I Had a Favorite Dress: dear mama can make it work

Growing up I thought my mother was magical because she could sew. I remember her sewing me a red dress with red roses in the first grade. She seemed to make it overnight…in fact, I think she did! It was my favorite dress when I was six.

When my friend Margot was four, she remembers her dad bringing back a soft green dress from Italy with stitchery in the front and lace at the bottom edge. When she grew out of it, her mom altered it for her baby doll to wear.

My daughter has several favorite pieces that she’s outgrown. I often wish I was a savvy D.I.Y. (do it yourself) kind of mom who could be like Mary Poppins and magically (as Boni Ashburn says) “make a molehill out of a mountain.”

I think most of us have a few items of clothing that we are so in love with that when we wear them out, we are heartbroken!

The little girl in Boni Ashburn’s I Had a Favorite Dress is so lucky to have a mom who can make alterations that keep her daughter smiling. I very much want to do this for my daughter; I think it teaches resourcefulness.

I love how the mom’s boho-chic style influences her daughter’s appearance in what looks to be like a trendy Greenwich Village neighborhood.

As the girl grows, her salmon colored favorite dress is transformed into a shirt, tank top, skirt, scarf, socks, and hair bow.  The mom keeps saving the day by using her creativity to solve a problem every time her daughter says, “Mama dear…”  and there’s nothing to worry about when mama smiles and does a, “SNIP, SNIP, sew, sew… New shirt, hello!”

Julia Denos

The young girl understands that nothing lasts forever and that’s okay because favorite things can be changed and used again in other ways. She dances into the days of the week as the seasons change.

Julia Denos, the illustrator of I Had a Favorite Dress, has a fresh whimsical style that is childlike with an old fashioned 1950’s feel. She is also the illustrator of another book I adore, Just Being Audrey.  

I would like to decorate my daughter’s room with Julia’s illustrations from both of these books.

I Had a Favorite Dress reminds me of a book I read to my second graders, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. Joseph has an overcoat that he really likes and it becomes old and worn, but instead of throwing it away, it is altered into a jacket.  The same thing happens to the jacket and he makes a vest, then scarf, necktie, handkerchief, and finally a button. The message is that it’s always good to make something out of nothing or “make a molehill out of a mountain.”

This is such a good lesson to teach to children. As a teacher, I immediately thought about lessons I could teach comparing the two books.

I have already recommended I Had a Favorite Dress to our school librarian. It will be one of those books that never has a chance to be "checked-in!"

All it takes is a little inspiration from Etsy or Pinterest to get creative these days. Making alterations is the perfect answer to keeping hold of your favorite memories. Fashionistas can be green too and reduce, reuse, recycle their favorite items.

I plan to reuse my husband’s old neckties from the 80’s and 90’s and make them into bracelets like I found on Pinterest.

I haven’t yet decided how I will reuse some of my daughter’s favorite dresses but I imagine she’s probably going to think of it on her own sense we read I Had a Favorite Dress almost every night! I may be calling my “Mama dear” for the sewing! In the meantime, I hope to impart to my children and others the philosophy that although both things and people may appear to be used and spent, they may just be waiting for the energy and optimism of creative ideas to fill an old sail with fresh air.

The Passion for literature and the romance of letters

My friend Pamela gave me a great gift…a very special book that came all the way from Paris’ famous Shakespeare and Company bookshop. A little water damage makes this book even more of a treasure because it’s a paperback that has been loved. The book, 84, Charing Cross Road is easily on my top books ever read list! It’s real people writing letters to each other and developing a beautiful friendship all the way across the big blue ocean…it’s so romantic! 

I’ve always believed in the power of correspondence and I very much enjoy reading books that are a series of letters. Recently I’ve read three books that are a series of beautiful letters: 84, Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and As Always, Julia. Each book begins the same way…the characters all receive a letter from a stranger and their correspondence leads to a lasting and true friendship. It is possible to form lasting and deep relationships with people that we have never physically met.

