Officially, Eryn Decker (née Patton) is my right-hand woman at Wendy Brandes Jewelry, but in actuality, she often functions like the boss of me. As anyone I worked for in my pre-jewelry days in the corporate world can attest, not just anyone can be the boss of me, no matter what the organizational chart says….
Heart-Shaped Gems Can Be Lovable
Jewelry expert Jennifer Heebner has written about the increasing popularity of heart-shaped gems. As Jennifer points out, hearts in jewelry tend to be a love ’em or hate ’em kind of thing. I used to fall into the latter camp, because I had only seen poorly cut or poorly set stones that looked more like…
The Week in Review
In case you missed it, here’s what was on the blog this week. Monday, November 27, and Tuesday, November 28: My post-Thanksgiving promotion of 0% discount and a 50% charitable donation generated some good business — a special welcome to my new engagement ring customers! Alas, none of the purchases triggered donations to the ACLU,…
Time for R. Kelly to Face the Music
Post-Harvey Weinstein, it feels like there is no end to the list of badly behaved men who are finally being exposed. This week included two huge names. On Wednesday, glib morning-television personality Matt Lauer — he of the blatantly sexist 2016 presidential forum — was fired by NBC as exposés by Variety and the New…
Throwback Thursday: 2017 CPJ Press Freedom Awards
I already posted the dress I wore to the International Press Freedom Awards dinner held by the Committee to Protect Journalists on November 15. In case you missed that “meh” fashion moment, here it is again. I’ve been wondering if getting rid of those cap sleeves will make the dress look less like a sad, raisin-colored…
Wednesday’s Video: Poison Rings in Action
I normally publish my weekly YouTube video on Wednesdays, but this week’s sneaked out on Monday as part of my amazing post-Thanksgiving shopping deal. The Black Friday/Giving Tuesday sales event is over, but you should still check out the video, in which my right-hand woman Eryn gives you a close-up look at a number of…
Giving Tuesday: Final Hours to Make a Big Donation
Today is #GivingTuesday, the charity-oriented antidote to the post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza. Remember, if you shop with me before midnight ET, you’ll give and get in one fell swoop: For every in-stock, price-listed item purchased for $800 or more, half of the retail price will be donated in your name to one of three organizations: the…
Cyber Monday: Buy! Buy! Buy! Give! Give! Give!
This is actual footage of me emerging from the Internet rabbit hole I fell down last night while looking up the origins of the term “Cyber Monday.” via GIPHY It was easy enough to find out that Ellen Davis — a young executive at the National Retail Federation trade association — coined the term “Cyber…
The Week in Review
In case you missed it, here’s what was on the blog this week. Monday, November 20: Feeling kinda punk but kinda fancy? Buy yourself an 18K yellow gold and diamond safety pin earring. Tuesday, November 21: Pretty sure no one else is offering a Black Friday deal as awesome as this one. It runs through…
My Extra-Special Black Friday Deal Begins!
The extra-special Black Friday deal that I announced earlier this week has officially begun! As I said, if you shop my website now through next Tuesday, you will get ZERO percent off. via GIPHY However, for every item purchased for $800 or more, half of the retail price will be donated to one of three…