After taking my laptop in for repairs, I assumed that it would be a while until I got it back.

In the meantime, I’ve set up posts for some vintage stuff from The Big Piece of Cake: a little weekly feature called “Materialistic Monday” about stuff I was currently into (or just wishing I could afford to officially be into). So expect to see more of that this week.

And if you’re wondering what I’ll do about my Fifi Flowers givewaway, I think I’ll just keep it open until I can spring my laptop from the Geek Squad jail. So ENTER HERE!

October 27, 2008

The early 80s were hard for me. As a young girl, I wanted nothing more than to fit in and be like everyone else. But I wasn’t like everyone else. All of my friends had something that didn’t. I didn’t have a middle name. Which means that I didn’t have a middle initial. WHICH MEANS that I couldn’t have monograms.

The preppy look was in and monograms were everywhere at Annunciation grade school: on sweaters, on tote bags, on jewelry… And two initials just weren’t enough. When it came to monograms, I was a day late and a letter short.

But I wouldn’t be denied. I loved monograms and if I had to lie, cheat or steal to have one – so be it. Luckily I only had to lie, and just made up fake middle initials to go with fake middle names. First there was M for “Mary” which could be attributed to either the Catholic school influence or my love of all things Little House on the Prairie. But Mary didn’t stick. So I moved onto “Eleanor,” which felt a bit more real to me since it was a family name. And it was the only family name I would consider since none of the others held much appeal for me: Olive, Hazel, Ruth, Reperatta, etc. I don’t remember if anyone questioned my alternating initials, but I’m sure they did. I was a very odd little girl.

While I was once bitterly resentful about my parents’ decision to shortchange me on a middle name, I have to admit that I now understand. When it came time to select names for my own children, I was struck by how superfluous a second first name seems. What is the point of it anyway? Is it like “a spare” in case you lose your first one? When does it actually come in handy? But I couldn’t inflict the same indignity of a monogramless childhood on my own babies. Instead we chose family names to use as middle names so that there would be some relevance to them.

Of course it all worked out in the end for me. When I got married, I was able to make my maiden name my middle name and VOILA – monograms! I was thrilled. But monogram sweaters really weren’t en vogue for the late 20s crowd in the year 2000, so I had to find another outlet for my monogram mania. My first opportunity arrived when we picked out our wedding invitations. We ordered our thank you note paper at the same time, and I had a huge book full of monogram styles to choose from. I went all out and selected a gold leaf Florentine script. My mother initially thought it might be a bit much and tried to steer me toward some more conservative (boring) styles. I was having none of it, and insisted on the gold. And I still stand my by choice. It was my monogram coming out party and I needed something special.

So what does this have to do with my Materialistic Monday theme? I recently found some monogram necklaces online that brought it all back…(hence the frivolous stroll down memory lane).

Last week, I happened upon the Max & Chloe jewelry site. One of the featured pieces happened to be a gold monogram necklace that immediately caught my eye. I clicked on the designer’s page (Brian Danielle) and fell in love with this:

Let’s take a closer look at that:

Swoon. A little expensive (for me) at $385. But I had a very nice daydream about buying it.

Then I started checking out other designers on the site, and I found MORE MONOGRAMS! How about this pretty oval one from Kacey K?

Oh dear – if I can’t afford the first one, then $1,320 is definitely out of my price range. But soooo pretty… I think that calls for another daydream. Hmmm….

Okay – one more try! After a little searching, I found another option (this time from Sonya Renee) that I loved and could even afford if I saved my pennies for a while:

I really like the effect of the monogram as a circle within a circle. Need a close up?

Somewhat of a deco effect? Whatever it is – it brings to mind an old school cufflink. Not sure how an H in the middle would look, but at $112, I might be willing to give it a try.

Don’t worry Chris – I know this isn’t the time to be buying monogram necklaces that I don’t need. But my Monday theme is about things I don’t need but want. So there you have it. Monograms. Wonder if I can find any signet rings online…I always wanted one of those…