Georgous Ruby Jewelry But Small & Pricey

I've had my eye on these Effy rubies and diamonds in 14k rose gold hoops selling on Macy's website for a while because they're classic and gorgeous! I love the rose gold and baguette-cut rubies sandwiched between 2 lines of small round diamonds. But because of the small size of the earrings (mentioned in the reviews) compared to the relatively high price, I don't think we're getting enough for our money even when they go on sale. It isn't the greed of Macy's or Effy (the vendor) in particular that I fault for being so costly. Universally across different retailers, we are now charged more for less than substantial pieces of jewelry. Why?

Lali Jewels (left) and LeVian (right)

Gem-quality rubies (and red gemstones in general) are rarer in nature, therefore rubies tend to cost more per carat than sapphires or diamonds. (Gem-quality emeralds are even rarer so cost more per carat than rubies, sapphires, and diamonds.)

Le Vian (left) and Effy (right)

To be called a ruby the corundum (stone) must be red. Frankly, some of these ruby stones I'm featuring on the blog look more like pink sapphires online, but perhaps they are darker in the retail store? To recite an industry saying, "It's a pink sapphire if you're the buyer and a ruby if you're the seller." Both can be lovely gemstones, just be sure the price matches its color!

The jewelry featured in today's post is beyond cute and so tempting, especially near Valentine's Day. I just can't believe the steep prices of over $1,000 for such slight pieces!😳

Why has dainty jewelry gotten so expensive? One reason is the price of gold is higher so now we're asked to pay through the nose for flimsy pieces of jewelry!

Is it worth it? People must decide for themselves, but if I saved up weeks of salary in exchange for tiny earrings or a thin ring, I'd be disappointed after opening the box regardless of how pretty the design is. Perhaps I'd feel somewhat taken, and clearly, I'd feel I could do more with the money elsewhere.

Macy's in-house brand (left) and Lali Jewels (right)

One way to lower the cost of fine jewelry is to find pieces in 925 sterling silver instead of 14k or 18k gold, suitable for earrings, necklaces, also rings, and bracelets you don't wear daily, i.e., jewelry you don't bang around. Like gold, silver is a precious metal yet softer than gold. I own 2 pairs of earrings (10'' round freshwater pearls and 4-carat lab-grown white sapphires with silver posts. Each durable pair costs under $100.)

Even freshwater pink pearls with tiny marquise-shaped pink tourmaline earrings (below↓) are pricey! Some people love delicate jewelry, but how much are customers willing to pay for it?

Macy's in-house brand (left) and LeVian (right) - all the jewelry is sold on Macy's website

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Friends, is love ... as in the love of gold jewelry blind? Nowadays are you buying or passing on fine jewelry?🤔

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Delvaux Tempète Is The Hermès Bag Alternative

Regardless of what critics say about how Hermès does business or what it charges for its Birkins and Kellys, everybody agrees the quality especially the craftsmanship of Hermès handbags is impeccable. You cannot buy a better-made bag, and the company has no shortage of luxury customers. Despite its cost, a Birken is the world's #1 best-selling luxury bag.

Repeatedly I've disclosed that I'm not a bag maven and would never spend more on a handbag than what I pay at Coach. I love my capsule of Coach bags. They fill my every need for status😛, style, and usefulness around town, but it doesn't mean I don't admire Hermès or other exclusive handbags. Is there anyone who doesn't love touching and examining leather goods, especially from the top-of-the-heap, stellar brands? New York City is a fun place to browse! You get to know fashion and labels whether you buy them or not.

Delvaux Tempèux is a handbag for consumers who want the peerless quality of Hermès without playing the games or paying the price of Hermès. Nowhere near cheap -- at $5,900 -- but far less than a Birken or Kelly and customers don't have to wait years to buy it, nor cultivate a relationship with a sales associate by making prior purchases just to get offered a Birkin handbag that is sometimes not in your color of choice. In fact, Hermès' way of doing business has given rise to a healthy resale market, where Birkens often cost much more than what owners paid for them new.

Founded in 1829 by luggage maker Charles Delvaux, Delvaux is a Belgian fine leather goods company. 

Bar none, the Delvaux Tempèux is a gorgeous handbag made of full-grain calf leather and lining. With a sleek, functional design and gold metal hardware, it has a closure I personally like over Birken's and Kelly's more complicated closures. Unlike a Birken, this bag comes with a crossbody strap.

If you pine for a Hermès handbag without the wait or added expense, the Delvaux Tempèux is the perfect bag for you! Just like the Hermès Birken and Kelly, the leather and craftsmanship of the Delvaux Tempèux is flawless. You can get it in the standard sizes and the usual variety of colors and leathers just like Hermès handbags. Industry people like to call it an "if you know you know" bag. You can call it checking all the boxes without nonsense for a lot less moola.

