The Boobies Necklace, and why this one is personal

I've made a lot of jewelry over the past two decades. Pieces for weddings, birthdays, milestones. Pieces that mark moments, but The Boobies Necklace is different, this one came from real life experiences. Mine.

The Diagnosis

In July 2025 my world changed. I was diagnosed with ER+ breast cancer with aggressive DCIS cells. I kept it close: my team, my family, my nearest and dearest. I wasn't ready to say it out loud to the world, I'm not sure anyone ever really is.

My first surgery was a lumpectomy, and then came the call no one wants, the margins weren't clean. So back I went for a second surgery, where they found aggressive DCIS cells. More to deal with. More to process. More to carry.

The Treatment

On November 11th I started radiation, twenty rounds, and on December 12th I finished. 11/11 to 12/12. If you know me, you know I don't think that was an accident, numbers are my love language and the universe was speaking mine the whole way through.

I had no choice but to move forward with my treatment options, stay positive, and focus on my business which kept me sane. I'm still in active treatment today, five years of Tamoxifen, which means when I say I'm still in the fight, I mean it literally.

The People Who Showed Up

They say it takes a village... mine showed up with a spreadsheet.

When I started radiation, my friend Jen did what Jen does, she made a plan. And one by one, Kristin, Amanda, Carrie, Annie, Tiffany, Erika, Patty, and Eleanor filled in the days. Every single drive to radiation, every meal dropped off for Marty and me, every moment I didn't have to figure out alone. I didn't ask them to do this, they just did.

Then there's Penny., she flew up the day after I finished radiation and drove down with me to her store, so I could do our annual trunk show, because life doesn’t stop and the one thing I love most about what I do are the relationships with the customers I’ve built. 

For those who couldn't be here in person, the daily check in texts, the flowers, the gifts, the love that showed up at my door from near and far, it all mattered more than you know. Especially Karsyn and her mom Cari, who sent a box filled with pink goodies that I got to open something new daily durning  my recovery. 

And while my opalites were showing up in every way imaginable, Marty and my studio team kept the business running. Showing up every day, holding it together, keeping the doors open. Having my business to focus on, even from the sidelines, was my savior. It kept my mind busy, it kept me sane. Even as we watched revenue drop 25%.

Because cancer doesn't just take a toll on your body. It takes a toll on everything you've built.

The Bills

Here's the part nobody talks about... for 24 years I never took a loan or investors. It was just me, and I stayed debt free. That was my pride., my foundation, this is no longer the case.

2025 took a toll on me personally and on the business. My insurance didn't cover everything it should have. The bills from my own lifesaving surgeries and treatments are still sitting there, and I know — I KNOW — I am not alone in this.

Because a cancer diagnosis shouldn't put anyone in debt, I thought so much about the women who don't have a Jen to make the spreadsheet. Women who don't have a team to keep the doors open. Women who are lying awake at night not because of the diagnosis, but because of the electric bill.

So I made something about that...

The Necklace

Introducing The Boobies Necklace, hand-forged in Sterling Silver and 14k Gold Filled, right here in our Raleigh studio. Bold, a little cheeky, and completely intentional. 100% of net proceeds go directly to The Pink Fund covering real bills for breast cancer patients in active treatment. Not awareness ribbons, actual bills; rent, utilities, car payments. The stuff that doesn't stop just because life does.

Every body, every story, every version of you:
🩷 Full: two nips
🩷 One & Done: one nip
🩷 Smooth: no nips

I didn't want to launch this in October. The pink washing, the ribbons, the clichés, this isn't that. This is real, this is mine and I hope it becomes yours too.

If you have someone fighting right now, be their opalite. Drive them, feed them, fill in the spreadsheet, and if you don't have a Jen? I see you, this necklace is for you too. Wear it as a reminder, gift it as a lifeline, be someone's Breast Friend.

Shop The Boobies Necklace →

The Party

After my treatments ended, I threw my opalites a dance party to celebrate being cancer free. Because that's what you do when the people you love show up for you….you celebrate together.

But if I'm being honest? I'm still learning what cancer free actually feels like. I'm still learning the new me. And maybe that's okay. Maybe that's the whole point.

Not a survivor. A thriver. Still becoming. 🩷

With love,