September marks one more trip around the sun for yours truly and I’m also gearing up for the 20th (yes, that’s 2-0) anniversary of my business! I’ve come a long way since the days of working solo at my bench in my apartment (a.k.a. my closet) and I am so proud of this journey. While jewelry is a tangible way to tell a story, to mark an occasion and to honor a loved one, flowers are another of my fave ways to celebrate someone or something. With this in mind, I tapped, Kelsey Harper, mama of 2 and founder of Matriarch, as this month’s finding. For years I’ve been a fan of her colorful, eclectic IG feed that showcases her innovative floral work, her adorable sons and a real, down-to-earth mama making her dreams a reality. I relate to her in so many ways and feel like we're both entering a new phase of our careers, which is both exciting and a little scary! Her down-to-earth sensibility was front and center during our time together. Topics of chat included her re-brand and my upcoming 20th biz anniversary, her recent road trip adventures, raising kids and dating in LA! I love her no-nonsense approach to life and business – she is ambitious, thoughtful, creative and does what feels good – all the things I want to cultivate in my own entrepreneurial life. I adored meeting Kelsey and look forward to watching this Matriarch conquer the world and I think you will too! | photos by annie mcelwain |

When it came time to play with rings and bracelets, Kelsey went straight for our oval pave halo diamond signet ring. From there, she stacked 5 dainty diamond rings – our tiny open diamond shaped ring, tiny marquis diamond ring, medium baguette ring, 3 mixed diamond prong ring, and open prong 2 diamond ring – creating her own “bouquet” of diamonds to rock on the daily. She opted to keep her wrist story simple with our new prong diamond bar tennis bracelet , which has an adjustable bolo for the perfect fit!

This has really been the year of the anklet and we don’t see this trend slowing anytime soon. Kelsey’s adorable teddy bear slides paired perfectly with some diamond studded chains. She donned our *fave* floating diamond small curb chain anklet and our dangling bezel diamond chain anklet. Based on Kelsey’s moody navy blue pedicure and slides, she’s ready for the Fall! She let me know that she’s “loving this anklet sitch right now!”

Kelsey revealed she’s not really a colored stone person, despite her gorgeous (and colorful) floral brand and tends to stick with personal gold styles or small diamond details. She stayed true to herself personality, selecting only a handful of styles, but she mixed things up by going for chunkier styles that stand out. With just a single piercing, Kelsey opted to rock our new pear diamond chubby huggies with a single thick pave diamond ear cuff. Typically spotted wearing a few dainty chain necklaces, at our session Kelsey wanted to make a statement so she chose our 14k extra large square oval link chain as her starting point. She added a longer layer with our medium mantra necklace and the two necklaces together were the perfect complement to one another. She really loved the mantra collection and joked her custom disc would say “This too shall pass”. Amen to that, sister!