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Lands' End Swim Solutions 2024

Lands' End has dropped its Swimsuits and Swim Solutions Collection for 2024 and here are a few of my favorites. I love how stylish and flattering the entire collection is. Modest while still showing plenty of skin, the suits are ultra feminine and classy!

The swim solutions are slenderizing and camouflaging with tummy control. Whether the swimsuits are a one-piece swim dress or a two-piece swim shorts paired with a swim t-shirt, each could be its own cover-up after you get out of the water. Without changing or layering, you could leave the beach or pool and walk right into a nearly restaurant dressed for lunch or dinner. Nonetheless, Land's End's extensive 2024 collection includes cover-ups too.

Moreover, many of the swimsuits offer sun protection formulated into the fabric. The swim collection comes in a variety of colors and patterns with sizes in regular, tall, and plus to provide the perfect fit for everybody.

Check back often for online sales on Lands' End's swimwear since the collection may sell out before summer arrives here in the Western Hemisphere. Winter cruise anyone? 

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Aspinal The Alternative to Logo Luxury Bags

Full grain leathers - nappa and cow

Welcome to the world of Aspinal of London, where customers can buy top-notch luxury bags or small leather goods without the hype, games, serial price hikes, or ostentatious logos that are becoming disturbing among a few well-known luxury brands. Merchants who don't value their customers are not our friends. Aspinal of London is!

Aspinal offers high caliber leather(s), expert craftsmanship, and attention to detail with extras for your money; and their bags list for $1000s less than the showy logo brands. 

Furthermore, you are provided with excellent and friendly customer care. Just for signing up for emails, you get an instant 10% savings, and periodically there are sales with up to 70% off. Save your Alexander Hamiltons on fine leather goods. Frankly spending them for exclusiveness is a middle-class illusion according to marketers! Luxury houses design special lines not for public sale for their wealthy clients.

Aspinal's fine leather bags are ultra stylish, sturdy, tasteful, and timeless. Does the quilted black bag with gold hardware on the left remind you of a coveted bag that just announced another price increase (of 15.7%)? The Chanel medium double flap bag now sells for $11,850 (up from $10,200) without offering customers any improvements! In fact, numerous customers claim the quality of the double-flap bag has taken a nose-dive and is no longer worth its asking price.

 Not only is the classic Aspiral bag of superior quality, but it also has a few frills such as 4 golden feet to protect the leather. You get more for less money.

If you are looking for a substantial full-grain leather luxury bag, then look no further than Aspinal of London where you find excellence, a fair shake, and outstanding customer service when you walk in the door, as well as, after you purchase your bag. Take a consumer oath: From now on, support brands who work to be your friends!

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My Clean Sweet Snacks List

Food takes a big bite out of a family's budget and why it's one of the subjects I write about on THE SAVVY SHOPPER. We don't have the choice of not eating, and o'man, does food take up a lot of our time from shopping for it, preparing it, and cleaning up after cooking it. We could save so much time and rid ourselves of a repetitive task if only we could stop eating! But regardless of household income, we must eat to live!

Protein bars are great to keep in the pantry for snacks and quick meals when you have no appetite or don't have time to eat. Sometimes I'll put a protein bar in my bag if an appointment will cause me to miss breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It keeps our blood sugar from plummeting. The problem with protein bars is the ones high in protein and low in sugar and calories can taste chalky and bland. Also, they are not a substitute for real food, i.e. balanced meals, which we should eat 90% - 95% of the time. 

That said, my senior mother will no longer eat her oatmeal in the mornings and overall she's become a very finicky eater, so I supplement her real food with healthy protein bars to ensure she gets sufficient protein, whole grains, and calories. 

1) Clean Protein Bars are the best-tasting protein bars I've found thus far. In addition to their great taste, I like their 15 grains of protein, their 7 grams of fiber from 6.5 grams of whole grains, as well as, their reasonable price at Walmart (which I order online). They are fairly big bars at 190 calories too. While the Clean Protein Bars' simple ingredients are a big plus, at 10 grams of sugar per bar, they are slightly over the margin of what nutritionists recommend. Ideally, protein bars should contain between 5 grams - 8 grams of sugar each, but good luck finding lower-sugar protein bars that taste good enough to eat. 

2) Occasionally I also buy Pure Protein Bars, yet at 20 grams of protein with 1 gram - 2 grams of sugar, they are too dense and chalky tasting to be as satisfying to eat. They don't taste bad, but bars that go over 17 grams of protein nearly always sacrifice texture. We reach for them less often.

With the Clean Protein Bars, I'm ok with the 10 grams of sugar in exchange for relatively high protein, moderate calorie count, and delicious taste. One characteristic to note: The bars fall apart when you eat them, so on the run, take a napkin with you!

