We Will Always Have Paris

New Years At Tiffany

Remember this?:

I've had so very many people e-mail about how much they enjoyed this fantastic book by Marjorie Hart.  I was fortunate to be able to give away ten copies earlier this year (thanks to the ever gracious Ms. Pooley over at Harper Collins) and I'm still hearing from the winners.  Marjorie Hart just released an essay recalling her first visit back to Tiffany after she & Marty left in 1945. 

When I received the essay by e-mail, I was so excited because it felt like a letter from a long-lost friend.  I was dying to know more.  When did she break up with Jim?  Why?  Was it hard to go back to small town life after living it up in Times Square?  If you would like to read her essay "New Years at Tiffany", click here.  If you haven't read the book yet, go get yourself a copy.  I loved it! 

In other news, I've opened an account at GoodReads.  If you'd like to discuss this book, just let me know & I can send you an invitation to the We Will Always Have Paris book club.  I've also got a big surprise for you next month:  a new book giveaway (yes, that editor Jennifer Pooley is the best!).  Stay tuned for the new title and a chance to win a new great read! 

Winners: Summer At Tiffany

I've had a family emergency this weekend, so I'm a little late posting the winners.  My apologies.

Drumroll please.....

The randomly drawn winners of a copy of Marjorie Hart's Summer at Tiffany are:

Janet A. - "I've never been to NYC so hopefully you will bring it to me with a copy of this book:) Like a few previous posters, Sex & the City brought me a desire to some day get to New York and venture on a fabulous shopping spree."

Cory from NYC - "A little more than two years ago, I was living in NY and had just gone on a short visit to LA in order to visit some family. During that short visit, I began dating a beautiful woman who lived in LA. For two weeks, we had the time of our lives, pretending that money was no object. At the end of two weeks, I had to fly back to NY to take care of all my responsiblities there. I spoke every night with this woman for two weeks. Then one day, I received a text message from her. It read, "Everything is OK but can you call me as soon as class is over?" That was the day her best friend was due to deliver her first baby. So, after the initial worry that something went wrong, I was intrigued. After I got out of class, I walked down the stairway in the Jewish Center just across the street from Columbia University. While walking down the stairway in this glass-fronted building, I began to call. As soon as the phone rang in my earpiece, I noted that some woman outside answered her phone. I thought, how odd. As I looked closer, it was her! She had called me the night before, then hopped on a red-eye, navigated the city, and found the very location where I was - I had only given a vague description of where the class was. At that moment, I knew. Amy and I have been married for almost a year now. "

Cindy Vernon - "I loved eating frozen hot chocolates at Serendipitys and my first Broadway show, The Graduate in my own private box!"

Jill C. - "My favorite NYC moment happened this year for my 30th birthday, my dad took me to NYC. Everyday was a magical moment. My favorite though was going to opening day of baseball at Yankee Stadium. It was amazing!!!"

Samantha - "I haven't been to the city in awhile since I moved from CT to NC, but my parents said FAO Schwartz has closed. I was just talking to them about it the other day saying how I want to get back to the city again when I visit CT. I have seen a few broadway plays there which is wonderful. I miss living a short train ride from the city, now I'm too far away. lol!"

Rebecca - "I've only taken a quickie tour of NY by relatives who didn't really want to be doing it. My most meaningful memory is landing at JFK airport before heading to Ireland, and realizing what a big world it was. JFK was several times bigger than my hometown. It was symbolic of the world I was to see and all that's happened in my life since then. Thanks for letting me play along."

Kim - "Sadly I've only been to New York City once. I was in the sixth grade and my Girl Scout troop took a trip there. We went by train which was very exciting and what made it even better was that my grandmother came along as a chaperone. I remember taking the subway and one of those tour busses and seeing the Statue of Liberty. It was truly a special trip."

Anita K - "Gosh, it's hard to come with only one memory of NYC. I think it is the energy of our contry. I have been twice on girl's trips and had a wonderful time. We went to some TV show tapings, saw celebrities, went to some clubs, had some wonderful meals, etc. You can see musicals and plays in any major city in the US, but there is NOTHING like seeing it in NYC."

Lois - "What I remember most about NYC was a return trip from Long Island. I hate to drive in urban cities and normally would take the long way round to get home. But this time a friend was driving and using her navigation system we found ourselves right in the heart of Manhattan. It was thrilling to drive down the streets and look up at the immense skyscrapers. Unplanned beauty."

Heidi Y - "Me and my husband (boyfriend back then) took our first trip to New York together to celebrate New Year's Eve at Times Square. It was even better than you can ever imagine from watching it on TV year after year. Then if that wasn't exciting enough, the next day, Dennis took me to the Statue of Liberty. It was extremely cold crossing on the ferry, so I wasn't too cooperative. He insisted we go outside to the front of the Statue of Liberty at one of the points. I was very hesitant, but somehow he convinced me to go outside. He sat me down and proposed to me!!! You can say I wasn't so cold anymore that day!!"

