What I’m Choosing to Say
YES to in 2026

The little YES in the photo above is hand-stamped into my customizable Cancerian (Keepsake) Ring. Choose the letters, numbers or short word that means something to you, and we’ll stamp it by hand to create a piece that feels distinctly yours.

If personalized jewelry speaks to you, you can also find more customizable, hand-stamped designs in our Petite Symbols Collection, where small details are designed to carry a whole lot of meaning.

January always asks us to pause, even if just briefly, and take stock. I’ve never been one for loud resolutions or rigid, all-or-nothing goal lists. Instead, I like to think about how I want the year to feel and what I want to invest in, both tangibly and otherwise. For me, 2026 has been about intention over urgency, quality over quantity, and becoming more conscious of where I put my time, energy and attention.

Now that we’re well into the year, I’ve been thinking about those intentions again. Some have evolved, some have become even clearer, and others have required a little pruning along the way. But the underlying question still feels useful: What am I saying yes to?

Saying Yes to Things That Are Made to Last

I think about this often when I’m designing rings and stacks for CMD. A stack is so much more than a group of rings that happen to look good together, although I obviously love that part. Over time, those layers can become markers of where you’ve been, who you’ve loved, what you’ve celebrated and the versions of yourself you’ve grown through.

Jewelry may be small, but it can carry an incredible amount of meaning. A ring becomes part of your body and your daily rhythm. It gets scratched, worn, stacked differently and lived in. That’s exactly what I want for the things we make.

It’s also why I believe so deeply in buying fewer things that are thoughtfully designed and made well enough to stay with you. CMD jewelry isn’t meant to be replaced every season. It’s made with care and intention from the start so that it can change alongside you, collecting its own history as you collect yours.

Saying Yes to Building Slowly

There’s something about building a ring stack that feels a lot like building a life. You don’t have to know what the finished version looks like before you begin.

Maybe you start with one ring you absolutely love. A few years later, you add another to mark a birthday, a new job, a wedding, a loss, a fresh start or simply because you found something that felt unmistakably like you. Eventually, what began as one piece becomes a collection with a history.

I love helping people build that way. There’s no rush to finish the stack, and frankly, I’m not sure a great stack is ever really finished. Your jewelry can keep evolving because you keep evolving.

Saying Yes to Making Space

One of my biggest intentions for this year has been creating more space in my life and work. Not empty space for the sake of it, but enough room to notice what is actually working, what still feels meaningful and what I may have outgrown.

After more than two decades of running CMD, I know how easy it is to believe that growth always means adding something. More designs, more projects, more places to be, more things to squeeze into the calendar. I’m learning that sometimes growth asks for the opposite. It asks you to edit, refine and make room for the things that deserve more of you.

That has meant paying closer attention to my intuition, protecting time for creativity, traveling when I feel called to go somewhere, and giving myself permission to reconsider things simply because they no longer fit the way they once did.

Saying Yes to the People and Places That Fill Me Up

I’ve also been thinking a lot about connection. Some of the best parts of this work happen when I’m sitting across from someone at The Ring Bar, hearing the story behind a piece of jewelry they’ve carried for decades, helping someone create a stack that somehow feels exactly like them, or reconnecting with a longtime CMD customer while I’m traveling.

Those exchanges remind me that jewelry has never really been the whole story. The people attached to it are.

So I’m saying yes to more of that. More time with the people I love. More travel. More conversations that go somewhere interesting. More creative collaboration. More opportunities to meet customers in person, whether that happens at The CMD Shop & Studio in Asbury Park, during one of our Open Hours or Pop-Up Events, or somewhere unexpected along the road.

Still Saying Yes

When I originally wrote this in January, I ended by saying, “Here’s to building a year, and a stack, that truly supports you.” Eight months later, I think I like that idea even more.

A good life probably isn’t built through one enormous decision. Neither is a great collection of jewelry. Both take shape through the things we repeatedly choose to keep close, the things we eventually decide to release, and the new possibilities we’re willing to make room for.

There is still plenty of 2026 left. I’m still figuring out what deserves a yes, what needs a no, and what I’m simply not sure about yet. Maybe that’s the whole point.

Here’s to choosing thoughtfully and leaving enough room to surprise ourselves.

With gratitude,
Colleen ✨

© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: January 13, 2026
Updated: August 24, 2026