84, Charing Cross Road is a charming book about an outspoken New York writer (Helene Hanff) whose touching correspondence with antiquarian booksellers in London (especially with Frank Doel) develops such a mutually fostering friendship that they become an extended family. Exchanges between Helene Hanff and the Marks & Co. booksellers at 84 Charing Cross Road are all letters and books.

I found the book to be romantic in the sense that their fondness for each other expanded over time, the romance of the cities New York and London are vividly described, the yarn of letters and books flying or sailing across the sea, and there is also a mystery associated with them not officially meeting that I find romantic.

There could have been a potential for romance between Frank Doel and Helene Hanff but I found them to truly care for each other as friends first. There is an unspoken love for each other without ever seeing each other. It’s a real-life love story.

When reading the private letters of Helene and Frank, the reader gets a taste of cultural and social differences that were commonplace in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s in London and New York.

Their correspondence went on from 1949 to 1969. Throughout twenty years they exchanged Christmas gifts, news of families and careers. There was always an intention for them to meet but something came in the way every time it almost happened.

A lesson to this is that if there’s something you really want to do, do it when you have the chance or you might miss a grand opportunity.

Through Hanff’s book, the reader is reintroduced to all sorts of old classics with her passion for literature and made to feel inspired not only to write a letter to a friend, but to read a book with either a cup of tea (like Frank did in London) or a cigarette and martini (like Helene did in New York).

There was a lovely movie starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins that followed the book beautifully. Anne Bancroft is saucy and spirited just like I imagined Helene Hanff to be.

Hanff’s personality is humorous, demanding, witty and sarcastic whereas, Doel is the classic English gentleman. Hanff playfully begins one letter in all caps, “SLOTH: I could ROT over here before you’d send me anything to read.” Toward the end of their correspondence Hanff writes, “Frankie, you’re the only soul alive who understands me.”

If you’re lucky enough to find an edition of 84, Charing Cross Road that comes with the companion book The Duchess of Bloomsbury, you will love reading them back to back.

Another book I recently enjoyed that is also a series of letters and similar and many ways to 84, Charing Cross Road was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Set in post WWII England, it is based around Juliet Ashton, a writer with sharp wit, and a love of books. When Juliet receives a letter from a stranger in Guernsey, a correspondence begins with not just one, but many Guernsey islanders.

One of my favorite quotes from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society that I completely resonate with is, “That’s what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It’s geometrically progressive—all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.”

One last book recommendation that is a series of letters and friendship is As Always, Julia. Julia Child and Avis DeVoto based their friendship on the art of letter writing before they ever met.  I previously wrote about it here. 

All three books are written with warmth and humor. They have in common that they each find inspiration in the letters to each other, not just for their work, but inspiration for their life.

Through the three books the reader will get a sense of how the power of books and letters sustain readers in good times and in bad. The books celebrate letters in the best possible way. I always look forward to seeing what the closing will be. My favorite closing came from Julia Child’s best friend Avis: Lashings of love. Who doesn’t enjoy reading about collecting books and the pleasures of reading?

I wish for you that you have time to read these books but also find time to write to your friends…do it now, don’t wait! 

As for Pamela’s book, it’s meant to be shared with someone else now. I think I’ll send it by mail…with a letter.

Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome...with Children

When I take my children to the museum, I wing it. I think it’s almost better to not have a plan and just have the attitude that you’re going to see what you can see as long as the kids can last. I love to be led by my children and see what artwork they gravitate toward. 

My mom and I recently took my son and daughter to the Kimbell Art Museum’s Caravaggio exhibit. Caravaggio and his followers in Rome was one of those monumental exhibits that was a must see before it ended.  The fifty plus paintings were shown exclusively at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and Fort Worth’s Kimbell. It was only the third exhibit of Caravaggio’s work ever displayed in the United States. It was amazing to see so many of his paintings together since only about seventy-five exist.

