Pretty Gnoce Jewelry Can Be Personalized

All photos are from Gnoce's website here

While I appreciate luxury handbags, shoes, and apparel, it's fine jewelry that makes my heart beat a little faster. Today I'm collaborating with a jewelry company because I love everything about it -- its quality, price, and customer service. Gnoce Jewelry was founded in 2015 "with the idea that jewelry should be fun and inspire happiness," and WOW, do they deliver!

The jeweler aims to capture and celebrate life's special moments and to achieve this, it designs a wide range of ultra-cute styles and personal pieces including necklaces, pendants, bracelets, charms, earrings, and rings to suit every customer and special occasion. 

Conceived, developed, and crafted in-house, Gnoce's 2,000+ pieces are well made (on par with Pandora) yet by far more affordable! With a wise business plan, the company owns its own sustainable factories and sells directly to consumers. Much of its stock including all of the charms that go on a choice of bracelets is made of 925 sterling silver, a precious metal for fine jewelry. Gnoce charms can be further personalized with engravings or photos or by selecting name necklaces. 

IMHO sterling silver jewelry is a luxury item worth the splurge because it endures. With care, the pieces will last a lifetime.

Gnoce has 10+ collections of jewelry to fit every imaginable taste making it very easy to find your own style or to tell your own story with hand-painted and beautiful meaningful or playful charms.

Gnoce's 925 sterling silver pieces are extremely budget-friendly and adorable, making fine jewelry accessible to nearly everyone. In addition to reasonable starting price points, Gnoce offers attractive deals such as buy 2, get 2 charms free, and recurring sales. This makes gift giving of fine jewelry easy on the wallet, and you won't go broke collecting the charms! 

Right now there's a hot 🎃Halloween Sale👻 to check out, including Gnoce's🩸SAW Billy-themed Collection🩸while supplies last. But should the Halloween inventory sell out, I don't need a crystal ball to know Savvy Shoppers will find something else just as wearable. Great attention is paid to the details. Everything is so darn cute, for sure, whatever you pick won't stay in a box!🎁

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Buy Pinalen Instead of Pine-Sol

During COVID I re-discovered Pine-Sol, a household cleaner that kills 99% of germs on surface areas and is also used to clean grease and heavy stains. It was invented in 1929 by Harry A. Cole of Mississippi using pine oil as an ingredient. In 2016 Cloxox, its manufacturer, removed pine oil from the formula sold in stores to save money.

Since today's in-store Pine-Sol doesn't contain pine oil I switched to Pinalen, an equivalent cleaner that still contains pine oil.

Pinalen is comprised of water, pine essential oil, sodium laurate, sodium oleate, dodecanoic acid, sodium salt, isopropyl alcohol, and benzenesulfonic acid.

Along with its disinfecting and cleaning powers, I appreciate the pine scent. I put a few drops inside my toilet bowl several times a week to keep it clean, as well as, fresh smelling.

Although I clean my toilet with hydrogen peroxide, Pinalen is said to be safe for all parts of the toilet. It won't damage the internal mechanisms nor remove the paint from a toilet seat. The reason I use hydrogen peroxide is to skip the follow-up step of rinsing with clean water. I use a few drops of diluted Pinalen to soak only inside the toilet bowl then brush and flush. (Btw: mostly I mop my floors with white vinegar and water, but every so often, I mop with Pinalen diluted in water or even bleach and water for heavy-duty cleanings. Afterwards, I'll rinse with water. When mopping with vinegar you can just let the floor dry without rinsing.)

So now I have to contradict Clorox. Although the makers of Pine-Sol say it won't hurt your toilet tank, I wouldn't add it to the tank regularly (only if you need to clean a dirty or moldy tank initially) because the disinfectant and its equivalent cleaners are acidic. The rubber pieces in the tank's cistern will erode, causing the flushing mechanism to malfunction. It won't hurt used infrequently, but that's why I only put a few drips in just the toilet bowl.

