A Plenitude of Pandora Beads

I can’t believe how many beads I have received and bought in the past year.  I only received my Pandora bracelet one year ago and already have almost filled my bracelet.  Last year for my birthday, my good friend bought me a charm bracelet along with the money bag charm.  I thought it was kind of funny and wondered what other charms I could put on the bracelet.  I was excited to see that the charms were more than just silly charms but also elegant beads.  The bead was fitting because my friend and I both work at banks and so, of course, we handle money every day.  She couldn’t have picked a more fitting gift.  We joke how neither of us will ever own a cash bag as full as the one on the bead looks to be.  So at least I have the bead.

The next bead I received was for my birthday also, from my son.  He gave me the Queen Bee bead.  I am glad to see he thinks of me as his queen bee.  I think this is a compliment….or is it?  I think he just liked the looks of the bead.  When I asked him why he picked that bead he said it was because the bead had a crown on and his dad always refers to me as his princess, so he thought the bee sort of looked like me.
 
My husband gave me the four leaf clover bead before we took a vacation out west and went to Las Vegas.  I hoped it would bring me some luck at the slot machines, but sad to say, I did not hit any big jackpots, nor did I win any money.  I only lost money, but tried to keep it at a minimum.  Maybe it will bring me luck another time.  We may go back this summer and I will wear the bracelet again and see what happens.  Wish me luck!

While on vacation, we also went to San Francisco and there I purchased the Golden Gate bead.  We were able to walk across the bridge and see in person how magnificent it is.  My children especially loved the view and watching the boats below us.  You just do not realize how grand the bridge is until you see it in person.  It was an enjoyable vacation and not one I will soon forget.  This bead adds a touch of fun and something different on my bracelet.

The snowman bead was purchased for me from my friend for a Christmas present.  When we were younger my friend and I used to build snowmen at school during recess and also when we got home.  It was always fun seeing how big we could get the bottom of the snowman, pushing it and pushing it until we would fall over tired.  We loved decorating the snowman with anything we could get our hands on, like buttons, marbles, or once we even used paper clips for his mouth.  Sometimes I wish we could go back to the old days when we had no worries or our biggest worry was what we would use for the nose of the snowman we made.  Now my mother uses a blow up snowman to decorate her yard because she doesn’t have any children coming over to build them.  Maybe her grandchildren should build her a snowman sometime to keep the tradition alive.

My friend also gave me the turtle bead because we still laugh about the time she must have gotten bit by a turtle when we were swimming in a pond near our houses; even though it was not funny at the time but very scary.  We lived very close to each other and the pond was in the middle of our houses.  So sometimes in summer we would ride our bikes and meet at the pond to go swimming and enjoy the day.  One day while swimming, my friend started to get very pale and she said she wasn’t feeling very well.  She got out of the pond and I followed her.  She ended up passing out on the sandy beach area.  My brother went to get help, but by the time he returned she was feeling fine.  It was the strangest thing and we came to the opinion that a turtle must have bitten her because the pond was filled with them.  This bead will remind me of this crazy time, and again, our independence and care free fun together.

The hanging guitar bead was given to me for Christmas from my son.  He has played guitar for three years and I think this is his way of thanking me for letting him pursue this hobby and taking him to lessons each week.  It also gives him a part of my charm bracelet.  It reminds me of the first song he learned on the guitar, which was a Rascal Flatts song he played over and over until he got it just right.

I also received another bead for Christmas, which was the Indian Pattern Bead.  My daughter picked it out while she was out of town shopping.  She said she thought it looked like my style and thought I could use something on my bracelet besides beads that have actual meaning.  So I guess there is no real meaning to this bead, but it was still thoughtful.  I’m glad my family decided to buy me beads last Christmas because it is fun to see my bracelet grow. 

I bought the purse bead for myself because I like to buy purses when I am on trips.  I have several purses that go with different outfits.  My favorite one is a pink Prada purse I purchased while in New York.  I like that this bead has a pink jewel in it because it reminds me of that purse.  I always like to be noticed for wearing different things and I guess that’s why I like this bead, it is different than the other beads on my bracelet.  The purse also reminds me of my career in the banking industry.

My husband bought me the Pink Tendril Clip, because he heard me complaining about how I didn’t like the fact that all my beads always go to one side of my bracelet.  He talked to a friend of his, who bought his wife a Pandora bracelet also, and he told my husband about the clips.  I had never even seen them before, but I really like how it keeps the beads in the middle of my bracelet.  It was a great idea and a great gift for me.

The last bead I bought for my bracelet was the bluish green glass bead.  I picked it out because I thought the colors on it were pretty and I had seen these glass beads on my sister’s bracelets and thought they looked nice.  So I thought it was time that I added one to my bracelet.  I have such a variety of beads on my bracelet already that I don’t know what kind of bead I will purchase next.  I guess we will just have to wait and see.