#22 Splurge on Something Sparkly

There is a reason why they say diamonds are a girls' best friend - the sight of something sparkly just makes our heart skip a beat, plus the sparkle attracts the eye, thus hopefully drawing some male attention our way ;)

While diamonds are nice... I am an equal jewelry-wearer.  Blue topaz, amethyst, rubies - they all get my attention, although maybe only for a few hours before I swap one out for another pretty bauble in my jewelry box.

So this post - #22 Splurge on Something Sparkly - could go in a variety of different ways.  I enlisted your help with a poll. I gave you a couple of options and asked for you to vote on what I should splurge on for my next birthday gift to myself.

The options included:

1. A Michael Kors watch, such as this gold one or this silver one 
2. These Gold CZ and green onyx starfish earrings 
3. The Apple iPad (not traditionally what you would think of as "sparkly", but has that same effect)
4. A gorgeous David Yurman ring (way out of my price range) 

Now, what I found funny/interesting is that a lot of you voted for the gorgeous and way-out-of-my-price-range David Yurman ring! But, we ended in a tie... and I chose the item that tied for the David Yurman ring.

Drumroll please...


....


I splurged on the Apple iPad.  Now, before you get upset at my choice, listen to why.  I decided to go with the iPad over a piece of jewelry for a couple of reasons... budget and practicality.  While a big piece of bling might make my heart sing, so does the iPad.  Seriously.  You open up the box, and you hear angels singing "Ahhh!!!".  And then you turn it on, and it's shiny, and you can play games and watch movies and read books and be entertained on 5 hour long flights... and I didn't want to take my heavy laptop (also a Mac) to Ecuador, so I decided to get a very light iPad that easily fit in to my purse and didn't break my back lugging it all over the world.  Finally, it cost less than the David Yurman ring (but not by much hahah).

I went to the incredible new Apple Store at Grand Central Station.  It's not like any other store... it's completely open air, no doors... you just walk up a set of stairs and boom.  Apple products and Apple personnel all over the place, as well as envious people wanting to buy Apple products!

I arrived, walked directly up to the counter, and said "I want a 32gig black iPad, and a camera connection, and a iPad cover. Stat."  And they got it for me.  Stat.  $800 later, I was leaving Grand Central, and on my way back to Hoboken to finish packing for my trip to Ecuador, and to play with my new toy :).

The iPad was perfect for the long trip.  I was able to read a ton of books, watch movies, and free up space on my camera so that I could continue taking endless quantities of pictures of the Galapagos Islands.

I'm very happy with my splurge.   Useful, shiny, has the "wow" factor... perfect for me.  But, I want to know what you think?  Do you agree with my decision?  Are you disappointed that I didn't splurge on a piece of jewelry?  You know, my birthday is coming up soon ;) hehehe...