Twenty-five years ago, jewelry designer Jean Schnaak (who also works as a full-time nurse) created a heart pin out of an earring to give to her husband as a Valentine’s Day gift. As a pilot, he was on the road a lot and she wanted to give him something sentimental yet private. The pin was meant to be worn on the inside of his jacket over his heart. After encouragement from her colleagues, Schnaak created The Loving Heart Collection by Jean Schnaak, which included the signature Loving Heart Pin.
Since then the collection has grown to include solid pocket hearts, necklaces, earrings and more. Each comes packaged with a verse card to offer specific expressions of love. The verses, written by Schnaak, are available in nine languages, including limited selections of Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian. Or you can customize your own verse.
The popular Pocket Hearts (about the weight and size of three stacked nickels) and pins make handsome gifts for a partner (or dad or grandfather) offering a tangible reminder of your love throughout the day as your special someone carries it with them. The solid sterling silver pocket hearts are $80 (10-karat gold, $1,000); the 1/2-inch-by-1/2-inch pins are available in sterling silver ($60), or 14-karat gold ($230; $360 with diamond solitaire);
While Schnaak is based in Honolulu, her business is online only. Orders must be placed by Feb. 10 to receive them by Valentine’s Day. View the entire collection at lovingheartcollection.com. — E. Clarke Reilly
Card games can be fun for the simple reason that they are refreshingly low-tech and easy to learn. Oahu-based film producer Renee Confair adds in the adventure of movie-making with her getCrewd card game. Each player is a movie producer trying to assemble a seven-person crew — a star, a director and five tech people, no duplicates allowed — without going over a $40 million budget. First producer to “get crewed” wins.
Game materials are two decks of 88 cards: crew people in one and items that can expedite or derail your project in the other. Three to eight players each start with a genre card, a budget card and three additional cards they don’t show the other players. The player with lowest budget goes first. No knowledge of Hollywood trivia is needed to win.
Hawaii has become a go-to place for location work, so it’s no surprise to find a Kualoa Ranch card among the decks. The game is $24.95 at getcrewd.com.
Try out the game in person on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. Confair will be hosting a special game night in partnership with wine expert Terry Kakazu at Terry’s Place, 31 N. Pauahi St. Kakazu will feature a wine tasting highlighting celebrity winemakers. Appetizers are included in the $25 ticket price; limited seating. For tickets, go to 808ne.ws/gamenight. — John Berger
Always on the hunt for restaurant recommendations, I asked a friend from Wahiawa where he liked to eat. He said dining out for him consisted of picking up a plate lunch and heading to “the park.” This turned out to be the Wahiawa Freshwater State Recreation Area, along the Wahiawa Reservoir, a tranquil oasis just off busy Kamehameha Highway. It’s the perfect place to turn off the brain for a bit, and just soak in the quiet. A few benches, picnic tables and well-placed boulders offer places to sit, but the park’s main purpose is fishing, whether from shore or boat, via the boat ramp. The reservoir is stocked with bass and catfish. To get there from town on Kamehameha Highway, turn right on Avocado Street just after entering Wahiawa. Avocado becomes Walker Avenue, which you follow a short way until you see the sign for the park. Hours are 7 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.daily; until 7:45 p.m. from April 1 to Labor Day. — Betty Shimabukuro
My doctor says there’s nothing like circulation to keep the body operating well. It’s a message meant to gently prod me to exercise. But what drove the point home more than any exercise program could do was this humble manual shampoo brush. It massages the scalp and promotes circulation all while it does its job. And because of this, many loyal users of the Heeta Hair Scalp Massage Shampoo Brush don’t use it just for cleaning their manes, but to stimulate hair growth every time they shampoo. The light plastic tool, armed with soft silicone rubber teeth, is ergonomically designed to fit easily in the palm of the hand, making it simple to thoroughly wash your hair while also providing lots of circulation to your scalp.
The proof is in the pudding: After only a handful of shampoos, I noticed little strands sprouting amid my thinning hair, and hair growth has accelerated.
Based on customer reviews, the product is said to address dandruff as well. If you don’t have either problem but love to gussy up your nails, using this brush will protect your manicure. The shampoo brush is about $6.50 on amazon.com. — Joleen Oshiro
For the first six months of the British Invasion in 1964, the Beatles’ strongest rivals on the American pop music charts were the Dave Clark Five. The quintet’s first five American singles for Epic Records all went gold with sales of more than 1 million records each. The hits continued for the next three years. The group broke up in 1970.
Clark was the band’s leader, manager and producer. He owns the band’s master recording and answered fan requests Jan. 24 with the release of “The Dave Clark Five All The Hits” ($14.35 CD, $35.75 two-LP vinyl, $43 for both the CD and two-LP vinyl at musicglue.com/the-dave-clark-five). The CD version includes those first five gold singles and 11 more. Thirty-two pages of liner notes provides the history.
While the compilation was comprehensive, I wish Clark had included “Look Before You Leap” from 1966, and two early album cuts: “I Know You” and “She’s All Mine.” Most fans won’t miss them. — John Berger
Please keep in mind that featured products may be in short supply and may not be available at all store locations; prices may vary. The information presented represents the authors’ opinions and experiences; your results may vary. Tell us what you are loving this week by emailing creilly@staradvertiser.com.