Thank  you to everybody who participated.  I loved reading your responses.  You've all inspired me to take a girlfriend's trip to the City in the Spring.   For those of you who won a copy, please e-mail me at [email protected].  If you didn't win the book, but want to buy one, you can find it at www.basbleu.com. 

Again, thanks to Jennifer Pooley for sponsoring the drawing.  It really is a great book Jennifer.  Thanks for making it extra special for me!

Last Chance To Enter "Summer at Tiffany" Giveaway

Just a reminder that you have until midnight PST tonight (Sunday, September 30th) to enter the Summer at Tiffany giveaway.  For more information, click here.  Good luck!

A Catalog For Book Lovers

I'm up tonight adding cards to my Do It/Did It Rolodex.  I just received my Bas Bleu catalog.  If you're a book lover & you don't currently get this catalog, order one now!

Bas Bleu (pronounced Bah Blew) is French for blue stocking. In France, a bluestocking is a literary woman.  This catalog is pure heaven for those who love to get swept away in a good book.

I'm making a list of the books I want & making cards for them to tuck behind my "Books To Read" tab in my Rolodex.  My first card:

Here's the description of Kevin Brockmeier's "The Brief History of the Dead":

Most of the characters in this spellbinding novel are dead. They live in “the city,” which many inhabitants theorize is not heaven or hell, but someplace between life and whatever’s beyond. It’s generally believed that people disappear from the city when the last living person who remembers them dies. When the city’s population suddenly plummets, the residents wonder, literally, what on Earth is going on. Meanwhile (back on said Earth), wildlife specialist Laura Byrd—who many of the remaining dead people seem to have some connection to—finds herself cut off and alone in her Antarctic research station, fighting for survival.

I'm also drawn to Marjorie Hart's "Summer at Tiffany"

You'll be hard-pressed to find a more charming little book than octogenarian Marjorie Hart's memoir of the summer of 1945, when she and a friend from the University of Iowa boldly ventured to New York City to work for a few months. Writing some sixty years later, she describes how they found summer employment at Tiffany & Co. as the company's first female "pages," whose job it was to run merchandise between the sales floor and the less glamorous departments (repair, gift-wrapping). With so many young men in the service, Tiffany decided to give these two fresh-faced Midwesterner coeds a try. On salaries of $20 a week, the girls pinched every penny to pay the rent and see an occasional show. They ate at the Automat, dated servicemen on leave in New York, sipped cocktails at Sardi's, danced the occasional night away, and jubilantly crowded into Times Square on VJ Day. (It's not all sweetness and light: there were friends and family members lost in the war. Hart's description of walking into her aunt and uncle's home after the news came that they had lost their son, an Air Force pilot, will chill your heart.) Summer at Tiffany is a little gem worthy of the Tiffany name.

I'm currently obsessed with old school New York.  I'm addicted to AMC's Mad Men (if you're not watching it, start NOW!), I'm soaking up everything I can about NYC from the 1940s to the 1960s.  What an era!!  This book sounds fascinating!

And then there's "One Special Summer" by Jackie O and her sister Lee Bouvier.  Take a look at the book...  You'll want to art journal your way through Europe as well!  Here's the card:

I printed the descriptions of the books and glued them to the back of each individual card.  That way, if I don't get to it right away, I'll remember what the heck I liked about it in the first place!

I'm off to order my books...

Book Review: Pretty Little Things

Oh my!  I picked up my copy of this hot new book at Rubber Chicken Stamp Art in Gaithersburg, MD last Friday.  I don't know if they still have any copies in stock (I had reserved mine ahead of time), but it is a must-have if you like pretty little things or if you are at all interested in soldering.

I first fell in love with Sally Jean Alexander's work when I caught her ad in Mary Engelbreit's magazine several years ago.  I checked out her website & dropped a ton of green on some beautiful pieces of jewelry.  I proudly wear my first whimsy stick that reads, "I think I'll be an artist or something..." (along with my monogram whimsy initial) on a long silver chain.  Everyone comments on how beautiful the pieces are.  Ever the crafter, I wanted to learn how to make these beautiful pieces.

Now, Sally Jean has published this book that takes you step by step through glass, collage, wire & soldering.  Her book is loaded with instructions, pictures & projects to die for.  Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year????   

I'm taking a jewelry soldering class tomorrow night at a closed workshop with local artist Lesley Whalley (if you're interested in joining in on future classes, just drop me an e-mail).  I can't wait to make little pretty things!  Between the class and this book, I'm all set!