"It's not something you would ever buy for yourself."

Because THAT narrows it down...

Last night, he insisted on giving me the present early. Partially because it was a surprise birthday party (more on that later), but also partially because he couldn't wait anymore. Inside the gift bag was an apothecary jar...

I'm the kind of girl that would rather read Ikea catalogues and Martha Stewart magazines than the latest edition of Vogue. I love decorating and interior design. There's a pretty high-end shop downtown that I visit quite frequently and it sells home decor. Nearly every time I go, I stop at the apothecary jars. 

I love apothecary jars.

Unfortunately, I am a poor university student, and these beautiful jars are usually quite expensive. So, I resort to fawning over/coveting them in this store. And last night, I found myself holding one of the exact jars from that store in my hands. I was speechless. When I got home from the party, I took the gift bag down to my room, pulled the apothecary jar out, and carefully placed it on my dresser. It sounds stupid, but I kept looking over as I was falling asleep to see if it was still there. Like I said, I love apothecary jars. 

I also love mother of pearl buttons. (Yes, I am fully aware that is a weird thing to love.) It's very rare that you find a mother of pearl button that is completely perfect. Because they're made from shells, usually they have a weird curve or they're chipped or misshapen in some way. Mother of pearl buttons get scratched really easily and they can have "scars" on them. 

But that's why I love them. Because they're NOT perfect. I think in a way, people are kind of like that. Everyone has bad things happen to them, or things they wish they could change, but those are the things that make them more interesting. Anyways, I started collecting mother of pearl buttons back in the fall as a reminder of this, but they've just been sitting in a lame ziploc bag. Today I moved them into the apothecary jar I got for my nineteenth birthday, from one of the best friends in the world, so that I can be reminded daily of the beauty in little everyday things.