They were like cufflinks – fashionable yet functional, subtle yet special. Nina became very emotional when she saw the gift. I had even put a small photo of us friends on the keychain so that it would be ready to go along with her to far away Africa. It was made of good quality material and I was sure it would last the full year she was going to be away – even if she put it through a shower of tears for the first few weeks.

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Be Different, Be Loud!

May 16th, 2009

My brother’s newest hobby is biking – not the environment-friendly bicycle but the monster-sized motorbikes that guzzle gasoline almost like a car. To his credit, my brother is actually on the lookout for less polluting motorbike models. New as he was to the sport, it was understandable that he had yet to imbibe the prevailing fashion sense of fellow bikers – generally, leather jackets, black leather pants or scruffy jeans, gloves, boots and big belt buckles. Rather than the usual unique cufflinks he used to collect, I now set about searching for a totally different product to enhance his new look. These custom belt buckles I had just seen would be like custom jewelry or accessories for his largely plain black outfit. I had the buckle engraved with an artistic rendering of his initials – XAX, which stood for Xander Anthony Xenon. He would probably kill me for printing his full first name for public consumption but I’m hoping his happiness about the custom belt buckles smallbeltbuckles 51092 thumb Be Different, Be Loud!would overshadow this unintentional slip! How far my brother has come from the shy and reserved nerd he had been as a young child. While I may not always agree with his taste and style, I can very well appreciate his newfound independence and strength. He was no longer the child who sank into his seat of embarrassment when the teacher called out his name as the kid with the highest quiz scores. He has finally realized that it is okay to be different. It’s okay to stand out!

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Be the Life of the Party with a Pair of Retro Cufflinks

May 15th, 2009

ct3 009 96262 thumb Be the Life of the Party with a Pair of Retro CufflinksOur office’s New Year parties are always interesting. Last year, the theme was retro and the seventies. Bob, the guy in the cubicle next to me, got extremely excited over the party theme that he even bought a retro cufflinks package to make sure he had the right accessories to match his crazy colorful outfit. Although he had always been the loud and loquacious sort, Bob was borderline outrageous that night. He wore polka dot hot pink bell-bottomed pants and psychedelic silver long-sleeved un-buttoned shirt accented with those new flashy but dignified cufflinks. We all agreed that those links really tied the whole outfit together. Still, I honestly think you would have to see it to believe it. Needless to say, Bob was the life of the party! We were all surprised to find out that our Staff’s Director had apparently been planning to award the best dressed that night. Who won? Take a wild guess! It is not without a flash of envy and a slight drool that I looked on as the Director handed Bob the prize – cufflinks collector gift sets! Not inexpensive, they were a much-coveted prize but no one could come close to contesting Bob’s outfit. In fact, come midnight, Bob was auspiciously standing directly under the mistletoe surrounded by all the single ladies waiting to have their turn with the undisputed star of the night. It was a well-planned and flawlessly executed move by the Director’s Secretary that managed to whisk him away for that much-coveted midnight kiss! Bob was truly the winner through and through!

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