On January 9th, 2019 my husband and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary! It’s been a wild ride– combining two cultures and personalities hasn’t always been easy, but then again what marriage is? We complement each other very well: he’s the engineer with a crazy work ethic who’s very nurturing and takes good care of all of us and allows me to be me — the creative, independant, stubborn and a bit lazy one that needs her space. Our boys are mirror images, the older one takes after B and the younger one is a lot like me (but don’t tell him that! He’s 13 now and doesn’t want anything to do with mom).

We don’t always exchange gifts, but this year was special. I wanted a diamond anniversary band. We went back to our local jeweler Alexander J. Bongiorno. They had created a special addition to my wedding ring when I became a mother. For our anniversary, I chose a diamond band with two loose gold and two loose white gold bands so that I could interchange them for multiple looks. I love it and wear it everyday.

For B I surprised him with something he’s always wanted– a real cuckoo clock from Germany. I had ordered it back in early December and it was delayed a bit because it wasn’t in stock. I kind of liked that, knowing it was hand-made in Germany just for us, not sitting around the stockroom collecting dust. I chose a traditional mechanical clock that plays music, has dancing figurines, a little bird that pops out on the hour, a spinning water wheel and a cute couple that kiss. The name is Romance, perfect for an anniversary!

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I didn’t realize all the intricacies of these incredible clocks until I went to purchase one. They are truly a work of art; each piece is hand carved and put together carefully in the Black Forest of Germany. The video below gives you an idea of the process.