Month: July 2018

Actress Brooke Shields told InStyle magazine how she made a secret pact with a delivery-room nurse so she could wear her father's signet ring — on a chain — when she went into labor with her first daughter, Rowan. Shields' beloved dad, Francis, had passed away only a few weeks earlier, so the ring provided her with the comfort that her dad was in the room.

A towering figure at 6'7" tall, Francis wore his signet ring everywhere, according to Shields. The ring, which was engraved with an octagonal crest and topped with an eagle, had been a gift from Francis' mother, who was the daughter of an Italian prince and an American socialite. Throughout the years, the ring served as a reminder of the family's rich lineage that included noble families throughout Italy.

As a child, Shields remembered looking up at his pinky and admiring the family crest.

"He kept it on until his health took a turn for the worse in 2003," Shields told InStyle. "I was about to give birth to my first daughter when he passed away. When I went into labor a few weeks later, I asked my stepsister to bring my dad's ring to me in the hospital."

Jewelry was not allowed in the delivery room, but Shields convinced one of the nurses how important it was to have her dad's ring with her while going through labor.

"I wasn't allowed to put it on my finger because I was going into surgery, but the loveliest nurse found a chain so that I could have it around my neck," Shields said. "It was still against the rules, but she said it was 'our little secret.' I was so comforted because it was as if he were in the room with me."

The 53-year-old actress and former model has two daughters with her husband Chris Hency, 15-year-old Rowan Francis (named after Shields' dad) and 12-year-old Grier.

"I still wear the ring often and think about my dad every time I do," she told InStyle. "I love its role in our family history."

Credit: Video screen capture via Instagram/brookeshields.

We love to write about off-beat marriage proposals — especially when they're related to food. For example, in February, we detailed a tasty McNugget proposal in Lincoln, Illinois, and earlier this month featured a sweet Kit Kat proposal in Washington, D.C. Today, we spotlight a Sacramento, California, proposal that came with a free side of guac.

Chris Piwinski and longtime girlfriend, Natalie Neach, have been fans of Chipotle since they started dating in high school. As their relationship has blossomed, the gourmet burrito restaurant has been there every step of the way.

“Chipotle… has always been an important fixture in our relationship,” Piwinski told The Knot. “We have countless memories of great times, long talks and loud laughs. It was also the place we went when we needed to ‘talk things out’ or work through tough times. I think I could credit Chipotle for helping keep us from doing the ‘high school breakup’ thing more than once.”

In January, Piwinski purchased a diamond engagement ring and was ready to pop the question, but couldn't decide on the perfect venue for the proposal. After months of deliberation, he had the answer — Chipotle.

In May, the 27-year-old suitor contacted Chipotle’s public relations department with a request for some creative assistance.

After 70 back-and-forth emails, Chipotle's PR team agreed to handle all the logistics of the surprise proposal, as well as sponsoring an engagement party that included a custom "burrito" cake, music, balloons and a professional photographer to capture the excitement.

The proposal was set for Saturday, July 21. Piwinski and Neach spent a romantic day visiting places that were special to them. They went to a winery and popped in on their favorite coffee shop. And, for dinner, they visited their local Elk Grove Chipotle.

While Neach was enjoying the first bites from her burrito bowl, the couple's family and friends were hiding out in a nearby pizza restaurant watching the proposal unfold from a security cam feed.

But then she realized something must be brewing when Piwinski handed her a poem and the couple's favorite song, “Kiss Me” by Ed Sheeran, started playing on the restaurant's loudspeakers. Piwinski's hands were noticeably shaking.

“I went blank!” Neach, 25, told The Knot. “I couldn’t even eat my burrito bowl! I read the poem and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him stand up and get down on one knee. It clicked that he was proposing. We looked at each other and I saw the tears in his eyes. It was such an unbelievable moment.”

Of course, she said, "Yes."

Within moments, the friends and family who had been hiding nearby joined the couple with well wishes and hugs. The Chipotle staff cheered from behind the counter.

“I was not suspecting it at all,” Neach told The Sacramento Bee.

“What better way to celebrate love than over a shared love of Chipotle?” said Quinn Kelsey, a spokesperson for Chipotle. “We are so happy for this wonderful couple and are thrilled to have been a part of their special day.”

