u/bigoleravioli

Hi everyone :) I'm 25f and looking to build my own collection of jewelry. Most of what I have is low-quality, tarnishing, costume jewelry from over the years and i would really like to start my "big girl" collection, for lack of a better term. Can anyone recommend any brands that sell solid metal pieces (I mostly wear silver and sterling silver, but any solid material is fine, too) that are affordable? I'm a young lady lol so...not a ton of money to be spending but enough where I can save up for quality pieces if I want them. For example, the most I'd want to spend on a piece is about $150-200 if not cheaper -- I believe in buying it nice or buying it twice and I'm tired of buying new jewelry that ends up tarnishing after a few years.

Open to different styles, just need brands. Thank you so much!!

Hi everyone :) I'm 25f and looking to build my own collection of jewelry. Most of what I have is low-quality, tarnishing, costume jewelry from over the years and i would really like to start my "big girl" collection, for lack of a better term. Can anyone recommend any brands that sell solid metal pieces (I mostly wear silver and sterling silver, but any solid material is fine, too) that are affordable? I'm a young lady lol so...not a ton of money to be spending but enough where I can save up for quality pieces if I want them. For example, the most I'd want to spend on a piece is about $150-200 if not cheaper -- I believe in buying it nice or buying it twice and I'm tired of buying new jewelry that ends up tarnishing after a few years.

Open to different styles, just need brands. Thank you so much!!

Hi everyone,

It's come to a point in my health where I will most likely need to start using semaglutides for minor weight loss and cardiovascular protection, and I'm a bit nervous. What are some things you wish you knew -- either good or bad -- before you started using semaglutides? Just trying to get a full picture understanding before committing to this.

Hi everyone. Ive found that doing streaks with people keeps me more on track for staying consistent but none of my friends use Duolingo. Would anyone be interested in being mutuals on there? Thank you!! I can DM the follow link or you can look me up :) same username as Reddit.

Hi everyone,

So I found my biological parents a little while ago. I have reached out to my biological mother (I don't have bio dad's contact info) and I haven't gotten a response. I have two half-sisters that I am considering reaching out to. Here is where I'm hung up...the search illuminated a pretty glaring fact: my bio parents went to great lengths to keep my adoption a secret. My bio mom didn't know she was pregnant until 6 months in and they kept it, the labor, and the adoption a secret from their 19y.o daughter (and my guess, from the rest of the family). They made it very clear to the agency that they didn't want to be contacted. They didn't even go back to get the pictures of me and letter that my adoptive parents sent to the agency even though they were notified.

My concern is that if the family still doesn't know, there is obviously a real risk of me being an absolute nuke to the family system...I don't know how close they are but it's a possibility that there could be real conflict over this. I feel almost selfish for me doing something like that sheerly out of emotionality, curiosity, etc. But then I think a few things:

1. It's been 25 years...maybe they told family members, maybe they've softened to the idea, etc.
2. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be brought into this world as some dirty little secret, and all of this was their decision, not mine and I feel like it's my turn to make a decision
3. I have every right to exist a little bit loudly and to be curious and to try, even knowing what I know. It's not my fault they lied to their kids and there could be a possibility that my siblings would want to know me.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I just feel weird and guilty for wanting to do this, but I also don't. I just keep going back and forth. What do you all think? What would you do in my position? Thanks.

Hi everyone, I found my biological parents a few weeks ago. Most everyone knows in my family and friend group. It's actually become a pretty emotionally traumatic experience, and the issue I'm running into is people kinda treating it like entertainment. I'm getting a lot of "that's so cool, this is so exciting, im so happy for you!!" meanwhile it's been giving me panic attacks and ive completely lost my appetite. I can understand why they're doing it....I think it comes from a place of not understanding the gravity of it. But im just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I feel weird being bothered by their reactions.

Edit: it was a closed adoption and i never thought id get any of the info i have received. i havent actually met them, i have tried contacting them and am waiting for a response, if I ever get one. I have just learned a lot and it's been a very emotionally volatile experience because its brought up 25 years of unresolved shit only to expose even more unresolved shit lol.

