Earlier this summer, I treated myself to this Kiel James Patrick nautical rope bracelet. I’d been wanting one for over a year, and finally forced myself to choose one of the three or four eight options on my wish list. Since it arrived, I’ve hardly taken it off (other than to sleep, shower and head to the beach) all summer. I held off on posting about it because I’ve been through many a braided bracelet in my life, and I wanted to make sure this one held up. Three months later, it’s still going strong.

When I was a kid, each summer we’d spend a week or so in Long Beach Island with family friends we didn’t see very often. One year, three of us girls used our own money to purchase braided rope bracelets as a reminder of the days we spent together jumping waves and collecting sand crabs on the beach. (I can hardly remember, but something tells me those three bracelets came from The Parlor at Bay Village.) After vacation was over, I wore mine as long as I could, well into the fall, until it started to unravel and I put it away in a box for safekeeping.

I bought a few more over the years. Those braided rope bracelets were little pieces of summer I could keep with me long after beach days were just a distant memory. Now, I’ve finally got a grown-up version to keep the tradition going. Autumn may be on its way, but my KJP bracelet is staying right here on my wrist, and I might even buy another one to keep it company. =)