Credits: Images courtesy of True Love Photo.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you nostalgic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today’s tune, “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby,” has its roots in New York City during the Roaring Twenties. In the song, a young suitor tells his girlfriend that he really wants to buy her a fine-quality diamond bracelet but — for now — all he can offer is love.

Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields had written the score for a revue at Les Ambassadeurs Club in 1928, but were lacking a “smash hit” that their producer demanded. Their inspiration for “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby” came from a chance encounter with a young couple in front of Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue. It seemed to the writers that the man didn’t have the resources to buy the diamond jewelry in the display window, and then they heard him say, “Gee, honey I’d like to get you a sparkler like that, but right now, I can’t give you nothin’ but love!”

McHugh and Fields ducked into the nearby Steinway Tunnel of the #7 subway line and composed the breakout show tune in less than an hour.

Their lyrics: “Gee I’d like to see you looking swell, baby. / Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn’t sell, baby. / Till that lucky day you know darned well, baby. / I can’t give you anything but love.”

The song was originally performed by Adelaide Hall, but over the years, “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby” has been covered by the some of the most popular names in the music business, from Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin to Judy Garland, Doris Day and Ella Fitzgerald. On the list of the 100 most-recorded songs from 1890 to 1954, the McHugh/Fields show tune rated #24.

The version of the song featured here was sung by Bennett in 1956 and was the fourth track of his 10-inch LP, Because of You. Interestingly, 58 years later, Bennett would reprise the song in a duet with Lady Gaga. That version appeared on their 2014 album, Cheek to Cheek.

Anthony Dominick Benedetto, better known as Tony Bennett, was born in Queens, N.Y., in 1926. At the age of 13, he started singing for money at several Italian restaurants in his neighborhood. Upon his discharge from the Army after World War II, Bennett was taught the bel canto singing discipline at the American Theatre Wing.

In 1949, he got his big break when Pearl Bailey asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. Bob Hope, who had been invited to her show, was impressed by Bennett’s talent and offered to take him on the road. The next year, Bennett signed with Colombia Records.

Amazingly, Bennett, who will celebrate his 92nd birthday next week, has been performing professionally for more than 70 years. Over that time, he has sold more than 50 million records and has won 19 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

Please check out the audio track of Bennett’s rendition of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby”
Written by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh. Performed by Tony Bennett.

I can’t give you anything but love, baby.
That’s the only thing I’ve plenty of, baby.

Dream awhile, scheme awhile
We’re sure to find

Happiness and I guess
All those things you’ve always pined for.

Gee I’d like to see you looking swell, baby.
Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn’t sell, baby.

Till that lucky day you know darned well, baby.
I can’t give you anything but love.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, kid.
You have to pay, kid, for what you get.
But I am willing to wait, dear,
Your little mate, dear, will not forget.

You have a lifetime before you.
I’ll adore you, come what may.

Please don’t be blue for the present,
When it’s so pleasant to hear you say

I can’t give you anything but love, baby.
That’s the only thing I’ve plenty of, baby.

Dream awhile, scheme awhile
We’re sure to find

Happiness and I guess
All those things you’ve always pined for.

Gee I’d like to see you looking swell, baby.
Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn’t sell, baby.

Till that lucky day you know darned well, baby.
I can’t give you anything but love.

Credit: Image of Tony Bennett performing at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, Hawaii, by Peter Chiapperino: a concert photographer in Lexington, Kentucky [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons.

An Egyptian funeral mask crafted of gilded silver and dating back to 664-404 BCE is being called a “sensation” by archaeologists at Germany’s University of Tübingen. Discovered deep within a necropolis in Saqqara, Egypt, the mask of an ancient priest has eyes inlaid with calcite, obsidian and a black gemstone, which is believed to be onyx. The thin layer of gold leaf that once adorned the entire mask has mostly worn away.

“The finding of this mask could be called a sensation,” noted Dr. Ramadan Badry Hussein, the head of the German-Egyptian team. “Very few masks of precious metal have been preserved to the present day, because the tombs of most Ancient Egyptian dignitaries were looted in ancient times.”

Hussein explained that the mask was found on the face of a mummy, which had been placed in a wooden coffin. The badly damaged coffin had once been plastered and painted with an image of the goddess Nut and still includes the name and titles of the mask’s priestly owner, who lived during the Saite-Persian period about 2,500 years ago.

