Lost and Found

Have you ever lost something that you just *knew* was gone forever, only to find it again one day? I have.

About a year ago I realized I hadn't seen my favorite piece of jewelry in awhile... my grandmother's Tiffany bracelet. It was special because 1) hello, it's a Tiffany bracelet, 2) it's a VINTAGE Tiffany bracelet, and 3) it is engraved with her initials. (Side note: Her initials are P.A.M. which has led to several comments from people along the lines of "Hey Pam, nice bracelet! Snicker.") She gave it to me shortly after I had Rory, when I was whining about how my sister's boyfriend gave her a Tiffany bracelet for their anniversary, which was coincidentally Rory's due date, and how I had just given birth and didn't get any jewelry or anything to commemorate the occasion. Charming, I know.

Anyways, the bracelet went MIA. I searched high and low and eventually resigned myself to denial and blind hope. Every time I would think about it, my heart would twinge a bit and I would hope against hope, repeating my mantra: "Someday, it'll just turn up out of nowhere!"

Well, today turned out to be that day.

I got back from a whirlwind weekend trip and in my sleep deprived stupor, decided to reorganize my house. Starting with my bags.

Hand bags, accessory bags, make up bags... even grocery bags. I have sort of a bag... issue. Anyway, my *favorite* diaper bag has been hanging around on a dining table chair and I decided it was time for a clean out.

I did a sweep of the interior and threw out all the old receipts, half crushed Cheerios, formula sample tubes I never used. Dug in the pockets and pulled out pens, peppermints, and Chick-fil-A placemats. And then I stuck my hand deep down in the outside pocket, the one where I always throw my lipstick, cell phone, or anything I need to get back out quickly.

Deep in the pocket, nestled down into its own mini-cave created by almost 3 years of the bag being stuffed to capacity and toted endlessly, was my beloved Tiffany bracelet. She's looking a bit tarnished and forgotten, but still! I was SO THRILLED in that moment to have her back. It finally cleared my guilt over never having the guts to tell anyone I lost my grandmother's heirloom bracelet.

I was feeling buoyed by my discovery, so I happily continued my purging efforts on the most forgotten of all pockets in the diaper bag... those useless, flat interior pockets that are only big enough to hold a business card or single sheet of tissue.

Little did I know I was about to make an even more unbelievable discovery.

(Side note: I cannot believe I am about to admit this publicly.)

To fully understand the... UNBELIEVABLENESS of this, I have to go back in time about 2.5 years, to a day when I was marooned at a fast food restaurant with a 3 week old baby and a broken radiator.

While waiting for the tow truck, I took baby Rory to the bathroom for a diaper change. Much to my joy, I discovered when I opened her diaper that her umbilical cord stump had FINALLY fallen off...

(Can you see where this is going? Just checking to make sure you're still awake...)

... and since I am the sentimental psycho mom type, I PUT THE BELLY BUTTON STUMP IN ONE OF THOSE USELESS DIAPER BAG POCKETS. And then, suffering from what would turn out to be a permanent case of Mommy Brain, I completely forgot about it.


Until today.


I guess you could say I found TWO vintage treasures in my diaper bag tonite.