Caravaggio (1571-1610) was an Italian artist who created for private collectors in Rome. His paintings have a way of telling a story with everyday people that even children can be curious about. The dramatic funny faces, card games, and dreamy look of his characters draw you in and make you wonder… "are they like me?" He also painted many religious scenes of beheadings and blood that my mom and I quickly viewed then went onward to baby Jesus. Caravaggio’s realistic paintings of interesting facial expressions made my children laugh out loud.

Simon Vouet’s theatrical response to Caravaggio’s Gypsy Fortune Teller  The Fortune Teller, 1620

We saw many children viewing the Caravaggio exhibit with their parents. Not all museums are child friendly. Lucky for us, there are many museums in the United States that are. There is usually a hands-on kid’s area in most museums in America. You really can’t say the same for museums in Europe.  How nice for my family that we have two very child friendly art museums in the North Texas area, the Dallas Museum of Art and Kimbell Art Museum. Both museums have family festival events and encourage young children to come explore art-making activities, see live performances, and simply make the museum a happy place that children will want to visit again and again. The Kimbell has a family fun day event coming up February 18^th.

When visiting a museum with young children and there are too many tall adults blocking the art, parents have an unwritten permission to cop-a-squat with their little one in the front and see art from their perspective. I liked asking my children questions to get them to think out loud. I asked them: Is that man grumpy or happy? What game are they playing? Can you find an animal? I notice that children always recognize other children their age. My little boy would point and say, “Look Mommy, there’s a kid like me” and “Mommy, they’re playing cards.”

 Kimbell's own Caravaggio, The Cardsharps, 1595

I have always felt museums to be powerful learning environments that give children opportunities to explore, observe and experience art. Children get to choose what to look at, and they leave with the pictures stored in their heads. The memories they created are filed for future reference. Museum experiences help provide children with knowledge and understanding of the world all while gaining an appreciation for art.

Today we can see many different settings in which there is an attempt to morph into a museum. A real museum experience to me should be in a real museum, not like those efforts you may see in a fair-like setting.

When I visit an exhibit, I’m always amazed that no two paintings are exactly alike. There may be a change of light or seasons… I think of Claude Monet and how he experimented with light. It’s fascinating to me how each of his paintings, similar though they may be, have a different feeling or warmth to them.

The Kimbell houses my favorite Henri Matisse, L'Asie, 1946

Looking for inspiration? Here’s a list of children’s books about art and going to the museum:

Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy at the Museum

Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer

Arlene Boehm’s Jack in Search of Art

Lisa Jobe Carmack’s Philippe in Monet's Garden

Elaine Clayton’s Ella's Trip to the Museum

Don Freeman’s Norman the Doorman

Jacqueline P. Weitzman’s You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum

Cristina Bjork’s Linnea in Monet's Garden

Nina Laden’s When Pigasso Met Mootisse

The Kimbell houses one of my favorite Matisse paintings that I always look forward to revisiting when I’m there. I loved sharing it with my children for the first time. When we left the Kimbell, they yelled out, “Bye Matisse, we’ll see you later!” And…we will!

Pen Pals: Writing Letters That Capture Innocent Whispers

Did you ever have a pen pal when you were younger? I had several and I’m sad to say that I’ve lost touch with most of them. I remember skipping back to the house after checking the mailbox when I was younger and I couldn’t wait to open my letter from my pen pal Susanna from Finland, Eritnatish from Iceland! Robin from Georgia, Melissa from Paris (Texas)! Holding the letter as if it were an acceptance to my favorite college; I would take in the stationary, the stamp, and especially the handwriting.

Do you ever notice how our true thoughts come out when writing a letter to a friend? It's easy to get a feel of someone’s personality by seeing their handwriting that you can’t see from the computer. I adore technology! There is instant gratification and it’s always getting better but technology is cold. Letters are warm.  Emails, tweets and texts are like short stories but a letter is more like a novel…it’s a bigger piece of the puzzle and a small clue to discovery of a mosaic of a person.