3) South Forty Nut Bars - I love everything about this snack except the $3 per bar cost and 260 calories. Both price and calories really add up! Not as high in protein as you'd think, yet they are a nut lover's dream snack made with only a few, simple and clean ingredients. A sometimes treat because we don't love flavorless, monotonous food regardless of how nutritious it is. Perhaps a competitor will figure out how to make nut bars more affordable. Nuts are expensive!

🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠🍪🥠

4) My oatmeal cookies are healthier with less fat and sugar than most, but you do need some sugar to make cookies. They are delicious and a sometimes tasty treat especially if you're trying to get a picky eater to drink a glass of milk. Fast, easy, and cheap to bake from scratch, they contain mainly nutritious ingredients and are a complete protein with egg and nuts.

Makes 20 oatmeal cookies. Just the right amount.

My Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) brown sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup (or substitute graduated sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup Oats (either quick or old-fashioned, uncooked work)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 capful of cider vinegar - Ensures a proper rise.

1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg and pumpkin spice mix 

I add the extras below: 

1 tablespoon of raisins - Keeps the batch moist for extra days.

2 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips - You can also smash up a dark chocolate bar if you lack the chocolate chips.

2 tablespoons of white chocolate chips (Full disclosure: white chocolate isn't chocolate and has no nutritional value.:)

2 tablespoons of walnuts

Directions:

1) Using a fork, stir together the butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup.

2) Toss in the egg and mix in vanilla.

3) Add the oats, all-purpose flour, and baking soda.

4) Stir in the vinegar, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice.

5) Fold in the extras: raisins, nuts, dark chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. At this step, I added 2 extra tablespoons of oatmeal to get a drier dough, so eyeball the consistency.

6) Refrigerate for 20 minutes or in the freezer for less time. Cold cookie dough is easier to handle.

7) I used a small cookie scooper to form and drop the dough on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. 

8) Bake at 375 degrees F for about 10 minutes. I like my oatmeal cookies crispy on the outside yet soft and done on the inside. (13 - 14 minutes makes crispy cookies, a 2nd preference.) Remove from the oven and let cool. Enjoy!

 

Moderation is the key to healthy snacks, which ideally should be no more than 200 calories. Try to make the calories in everything you eat, including sweet snacks, count!

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Lalage Beaumont Is An Impressive Brand

Although I don't own Hermès, Chanel, or Dior handbags or apparel, I often come into contact with them by living in Manhattan. I see the bags and clothes on the streets, and I touch and examine the items in the stores. Pursuing is fun! If I were to spend the princely sum I'd be most tempted by a black medium Lady Dior bag with black or gold hardware, and I lean towards Dior's clothing style. I suppose as much as I love playing with couture merchandise, I don't value it enough to buy it. The markup is tremendous and I'm a value shopper.

Unlike its inspiration, the Hermès' Kelly, this bag comes with a crossover strap.

If you don't wish to withdraw multiple Grover Clevelands for certain designer labels, yet admire fine textiles and top craftsmanship, there are many comparable brands to consider for less. Lalage Beaumont, a UK fashion and accessory studio, launched in 2004, is one of them. The quality and style of the brand are impeccable. The vibe is "classical elegance" combined with modern sophistication, and there is great attention paid to details.

Before striking out under her own name, Lalage, the company's founder and namesake, designed for famous English fashion houses in the 1980s and 1990s. Today her boutiques and stockists are located in the fashion centers of London and cities around the globe. Collections include business suits, evening wear, and special event attire, as well as, measure to wear tailoring. 

Lalage's pieces are expensive though not outlandish. They are timeless and made with top-notch fabrics, skill, and experience to last a lifetime. The retailer believes in sustainability and offers full-service repairs on handbags and clothing over the lifetime of its wear. You'll have your Lalage forever!

The brand is refined luxury at its best without the flashy logos or hype, contrived exclusivity, or inflated profit margins. Savvy Shoppers never support merchants who mistreat their customers!

In short, Lalage is a quality brand! But ... if you don't require this price point of luxury, I recommend being super selective. Plus, there is nothing wrong with mixing high-end pieces like a tailored blazer, trousers, or coat with lower-end pieces, i.e., everything else! 

Hermès, Chanel, and Dior who? Nowadays we have plenty of choices. Nobody has to go broke to dress well!

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TheraFlow Foot Massager

The pain of plantar fasciitis is caused by inflammation after tiny tears ensue in the plantar fascia, the tissue that connects our heels to our toes. These tiny tears are very slow to heal.