How do you differentiate what needs to be medicated/treated vs. what are long-term, innate traits of the self? I assume it would depend on level of functioning and daily distress with the presented symptom or tendency, but how would you determine: "this thing I'm experiencing is just part of my make up" vs "I need to have a conversation about meds w a doctor about this"? If something is part of a personality but causes distress, do you medicate anyways? I dont know if this is too vague but I wonder where the line is between letting yourself be vs. needing to tackle something more directly. Not asking for medical advice btw just want to know your thoughts on where this boundary is.

Hi y'all. So....

I've found my birth parents. They've lived 15 mins away from me my whole life. My good friend who I've spent a lot of time with at her home, lives 3 mins away from them by foot. Mine was a closed adoption, I never expected to know anything, ever. But now I am on the precipice of knowing everything, or worse, more nothing. I care more about building a relationship or getting to know my biological mother but I am beyond terrified of the Pandora's box before me. I am afraid of being rejected, I am afraid of being underwhelmed or even disappointed by them, I am afraid I will not live up to how she may have imagined me (if she thought about me at all). I thought when this day came I would feel excited and happy. But now I just feel everything.

I know I'd like to write her a letter or send her an email. I just don't know what to say. I dont want to scare her away by being too emotionally forward but I also dont want to make it feel sterilized.

Does anyone have any tips? I know theres no perfect way to go about this but I am so beyond knowing where to begin.

Mine's "it's colder than a well digger's ass" aka it's extremely cold outside lol. Or "all hat, no cattle" which basically refers to someone who is show-boaty/performative.

Hi y'all. Apologies in advance for how long this is.

I'm 25f and I'm only recently looking into adoption trauma. I was given to an adoptive family when I was 1 day old, and it's a closed adoption. I don't know anything about my biological family, and have no access to that information. I've been in and out of therapy for years because I seem to struggle with the same things: identity, self-esteem, anxiety, attachment problems, emotional dysregulation, and most of all......family issues and belonging.

My adoptive parents are divorced, have been since I was 6. I have so many issues with them generally as people but ive also not known anyone else as my parents. Ive always been clothed, fed, had a roof over my head and sacrifices have been made for my education. All in all, my life has been so much easier than many other people and probably than if I hadn't been put up for adoption. I grew up physically comfortable.

But emotionally, thats an entirely different story. Aside from certain emotional burdens I've carried from my family that I feel are common regardless of adoption, I have always felt a giant, dark theme hanging over all of it:

I don't belong with them, I am not one of them. I don't look, sound, talk, act, believe, think, feel or go about the world the way they do. I have always felt different then them. Always. And in many ways they have othered me (they subconsciously praise me for the ways we're alike, and criticize me for the ways we aren't, even if our differences aren't inherently bad. Because it is different, it is other and foreign). I have always felt like they've never quite known how to "deal" with me, and that if they were able to turn back the clock and have biological children, they would.They have gaslit me and invalidated my constantly when ive tried to discuss these feelings.

In sum, there's a complete personal, emotional, moral, and familial (in that, so to speak, my heart and soul struggles to recgonize them as my own "kind" for lack of a better word) detachment. And it has lead to significant feelings of resentment and loneliness that feels deeper than I can reach within myself to even begin to try to fix.

This is where I think adoption trauma comes in. I've never physically gone without, but emotionally and spiritually I feel like I have been chronically starving for this ambiguous thing i can't name because I lost the first bond I ever knew. And while I know my adoptive parents had good intentions, I think adopting was entirely self-serving motivationally. And i can't fucking stand them for that, and I hold strong resentment because I feel like somewhere deep down inside, wr are strangers playing pretend family.

Im so sorry for the long post, I just wanted to see if there were any adoptees out there who have felt the same thing. I don't know anyone else who's adopted so I have no....reference points or community for potential understanding. Thank you for reading and any insight.

❤️