Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Jewelry Box Tour 2 || Margot Miller


1Your name, s’il vous plait Margot Miller*

*I consider myself very lucky because, when I left "the best job in the world" (buying many, many thousands of dollars worth of chocolate and candy for a great company), I got to train one of the best people in the world to take my place - Margot! She is a whippersnapper of a gal who's many accomplishments include taking 1st place in a hog wrestling tournament in Texas in 2004. Enough said.

2| Where do you live? Michigan

3| What do you do during the day and at night? During the day, I have the privilege of being the Chocolate & Confections Buyer ("Chocolate Lady") for Zingerman's Deli and a supervisor in the Deli's adjacent coffeeshop. What this means is that by the time you're dragging your bones out of bed, I've probably had a couple of Americanos and by noontime, I've exhausted whatever semblance of a sweet tooth that I have.

In addition to my Deli duties, I spend a large portion of the year editing PLACENOTES, a publication of the Charles Moore Foundation in Austin, Texas (my hometown). Each volume is a collection of cards featuring a art/architecture/culture-centric destination; beautifully photographed and written by the Foundation's director, Kevin Keim.

During my leisure time, I enjoy thumbing through cookbooks, cooking, reading non-fiction, and making mixtapes (fine, they're actually CDs, but mixtapes' will forever and always sound better). Most recently, I've taken up a weekly pilates class; despite knowing that most of the instructor's gentle comments correcting form are directed at me, I love it immensely!

 
4| What do you look for in a piece of jewelry? What are you drawn to? Silver. Shapes and silhouettes. The delicate and precious. I like versatility and I don't like feeling as though the jewelry is wearing me.

5| Tell me about the jewelry you wear the most. Is there something that you never take off? I wear a couple of pieces with great frequency. One is a small ceramic coffeecup on to which my name is printed. This mini-mug was given to me when I was around the age of eleven by a classmate who had found it in San Francisco. She was familiar with my ceaseless and ever-fruitless attempts at finding anything (anything!) with my name on it. It's gotten quite beat up since then, all chipped and worn. I just recently repaired the handle, which broke after a special someone hugged me a little too hard one afternoon.

The other piece I wear near daily is the small gold knotted ring. This belonged to my mom when she was a teenager. I must thank my jewelry-fantatic younger sister for its presence on my finger; she ran across it while poking around my mom's old jewelry box and declared to my mother that it reminded her of me and that I should have it.  


6| What is your jewelry weakness? I'm more and more coming to the conclusion that rings are an absolute weakness for me; perhaps some of that stems from my perception of them as the most masculine of jewelry. Growing up I was the epitome of a tomboy - a trait that I've perhaps not yet discarded completely. They lend me a touch of femininity while staying largely out of my way.

7| What’s the last piece of jewelry you added to your box? The last piece of jewelry added to my box is a piece from Jean Jean Vintage - the TAXCO buckle ring. It's silver. It's a ring. It's pretty precious. I'm pretty predictable. It's been hanging out on my left middle finger pretty consistently.

 
8| Please tell me a great story about one of the pieces in your jewelry box.  A special thing in my jewelry box is a pair of thin silver band bracelets, each stamped with a phrase: 'HAVE COURAGE' and 'BE OF GOOD CHEER.' I had these custom-made a month or two after my grandpa's death in 2006 as a way to commemorate his life and spirit. For as long as I can remember, he signed each and every piece of correspondence to me with "have courage and be of good cheer." It's a mantra I've found increasingly useful to reflect upon and one applicable in just about every aspect of my life. I've photographed the bracelets here with the coffee mug he always began his day with while visiting our country house in East Texas. Aesthetically, I love the simplicity of these bracelets and the way in which they are a hyper-streamlined iteration of some simple silver band bracelets my grandfather crafted while assigned to bed-rest during World War II. Those treasures are presently in safe-keeping with my mom.


9| If price was not an issue, what piece of jewelry would you give to your best friend? Well, it goes without saying that the friend receiving would be my aforementioned younger sister, and if price is not an issue, let's go over the top. Her eyes go wide at the thought of diamonds and Jackie Kennedy is one of her absolute style icons. Let's go for the Lesotho III - the 40 carat diamond ring Onassis gave her in 1968.

{This jewelry box series will "air" every Wednesday this month, with five interviews in all. Leave a comment on all five entries and you'll be entered to win a $50 gift certificate to the shop! Details are here. You can check out last week's interview here.}

22 comments:

linda l said...

aw, how cute. i wish i had a little mug with my name on it too!

ashhlet said...

love that pair of bracelets, so simple but meaningful :)

No Carnations said...

My favorite part of the series so far is the "story". Its so good to hear how jewelry connects us to our families, old and new.

EyeForVintage said...

I was just at Zingerman's less than 2 weeks ago! What an awesome place to work...and indulge :) Love the "story" portion of the interview too.

Petites Merveilles said...

I love the silver bracelets and the story behind them!

Wild Tea Party said...

The silver band bracelets are truly sweet - its a lovely keepsake to remember a loved one by.

rebecca s. said...

the silver bracelets are a wonderful reminder of her grandfathers love.

the ceramic mug charm is too cute. i want one! how sweet that it is from a childhood friend, too.

i agree with the previous comments about loving the story behind the jewelry in the box in this series.

Bettina said...

i love that random little animal in the last picture, the one that looks like a rabbit with antlers :))

Marguerite said...

I love the knotted ring you wear which was your mother's. My daughter "found" a malachite and silver ring of mine and wore it for many years.... and some fantastic abalone earrings, too! I know your mother loves that you wear it; that makes the connection so precious!

Marcia said...

What fun whimsical necklaces! My favorite is the whale.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, love this theme!!! Ann, vintage whisper

olygirl said...

I adore that whale necklace! Thanks for sharing. I am really enjoying reading this mini series. :)

steph.kelley said...

Another vote for the whale! :) When my mom was in middle- or high school, she engraved a gold band of hers with her name in Elvish letters; she loved LOTR. Mom jewelry is precious stuff. xoxoxo

Leslie Williams said...

This is so cool! I love reading how jewelry influences peoples lives. You should make a book after this! :)

mosquints@yahoo{DOT}com

ashley said...

The Margot mini cup is such a sweet gift! I've one plastic horse charm that my best friend in preschool gave me, though we are miles apart now (she migrated to Canada) but seeing that charm hanging on my inspiration board reminds me of her & how close we were!

Love this interview!

Liane said...

Great stories. That personalized mug is adorable. How exciting that must have been. I never found anything with my name growing up. I think that those bracelets are a special way to remember your grandpa. Very cool.

Anonymous said...

Lovely! I'm such a fan of silver shapes and silhouettes too.

Francesca _Syrah said...

"I don't like feeling as though the jewelry is wearing me." i completely agree!! this is the way i choose and wear jewelry.. each peace reveals something about me! <3

Jacqueline said...

Lovin' all the quirky, distinctive pendants and Margot's adorable hair. Miss you both, ladies. xo

alexis said...

Love the bracelets and the howling wolf necklace! Great interview!
xoxo

Jessica / Lola Vintage said...

okay, so her answer to # 8 kinda had me close to tears. that idea is SO PRECIOUS for a piece of jewelry! This is completely making me want to do a post about my own pieces and what they mean to me. I love her animal inspired pieces, btw! Those are always some of my faves. :)

Connie @ Daydream In Color said...

Gah! I love the bunny necklace! I pretty much love her jewelry box!

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