Happy Halloween 2020

Photo: The Courier-Journal - Bon-a-parte is wearing his mask!

Alas, there are changes for Halloween in 2020. Listen up, all ye shadowy friends!

🕸

Manhattan's town crier has announced: Everybody must stay home this year, inside their own lairs, webs and protective bubbles instead of attending bone-chilling parties and parades with the usual crowds of undead and prey, um costumed people.

Many fiends are unhappy little troopers since they wait all year long for Fright Night and look forward to crossing fateful paths with fresh blood as darkness falls!

But with droplets of  COVID in the air, what can a gargoyle or Grim Reaper do? But go about life and find festive ways to pass the twilight hours in one's milieu.

Time to clean rats out of chimneys and tend to bat projects at home! Thankfully Barton the Bartender, an essential worker, can still offer you bottles of wine at the neighborhood wine shop! Reds are the best sellers at this location! Bring your own bag this year, or you will be charged 5 cents!😱

All Manhattan photos & video shot by Debra Turner as she took a walk.

Family members sit outside of a local haunt to quench their thirst with fewer pedestrians out and about.

Even in a pandemic life has a veneer of normalcy. There remain pumpkins, eye of newt and tongue of dog to fetch at the local farmers' market.👅

Pets must be walked, and couples dress to take an evening stroll.🧛‍♂️

This Halloween, ghouls who are spending more time indoors, can try on uncured heads, or hang upside down to relieve their newfound boredom.👻

           

Dry Bones play peek-a-boo and learn new skills. Face coverings are mandatory to have your fortune told!💀

With no treat-or-treaters to come around this year, phantoms billed as the Cryptkeepers pick up old instruments to play new spooky music within their circle.

🕷

Lucky spectral Manhattanites with brownstones exercise by climbing out, then up and down their windows - 10, 000 steps per day everybody!

Little demons sit on the stoop taking a break from their Zoom classes. Stay out of mischief children, and wash those spindly hands!

Like all mindful New Yorkers, when leaving home for essentials, don't forget to wear your face mask. 

And fly, hang, or stand at least 6 feet apart from other passersby, whether they be living and breathing ... or not. In these unreal times, it could save your life in more ways than one.

A safe and Happy Halloween to Spirits and Readers alike from THE SAVVY SHOPPER!

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The Luxury Goods Market: A Value Shopper Weighs In

Cartier Love and Juste Un Clou bracelets

Like many women I love watching some of the YouTube vloggers of luxury goods. I've even linked a few of the vloggers I like over on THE SAVVY SHOPPER'S sidebar. Great fun watching, yet I marvel at the amount of shopping for luxury goods they do! If you take the tours of their closets, these ladies own so many ultra-expensive pieces of apparel and accessories of the most exclusive brands. They have HUGE collections of Hermès, Chanel, and Dior bags to name just a few + other pricey goods! The value is easily $100,000+ and counting! Totaling a sum many ordinary people pay for a house and car combined!!🏠🚘

Hermès Kelly

Don't get me wrong I understand loving well-made material things, as well as, the buzz one gets from working and saving for a splurge. I, myself, have received or bought a piece of jewelry here and there. First, you get endorphins from the anticipation; then saving up for it; and finally by achieving your goal of buying and owning your desired item!  

Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Rolex

But I lean towards being a minimalist, and I'm a value shopper. In general, I think it best not to let the tail wag the dog, or in other words, not pay for a designer's label in lieu of the true value of gold, leather or other elements. How much are you willing to overspend for status merchandise? Personally, I could never pay such inflated prices for a designer's name. At $12,000+ I'll never own a Birkin bag. A Cartier gold bracelet will always start at $10,000+ higher than a similar non-status gold bracelet without the Cartier name. I always ask, will I enjoy it to the tune of $10,000 more? Frankly, I also wonder who convinced women to wear a bent nail around their wrists, or a bracelet one must either never take off, or suffer the inconvenience of having a 2nd person unscrew it using a screwdriver to remove!? Too much work!

Hermès Birkin

I also know the pack I grew up in didn't buy luxury goods. We had one Coach bag at a time, never Hermès or Dior bags ... and ignorance was bliss. There was freedom in not knowing the scene we were not getting caught up in. If everybody were to buy luxury, the goods would no longer be exclusive, and then how do you justify the big markup?😎

Moreover, I'm not criticizing women who get their adrenaline rush from bags, or shoes, or (fill in the blank) over jewelry. Different strokes for different folks. Jewelry is as much of a luxury purchase (and never a true investment) as a designer bag, or shoes, or dress, etc. 

Of course, bank accounts, lifestyles, and dreams vary, so what seems crazy for me may be nothing for you to spend. 

🌈I always say ... looking is free.🌈 Do you have a luxury item on your wish list? You are not alone if you do!

Stay tuned: I'll write a future blog matching the Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags to their budget-friendly real leather (and legal) cousins for less! Meanwhile here are links to a Chanel inspired classic flap and a bigger option here,  WOC inspired bag here, and my "Rolex" vibe watch here.

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Coffee Syrup for Rhode Island's Coffee Cabinet

In Rhode Island a well-known coffee syrup is sold everywhere that is not easy to find outside of the state. Since I've not visited Rhode Island, I have not come across it. Rhode Islanders often drink coffee milk and a milkshake called Coffee Cabinet also unknown outside of Rhode Island. So let's make it ourselves, shall we? Our weekend drink!

Since Autocrat coffee syrup will be hard to find, we can use the same ingredients to make our own:

Coffee Syrup

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons ground coffee

1 1/2 cups hot water

1 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1) Make 1 1/2 cups of strong coffee any way you like. I use a Melitta filter drip.

2) Pour the made strong coffee into a saucepan.

3) Stir the sugar into the coffee, whisking to dissolve.

4) Bring it to a simmer on medium-low heat, stirring until the mixture thickens. Takes about 15 - 20 minutes.

5) Add the vanilla.

6) Let the syrup cool and pour into a canning jar. Store in a cool place.

Now we're ready to make a Coffee Cabinet:

Ingredients:

2 cups of coffee (or vanilla) ice cream

2 tablespoons coffee syrup

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1) Toss into a blender and mix. Add more milk if you desire a thinner milkshake consistency. 

Nobody knows the origin of the name Coffee Cabinet. The coffee syrup keeps for a long time and can be used as a dessert topping. Coffee lovers rejoice!

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What Beauty Buys Am I Using Right Now?

Over time I've tried to switch over to more natural or organic beauty products. I use the word "natural" skeptically. We must always read labels and research commodities carefully to make sure the word isn't just a marketing gimmack but truly reflects purer ingredients in the ointments we rub into our skin.

Another aim is to spend less money on the personal care items we use daily. If quality is nearly the same with similar results, cheaper is always better! Over time the savings really add up!  And it goes without saying, we want to focus on products that really work because they have the science behind them! Let's also strive to not layer on too many elixirs, another way of washing cash down the drain. The goal of keeping beauty routines simple to save time and get out of the bathroom faster is smart also!

Here are personal care items I'm using right now that meet the criteria: 

For the Face --

Day

1) The Ordinary Buffet - a mix of effective anti-aging peptides. 

2) The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% - a high potency antioxidant and skin brightener. 

3) Walgreens Baby Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Sunscreen - the #1 preventer of aging skin you can buy.

Night

4) Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream With Retinol Fragrance-Free

5) Azure Hemp & Retinol Sleep Mask - This I alternate with #4 whenever my face feels dry.

For the Body --

1) BuyBuy Baby Powder with pure cornstarch - A generic bath powder from Bed, Bath & Beyond. The cornstarch replaces talc because in the USA, you can't buy talc anymore. Since the pandemic, I apply baby powder on my face under my mask because I'm not wearing makeup. (Tinted face powder tints my mask which looks ugly!)

2) Puritan's Pride Coconut Oil - I use it after a shower to lock in moisture! The company makes coconut oil for the body, but I buy the food-grade coconut oil -- one oil to use in both the kitchen and bathroom. Done!

3) Botanical + Herbal Help Body Lotion - Containing tea tree and verbena oils, I use it as a hand or body cream. It's from T.J. Maxx and I buy their ever-changing array of lotions from Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Korea, and exotic California.🙂

For the Hair --

SheaMoisture and Renpure💕💥 all the way! I switch up the formulas regularly. Right now I'm using ...

1) Repure Extra Strength Coconut Cream Shampoo

2) SheaMoisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Shampoo

3) SheaMoisture Kukui Nut & Grapeseed Oils Conditioner

4) SheaMoisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Conditioner

Both brands are from long-time manufacturers of good, clean, organic ingredients for the hair at drugstore prices.

So these are the beauty buys in my bathroom right now. Simple, clean, inexpensive and they work! ✔✔✔✔

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Chunky Is Autumn Trendy

Photo: Marissa Cox - Suzanne chunky sweater.

This fall's fashion buzz word is chunky. Chunky sweaters, chunky jewelry and especially chunky chains on everything from wearing one around your neck to hanging it off your purse. The following are examples of the chunky chain trend:

Brinker & Eliza Spiral Staircase Necklace 

Pomellato 18k rose gold bracelet

Lovely rings that could probably be worn every day and to galas. Versatility is ideal for what we buy.

This autumn chunky gold cocktail rings replace delicate understated gold bands. To show the trend, I'm using statement rings of what I like😍 (not necessarily of what I can afford). To the left is a & Other Stories Chunky Color Block ring. To the right is a Bulgari East-West diamond ring. What works for me is to find something I like, then let it lead me to something similar in style I can afford.

 

Coach, along with other purse designers, has trendy chains gracing their bags in their new fall collections. The Signature Chain Hobo bag on the left is available on the Coach outlet website, while the Hutton Shoulder bag on the right isn't yet.

I like the chunky chain look but won't go out of my way to buy it. Once the trend ends, it will look dated. Yet I wouldn't say no to the Pomella 18K gold bracelet, the Bulgari diamond ring, or the Hutton ... which leads me to ponder ... how do bloggers get on those luxury goods freebie lists? I'm an apt blogger who isn't on any such lists! At least, dear readers, you know my topics and product reviews are totally unbiased.

ASOS Fashion Union cardigan

Unlike chunky chains, the chunky sweater seems to be a wardrobe staple. Forever fashionable on a frigid fall day. As it happens, I like my sweaters soft and a bit fitted, yet also loose ... more oversized than tight. 

 

Will you be hopping on the chunky trend bandwagon?

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Rain Trousers are The Bomb

L.L.Bean TEK O2 3L Storm Pants

I don't know why, but, every year on the day I have to walk across Central Park from the Upper Eastside to the Upper Westside of Manhattan for an eye exam, there's always a monsoon downpour. I mean I make the appointment months in advance and it's not always the same time of the year, but on the day I must go, the rain never relents!

Until I moved to New York City without a car, I never thought about just how wet a person can get walking in a storm! Certainly, I dislike wet trousers, legs, socks, and feet, so after years of going to work on a rainy day and sitting damp for hours afterwards, I bit the bullet to buy the final piece of my rain gear trio ... an expensive pair of rain trousers. They are not much of a fashion statement unless you're aiming for a bag lady look, but I don't mind ... I love them!

Today I had my eye doctor appointment and sure enough, it's been raining all day long. But guess what, readers? I returned home dry as if I'd stayed indoors, including my leggings, socks and shoes. Not a drop of moisture after removing my outerwear!

My pricey rain pants go over my leggings (or trousers). Three layers of specially constructed nylon, called TEK O2 L3, keep the rain out! Interior gaiters keep moisture out of my Merrell's Waterproof Comfort Mocs. Zippers and Velcro let me adjust the legs of the pants to fit over shoes or boots.

Since I'm very happy with my Uniqlo Blocktech moisture wick coat, I didn't buy the matching L.L.Bean's TEK O2 3L Storm Jacket. The Uniqlo Blocktech coat is only supposed to be rain-resistant, but I don't get wet wearing it. I love the L.L.Bean jacket too, but it looks more casual than my versatile Uniqlo Blocktech coat that I always wear as a raincoat. If I can save by using what I already have, great!

The rain pants, however, are the bomb and worth every penny!

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Mini Italian Cream Cake

Sometimes I crave a slice of cake, not a big 9-inch cake that I must eat all week long to finish, but only a slice! So I bought two 4-inch Fat Daddy aluminum cake pans and got the idea to reduce the quantity of a cake recipe to make the equivalent of a slice of cake. I'm thrilled with the results! It took a pandemic to think of experimenting to make a single-serving cake, and in fact there's more than enough to share with a partner.

Nobody knows how Italian Cream Cake got its name since the cake is from the American South, not Italy. Here's how to make a 4-inch mini cake:

Mini Italian Cream Cake

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon shortening or vegetable oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup shredded coconut

You will need two small 4" cake pans, buttered and floured.

Directions:

1) With an electric mixer cream together the butter, shortening (or vegetable oil) and sugar.

2) Add the egg yolk and vanilla.

3 Next toss in the flour, baking soda and salt.

4) Add the buttermilk. If the batter is too thick, add a little more for a not too thick (or too thin) consistency.

4) Whisk the egg white in a separate clean bowl until stiff peaks form, then use a specular to fold it into the batter.

4) Next fold in the chopped pecans and shredded coconut.

5) Pour the cake batter into the 2 buttered and floured mini cake pans.

6) Bake in a 350 degree F preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the centers are done. The cakes will bounce back when touched. Remove from the oven and cool. Before the pans are completely cold lift out the cakes.

Italian Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

Ending up with 4 layers

2 ounces cream cheese, soften at room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, soften

1 box confectioner's sugar (You won't need the entire box.)

1 squirt of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of ground pecans

Directions

1) Toss the softened cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar into a mixing bowl and mix until smooth and fluffy Never measuring, I pour the powdered sugar into the bowl until I get the frosting consistency I desire. 

2) Spread the frosting on a cold cake in-between layers, as well as the top and sides of the cake. I cut my two 4'' cakes in half to get 4 layers of cake.

3) Sprinkle ground pecans all over the top of the frosted cake. 

Note: I don't need frosting for just myself to be as decadent. So I lightened it by omitting the butter and cream cheese. I used cottage cheese and skim milk instead of cream cheese because I didn't want to open a package of cream cheese I had to finish by myself. Sans butter, the frosting is less creamy. Not what I would serve guests, but the tastes still satisfies. It's good!

----------------------------------------------------------------

To feed more people here are the portions of ingredients for a 9-inch cake:

Full Size Cake

1 stick butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups of sugar

2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

1) Follow the steps above increasing the amounts of ingredients. 

For myself alone, a no butter icing.

2) Use either two or three 8'' or 9'' cake pans to make either 2 or 3 cakes. Southern bakers usually make 3 cakes for 3 layers.

Full Size Cake Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoon butter, softened

box of confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans (toasted if you make the effort.)

As you see without guests, I don't go crazy decorating a cake with tons of icing. Crushed nuts are the finish and enough of a good thing!

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Plaid and Checkerboard Plaid For Fall 2020

Flannel shirts are a fall wardrobe staple and this year is no exception. I'm reading that checkerboard plaid is trendy. Where have fashion editors been? Plaid, including checkerboard plaid, has never gone out of style. I have a couple of checkerboard plaid shirts and jackets decades old. Truth! Classics never date, and good quality clothing outlasts the latest trends!

In their new fall catalogs, both Lands' End and L.L. Bean are offering a wide section of colors in plaid flannel shirts, tunics and jackets. The quality and style of the two competitors are hair-splitting similar. Lands' End seems to host more money-saving promotions while L.L.Bean has expanded its inventory to include plaid hoodies, dresses and bathrobes.

I have clothing and all-weather shoes from both companies. Sometimes one offers a better price, at other times the other merchant has a color left in my size. A double selection from 2 retailers always works in a customer's favor. Between the 2 there are many colors and washable fabrics! I've picked a few of my favorites: The top 4 plaids are from Lands' End, the bottom 4 plaids are L.L. Bean offerings. Tomatoes, tomaytoes all comfy and cozy!

Like flannel fabric, plaid, including checkerboard plaid, is this fall's "new" tried and true trend. Do you need to replace a wardrobe staple?

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First Time Ever I Cut My Own Hair

Only blurry selfies to share.😁. They do show you the end result.

Although THE SAVVY SHOPPER tries to save money, in normal times I'd never cut my own hair! A few things, like a good haircut, are worth every penny! After 7 months of COVID, my hair was becoming Rapunzel-like and needed a trim. Longer hair doesn't look horrible on me, but medium-long hair is less work and more polished! So as long as I'm trimming my own hair ... I might as well take off several inches!

But my longtime hairdresser, Penny's job isn't in jeopardy. Truthfully I need her more than she needs me! After cutting my hair for a few years she suddenly left my neighborhood salon (due to an unfair occurrence) after she had worked there for years, and I was crushed! 

My long hair on a good day.

In time, I saw her again and then felt comfortable asking for her home phone number. When she gave it to me, I said, "Ah, ha, now you'll never escape from me again!" A decade+ later, she's become my friend and comes to my home to cut my hair, after her regular job or on her day off from her new salon. Often I have dinner ready so she has something to eat when she arrives. Sometimes she cuts my hair for free ... but I don't let her not charge me too often because she lives way uptown in the Bronx and it requires her time, skills and energy to come to my home to give me a precision haircut. 

Moreover, Penny no longer has other private clients in my neighborhood, and I only need a cut ... not her full services of color or highlighting which would make her travel to my home more lucrative. She really doesn't make enough money coming to my home for just a cut although she's too classy to say so. She really only cuts my hair because of our history.

If I had an event to go to and ask her to come, she'd make time for me, not the scenario with COVID, so I wanted to try cutting my own hair ... once! BTW at her new salon, her boss sets the price of haircuts much higher, and he gets a big percentage of each job/client who comes into the shop. Also, I can't walk there, and I'd rather not take a subway all the way downtown if I can avoid it, limiting the risks of getting COVID whenever possible. (Likewise, I want to keep Penny safe by not asking her to ride the subway anymore than she already must.) 

So that's the backstory of why I cut my own hair. Plus I thought if this pandemic goes on another year -- with spikes of COVID, could I master the skill to do it? The answer is, not as well as Penny!

Yet if you must cut your own hair, too, here are tips ... 

I began by watching YouTube tutorials 1st. (Not all the techniques are spot on. In my non-expert opinion, flipping all your hair over your head is useless if you want to cut straight. Another YouTuber suggests binding your hair in a ponytail at the nape of the neck and cutting an inch or more off to get started. Don't do it! You'll end up with a tress of hair too short in the wrong place that must be fixed!!  

Here's what works ... I parted the hair as if you are making pigtails, leaving it untied, bringing each side forward and cutting it section by section from front to back. I kept combing and comparing sections to the corresponding sections (stains of hair from side to side, as well as, the left side of the head to the right side of the head). I used a handheld mirror to look at the back hair and sometimes brought locks forward to snip. Also, micro-conservative snipping is best! Never cut too much hair at once. Go back and snip the same section over if needed -- little by little rather than cutting off too much length at one time. You don't want to do this -->😱

As my Facebook friend, Patti, says a DIY haircut "takes a bit of tweaking! One side then the other and then the handheld mirror to see the back! Then the fine-tuning!" She's absolutely right. It's a time-consuming process achieved by tiny snips at a time ... use a slow, steady hand. Nothing drastic.

Another tip is to only use real hair scissors. I had a pair because decades ago I wore bangs that I trimmed in-between salon visits.

I learned cutting your own hair is not easy! This could've gone very, very wrong!! I cannot wait to see dear Penny again! Add hairstylists to society's list of most important people.

Update - January 28, 2021: Third time's a charm. In a year like no other, I'm ready to retire as my own barber!

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