The Rockettes And The Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Photo: The New York Times

The Radio City Rockettes have kicked off the holiday season in New York City for the last 91 years. On my walk to the Time & Life building (i.e., work) in the morning, I petted the baby camel parked outside on one of the tiny side streets of Rockefeller Plaza. Golden fur, soft and so clean! The Living Nativity and Parade of the Living Soldiers have been in the Christmas show since its beginning. The Rockettes are a precision dance company famous for their kickline and eye-high kicks.

To be a Rockette, hopefuls must measure between 5'6" and 5'10.5" tall in stocking feet. The dancers must know tap, jazz, modern, and ballet. A total of 80 Rockettes are hired for the Christmas Spectacular, with 2 casts of 40 dancers for the afternoon and evening performances. They rehearse in the basement of St. Paul the Apostle Church (located on West 59th Street beside Lincoln Center) for six hours a day, six days a week for six weeks.

Only 36 dancers appear on stage at one time. The tallest dancers line up in the middle with shorter dancers on the ends. It gives the illusion that each woman is the same height.

The dancers do their own hair and makeup. Each performer wears a French twist, red lips (the shade is MAC Red or MAC Russian Red), and eyelashes.

There are more than 1,100 costumes and pairs of shoes. Their shoes have microphones so the audience can hear the tap dancing during 12 Days of Christmas and Rag Dog.

Other fun facts include the show runs for 90 minutes with no intermission. The Rockettes do more than 160 kicks per show and can perform up to 4 shows a day during the busy season. Since the Christmas Spectacular premiered in 1932, 3,000 women have been Rockettes.

Show tickets are not cheap, but nobody goes home disappointed. Here's a link with tips on how to get a discount on tickets, however, this may be a time when paying the piper is necessary as these suggestions don't look easy. More like hope and luck.🔔

If you wish to know what it's like to auditon and be a New York City Rockette, click the entertaining video below to hear firsthand:

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The Manet and Degas Exhibition Opens At the Met

Left: The Plum - Edouard Manet; Right: In a Cafe (The Absinthe Drinker) - Edgar Degas

A compelling art exhibit opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art running from September 24, 2023 - January 7, 2024. The show brings together 2 huge French impressionist artists who in life were friends, rivals, and sometimes foes: Èdouard Manet (1832 - 1883) and Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917) were nearly the same age.

Racehorses Before the Stands - Edgar Degas

The Races at Longchamp - Edouard Manet

While the Met always has works of these two contemporaries on view from its own collection, this exhibition gathers 160 of their paintings and works on paper, including masterpieces from around the world, to show the two colossi fathers of modern French painters, side by side, illustrating how their careers crossed and diverged. 

Olumpia - Edouard Manet

If you find yourself in Manhattan, be sure to visit the Manet/Degas exhibit. Seeing 160 pieces from 150 institutions and private collectors all in one place is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not to be missed!

Edouard Manet & his wife, Suzanne playing the piano - painted by Edgar Degas as a gift,  Manet hated the painting and caused a rift with his friend by slashing it.

I've not gone myself yet, but will soon! Meanwhile, here's a write-up with more of the beautiful exhibition paintings in The New York Times. When I see it, I'll surely spot favorites!

Years ago as a Congressional intern (in the US Senate), I fell in love with an Edouard Manet painting hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and frequently went to look at it. Right before I left town, I bought the poster, had it framed in New York, and it has been hanging in my living room ever since. I never get tired of looking at it. Click here for a peek. I love Manet's realism and harsh contrasts of light and shadows and Degas' brightness, lightness, and shimmer of color.

Do you have a favorite?

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My Favorite Oscar Dresses 2023

All Photo: Getty images. 1) Margo Robbie looks stunning in a black sequin Armani Prive dress.

Since I select my favorite Oscar dresses every year, there's no need for copy. Here they are as we're watching the show.

2) Malala Yousafza is wearing Ralph Lauren; 3) Hong Chau is in Prada: 4) Michelle Yeoh wears Dior Haute Couture 

5) Nichole Kidman is dressed in Giorgio Armani Prive; 6) Michelle Williams is in custom Chanel: 7) Angela Bassette has on a Moschino dress.

8) Danai Gurira is in a Jason Wu black suede gown.

I tend to pick gowns non-showbiz people dream of wearing, so more glamorous than visionary. Most of us just want to look our pretty-best. Did any of mine make your list?

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The Savvy Shopper Is 14 Years Old Today

Fourteen years ago, I published a blog with no idea of what I was doing, and here I am still writing it. A Facebook friend's birthday is March 3rd, and it's how I remember the blog's beginning. The year 2009 was also the year her daughter was born, and now her little baby, Fiona, is a teenager. Back then, I thought, oh now she has a baby and I have a blog!😳 Although nobody can tell, we adults are also 14 years older.

