Tag Archives: Barbara Jones

Louisa May Alcott’s Birthday

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Louisa May Alcott (Born: November 29, 1832 Died: March 6, 1888) was an American author who wrote the great novel “Little Women”.  This classic story follows the lives of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March and is loosely based on the author’s childhood experiences.  Originally the novel was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869 by the Roberts Brothers.  In 1880, the two volumes were combined and published as a single volume.  Alcott wrote two sequels featuring the lives of the March sisters, “Little Men” (1871) and “Jo’s Boys” (1886).

“Little Women” Book Synopsis

Set in New England during and after the Civil War, the story centers on the four March sisters.  When their father leaves to fight in the war, this once prosperous household struggles to overcome difficult times.  Despite the situation, Marmee, the mother, tries to continue to raise her daughters to be proper young ladies.

Meg, the oldest sister, is very pretty but is tempted by material possessions; Jo is the adventurous sister and considered a tomboy; Beth is a shy, sweet girl and has a love of music; and Amy is the youngest, very beautiful and elegant but very selfish.  The other main character in the book is Theodore Laurence, known as Laurie, who is the next door neighbor.

After the war, Mr. March returns home and the family tries to get back to a normal life but Beth becomes extremely ill from scarlet fever and never regains her full strength.  Laurie falls in love with Jo but she rejects him and he eventually finds falls in love with her sister Amy.  Jo’s outspoken manner is constantly getting her into trouble but she finds comfort in writing her stories and gains some independence by earning a small amount of money from them.  She is certain that she will never marry, but eventually finds someone who changes her mind about love and happiness.

GIFT SUGGESTION:  If you are looking for a classic novel to expose a teenage girl to some great literature, I would suggest “Little Women”.  The 150 year old story can be very sentimental and seems a little old fashioned in our modern world but I think every young girl will come to love the characters and the wonderful story.  This book would make a wonderful birthday or Christmas present.  Look for a special, beautifully illustrated edition, write a lovely inscription on the title page and I’m sure it will become a treasured literary heirloom to start a young girl’s book collection.

“LITTLE WOMEN’ MOVIES

It was inevitable that this classic story of the March family would be adapted into a Hollywood movie.   My favorite movie version of “Little Women” is the 1949 Technicolor movie which was produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy.  The stellar cast included: June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O’Brien, Peter Lawford and Mary Astor.

Another wonderful version is the 1994 Columbia Pictures movie directed by Gillian Armstrong.  This latest adaption of “Little Women” stars Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon and Christian Bale.

    

SPECIAL NOTE:  If you are looking for a great CHICK FLICK for a weekend with the girls, I would recommend either of these two “Little Women” movies.  To make it a special occasion, start with a fabulous dinner and a delicious dessert and enjoy some great conversation with your friends around the table.  When the meal is finished, find a comfortable seat on the couch, pour a glass or two of wine and enjoy this classic movie.

Travel – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio

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Back in December 2008, we took a weekend trip to Cleveland, Ohio to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We stayed at the Downtown Cleveland Marriott and it turned out to be wonderful hotel centrally located to the places we wanted to go.  After checking into the hotel and dropping our luggage in the room, we took a short walk over to the Hard Rock Café located in Tower City Center.

When we arrived at Tower City Center looking for the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised that it was located near the old Higbee Department Store Building.  Higbee was Cleveland’s first department store and featured in the 1983 movie, “A Christmas Story”.  Several scenes were shot at this location, such as: the opening scene shows Ralphie looking at the Red Ryder BB Gun in the Higbee store window.  The parade scene was filmed in the public square just outside the store and has a great shot of the exterior of the building and the large Higbee store sign. (Trivia: The parade scene was filmed at 3AM in the morning!)   Another scene was filmed inside the store and shows Ralphie and his brother visiting Santa and of course everyone remembers the Santa slide.  (Trivia: The Santa slide was especially made for the movie and Higbee used it for several years after the movie’s release).

The year that we visited, the Higbee store window was decorated for the 25th anniversary of the “A Christmas Story” movie.  The display had photos from the film, who can forget the scene when Flick’s tongue get stuck on the school flagpole, and of course the Red Ryder BB Gun and infamous leg lamp were also on display!!  We watch this funny movie every year during our Christmas movie marathon and it was great to see the actual location where it was filmed.

