My sister and I have a rather unusual relationship. Although we are madly in love, we also love to tease each other. As far back as I can remember, we have had an unspoken contest regarding who can find the oddest gift item for the other.
I was positive I won once. When she opened her little silver box and took out a detailed bearded dragon pendant she screamed! “Oh boy!” I thought to myself, “I have taken this round!” Now I don’t normally consider animal jewelry to be odd, but I tried to find the most off the wall animal to get her. I figured a bearded dragon would be the best one to throw her for a loop.
Unfortunately, this was a short lived triumph. It seems her son Joshua just gotten a bearded dragon for a pet and she had been looking everywhere for a piece of jewelry to wear to school. (She’s a teacher and it seems they love wearing animal jewelry just so they can talk about it to the kids!) This was a disaster! Do I have male chauvinist pig inclinations? I was positive that reptile jewelry would freak her out.
What I should’ve gotten her was a dog breed pendant. She hates all things canine and at least then the shriek would’ve been one of dismay instead of delight! Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but if you’ve never had this kind of kidding relationship with a sibling you might think me a sadist at heart.
So perhaps I should tell you about the year she gave me a box full of jumping beans. They were in a Nordstrom’s box, so I was instantly suspicious. The fact that they were loose and shook like a box full of, well, beans further stimulated my suspicion.
There was nothing for it but to open up the box at which point the little seed pods, which had previously been heated under a lamp to increase their excitability were popping out of the box and I gave an involuntary yelp and dropped it on the floor.
I thought she’d fall on the floor for sure, she was laughing so hard.
That will be a hard one to beat, and I’m not even sure I’ll try.
If you are trying to find something tasteful, odd or eccentric for your favorite sister, brother parent or cousin I suggest you look in places other than the mall. One of my favorite spots, besides hole-in-the-wall online shops, is hole-in-the-wall off line shops. I’m not above prowling around in antique shops and even thrift stores for something that screams at me “I’m weird enough!”
This is a little diversion from my favorite subject, jewelry. But even I just like to expand my horizons. And we are, afterall, talking about animal jewelry (which I love). And after all, my life includes family, friends, and all sorts of adventures beyond what I normally cover on this website. I strongly believe everyone ought to look beyond the usual when they’re shopping, whether it’s for earrings, coffee table books or Mexican jumping beans.