By design, many of THE SAVVY SHOPPER'S blogs aren't dated so you can catch up by reading old posts and still be informed or entertained. The blog is structured as an electronic lifestyle magazine with a focus on good decision-making while living on a budget. On occasion, I do write about trends or current events with the awareness the posts will date, but then they become a record of our past. 

Many things in life get better with age, wine, cheese, leather shoes, friendships, and hopefully blog posts. 

Thank you, dear readers, for stopping by. I love hearing from you whether by email, in the blog's comments, on Facebook, or on other social media. Let me know what you'd like to see me research and write about in the future, and I'll do my best to cover it! XOXO💋

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A Girl Named Tom Love

This music was posted on YouTube a year before the trio appeared on The Voice.

There are only 2 times while watching NBC's The Voice that I picked the winners of the season during their blind auditions, not because I have a crystal ball and can predict these things, but solely because I loved their voices so much during the blinds, I wanted them to win. Ears don't lie. Girl Named Tom was one of the 2 talents I rooted for all the way through to their win! {Since someone emailed to ask I'll tell you the other singer: Jordan Smith, season 9}.

From the competition - The Battle round.

It turns out this sibling group has uploaded on YouTube lots of entertaining videos, including their music; sometimes lessons introducing viewers to grassroots music around their native Ohio; and sharing stories about touring. 

Touring the USA

Now that I'm a Girl Named Tom fan, I'll enjoy watching their careers rise. I'm happy they have each other on their journey, and can't wait to see what's next for them. Check them out here on the blog, see them while they're playing smaller venues, and keep them on your radar!

Here's a bit more about the sibling group ... Enjoy!🎵♩♪

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Happy New Year 2023

Photo: Wine In Black

Well, another New Year to usher in! Wishing you a year of growth and opportunities with warm, fruitful, and enchanting encounters. Meanwhile, life is 100% better with sparkle in it ...

All the following photos and merchandise are courtesy of Macy's (unsponsored).

The Year

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919)

What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?

The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.

We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.

We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.

We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead.

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of a year.

In life there is always another side. Everything has an opposite: good and bad, light and dark, pleasure and pain, savvy and naive, satisfying and exasperating, exhilarating and boring, up and down, etc, etc. We will encounter each one. As we move through the decades of our lives strive to remember there is always another side.

Forward kindness in 2023, and Happy New Year!🎉

Happy New Year 2019

Happy New Year 2020

Happy New Year 2021

Wishing You A Happy New Year

Blue Everlasting

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Blue has alway been my favorite color. I have never waivered. I suspect there are people like me who early on have a favorite color that never changes, and others whose favorite color fluctuates. 

While I know blue is considered a cool color on the color spectrum while yellow and orange are warm colors, I'm unfamiliar with the psychology behind having a favorite color -- what it says about us -- nor do I know why some people switch a favorite color. I have no idea what it all means. I just know my favorite color is, was, and likely will always be blue.

🔵🔷🔵🟦🔷🔹🟦🔵🔷🔹🟦🔵🔷

How do I know blue is my favorite forever color? Because for some unexplained reason, looking at blue makes me extremely happy! It also calms me. I like wearing blue. I own items that are blue. I will pick blue over another color. Something blue will tempt me more than another color. A blue room catches my eye. Without a doubt, blue is a gorgeous color. I L💙VE it!

Scientists aren't sure why people have color preferences, but there are theories to try to explain it. You can read them here. Since my love of the color blue began as a toddler (according to my memory and parents), I do think the preference for blue is in my DNA, my unscientific theory. :-)))💙

Photo: Lord and Taylor

What's your favorite color? Have you changed it over time?

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I Took The Colbert Questionert

CBS talk show host, Steven Colbert, likes to ask celebrity guests 15 questions. The exercise has taken off with bloggers, and for fun, below are my answers:

1. Best sandwich?

Fried breadcrumb-coated cod fish on rye with lots of ketchup.

2. What's one thing you own that you really should throw out?

A black, Chanel-patterned London Fog raincoat with a worn-out-ripped inner lining. Ralph Lauren took a 2nd glance at it as he jogged past me in Central Park! See, it's still stylish.

3. What is the scariest animal?

Alligator or crocadile, reptiles that drown and eat parts of you.

4. Apples or oranges?

Oranges ... but if I had to pick apples, I'd say a tarty McIntosh or Granny Smith.

 

5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?

Nope, but I attended several meet-and-greets at People magazine where I got autographed swag, and I received a Christmas card from a famous person, and therefore an autograph.

6. What do you think happens when we die?

I don't know with absolute certainty. It requires a leap of faith. Why wait for the next world to perfect this one? Make things right now!

7. Favorite action movie?

The very 1st Die Hard (1989). Saw it in the 20th Century Fox screening room in New York City with a fun co-worker and got pulled into the adventure.

8. Favorite smell?

Rose🌹 in scented soaps, lotions, oils, etc.

9. Least favorite smell?

A gym. I've never survived a trial membership ... due to boredom and that smell.

