The good thing about being married to an interior designer is that our house looks like a show piece. The not so good thing is that she has a super critical eye when it comes to colors, patterns, etc. It always makes me nervous when I’m buying her gifts, especially anything she wears. I’m always wondering if those diamond earrings match well enough with her outfits, or if I should buy her a gold necklace or a silver one. None of it upsets her. In fact, she has been very supportive in helping me see things the way that she does. Doing so has given me enough confidence to try and do something a little more creative than usual this Valentine’s Day. Instead of just getting her a nice piece of fine jewelry and leaving it in the box for her to open, I’m going to create a visual treat for her with a dozen red roses and a strand of pearls. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="749"] Honora Tulip Pearl Necklace[/caption] I thought about this when I walked by the florist department at the grocery store. I noticed that all of the roses they had prepared for sale had baby’s breath tucked in between them, so there were little patches of white that helped offset the red. I was already thinking about what special jewelry I was going to get her, and when I saw that I thought, “Why not pearls?” I knew she didn’t have a pearl necklace, and I liked the thought of getting her something that was classic and timeless. I talked to my local jeweler, told him what I was looking for and how I was looking to present it. He was so caught up in the idea that not only did he take the time to show me all the different pearl necklaces to help me choose the right one, he even had a dozen roses delivered to the store so we could make sure it looked like I hoped it would. Armed with that knowledge (and a beautiful string of pearls), I’m looking forward to this special Valentine’s Day treat for my wife. I just hope I don’t make it look so good that she never wears them, and instead, keeps them right there in the flowers.