In addition to bathrooms, Pinalen cleans laundry, kitchen counters and appliances, floors, walls, garages, and backyard fixtures. 

It's less expensive than Pine-Sol. I buy the one-gallon (128 fl oz or 3.785L) concentrated size, then dilute it with water (a 50/50 ratio) in a spray bottle to clean. Less product is required in a bucket of water to mop a floor. Mix 1/8 cup of solvent with 1 gallon of water. Available at Walmart, Walgreens, and Amazon. Pine oil smells amazing though perhaps it's not to everyone's liking.

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Old Navy's Sweater Dress Is Perfect For A Breezy Home

My mom lives in a warm house but due to high ceilings, it can get a little chilly in winter. Old Navy's Sweater Dress is perfect to wear during the colder months so her home's thermostat doesn't have to rise above 72 degrees F, keeping her gas and electric bills reasonable (though not cheap).

In her senior years, too many layers can get too heavy and cumbersome, restricting her moments or causing her to fall. This is a one-piece, knitted dress that wraps around her like a soft warm sweater. It's 56% cotton, 25% polyester, and 16% nylon. I bought her the dress last year in a light tan color and hoped Old Navy would bring it back this year in new colors ... which they did! She loves wearing shades of red, so I ordered her dress in cherry bark.

I highly recommend buying clothes for seniors at Old Navy, and unless there's a medical reason, skip those senior apparel websites. They tend to be greatly overpriced and unfashionable. If you dress old in garments resembling sweats and pajamas, you start to feel ancient and feeble. My mother likes fashion and wants to maintain the same dignity she had at ages 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, etc. 

Old Navy offers cute comfortable clothing that looks appropriate for every decade of a person's life. The sweater dress isn't too loose or skin-tight, but just right to flatter most body types. Moreover for everybody, they are easy to put on and take off, as well as, to care of by machine washing and drying them.

With a promotion code, I just spent $22 on her new lovely durable sweater dress. It sure beats paying $70+ for a sweats-pajama-house dress that nobody ever called fashionable!

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b. fresh Deodorant Smells Great

Scents - Grapefruity Good, Roses All Day, Coconutty Vanilla, Lush Lavender

If you've been following THE SAVVY SHOPPER for a length of time, you may remember our discussion about underarm personal care products. Sweating is the body's natural way of cooling itself, and as it turns out, eliminating this necessary function with antiperspirants may not be desirable according to some recent medical studies.

Let's review why: Antiperspirants stop wetness by clogging sweat glands, while underarm deodorants prevent odor (not wetness) with bacteria-fighting ingredients. But what antiperspirants also do is make you sweat more so you may be better off using deodorants. Going 1 - 4 weeks (because everybody's body chemistry is different) without using antiperspirants lets your body rebalance itself, and surprisingly you should end up sweating less. What's more, the ingredients in traditional antiperspirants are also raising enough concern to pay attention.

B. Fresh deodorant is a T.J. Maxx find that smells fantastic! Aluminum-free, it is made with a blend of natural plant and mineral odor-eliminating ingredients including rose flower extract, bergamot leaf oil, zinc ricinoleate, lavender oil, orange peel oil, and lysmeral. 

I bought the Roses All Day scent to pamper my senior mother after her bath. She does smell like roses all day! It's a good, clean scent ... strong, yet not artificial or overwhelming.

I also like the shea butter and hyaluronic acid in the product for a smooth application, especially restorative after a shave.

Photo: Getty

IMHO, once you pay for a product and walk out of a store, ain't nobody's business how you use it! In our family, we may end up using it as a perfume on our arms, neck, behind our ears, etc, etc. to smell awesome like roses all day long!🌹

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The Kingdom of Württemberg's Royal Jewels

Crown of Wüttemberg, Landesmuseum in Stuttgart, Germany

Our spotlight today is on the royal jewels of the Kingdom of Württemberg. The Kingdom of Württemberg was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918 (ended by World War I with Germany's defeat). 