10. Sparkling or Flat?

Flat.

11. Exercise, worth it?

Absolutely. Whatever you can stick with ... walking, biking, hiking.

12. Most used app on your phone?

YouTube.

13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it? 

Nearly impossible to answer and it's the only question I will cheat on answering. The City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman, writer; Arlo Guthrie, performer. The melody is catchy, and the lyrics have a lot of imagery to occupy my mind. I'd like to have two songs and if allowed, Supersition by Stevie Wonder. Readers, if I can't have both, help me, pick the one? 

14. What number am I thinking of?

Will this go anywhere? How will I know if I'm correct?

15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words?

Life ... curated and with purpose. (Made it up before this questionnaire.) 

If you, readers, want to answer these questions, please do under comments.

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My Favorite Royal Crowns Of Europe

Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire

Today I'm showing my jewelry-loving readers ornate, historical eye candy. My original idea was to feature in detail 10 famous Crowns of western countries, but guess what? In my research, I discovered Matt Baker of UsefulCharts has already compiled them and as usual, his work is excellent. Well, thundering typhoons ... Matt Baker, not only did you beat me by a year, you took away the illusion that my brilliant idea is unique ... the nerve!🙂

So instead, I'll play a game of picking my favorite European royal crowns leaning towards coronation crowns (since many European royal houses have more crowns than we can count). Thanks to Matt Baker's thoroughness, you can watch his video here for the history and details of my 6 favs (plus a few more on his list of 10 famous crowns). As it turns out he did the work for me on this topic!

So here are My 6 Favorite Royal Crowns - I've included not 1, but 2 from the United Kingdom because Queen Elizabeth II uses two. Both have crowned English and British monarchs, and I don't want to break them up. Drum roll, please🥁... here we go:

1) The Crown of Rudolf II, later the Imperial Crown of Austria - Made in 1602 to crown Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, it became the official crown of the newly constituted Austrian Empire in 1804 and today is preserved in the Austrian Imperial Treasury. The crown is pure gold, partially enameled, and scattered with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pearls. Wow, the Ceylon blue sapphire at the top is stunning!

2) Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire - Here is a side view in addition to the front view at the top👆 of the blog. Thought to be made in 962 AD in Western Germany for the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, the crown has 8 hinged 22-carat gold plates of images joined together forming an octagon shape. It has 144 unfaceted stones including sapphires, emeralds, and amethysts, plus pearls. To think that it sat on the head of Charles V on February 24, 1530, along with prior Holy Roman Emperors and we still have it! Nowadays it is kept in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna, Austria.

The Imperial State Crown

3) (a) The Imperial State Crown [of the United Kingdom] - Shown is both the front and back view of the crown, it was selected by Queen Victoria and Edward VII for each of their coronations. Queen Elizabeth II uses the Imperial State Crown to open Parliament. It has 2,901 precious stones, including the familiar Cullinan II diamond, St. Edward's Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Prince's Ruby (which is really a red spinel).💂

St Edward's Crown

(b) St. Edward's Crown (also part of the UK's crown jewels) - The original crown was made in the 11th century, named after the last Anglo-Saxon English King, Edward the Confessor, and remade for Charles II for his 1661 coronation after the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. It's considered the traditional coronation crown of English/British monarchs. George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II used it for their coronations. The heavier of the 2 crowns, it weighs 4.9 pounds and is set with 444 precious and semi-precious gemstones. Oh, a gal who's also a monarch cannot have too many stately crowns, can she?

4) Imperial Crown of Russia - First worn for the coronation of Catherine the Great in 1762 and last worn by Nicholas II in 1896. The crown also sat prominently on a chair when Nicholas opened the Russian Duma in 1906. Thankfully, it survived the Russian Revolution of 1917 and is currently on display at the Kremlin Armory Museum in Moscow, all 2,858 carats (or 4,936 single) diamonds, 75 Indian matte pearls and a 398.72-carat red spinel (once mistaken for a ruby).

5) Crown of Saint Wenceslas - Made in 1347 to use for the coronations of the Kings of Bohemia (modern-day Czechoslavia). Ferdinand V was the last to be crowned wearing it in 1836. The crown is reportedly 22-carat gold. The stones decorating it -- consisting of 19 sapphires, 44 spinels, 30 emeralds, and 1 red elbaite -- are polished and not cut in facets so the crown is old-world vintage, colorful and charming! But a terrible "legend" follows it: "Any usurper who places the crown on his head is doomed to die a violent death within a year." (source: Wikipedia + others) Since I'm a gal just having fun as an admirer, not a usurper, would I be cursed placing it on my head?

I cannot identify all of the above👆 coronation crowns but am happy they survived the centuries of history, and I'd love to visit each and every one of them. If pressured, I could be persuaded to try them on. (No, no I shouldn't ... I couldn't, I shouldn't, please no, no, no ... oh if you insist, alright.👸🏻) How about you? Feel free to name them or reveal your favorites in the comments.

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