After looking at the store window display, we continued on to the restaurant.  Whenever we are planning a trip, we always look to see if the city we are visiting has a Hard Rock Café.  They have great food – we love the hamburgers and fries, the pulled pork sandwich is also very good and the shakes are delicious.  Each Hard Rock Café location has a different collection of music memorabilia and we always take a look around after eating our meal to see all the cool stuff. Our only complaint is that sometimes there is a long wait for a table and it can get very noisy with the loud music!!  (Gosh, I must be getting old – maybe I need ear plugs next time!!)

The next day, we took a short walk from our hotel in the other direction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  As we got closer to the museum, near the sidewalk were huge guitars and each one was decorated differently – they were very cool!    The Museum has a very unique geometric design and is very large with several different floors of permanent and special exhibits, various films to watch in multiple theatres, a restaurant to grab a quick meal and a wonderful gift shop – we were there for a couple of hours.   We enjoyed our visit and there was something for everyone which was good because on this trip we were traveling with family members in four different age groups that experienced several different years with various styles of rock and roll music!

    

It was very interesting to look at the different exhibits of memorabilia items, such as: Elvis Presley’s Musician’s Union contract, John Lennon’s passport and eyeglasses, Carl Perkins Gibson Switchmaster electric guitar and Eric Clapton’s hand-painted Gibson SG electric guitar.

It was also fun to look at the stage costumes of the different solo artists and bands to see how the styles have changed over the years, such as: Buddy Holly’s brown wool sports coat, the Beatles collarless grey jackets, the Temptations tuxedo stage jacket, Gracie Slick’s leather vest, Johnny Cash’s black boots, Elton John’s platform shoes, Bruce Springsteen’s jeans and flannel shirt and Madonna’s gold lame bustier.

We would definitely recommend that if you are planning on visit to Cleveland and are a fan of rock and roll music; take the time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.  It was a very nostalgic experience to look back at all the different sounds and sights of the music of our childhood – so many great memories of growing up in America!

TRIP NOTE:  We would recommend going at a different time of year since when we went in the middle of winter it was very cold and the wind off Lake Erie was freezing!!

 History of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

The first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner was held in 1986 at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria.  Leaders in the music industry had joined together to establish the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and is main function was to recognize the contributions of those musicians that had made a significant impact on the development of rock and roll music.  The Foundation had planned to have an extensive archive, library and museum and originally wanted to locate the Hall of Fame and Museum in New York City.

Later, it was determined that the best location would be Cleveland, Ohio.  Designed by the internationally renowned architect I.M. Pei, the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and world’s first museum dedicated to rock and roll music industry.  The architecture of the building is a very striking state-of-art facility designed with a triangular shaped façade.  The 150,000 square foot building has seven floors with over 55,000 square feet of exhibition space that features permanent and special exhibits of rock and roll artifacts, memorabilia and stage costumes highlighting the different periods, various styles and numerous milestones of rock and roll history over the past decades.

Before planning a trip to Cleveland, Ohio and a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, check out their website for museum directions, hours and other general information at www.rockhall.com.

Craft – Memory Tree or Wreath

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Since the holiday season is a time of celebration and remembrance, I have created a “Memory Tree” to decorate a small antique table in our family room for Thanksgiving.  I used a small tabletop pine tree which is I decorated with family photo frame ornaments, golden feathers and oak leaves with acorns.  Since we now live in the Midwest and most of our families are still on the West Coast, it is a wonderful way to honor them.

        
The following instructions are a guide to creating your own “Memory Tree” –

  1. Start with a tabletop pine tree, size does not matter but should be determined by the table it will be displayed on.  It can be a full traditional tree or a more open spaced feather tree.
  2. Find small photo frame ornaments for the number of family members you wish to display.  The frames do not necessarily need to match.  The photos of an individual or group can be used and the size can be reduced on the computer and printed to fit the frames used.  (Try to purchase the photo frame ornaments during the holiday season when they should be available at your local craft store)
  3. Display the photo frame ornaments evenly around the front and sides of the tree when the tree is set in a corner or against the wall.  If the tree will be displayed with a full view of all sides, make sure to space the photo frame ornaments around the entire tree.  If desired, attach the photo frame ornaments with ribbon for added decoration or wire for a more secure hold.
  4. Add embellishments, I used golden feathers and oak leaves with acorns evenly spaced throughout the tree for Thanksgiving.  For Christmas I remove the golden feathers and oak leaves and change the decorations to burgundy feathers and small glass pinecones.  To add even more memories to the “Memory Tree” in years past I’ve used bronze jingle bells with our favorite vacation destinations and dates written with gold pen.  This is a great way to remember fun family trips!
    (Additional suggestions would be to add small pinecone or acorn glass ornaments for Thanksgiving and holly leaves, red berry sprays or small ball ornaments for Christmas)
  5. The final step would be to add some sort of tree topper.  For the tree pictured, I gathered several feather sprays and secured to the top with wire.

