And now, a Treasure Hunt!

Not sure how I found her, but I came across Anne Holman on Etsy and fell in love. Of course, I felt a bit guilty for cheating on my favorite jewelry designer in the whole world – Aimee of the Cool Name – but I figured Aimee would forgive me when she saw the Antique Map Pendants that Anne sells.

See, my family is from Germany. In fact, my grandparents picked up soon after World War II and moved to the land of opportunity with their two small daughters. (That would be my mom at age 12 and my aunt at age 6). They landed in Baltimore and built a life. But they never lost ties to home. In fact, my great aunt still lives in the house where my great grandparents raised rabbits to survive during the hard years.

In a tiny town no one has ever heard of.

Naila.

Such a pretty word right? We even considered naming Declan “Naila” if he were to be a girl.

But since I did not get a baby girl named Naila, I asked Anne if she could find Naila in her collection of antique maps and make me a necklace.

She said it was like a treasure hunt.

This article has 20 comments

  1. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Ha, I guess I should say that the pronunciation is like Nii-la.

  2. joansy

    Very cool!

  3. Sizzle

    i totally JUST saw those necklaces and marked them as a favorite on my etsy.

    we’re so alike! hee hee.

  4. TxGambit

    That is sooooo coool! Love them!

  5. Anonymous

    Awesome! …both the necklace and the story!

  6. Christina

    Beautiful! I’m bookmarking her site right now.

  7. Alpha DogMa

    Dude, it would be so wrong to name a girl Naila. Hey, Naila, mind if I nail ya?

    But those are interesting links. If only I had disposable income to dispose of…*sigh*. I LURVE jewellery.

  8. diana

    that is so cool.

  9. carrie

    THAT is a beautiful neckelace! Wow.

  10. painted maypole

    That is so great… hmmm… thinking of looking into a necklace with the river in Wales my last name came from… but that would have to be a REALLY ancient map, methinks.

  11. soccer mom in denial

    The necklace reminds me of one I have from New Orleans with the water meter symbol. I am going to check it out.

  12. Alpha DogMa

    Even though I’m a total Anglo, I did think that Naila would be pronounced as Nii-la! HONEST! But it wouldn’t matter to high school bullies, cos they tend not to be the most sophisticated.

    Still love the name Declan, however.

  13. Nadine

    LOVE the necklace! Gorgeous!

    Also Naila, is a VERY cool name for a girl (making notes).

  14. Anne

    Aww thanks Aimee! I am so happy you like it! I am flattered you wrote such a nice post in your blog!

    It was a lot of fun to make!

  15. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Alpha, LOL! Although we are still waiting for the first time someone calls Declan “dickless.” 😉 And for the record, our final choice for a girl was Rowan.

    And Nadine… yes! You do need to make some notes!!! :)))

    And Anne, you are very welcome! Thanks again for the necklace!

  16. sue

    How cool is THAT?

  17. mayberry

    THat is excellent!

  18. Tree

    That is lovely! I think it is just very neat, love the story and the name, if alpha dogma had not mentioned the obvious drawback…

  19. Builder Mama

    I love love love that necklace – too cool!

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