Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe

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 )

 

 

The Run for the Roses

Having grown up around horses and stables and racing each other up the airstrip (yes, my grandfather had a Piper Cub very similar to this one!~~we used to "fly" out to get Chinese food, literally!) I love to take a few hours on a certain Saturday afternoon at this time of year to watch the infamous KENTUCKY DERBY.

You know the one:

Where all the ladies vie for the best hat in the house, the best horse on the track, and the best man!

Even if you don't have a passion for horses, just watching the hats is an event in itself!! 

It seems like a lot of fun, an excuse to really dress to the nines in an otherwise dress code~less world. . .or maybe it's all those Mint Juleps????

I have always dreamed of going. . .and since I've always dreamed of seeing Springsteen who knows?  Maybe my dream~giver will come through again??!!

Check your local listings if your interested in an afternoon of peace & privilege~~it is, after all, the SPORT OF KINGS!

Michelle

(Photos from http://www.churchilldowns.com/ & http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/)

P.S.If you'd like to check out some great one~of~a~kind Derby hats click on this link visit Honey Bend's Blog! Fun!

"The Long, Hot Summer"

A few nights ago after the usual evening routine I collapsed into my soft, blue bed and clicked on "The Box" for some mindless distraction.  I really wanted to do some reading.  You know, there is that book you are trying to start, that magazine article you are trying to finish, that stack of "Things Which Must Be Read ASAP" and, for me at least,  a little background noise helps to ease off the days hype and can get my mind quiet enough to read something I will actually remember in the morning.

But then, as I lay there (in flannels as Spring has decided to run away again around here!) I scrolled down to the RETROPLEX channel and Oh My!  Guess what was on??? 

You guessed  it~~or maybe you saw it~~"The Long Hot Summer" starring the one and only Paul Newman & his beautiful wife,  Joanne Woodward.

Please tell me you have seen this movie.  Please tell me that you know the names  "Ben Quick" and "Clara Varner".  Because if you do not then you need to do some serious old movie watching to see why I was able to read absolutely nothing that night!!

This movie is all about falling in love:  for all the right and wrong reasons.  It will make you search your heart & soul, it makes you fall in love with and despise some of it's characters, you will cheer for them and try to warn them, you will think of your own self at your own crossroad and you will absolutely love Ms. Woodward's speech at the end when she runs up the stairs and follows Mr. Newman into his very temporary place in her life . . . or so he thinks. . . .it is film making at it's finest and it will make you wonder what has happened to the movie industry in the past 50 years.  If you have a Vintage Heart, anyway!  And I haven't even mentioned the clothes!!!  Talk about "Girls In Their Summer Clothes"~~Ms. Woodwards wardrobe is amazing~~she wears a beautiful green dress one night when she leaves the school and meanders down Main St. toward her Daddy's store where she knows Mr. Quick is still at work. . .oh my. . .and then there is the powder blue dress she wears at the Church Bazaar when Mr. Quick gambles away $50.00 to have a picnic with her. (OK, back then that was A LOT of $$$$!)    Little did he know she would tell him he was "barking up the wrong girl because it will never be you!"

But he stood there in his crisp blue coat and smart red tie (and a straw hat!) and he knew. . .like the right one always does, I guess!

I am not telling you anymore, except maybe that many, many moons ago my Mom was a cocktail waitress at The Thompson Speedway in Thompson, CT and she actually met Mr. Newman once.  Well, she was carrying some beer on a tray out to a car in the pit and she passed by him and when she saw him she, um, tripped and fell and dropped the beer. . .but I think he did help her up (which I'm sure only made it worse!) and so there is my little story about

THE LONG HOT SUMMER.    .     .      .     .

Michelle

Jane Austen, anyone?

Could there be any better news for the cold month of January???  You may have already heard but in case you have not:

Jane Austen is coming to town!!

Masterpiece Theatre is hosting a month of wonderful, romantic, dreamy movies based on the beloved works of Jane Austen!  So hide that remote from the rest of the family and get ready for the absolute best part of winter so far, in my opinion!!