TheraFlow is a reflexology foot massager that promises to relieve pain, which can be intense. Massaging the bottom of our feet eases tension, loosens knots, and reduces stress. But the most important benefit of massage therapy is improving blood flow which is thought by doctors to promote healing. As it turns out, our legs below our knees are slower to heal because they receive less blood circulation than areas of the body in closer proximity to our hearts.

I can support trying this therapy because it feels great and the device is inexpensive. You'll see it as high as $50 but as cheap as $17.99 on Amazon and in family stores such as Walmart. The massager is lightweight, compact, and portable. I also think the low-tech method of sliding your feet back and forth with muscle power is all you really need -- it's not strenuous nor tiring to do it, so there's no need to buy a pricier electronic device that does the rotations to massage your feet for you. The 1st 4 wheels give you a gentler message and the 5th wheel with rounded wooden spikes is a tad more intense, like acupuncture without piercing the skin.

I doubt the TheraFlow Foot Massager is a miracle holistic cure, however, I say take relief however/wherever you can get it, and hope it promotes faster healing! What do we have to lose but $17.99 for a cheap feel-good foot massage?

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Spanish Tortilla Using Leftovers

Wow, I turned leftovers into a Spanish omelet a/k/a a Spanish tortilla and it was scrumptious. If you have more people to feed you can double the eggs I used and toss in another potato as the dish will be much the same. I didn't want to eat leftovers of my leftovers so only used one potato and 4 eggs. The dish is fast and easy ... cooked and baked in a single 10 1/2" cast iron skillet. Here's what you do:

Spanish Tortilla

Ingredients

Drizzle of olive oil

small onion, sliced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1 large potato, sliced thin (I didn't peel mine.)

1 large fresh mushroom, sliced

1/4 cup red and green peppers

1/2 Jalapeno pepper, minced

1 cup beef, diced (I had leftover top-round beef, you can also use ham or sausage or chicken.)

1/2 cup of butternut squash, cooked and cubed

4 eggs

Cajun seasoning to taste

A sprinkle of Herbs de Provence

Directions

1) Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a 10 1/2-inch cast iron skillet. Brown the potatoes, onion, celery, and mushroom.

2) While they are browning toss in the red and green peppers and minced jalapeno pepper, if using, to let them grill a tad.

3) Add the beef (or ham or chicken or sausage) distributing it evenly in the pan.

4) Lay in the cooked butternut squash (or another leftover vegetable).

5) After the meat and vegetables warm a bit and the potatoes and onions are brown, crack and scramble 4 eggs in a separate bowl then pour them over the other ingredients in the pan. Salt and pepper and spice the dish as you like it.

6) Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes. The potatoes will need the baking to get tender. Remove from the oven and flip it over into a serving plate. Cut into wedges.

I'll be making more Spanish tortillas for dinner this year.
What a great one-pan meal when you don't have the time to let pizza dough rise. Likewise, a Spanish Tortilla is less work than making a quiche.

I love how versatile the dish is! After you grill the onions and potatoes in a little olive oil you can add nearly any vegetable (carrots, asparagus, etc.) or meat (ham, sausage, chicken, etc.) to it. Or not! You could eat it plain. Who knew grilled potatoes, onions, and eggs are sooo delicious! Spaniards and Mexicans, that's who! I could eat either cuisine every night of the week!

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Trendy Rapunzel Hair 2024

 

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Golden Hair

Have you noticed how long celebrities are wearing their hair lately? I've noticed the trend for several months on actresses of all ages. Sunday's Golden Globes showcased both beautiful gowns and extremely long locks. The hair of some attendees is so thick and long they must be wearing hair extensions and/or hair pieces. Call me naive but it was only after the death of Michael Jackson in 2009 that I caught on to the fact that show biz people wear hair extensions and pieces, as well as, false eyelases, and their lush hair and eyelashes are often not natural. Before my epiphany, I never really thought about it.

Recent photos of Brooke Shields, Rosamund Pike, Amy Adams, and Rihanna. Globe photos: Top - Jennifer Lawrance, Bottom - Taylor Swift and Margot Robbie

Occasionally I've sported long locks myself, and I know longer hair tends to be easy to style, but you spend more time conditioning it to maintain its health and luster. I also kept it trimmed for a clean line free of split ends.

Although I've had long hair, it's never been Rapunzel length which I think is rarely possible without the help of hair extensions, not to mention stylists and a slew of hair products and accessories.

Soon after this (not the greatest quality) photo was taken, I cut my hair to shoulder length. Shoulder-length hair isn't necessarily easier to maintain, but it is lighter, bouncer, and you don't find long strands of hair all over your home -- the annoyance and reason I usually cut it shorter. Argh, I've never had hair any longer than in this photo.

Sarah Jessica Parker in Elle magazine

What do you think of the trendy very long Rapunzel hair length in the media? Stylish or too much of a good thing?

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