The Ruby and Diamond Suite

Today the area is known as Baden-Württemberg. It is 13,804 square miles (or 35,752 square km), which is 1/3 the size of Kentucky in the USA. From 1495 - 1805, the territory located in Southwest Germany was called the Duchy of Württemberg and from 1495 to 1268, Württemberg was a county in the former Duchy of Swabia. So suffice it to say that Württemberg has a long history. What's more, Württemberg was a cultural center in the 19th century, and its major city, Stuttgart, still exists today.

Diamond Jewels including the Wüttemberg Diamond Wedding Diadem (top left)

A majority of European royal families including those in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Denmark, and Belgium are descendants of the House of Württemberg (founded in 1081) because until recently royals only married other royals.

The Württemberg Pink Topez Parure

After World War I toppled centuries-old dynasties (in 1918), the German kings, princes, and grand dukes lost their titles and realms, yet were allowed to keep their castles and wealth including their magnificent jewelry. As time passed into the modern era, sometimes these jewels were auctioned off to raise money; or through marriages and/or purchases ended up on the heads of Europe's surviving royal families. With the fall of more European dynasties at the end of World War II (in 1945), additional royal family jewels were sold sometimes to anonymous rich buyers, and the whereabouts of some of these historic pieces became unknown. 

The Diamond and Natural Pearl Devant de Corsage was created by Emil Biedermann in 1865

Many of the Württemberg jewels featured in today's blog came up for auction at Christie's in 2023, each selling for a hefty sum. You may wonder what makes royals sell their dynastic jewelry: 1), They may need the money for living expenses; 2) Without state functions to host or attend, they don't need such ornate pieces as a sign of power as in the past; 3) Since they no longer have the same wealth or power as when they lorded over a territory, it makes sense to downsize (i.e., no insurance or security to worry about.)

Part of the Sapphire and Diamond Collection.

Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, oh, my, what pretty eye candy! Which pieces are your favorites? Mine are the diamond jewels -- the necklace and the diamond wedding diadem which I'd wear to something even if I had to create the event! Of course, I love the rubies and sapphires too but think the diamond necklace is more wearable. 

Natural Pearl and Diamond Pearl Brooch (left) and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (right) wearing the Wüttemberg Ornate Natural Pearl Tiara with a 5-string matching Natual Pearl Necklace and Earrings for the state dinner in Japan in 1914.

Go to Christie's here and here for specific details about some of the Württemberg jewelry sold in May 2023.

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When You Don't Want To Waste Wine - Single Glass Solutions

This morning I watched a segment on the Today Show about an entrepreneur who shares a dilemma I often have. Occasionally I make a dinner that requires a glass of wine, and I don't want to open and waste a whole bottle of wine to drink a glass of wine so I go without. This entrepreneur produces single-serving wine -- 5 fluid ounces bottled, and all the morning news correspondents acted like she just reinvented the wheel. I thought nobody is saying what this brand's single glass of wine costs. I decided not to mention the brand because a Google search revealed that sure enough, at $6.99 - $8.99 a glass, consumers are paying the same price for a glass of wine as they would for a bottle of good Spanish, South American, or California wine so in reality what problem is being solved? Like bottled water, it's also creating more packaging waste for the environment, no?

Photo: iStock

THE SAVVY SHOPPER came up with a simple more cost-effective solution a few years back: 1) Open the bottle, 2) enjoy your single glass with dinner (or two if you're cooking for two), 3) re-cork the wine, and 4) sometime later on, turn the remainder of the bottle of wine into sangria. Use my recipe or yours! If the wine has gone flat the sangria will still taste delicious.

Even if you didn't finish the wine as sangria, you could use the leftover wine to make gravy for beef/chicken dinners.

Pass on buying one glass of wine at a time unless your company is paying for a mini bar in a hotel or the cost is less and not the same as an entire bottle of wine.

