Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe

Vintage Egypt: Cruising The Nile In The Golden Age of Travel

A quick stop at Homegoods last summer brought into my possession this amazing book: 
Vintage Egypt ~ Crusing the Nile in the Golden Age of Travel by Alain Blottiere.

"Men in white suits and Panama hats, women with perfectly set bobs, billboards for Hennessy cognac, palm trees and camels: Egypt in the first half of the 20th century had an allure that felt European but was distinctly exotic. This intriguing book shows what life was like for the privileged classes in Cairo and Alexandria during the British occupation. Blottiere, a Frenchman who has written novels and nonfiction works on Egypt, assembles an amazing array of many previously unpublished photographs of private homes, museums, landscapes and street scenes. Black & white or sepia-toned, the photographs depict such snapshots as a picnic in a palm grove in the early 1900s, a 1920s costume party in Cairo and the crew of the film Fires of Fate standing in the Temple of Luxor in 1923. Blottiere offers varying commentary for each image, sometimes giving background, other times simply stating the subject, photographer and year. Brief essays shed light on the era's conflicting undertones of glamour and political fragility." (borrowed from Amazon Book Review)

LET THE MATCHMAKING BEGIN

It was two years ago this very month I wrote this brief post with the thrilling news that PBS was bringing Jane Austen to town.

(Jane Austen Home)

So you can imagine my joy last week, while checking out a grand stack of books at our library, when my Jane~Austen~lovin' daughter gasped and pointed to a small basket on the counter full of bookmarks announcing this:

"Library voice" hooting & hollering ensued, even the grumpy librarian gave us a little smile . . .

Yes, Jane Austen is coming to town!

All our favorite characters, in our favorite fashions . . .

 

Who's playing Mr. Knightley?  Oh, I don't know if he'll do . . .

 

I'm a bit partial to this fellow . . . the perfect male specimen:  Jeremy Northam
(note to male readers, if you dressed like this, you're girl will fall in love all over again . . .)

Well, that's better, maybe he'll do after all . . .amazing what a great hat can do.

 

I"m not sure that Ms. Austen would approve of this "Twitter Party" . . .
but I admit this may be the final push I need to take the Twitter plunge . . .

Needless to say, I know exactly what will be airing in this household beginning Sunday, January 24th at 9:00 pm.   I will be patiently waiting for my personal Jane Austen favorite: 

Persuasion

"More than seven years prior to the events in the novel, Anne Elliot falls in love with a handsome young naval officer named Frederick Wentworth, who is intelligent and ambitious, but poor. Sir Walter, Anne's father and lord of the family estate of Kellynch, and her older sister Elizabeth are dissatisfied with her choice, maintaining that he is not distinguished enough for their family. Her older friend and mentor, Lady Russell, acting in place of Anne's deceased mother, persuades her to break off the match.

Now, aged 27 and still unmarried, Anne re-encounters her former fiancé when his sister and brother-in-law, the Crofts, take out a lease on Kellynch. Wentworth, now a captain, is wealthy from wartime victories in the Royal Navy and from prize-money for capturing enemy ships. However, he has not forgiven Anne for her rejection of him. . . "

(synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia )

 

 

BOOK~O~PHILIA

"SOME DAY YOU WILL BE OLD ENOUGH TO START READING FAIRY TALES AGAIN."  C.S. Lewis

Books are, to me, the absolute best gift we can give ourselves and others.  I have loved books and reading since I was a little girl, and my adoration for them has only grown through the years.  Thankfully, my daughter has that same love. . .I can see it in her eyes when we walk into the library and the sheer joy she feels just being surrounded by them,  the smell of them, and the pleasure of lingering in an aisle, running her little finger tips over the bindings in search of the one that is just right. . .I vowed to never say no to a visit to the library or bookstore, and I somehow think she knows that!

Just yesterday my Aunt (who is a Librarian and lifetime student) sent my daughter these two lovely books; from the Wish List to her own little growing library! 

  She even had them signed by the author, Gail Carson Levine, and the illustrator, David Christiana~~both of whom are amazingly talented.  I can't wait to read them, for although my taste in books has matured, I think I am just aboutold enough to start reading fairy tales again. . . Thank you, Auntie Di! xoxoxo

"I WOULD BE MOST CONTENT IF MY CHILDREN GREW UP TO BE THE KIND OF PEOPLE WHO THINK DECORATING CONSISTS MOSTLY OF BUILDING ENOUGH BOOKSHELVES."  Anna Quindlen

While my library has a wide assortment of books and literature, there are a few indulgences I have yet to make.  Here's a peek at my Wish List: 

 

 

"TO SIT ALONE IN THE LAMPLIGHT WITH A BOOK SPREAD OUT BEFORE YOU, AND HOLD INTIMATE CONVERSE WITH MEN OF UNSEEN GENERATIONS ~ SUCH IS A PLEASURE BEYOND COMPARE."  Kenko Yoshida

 

 

"THE LOVE OF LEARNING, THE SEQUESTERED NOOKS, AND ALL THE SWEET SERENITY OF BOOKS."  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

 

 

"BOOKS ARE NOT MADE FOR FURNITURE, BUT THERE IS NOTHING ELSE THAT SO BEAUTIFULLY FURNISHES A HOUSE."  Henry Ward Beecher

 

 

Why not take a walk to your public library today?  In this modern, techno~crazed world, it is truly refreshing to sit in the peace and quiet of an old building filled with beautiful books. . .make it part of your world and that of your children's. . .it is a wonderful, lifelong gift you can give them.