One Ring to Rule them All

I've been meaning to share this with you all, but I haven't had a spare moment to do so. Evidently this, several months after the fact, is the right moment. Nana and Vivienne Westwood fans, brace yourselves.

GET JEALOUS

On a perfectly normal day in London, I looked at the envelope of cash I had been recently gifted and made an executive decision: I was going to blow this cash on that blasted Armour Ring if was (next to) last thing I ever did (in London). Now there are certainly more responsible ways to use a gift of cash: travel expenses (to Oxford and Sulley Hull if you must know), food expenses (all of them), but as I had specifically been told not to use my gift responsibly (clearly I'm hard of hearing. Does irresponsible use after responsible use count?), this was the next best alternative. London did not make it easy for me. Finding the tiny Westwood boutique on high street (though as I eventually discovered it was just off high street), was an ordeal. BUTWORTHEVERYHOUR

 I did discover that the armour ring--which I have coveted since I read/watched NANA--actually comes in three metal finishes (and a ridiculously gem encrusted one. But who needs gem dusted armour?): silver, golden and gunmetal. The gunmetal version generally comes in smaller sizes for whatever reason, but this never concerned me because I had my eye on the silver (the gold, on account of my warm skin tone, was tempting however).

My experience at the boutique was...wonderful. I loved everyone who worked there by the time I left (and they me, I'm sure). I did continue my curious trend of bumping in to Japanese people where ever I go as well--though perhaps given the brand's popularity in Japan this encounter is not so surprising. I met some customers from Japan and spoke with them ( もちろん、日本語で) and, delighted, one of the sales associates at the store joined our conversation as well. I honestly couldn't tell you what we spoke about though, as I spent most of the time fielding praise to my apparent Japanese prowess. PSA: Never accept praise about your Japanese unless they claim you are ペラペラ rather than じょうず. And even then you should probably heartily disagree. So basically never. Never just say, "Why yes; thank you I am fluent." It's essentially conversation homicide.

Yup. Just this lovely, shiny...

In other news, I hope to add little bits to my Vivienne Westwood collection: orb rings and necklaces and earrings (I'm obsessed with that insignia) to name a few wishlist items. But for now, this is it. Just this. The one I've wanted for years. No big deal.

I will discuss the details of my recent trip to the UK (oh there is much to tell) in later posts. To spare any confusion, I will admit that the beach photo above is not from my time in England (sunshine in England? really?), but rather from a recent day at the beach here in Tel Aviv (more on that...eventually).