“Ancient Egyptian funeral masks of gold and silver are extraordinarily rare,” added Professor Christian Leitz, head of Egyptology at the University of Tübingen. “We only know of two comparable finds from private tombs — the most recent one in 1939.”

The tomb was found amidst a complex of burial shafts at the Saqqara necropolis, some extending more than 100 feet deep.

Tübingen archaeologists are using state-of-the-art, 3D imaging in their investigation of the site. In the effort to document the entire complex, the University of Tübingen’s eScience Center is compiling complete, high-resolution images of both the location and the key objects found there. A combination of laser scanning and image-based 3D processing makes it possible to visualize and analyze the shape and layout of the interconnected parts of the complex. Tübingen archaeologists have been investigating the site since 2016.

Credits: Photos by the University of Tübingen, Ramadan B. Hussein.

Men are willing to purchase more showy, expensive diamond engagement rings for women they perceive as being highly attractive, according to a study conducted at Western Oregon University. Researchers also discovered that women are more likely to expect bigger, pricier rings when partnered with less attractive men.

The provocative study was conducted by Jaime Cloud and Madalyn Taylor and published in Springer’s journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Cloud and Taylor had set out to determine whether a person’s looks influences the choice or expectations surrounding engagement ring purchases. They presented 590 American participants, who were on average 30 years old, with a headshot and some brief information about a member of the opposite sex.

Participants had to imagine themselves as the boyfriend or girlfriend of the depicted individual, who was pre-rated to be attractive or unattractive.

Women had to choose the smallest diamond ring they were willing to accept from the man in the photo. In turn, the male participants had to indicate the size of diamond ring they would buy for their imaginary girlfriend.

They were shown five diamond solitaire engagement rings with center stones ranging in size from 0.5 carats to 1.5 carats.

A man’s willingness to commit to a bigger, more expensive ring for an attractive woman corroborates previous research on how males use symbols of financial success to impress a potential mate.

According to the study, women were found to envision larger, more pricey rings for themselves if their imaginary partner was less attractive. This finding provides indirect support for the idea that women are willing to settle for a less handsome partner if his overall value can be upped by another form of compensation, such as being financially better off.

The study also found that women who rated themselves as being physically attractive were more likely to expect larger, more expensive rings, regardless of their partner’s looks.

Credit: Photo by Edward Cisneros on Unsplash.

In a message to her 489,000 Instagram followers, American Idol alum Katherine McPhee posted a selfie of her new engagement ring along with an emotional account of the last time she spoke with her late father, Daniel McPhee. She described the special, unforgettable moment when she showed off her emerald-cut diamond ring and announced to her "biggest champion" that she was engaged.

"My dad was so happy for me," the 34-year-old singer/actress/songwriter explained in a bittersweet caption. "My ring was the last thing I showed my dad before he passed and [it] makes me smile when I look at this as a reminder of our last conversation."

Up until last week, McPhee had been riding a wave of good fortune. She made her Broadway debut in Waitress on April 10 and then accepted a romantic marriage proposal from music executive David Foster in Capri, Italy, on July 3. The news of her beloved father's death on Sunday, July 15, was completely unexpected.

"I can't believe I'm even writing this… But it is with heavy heart that I share that my sweet sweet Papa left this earth yesterday morning," she wrote on Instagram. "We as a family are completely heartbroken and devastated."

McPhee's fiancé helped her cope with her loss by offering sage advice.

“My love wisely said to me the other day that ‘death is the only thing that is 100 percent inevitable and the thing we are least prepared for.’ So today we’re celebrating life and not forgetting love,” she wrote on Instagram.

She described her engagement ring and its special connection to her father as the "sunshine amongst this painful loss."

The ring features an emerald-cut diamond in a halo setting on a split-shank, diamond-encrusted, white-metal band. We're guessing it's platinum.

McPhee came onto the music scene in 2006 when she was the runner-up on the fifth season of American Idol. Since then, she has released five albums, established an acting career and made her mark on Broadway.

McPhee described Daniel McPhee as her "biggest fan" and "biggest champion."

"Not sure my heart will ever be the same," McPhee wrote on Instagram. "I'm so sad he missed my Broadway debut. But when I return to the stage next week I hope he can watch it in peace and from up above."

Credits: Images via Instagram/katherinemcphee.

