Am I a Traitor?

June 23, 2015

I grew up in the Bay Area going to the Oakland Colosseum for fireworks every fourth of July. Even had a few buddies from high school who were Bat Boys for the A’s during the Billy Martin & Ricky Henderson era. Ricky is why I loved playing short stop and steeling bases in the softball league I belonged to. 

I became friends with my spouse the night the Bay Bridge Collapsed during the the Bay Area Bash World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the the Oakland Athletics...earthshaking romance! When we got married and moved down to LA, neither of us could stomach red, white or blue in MLB, so we were the only two sporting Orange and Black at the party when the Anaheim Angels beat the Giants. I did get my kicks when I asked the wife of the host where their fuse box was and flipped a switch during a  critical pitch, just to revel in the LOUD ROAR that came from the TV room of grunting, scratching and loogie hocking men. By the way, who is that other LA team?

In 2003 I had the privilege of touring NY Yankees Stadium. I was with my Papa, who was from the Bronx and my young starry eyed son. Regrettably, I failed to capitalize on a bucket list dream of singing the National Anthem and beloved Star Spangled Banner from home plate in a stadium, any stadium. Redemptively, I did discovered something just as worth celebrating..

Why I bought this hat as a souvenir from that trip...

Walking onto the field and hearing our voices reverb and echo through out the stadium was definitely enchanting. I nearly squealed with unashamed delight when we headed past centre field to find a small park. Did you even know there is a park in Center Field at Yankee Stadium? It’s called Monument Park and it is a memorial to several of NY’s finest. Not just NY’s finest baseball players, not just NY’s finest police officers, but it is a memorial to the Literal Crown Jewel of New York City. Cemented in the crafty masonry of brick, embedded forever in the very foundation of Yankee Stadium is what my hub bub is all about...

 Photo Credit: Taljon DeRuiter

I am not a NY Yankees fan, I am a Tiffany & Co. fan! A girl has got to have her priorities straight! While I am a girly girl, I am also a tomboy. 

Growing up in the 80’s, women were expected to have the career and maintain all the domestic stuff of our predecessors. My mother in law did two wonderful things for me other than give birth to and raise my wonderful husband. 1. She taught me that women CAN have it all, they just can’t have it all at the same time. While observing her as a roll model, I was careful to note that I witnessed her in Tevas rafting down the Rogue River one impressionable moment and dressed to the nines, fur coat and all, attending a symphony at the Orpheum the next elegant and enriching moment. 2. She taught me, rather she infected me with an appreciation for jewelry. She is a keen teacher and I am a stealth padawon in that I have adopted her fairness rule of engagement regarding the appropriation of  equal value spending of discretionary funds on hobbies in marriage. I would not be surprised if this is how Tiffany procured ownership of France’s Royal Family Crown Jewels in the first place. 

True to all that my mother in law has successfully instilled in me, here is how I converge my creativity with my affections. I am a Cosmetologist (nails), Jeweler (blue diamond) and an emphatically avid  ‘yell-at the TV’ San Jose Sharks fan, so here is my salute to the Stanley Cup Finals:

My Love bought this Blue Diamond Halo Ring for me in Veil, Colorado when 1. due to our trip, we had to let go of our scheduled Sharks tickets when they were playing in the Duck's Pond and 2. Our Snow Mobile Excursion got Blizzard Out. 

 While guy-fandom peeps may opt for growing a playoff beard, as a cosmetologist, that is a gel french manicure with the amazing CND gel system and #ibleedteal glitter polish. 

As a jeweler, I forged and set these to match: