BostonZest

Eight Tips on Buying Jewelry for Valentine’s Day from an Expert

 

We're going to help you become a smarter jewelry buyer right in time for Valentines Day or any other time of the year.

Today, we'll turn the BostonZest keyboard over to the experts at the North Bennet Street School, who offer the following tips to buy better, stretch your dollars, and make someone very happy.

We want to suggest that you try out your new expertise at the Gallery & Store at the school in the North End of Boston. You will be supporting local craftsmanship and a wonderful local resource.

Introducing the Expert

Rosemary Trainor, the lead instructor at North Bennet Street School’s jewelry-making and repair program in Boston, advises consumers to do their homework before hitting the stores. “Jewelry is too often an impulse purchase,” says Trainor. “A little research will help you avoid a decision that you may regret later.”

Trainor offers these additional tips to help smooth the way to a successful jewelry-buying experience:

• Buying from a big brand name will cost you more. You may be comforted by well-known brands like Cartier and Tiffany, but it will cost you anywhere from 30 to 80 percent more for a piece that you may find at a local jewelry store for a lot less.  

• Pay attention to the craftsmanship. Make sure the piece is well made by examining the setting, the clasp(s), the overall finish, and other details. Stone-holding prongs should be identical in size and securely tightened, with the stone held firmly in place. Avoid bracelets or necklaces with clasps that are hard to operate, or seem flimsy. Think about whether the piece will be only for special occasions or worn every day, and choose something that will stand up to that use.

• Silver is the new gold. With gold prices at historically high levels, silver continues to be an affordable – and fashionable – alternative, and certainly worth considering. Sterling silver is the highest grade used in jewelry making; a piece marked with the word “sterling” or the numbers “925” is 92.5 percent pure. “Nickel” or “German” silver has no silver content at all.

• When shopping for diamonds, know the four C’s. Diamonds are valued according to their cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Materials such as cubic zirconia resemble diamonds closely but are much less expensive. Certain laboratory-created gemstones also resemble diamonds. Take the time to learn the differences and comparison-shop before making a decision. 

• Gemstones can take your jewelry-buying budget farther. Precious stones like rubies, emeralds, and sapphires can be an affordable option, provided you know your stuff. Natural gemstones are mined from the ground; synthetic stones are identical to naturals, but are grown in a lab. Imitation stones are assembled from less valuable materials – glass, plastic, or lower quality stones. If you go this route, ask for a written appraisal of the stone’s quality along with your sales receipt.

• Buy from a reputable source. Finding a trustworthy jeweler is perhaps the biggest key to having a good jewelry-buying experience. Ask family and friends for sources they trust. Ask similar questions of the salespeople you talk to during your comparison shopping. And be sure to inquire about the store’s workmanship guarantees, repair services, and store return policies.

• Consider a custom designed and made piece. Custom jewelry isn’t necessarily more expensive. Find a creative jeweler to design a piece that has special features unique to you and your loved one, and will be treasured for years to come. 

Related Posts:

We're gathering all our Valentine posts at the bottom of this one:

Valentine's Day 2012 - Romantic Dining in Boston 

If you clicked over to the North Bennet Street School, it may have made you think that you'd like to learn a new skill or give someone you love the chance to explore the life-changing opportunities inside those walls. 

Here are some books to inspire you to do just that, at any age!

It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE

The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One

The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World

  

Details:

North Bennet Street School

39 N Bennet St.

Boston, MA 02113-1914 (map & Reviews)

(617) 227-0155

nbss.edu‎

 
Words: Rosemary Trainor with intro by Penny & Ed Cherubino 
Photography: Courtesy of the North Bennet Street School

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

What's Open On Presidents' Day in Boston 2012 and MBTA Schedules

Here's a run-down of what's open in Boston on Presidents' Day and the MBTA schedules plus information on Boston parking for - February 20, 2012. We'll update this post as more information becomes available. And, if we didn't answer your specific question, leave a comment or tweet us @BostonZest. We may just add it to the list.

Restaurants, bars: Open

Convenience stores: Open

Supermarkets: Open

Retail stores: Are allowed to open if the owners choose

Liquor stores: Open

City, Town, State and Federal offices and facilities are closed: This includes Schools, Libraries, and the Postal Service (express mail will be delivered). Only emergency services are available.

Financial Services: As the British would say, this is a Bank Holiday with both Banks and the stock markets in the United States closed. Some international markets are open.

Parking, Boston trash, and MBTA after the ad.

This weekend is a great time to start your tax preparation. Step one, order your software by following this link to Amazon. You can even download some versions right from the Amazon Download Store. Shopping Amazon from here keeps information like this coming your way. 

 

Boston Parking: You don't have to feed the meters on Presidents' Day. Other parking rules apply.

Boston Recycling and Trash Collection:

Recycling and trash information from the City of Boston:

• "Monday, February 20, 7am – Saturday, February 25, 2012, 5pm
• Delay trash and recycling pickup 1 day only if you live in Allston, Brighton, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain*, Mattapan, Roslindale, or West Roxbury.
• *If you live in Jamaica Plain and your trash is picked up 2 times per week, do not delay."

The MBTA holiday Schedule has not been released as of now. Here's last year's information to give you some idea of what might be happening.

MBTA Schedule Changes Updated 2.18.11 @ 4:30 Pm

"Today, the MBTA announced its service schedule for Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 21, 2011.  The operations schedule is as follows:

• Blue, Orange, and Red Line trains, Green Line streetcars will operate on a Saturday schedule.
• Silver Line will operate on a Saturday schedule.
• Commuter rail trains will operate on a Saturday schedule.
• Buses and trackless trolleys will operate on a Saturday schedule.  Please Note:  Express bus service on the following routes will operate on a modified schedule:  325, 326, 352, 354, 355, 501, 502, 504.
• Hingham, Quincy and Hull commuter boat service will operate on a regular weekday schedule.
• Inner Harbor Ferry Service – Charlestown to Long Wharf will operate on a regular weekday schedule.
• THE RIDE will operate on a Saturday schedule.

For more information on routes, schedules, and fares, please call the MBTA Customer Service Center at 617-222-3200 or 1-800-392-6100 (hearing impaired TDD 617-222-5146) or log onto the MBTA’s website www.mbta.com.

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

Three Tips for Your New Camera

Here are a few tips for anyone with a new camera. We just added the Nikon D7000 to our photo fleet and here are some of the things we're doing in our first weeks of using it. 

First: Take a photo of the camera with your phone. And, take a close-up photo of the identification plate you’ll find on the bottom of most DSLRs, point-and-shoot, and camcorders. That will help you identify your camera and prove ownership if it's lost or stolen.

Second: Go to the manufacturer’s site and download a copy of your owner’s manual. Pop that into your Dropbox folder, and you'll be able to refer to it anywhere from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Often, cameras get the most use when you are away from home and it’s great to have that reference on hand wherever you are. 

Don’t have a Dropbox account? Why not? It’s reliable and if you click here your first 250MB of storage is free. They'll also add 250MB to our account and we’ll say thank you. Then, you can add storage up to 8GB by referring your friends.

Third: If you have new Memory Cards, take a photo of your business card or write your contact information, including a cell phone number, on a piece of paper and photograph it. Then, lock the photo so it can’t be erased. Should you drop a memory card or leave your camera on a park bench, a good samaritan will have a way to reach you. If you format your cards rather than erase the photos, you will have to do this every time you format. 

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Artwork: Courtesy of Dropbox

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Pecorino di Moliterno- Cheese from Sardinia

We always like to let you know when a great wheel of cheese, like this Pecorino di Moliterno, is being cut at one of the area's great cheese shops. We bought this one at Salumeria Italiana in the North End.

Pecorino means it's made with sheep's milk but, in this case, it may have a bit of goat's milk added. Some Moliternos do. Salumeria also had a second version of this cheese with truffles added.

As you can see, we paired this with Bosc pears. It was a great combination! Some vendors selling this cheese suggest following the Sardinian tradition of serving it with a smidge of hot pepper jelly. 

Sheep's milk has a higher fat content than cow or goat milk. Therefore, the experts suggest you remove from refrigeration and bring to room temperature only what you want to eat immediately. As the cheese warms, some of the fat will come to the surface. That will never be reabsorbed if you have to put it back in the cooler. 

Here are a few of our favorite books on cheese. But, click here for many more choices over at Amazon.

 

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Cabbage & Kielbasa Stir-Fry: Keep it Simple in the Kitchen

Once you master the stir-fry technique, you can take it out of Asia and transport classic combinations from other cultures to the land of delicious in a wok or large skillet. How about Eastern European Cabbage & Kielbasa as a stir-fry with some apples and onions tossed in for accents?

That's a new favorite around here. And, in keeping with my attempt to get some of you cooking without exact recipes, I'll tell you how I made it and you can ad lib around my theme.

• I sliced up a big, sweet onion and sautéed it in olive oil in my All-Clad Nonstick 12-Inch Fry Pan. 
• I cut a ring of kielbasa into slices and added those to the onions to brown a bit and give off its fat and garlicky flavor to the pan. (I used a pork kielbasa but you can buy what you like: lite, low fat, turkey, etc.)
• As the onion and kielbasa started to color a bit, I added a sliced apple. (Use what you have– I had Granny Smith. Peel it or not, that's up to you.)
• Finally, I chopped and added a small head of cabbage (from the Prudential Winter Farmers' Market) to the pan, added some white wine, a few turns of black pepper, and stirred up the whole thing. I covered it and waited a few minutes for the cabbage to become wilted but still toothsome in places. 

We had it with a hearty multi-grain bread. 

Sometimes I substitute gin for the wine and add four or five crushed juniper berries to the dish. You could also add a can of crushed or diced tomatoes.

What changes will you make to this basic recipe? Let us know if you try it and how it turned out for you.

Related Posts:

Here are more of my non-recipe recipes and a few with traditional details.

Need some Valentine's Day gift ideas? Click over to Amazon and do some planning, and if you do buy something there, they'll put a few coins in our tip cup.  

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Training for the Wine Expo!

Today's Friday Link is to a piece we wrote in 2010, Staying Sober at Wine Tasting Events like the Boston Wine Expo. 

Are you going to the Boston Wine Expo this weekend? Tell us what you're planning to bring, do, and taste? And, check back afterwards to tell us your reactions to the event and if any of our tips helped.

We tell you:

What to pack to help you stay sober, collect information, and enjoy large tasting events. 

How to spit without making a mess of yourself and the event.

How to plan your approach to the event and....

How to tell when you've reached your capacity!

Here's the link to: Staying Sober at Wine Tasting Events like the Boston Wine Expo. 

Related Posts:

Here's what we've been writing about wine.

Fine wine glasses that are dishwasher safe? Because Ed insists on washing our stems, I can't swear to it, but the manufacturer says that the Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal Forte Collection can go in the dishwasher. We do put our barware from the same line through the dishwaser all the time.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people that are part of the places and services we cover. Often, those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

How do you eat Pomelos?

Once you've done the work of peeling a pomelo and have a beautiful bowl of juicy segments, how do you eat it? What do you add?

After we posted our recent alert that pomelos were in local markets, Ed went wandering around the web to learn more about this lovely citrus. As I was breaking one into segments to serve as an afternoon snack, he was telling me about cultures where they put salt rather than sugar on pomelo. And, he even mentioned a combination of salt, sugar, and chili. 

They all sounded like fun to me so I served up our fruit surrounded by a variety of dipping possiblities. 

You know that this household of Aleppo-pepper-addicts had to try that and, of course, we loved it.

Here's a piece with a sugar, salt, and chili mix. 

So, what do you have on your pomelos? And, do you have any favorite salads or drinks that you make with this giant citrus? 

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.