A “Memory Tree” would be a perfect decoration for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Another option is to create a “Memory Wreath” using the same family photo frame ornaments and decorations.  This is a great idea when there is no space for a tabletop tree.  NOTE: I would recommend only hanging the wreath inside the house since the decorations would not be weather-proof for displaying on an exterior door.

Decor – Fall to Christmas Change Over

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The week after Thanksgiving is a very busy time for me!  That’s when the Fall decorations are put away and the Christmas decoration boxes are brought up from the basement.   I really enjoy taking my time to unpack each box and deciding how I want to do this year’s displays.  Even when I’m using the same pieces year after year I try to set my displays in different ways or in different rooms of the house.  Sometimes the Fontanini Nativity set will be in the dining room and the next year it will be in the our library or the Department 56 North Pole Village will be in the family room bookshelf and the next year is will on the mantel over the fireplace.  This keeps everything interesting and it is fun to use different ideas or techniques to set up the displays.

In upcoming December posts, I will take you through all my preparations of the different Christmas displays I create in our home, such as: Fontanini Nativity Display and Department 56 North Pole Village.  Some other December posts detail my other Christmas decorations, such as: Themed Christmas trees and Christmas wreaths.  All of these Christmas decorations are created to make the holiday season a special one for my family.

Now, I wanted to discuss how to use some of the same materials for both Fall and Christmas.  When this is done in a creative way it can save time and expense when changing over the decorations from one holiday to next.  (Who doesn’t want to have extra time and save money at this time of year!!)

Pine garlands are a very versatile material for this purpose and I will show how with some simple changes it can be used for both Fall and Christmas decorations.  One of the most traditional ways to use pine garlands are on a mantel over the fireplace.  Below are two photos showing the same garland decorated for both holidays.  Keeping the same pine garland on the mantel, I switched out the fall decorations and replaced them with the Christmas decorations.  For Fall, the pine garland is decorated with colorful ceramic fall leaves and red berry sprays scattered throughout.    For Christmas, I used several ceramic snowflakes, large green glass pinecones ornaments and red berry sprays.

    

Small tabletop Christmas trees can be used in the same versatile way.  In my dining room I create a “Memory Tree” and placed it on a tea table.  This special tree is decorated with family photos in small bronze photo frame ornaments.  (Please see this week’s Craft post for more information on the Memory Tree or Wreath)  Below are two photos showing the “Memory Tree” decorated in two different ways for Fall and Christmas.  For Thanksgiving, the tree is decorated with golden feathers and oak leaves with acorns.  For Christmas, I replace the golden feathers with burgundy feathers and small glass pinecone ornaments.

    

As you can see, all it takes is a little creativity and by simply using different decorations to accent a pine garland or a tabletop Christmas tree the look can reflect the different holidays.

I would love to hear from you so, please write me to share your own ideas or comments.

 

Celebration – Thanksgiving Trivia

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WHAT FOODS WERE SERVED AT THE PILGRIM’S FIRST THANKSGIVING?

Wildfowl, (ducks, geese, turkey and swans), venison, fish, Indian corn as well as puddings, soups and edible plants were spread out on long tables to enable the diners to serve themselves.  They used knives and spoons but no forks.  Drinking vessels and wooden plates were used with oversized three- foot square linen napkins.

Today nearly 90 percent of Americans serve turkey (roasted, baked or even deep-fried) for Thanksgiving dinner along with other traditional foods such as stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

WHICH DEPARTMENT STORE SPONSORED THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE?

(The answer is NOT what you expect!)

The answer is Gimble’s Department Store; they held the first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1920 in Philadelphia, PA.  Macy’s Department Store in New York City held their first parade a few years later in 1924.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is one of the largest and most famous parades in America.  It is seen by an enormous television audience and also attracts 2 or 3 million people along its 2.5 mile route.  Of course, the parade features the famous giant balloons in the shape of cartoon characters, along with various marching bands, musical performers and celebrities on elaborate floats.