An ethical question and a certain perfect necklace.

Best way to dress up your jeans, white t-shirt, and black cardi? No, not the leopard print flats. Again. You need something with effortless je ne sais quoi, something current and timeless, something perfect.

Paula: if you don't want to know the provenance of your Christmas present, read no further.

I have the honor of being included in a two-party online mutual admiration society with Carole Maher, the proprietrix and heart and soul of LuLuSparkles. We've never met, but we typety type back and forth and some of her lovely, delectable creations have come to live with me and some of mine have gone to live with her. I'm crazy about her shop full of vintage-made-new baubles and the witty, romantic descriptions and I just adore LuLu herself.

So, I got this necklace from her as a Christmas gift for Paula, which was very forward-thinking of me and not at all typical behavior. And it arrived in all it's splendor and glory and I could see right away how tempting it would be to keep it for myself so I closed the pretty box and put it away.

And then of course I was invited to the social event of the year - the Ironmen Soccer End of Season Cotillion for 6-Year-Old Boys at Chevy's. There I was, in my jeans, white t-shirt, and black cardi. I opened the box. I looked. I looked away. I put on the necklace. I took it off. I put on the leopard print flats. Took them off. Sighed deeply and emailed LuLu:

If you buy a necklace for someone, is it okay to wear just once before you give it to them? twice?

And she replied:

It is TOTALLY (her caps) acceptable to test drive once or twice! As long as the person you want to gift it to does not see you wearing it.

Talented AND wise, she is. (My caps.)

So, of course, I wore it. It is perfect. It says: I don't have to try to look this amazing, I am actually this cool.