This is my dear friend, Kathryn.
She is an incredible wife to her darling husband, the sweetest momma to Giuliana and Layla and one of the dearest friends I’ve ever known. I love her and treasure her; I’m so thankful to have her in my life. Below is a piece she wrote for Written featuring her jewelry line, Amour Absolu. Yes, she is also a designer. You are about to fall in love with Katherine and her extraordinary pieces…
AMOUR ABSOLU
by Kathryn Giarratano
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale
Ever since I was a little girl I was fascinated with all that sparkles. From the fake jewels hot glue-gunned onto my white keds to my grandmother’s massive costume jewelry collection, I knew I was in love. Diamonds really were a girl’s best friend. Faux or real. I began accessorizing, focusing more on the amount of bangles I had on than any of the actual clothing pieces I was wearing. As far as I was concerned, jewelry made the outfit and THE MORE THE MERRIER.A few decades passed and I tried to convince myself that I wanted to enter the financial world. With an undergraduate degree in Economics I found myself questioning what exactly it was that I wanted to do for the rest of my life (why do 20-somethings put that kind of eternal-commitment pressure on themselves?) Well, I decided that my true passion was in the world of fashion and applied to the graduate program at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and whaddya know… I was not only accepted but won a full-ride scholarship based on a project I submitted. My mom always says, “When you’re following God’s path, the river will flow smoothly”. And it began to…
When my daughter, Giuliana, was born in 2011, I wanted a piece of jewelry to represent this most significant moment in my life. Everything on the market at that time had birthstones or engraved/stamped initials or names. I wanted something timeless. Something that I wouldn’t get sick of in 5 years. Something Giuliana would want for herself in 20 years. So I designed the signature Bar Pendant. A small, solid 14k gold bar with 8 tiny diamonds – one for each letter of her name. And my line was born. Designs started pouring out of me. I couldn’t draw them fast enough. But I was scared. I knew what it would take both financially and time-wise to create what I envisioned. 2.5 years later Amour Absolu launched, weeks before the birth of my second daughter, Layla.
In a nutshell, Amour Absolu – French for ‘unconditional love’ – is a line of fine jewelry made up of solid 14k gold and diamonds designed to represent people, moments and milestones. Each piece is customizable and is meant to be representative of, given to and worn by those whom we love without condition. Diamonds can represent anniversaries, milestone birthdays (my husband even gave me one of my designs with 3 diamonds in it for my 30th birthday!), children (diamonds for letters in a name or simply number of children), marathons run…whatever your heart desires!
I am so proud of myself. We don’t say that enough. I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of the years of hard work, endless meetings, dead-ends that led me in a different direction, pleased customers and the idea of what this little line of jewelry could someday become. For a stay-at-home mom of a toddler and a newborn, there are never enough hours in a day. For me, and so many moms like me, we spend the majority of our days making teddy bear pancakes, breast-feeding, potty-training, packing a million things for a trip to the zoo, kissing boo-boos, and mostly just trying to do the best we can. And to all of you, I say, “Bravo!” Bravo for doing everything you can to be the best parent you know how to be, but don’t let that dream that belongs to you and nobody but you, die. I encourage you to JUST START. START SOMEWHERE. Life is WAY too short to let something amazing that lives inside of you sit on the back burner. Who knows – you could create the next iPhone or Milkies (all you mamas out there know what I’m talkin’ about!) or pair of yoga pants that instantly make me feel 10 pounds thinner and super fit (Come on! where are you?!)
The time will pass anyway. Start today. Jot something down. Write an email. Make a phone call. Google something.
10 years from now you’ll look back and be glad you did.
written. 