Inside A Locket...

You can tell a lot about a girl by the type of shoes she's wearing. You can tell a lot about a girl by the type of purse she carries or by the color of her nail polish. You can tell a lot about a girl by...what's in her locket? Why yes, yes you can.

My locket just so happens to hold dried beans in it. Yep, beans. And don't worry (because I know you're curious), there's definitely a story behind this. 

Photos by Erin Valentine 

[blouse: Ann Taylor, leggings: Madewell, boots: Frye, earrings: Chicago boutique, locket: gift from Grandma]

While many locket-owners often leave their lockets empty (it's a challenge to find a tiny enough picture to fit inside), a lot of girls fill their lockets with a special picture of someone close to them. I've seen girls with pictures of them and their boyfriend tucked away inside or a headshot of a lost loved one. Me however, like with most things in my life, I chose a more unique approach in regards to the contents of my locket. 

My grandma gave me this Irish locket as a special gift when I was about seven years old (I was obsessed with jewelry from a young age), and I really wanted to put something special inside but I was too lazy to create a teeny tiny picture for it. Then one morning, a few years later, when I was headed off to 4th grade, my dad was in the kitchen before work making coffee for himself like always. 

Every morning my dad would let me smell the coffee beans before he poured them into the  grinder because the smell of fresh coffee beans is one of my favorite smells in the world. On this particular morning he handed me a bean and told me to keep it with me all day. That way I'd be able to carry the smell around and I could indulge in its delightful scent whenever I wanted to. So instead of placing the bean in my pocket like a normal ten year old, I discovered that it fit perfectly inside my locket. And that's where it's been ever since! 

The other bean was given to me my sophomore year of high school in my health class...but that's not really an exciting or heartwarming story. So now it's my turn to ask you - What's in your locket?!