Visitors to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City this fall will be treated to a dazzling display of 230 precious adornments dating from 2600 B.C.E. to the present day. Titled “Jewelry: The Body Transformed,” the exhibition explores from a historical perspective “how jewelry acts upon and activates the body it adorns.” The 15-week installation opens November 12.

Drawn almost exclusively from The Met collection, the jewelry includes headdresses, ear ornaments, brooches, belts, necklaces and rings. Many of the exhibits utilize sculptures, paintings, prints and photographs to enrich and amplify the many stories of transformation that jewelry tells.

“Throughout history and across cultures, jewelry has served as an extension and amplification of the body, accentuating it, enhancing it, distorting it and, ultimately, transforming it,” notes the MET’s press release. “Jewelry is an essential feature in the acts that make us human, be they rituals of marriage or death, celebrations or battles. At every turn, it expresses some of our highest aspirations.”

The exhibition will open with a dramatic display that emphasizes the universality of jewelry. This part of the exhibit unites great jewelry from around the world, organized according to the part of the body they adorn: head and hair; nose, lips and ears; neck and chest; arms and hands; and waist, ankles and feet.

The remaining galleries are organized thematically…

• The Divine Body will examine one of the earliest conceptions of jewelry— its link to immortality. Among the items in this gallery is a rare head-to-toe ensemble from ancient Egypt that accompanied the elite into the afterlife. In the image, at top, we see golden sandals and “toe stalls,” which were a burial luxury to protect the delicate extremities of persons of status and royalty.

• The Regal Body will look at the use of jewelry throughout history to assert rank and status.

• The Transcendent Body will celebrate jewelry’s power to conjure spirits, appease gods and evoke ancestors.

• The Alluring Body will explore how jewelry engenders romance and desire.

• The Resplendent Body will focus on elegant jewelry designed strictly for luxury and opulent adornment.

The exhibition, which is being made possible by Albion Art Co., Ltd., is set to run from November 12 to February 24, 2019, at The Met Fifth Avenue.

Credits: All images courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Newsroom. From top: Sandals and toe stalls. New Kingdom. Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose III (ca. 1479–1425 B.C.). Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, Wadi D, Tomb of the Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III. Gold; sandals: L. 10 3/8 x W. 4 in. (L. 26.4 x W. 10 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Fletcher Fund, 1922 (26.8.148a, b; 26.8.185–189, .193–.194, .198–.199); Jeweled bracelets, 500–700. Byzantium. Gold, silver, pearls, amethyst, sapphire, glass, quartz, overall: 1 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (3.8 x 8.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1670–1671); Pair of gold earrings with Ganymede and the eagle, ca. 330–300 B.C. Greek. Gold, total H. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937 (37.11.9, .10); Large brooch with spirals, 1200–800 B.C. Bronze Age. Eastern Europe. Bronze, 11 x 4 x 2 5/8 in. (27.8 x 10.2 x 6.5cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Caroline Howard Hyman Gift, in memory of Margaret English Frazer, 2000 (2000.281.2); Metropolitan Museum of Art by Kai Pilger [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons.

Visitors to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City this fall will be treated to a dazzling display of 230 precious adornments dating from 2600 B.C.E. to the present day. Titled “Jewelry: The Body Transformed,” the exhibition explores from a historical perspective “how jewelry acts upon and activates the body it adorns.” The 15-week installation opens November 12.

Drawn almost exclusively from The Met collection, the jewelry includes headdresses, ear ornaments, brooches, belts, necklaces and rings. Many of the exhibits utilize sculptures, paintings, prints and photographs to enrich and amplify the many stories of transformation that jewelry tells.

“Throughout history and across cultures, jewelry has served as an extension and amplification of the body, accentuating it, enhancing it, distorting it and, ultimately, transforming it,” notes the MET’s press release. “Jewelry is an essential feature in the acts that make us human, be they rituals of marriage or death, celebrations or battles. At every turn, it expresses some of our highest aspirations.”

The exhibition will open with a dramatic display that emphasizes the universality of jewelry. This part of the exhibit unites great jewelry from around the world, organized according to the part of the body they adorn: head and hair; nose, lips and ears; neck and chest; arms and hands; and waist, ankles and feet.

The remaining galleries are organized thematically…

• The Divine Body will examine one of the earliest conceptions of jewelry— its link to immortality. Among the items in this gallery is a rare head-to-toe ensemble from ancient Egypt that accompanied the elite into the afterlife. In the image, at top, we see golden sandals and “toe stalls,” which were a burial luxury to protect the delicate extremities of persons of status and royalty.

