I remember the moment like it was yesterday. I was invited to a swanky, black-tie affair and had spent most of my money on a gown that made me feel – and look – like a queen. Of course, any queen worth her salt needs jewels to accentuate her royalty. So, I headed to the department store to see what I could find with the pennies I had left. I settled on a not-so-faux-looking shiny rock piece that fit the part.

Fast-forward a couple of hours … I’ve got my dress on and am loving what I see. It was time to put the exclamation point on my fabulosity. I reached for my new necklace and pulled off the price tag. The next thing I knew, I had a mess of shiny, faux-rock beads scattered all over the floor. Yep, that’s right. Unbeknownst to me, my necklace was held together by nothing more than several pieces of regular, ‘ole plastic. And, while I admit that I didn’t go broke paying for it, the price demanded better quality than that.

So, I had to face the evening in my bangin’ new dress and just a simple pair of earrings. I was still amazing. But as I looked around at all the other jewelry in the room, I couldn’t help but think my look needed a statement piece.