Oh, right. Nikki's birthday is coming up.

I can't believe I have to spend money and buy gifts again so soon after Christmas.

It's probably no fun to be born in early January as well.

Most people feel so spent after a long gift buying season, they will likely be fatigued like the way I'm feeling now.

Ken has proposed that we share this as a birthday gift .

I really don't know. Nikki likes animals but it's more like rabbits, cats and dogs. I don't think a tigerish bracelet is very appropriate but I am so not up to it - to protest or suggest alternatives.

But sharing is good.

I am so gift rich and cash poor right now. 

More than half of the Christmas gifts bought this year are jewelry.

This more or less confirms what I expected - I am more interested in jewelry than ever.

The other trend I have spotted is that the jewelry bought and gift wrapped this Christmas are few in the variety of plain silver and gold. I have developed an appetite for color in jewelry and it shows in this year's gifts.

Here is one that got away . This is the sort of colorful jewelry I would have loved to give and receive.

Too bad it's out of stock. I thought I'll make a post of it to remind myself to check on it in the future.

Some lucky gal may just get it for a gift for whatever occasion. That lucky gal may even be me. 

I took a good look on this page about green jewelry as it talks about the qualities and meanings of the color green too.

Green is of course the other color of Christmas, together with red.

I had got myself all excited about surrounding myself with more red this Christmas, it had just struck me that there is green too.

What about green? Should I have an interest in green around Christmas?

There is the Christmas tree and that is the most important 'green item' of Christmas.

My mind was wandering and I look the green jewelry page up for a read and wandered some more.

Green is hope, the color of spring. An important change that signifies the end of hard winter.

Green is life, the color of evergreens. It cheers and warms us when a snowy, white winter gets stark.

So, it's gonna be red jewelry to entice excitement and to inspire hope and life, perhaps a dash of green jewelry.

Reading this red jewelry page gave me some thoughts about why red is attractive around Christmas.

Red is often associated with energy, vitality, passion, joy, excitement, vigor and good fortune.

But December is really about snow and thus white. And white is more about calmness, serenity, neutral and other forms of blandness.

To liven up a white Christmas, you'll need the qualities of red to liven things up; to inject excitement and energy.

So, why is Santa dressed in red and white - mostly red? It is all so clear and obvious to me now.

This year, I will like to wear a little more red for the occasion, including of course, some red jewelry.

Olivia read my latest posts on my seasonal (perhaps) interest on red and thought she wants to buy a pair of new red earrings for Christmas partys.

She emailed me the URL of this pair of Sterling Silver Cubic Zirconia CZ Garnet Dangle Earrings and asked if she should go ahead to buy this pair of 'garnet earrings'.

 Olivia, I'm answering your question in this blog:

 First of all, I don't think it's a pair of garnet earrings but a pair of cubic zirconia earrings. The word 'garnet' was used to describe the colour of the zirconia, probably.

I don't see garnets in this hue of red and from the photograph, you can see the cutting is too smooth and perfect for natural stones.

If you are going after the colour and not a particular stone - garnet in this case, then go ahead, Olivia.

Since I'm all enamoured by red now, I thought of looking for red jewelry for Christmas gifts.

I think Aunt Lily may like this.

The red gems are garnets which is one of the gems I appreciate. The ones I have on my jewelry are all in dark red. I don't have any that is as light as the one in the photograph. I wonder if that is really how they look or if it is some sort of lighting effect.

I've got to look closely at garnets the next time I visit jewelry shops to see if I can find garnets in lighter reds.

Hmmm, I have just thought of something. If I will just order one of these rings with garnets I can examine the colours as much as I want to.

Aunt Lily, what's your finger size?

I find myself looking a lot at red stuff lately. There is a growing attraction to this colour.

I wonder if that is the effect of Christmas?

It happened again when I saw this Red Hat Enameled Pin Brooch on this page. Felt quite a strong urge to own it and put it on.

First of all, I've got to say I am hardly an ardent fan of red. I have always found it too strong and too in your face.

It's the same with this brooch. So rich and opulent, especially with all the gold that goes with it. Yet, I would like to enjoy the feel of richness it brings.

Strange. It must be Christmas.

I blame Santa and his coat for this.