For frequent wine drinkers, there is an innovative gadget on the market, the Coravin, that (1) pierces the cork of a wine bottle, (2) lets you pour a glass, (3) you remove the Caravin to reseal the cork, and (4) the rest of the wine stays good to drink months later as no air can get into the bottle to flatten the flavor of the wine. The Coravin is an expensive device and therefore an investment that only pays off if you drink enough wine. Unfortunately, the solution for drinking in moderation and not wasting wine doesn't come cheap. This leaves the door open for another clever entrepreneur to start cracking on a truer cost-efficient and eco-friendly solution! We'll wait ...

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Tiffany's Creative Force AT The Met

All photos: Carolyn

Recently my friend, Carolyn, and I returned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Edward C. Moore Exhibition. As we learned from the Met, "Mr. Moore was the creative force behind the magnificent and inventive silver produced by Tiffany & Co. during the 2nd half of the 19th century."

"His is a tale of phenomenal artistry, ambition, innovation, and vision. In his drive to study and create beauty, Moore sought inspiration in diverse cultures and geographies." 

"He amassed a vast collection of artworks from ancient Greece and Rome, Asia, Europe, and the Islamic world with the aim of educating and sparking creativity among artists and artisans in the United States, particularly those at Tiffany."

"He believed American design could be transformed through engagement with historical and international exemplars, and his collection not only revolutionized Tiffany's silver but also came to influence generations of artists and craftspeople." 

Upon Moore's death in 1891, his family donated his collection of 2,000 objects and 500 books to the Met so they would be available to everyone. This exhibit presents 180 of the silver objects he created or that were created under his direction.

Before leaving the Met, Carolyn and I went up to visit a few VanGogh's. Everybody's favorite, the Impressionist gallery, is always a must-see at the museum!

On our way to the rooms, we took in other artists exhibited on the Met's 2nd floor. Extra points if you guess whooo?

Thanks, Carolyn, for giving me permission to publish your photos and for spending a lovely afternoon with me at the Met!🎨

Answers: 1) Frans Hals, 2) the great El Greco, and 3) Jacques-Louis David

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Homemade Applesauce

I turned a refrigerator crisper drawer full of apples into applesauce. We like apples but for an unknown reason didn't eat the apples. I gave some away and still had plenty of them left -- Gala, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Fuji, Baldwin, and Empire, as far as I could tell as I didn't select them. {I kept one Granny Smith (tart apples are my favorite) for eating.} While I didn't care for peeling and corking all those apples, I'm surprised and delighted by how delicious my homemade applesauce turned out! Here is my impromptu recipe:

Homemade Applesauce

Ingredients:

8 oz (1 cup) apple juice (without added sugar)

At least 5 lbs of apples (guessing, I used a crisper drawer full) - peeled and corked - just fill up a 10 oz - 12 oz stockpot.

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

1/4 each teaspoon of ground and fresh nutmeg

1 tablespoon of ground pumpkin pie spice (substitute ground cloves and allspice if you wish.)

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon

A squeeze of lime (or lemon)

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

A sprinkle of Stevia

I tossed in cinnamon sticks (just because I had them. What am I going to do with them otherwise?)

Optional: Frankly I don't think it was needed, but I poured in a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring because it was in the cabinet. Cooking is like chemistry, and it's fine to experiment. Use my recipe as a guide - taste and spice to your liking.

Directions:

1) I threw the peeled apples into a big pot, followed by the apple juice, spices, and dark brown sugar.

2) On the stovetop I simmered the mixture on medium heat for one hour, let it cool a bit, then mashed it with a potato masher. You could also puree the cooked apples in a food processor or blender. I like a bit of texture.

3) After it cools completely, dip it into air-tight containers. Makes about 7 cups of applesauce.

We ate a still-warm portion in a bowl after dinner. Later I filled and put 2 16-ounce containers in the refrigerator and 1 16-ounce container in the freezer. I hear frozen applesauce is delicious partially thawed like a homemade slushy, which we're trying next!

Waste, not, want not! We won't have any trouble polishing off our apples as homemade applesauce.

Happy Autumn, Folks!🍎🍁🍂

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