• The Regal Body will look at the use of jewelry throughout history to assert rank and status.

• The Transcendent Body will celebrate jewelry’s power to conjure spirits, appease gods and evoke ancestors.

• The Alluring Body will explore how jewelry engenders romance and desire.

• The Resplendent Body will focus on elegant jewelry designed strictly for luxury and opulent adornment.

The exhibition, which is being made possible by Albion Art Co., Ltd., is set to run from November 12 to February 24, 2019, at The Met Fifth Avenue.

Credits: All images courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Newsroom. From top: Sandals and toe stalls. New Kingdom. Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose III (ca. 1479–1425 B.C.). Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, Wadi D, Tomb of the Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III. Gold; sandals: L. 10 3/8 x W. 4 in. (L. 26.4 x W. 10 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Fletcher Fund, 1922 (26.8.148a, b; 26.8.185–189, .193–.194, .198–.199); Jeweled bracelets, 500–700. Byzantium. Gold, silver, pearls, amethyst, sapphire, glass, quartz, overall: 1 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (3.8 x 8.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1670–1671); Pair of gold earrings with Ganymede and the eagle, ca. 330–300 B.C. Greek. Gold, total H. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937 (37.11.9, .10); Large brooch with spirals, 1200–800 B.C. Bronze Age. Eastern Europe. Bronze, 11 x 4 x 2 5/8 in. (27.8 x 10.2 x 6.5cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Caroline Howard Hyman Gift, in memory of Margaret English Frazer, 2000 (2000.281.2); Metropolitan Museum of Art by Kai Pilger [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you uplifting songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country music legend Alan Jackson explores the real meaning of a wedding band in his 2010 release, “True Love Is a Golden Ring.”

In the song, a once-tormented Jackson has finally found his soulmate. He admits that his search for true love had taken him “down a winding road with many turns, through fire and smoke and bridges burned.” But now, he can look into his lover’s eyes and finally see the truth.

He sings, “True love is a golden ring / Like the vows we made it’s a precious thing / Sent from above on silver wings / True love is a golden ring.”

Later in the song, he also likens love to the “endless turn of a wedding band.”

Written by Jackson and Roger Murrah, “True Love Is a Golden Ring” appeared as the 11th track on Freight Train, the singer’s 16th studio album.

Freight Train was a major success for Jackson as it ascended all the way to #2 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart, #7 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and #8 on the Canadian Albums Chart.

Born in Newnan, Ga., in 1958, Jackson grew up in a modest home that started out as a one-room toolshed. Jackson’s dad, Joseph, expanding the home through the years to accommodate the births of Alan and his four older sisters.

Jackson didn’t pursue a music career until he was well into his 20s. He didn’t own a guitar as a child and nobody in his family was musically inclined. At the age of 21, he still hadn’t traveled north of the Georgia border.

“Nashville,” he said in his official bio, “seemed as far away as Japan to me.”

In 1980, after attending a concert, he told his wife, Denise, that he was interested in a music career. Three years later, at the age of 25, he started performing with local country bands and writing songs that drew on his life’s experiences.

Jackson got his big break when Denise, while working as a flight attendant, met singer Glen Campbell in an airport and mentioned that her husband was looking to break into the music business. Campbell referred her to his own Nashville music publishing company and told her that the they needed to move to Nashville — which they did.

Even though he entered the business a bit late, Jackson has had a stellar music career. He has sold more than 80 million records and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Please check out the audio track of Jackson performing “True Love Is a Golden Ring.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“True Love Is a Golden Ring”
Written by Roger Murrah, Alan Jackson. Performed by Alan Jackson.

True love is a golden ring
Like the vows we made it’s a precious thing
Sent from above on silver wings
True love is a golden ring

Down a winding road with many turns
Through fire and smoke and bridges burned
I’ve held my share of stranger’s hands
Now holding yours, I understand

True love is a golden ring
Like the vows we made it’s a precious thing
Sent from above on silver wings
True love is a golden ring

Love is so much more than a one-night stand
Like the endless turn of a wedding band
Looking in your eyes I see the truth
After all this time I found you

True love is a golden ring
Like the vows we made it’s a precious thing
Sent from above on silver wings
True love is a golden ring
Oh, true love is a golden ring

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.