Since I was a child, I’ve loved going to the post office. I love the smell of it…musty, old, mildew, and magical! I have always loved the giddy feeling I get of dropping a letter down the blue shoot to go on an adventure. Then after impatiently waiting for the day I receive a letter back, opening up my mailbox to see if I recognize my friend’s handwriting.

I have shoeboxes full of old letters from my pen pals. I was an excellent pen pal up until college. I tried to keep up but that’s about the time “real” life starts happening and I’m sad to say, writing letters became less of a priority. Of course I still send Christmas cards and thank you notes, but those don’t tell about the random parts of your day that really let you inside to someone’s heart and help widen the world.

Last year when I read As Always, Julia I was inspired to write more letters again. I find that my thoughts flow more freely when I’m not trying to puzzle my words together on the computer…they just flow naturally like a list. There are windows throughout my day that I can find to jot down a note to a friend…whatever is happening in that moment, it’s a piece of the day that I want to share. Unlike a text or an email, a letter shows the spice of life.

Whenever I have sent a letter, I crossed my fingers that the recipient will write me back. At thirty-five, I still skip back from the mailbox, I even squeal with delight when I hold a little treasure we call a letter.

Last week I did my skip and squeal as I held a handful of precious treasures! Twenty-six beautiful letters (written in French) from seven and eight year olds and personally addressed to each of my second grade students. Oui, we have pen pals!!

Another reason I love technology is that you can meet and learn about interesting people all around the world. Aidan is a fellow Texan, she is my friend, but we have never met. I feel as though I know her from her writing on her blog conjucatingirregularverbs and I hope that one day our families really will meet. Aidan’s oldest son is a second grader in France and it is with her son’s classroom that we have found our pen pals.

My class was really happy and fascinated to learn more about a child their age that speaks a different language and lives a whole big blue ocean away. In my thirteen years teaching, this was one of my most happy teaching moments EVER!

I was hearing my class gasp with excitement and question everything. “Oh, Mrs. Cooley, my pen pal writes in cursive so well! Can you teach us how to write like this? Mrs. Cooley, my pen pal wants me to teach him American football but I’m not going to France anytime soon! What do I say? Mrs. Cooley, my pen pal does flamenco dancing…what is that?”  This is a perfect example of how children can teach each other. It was a lesson in handwriting, language, social studies, and reading all in one setting!

When I compare my class’ letters to the letters of their French pen pals, I see all kinds of possibilities…They will improve their writing skills and be motivated to improve their handwriting. They could continue to write to each other and one day possibly meet. But most importantly, it opens the door for culture. Pen pals can enjoy seeing postcards, stamps, practice learning a foreign language, and have a friend in a different part of the world.  

I saw firsthand the light turn on in my second graders eyes, they want to know more about life in France from a personal view of children their age. My thrill is in the pride I see in their eyes as they realize they are breathing life into an envelope and likewise as they anticipate inhaling the mysteries of replies.

The letters they wrote back to their French pen pals were sweet and charming. “Have you seen the Eiffel Tower? One day could you teach me how to play rugby? Do you have pizza in France? Do you have any pets? When I explained to one of my students what flamenco dancing was, she said, “Ooh…we have a lot in common, I cheer!”

Mark Twain said, “Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man- the biography of the man himself cannot be written.” I think it can be written through a letter; the clothes and buttons are but the paper and pencil.

Scent of a Woman: Diane

Perfume has power; an alluring scent makes a lasting impression. A woman’s fragrance is like a DVF dress, it’s about the way you feel when you put it on…sexy, confident, and classic; and like a DVF dress, perfume should keep speaking even if no one is talking.

Women have been seducing men for hundreds of years with their scent. It has been said that Cleopatra conquered the Romans with her perfume. This is the power of fragrance. Christian Dior said, “Long after one has forgotten what a woman wore, the memory of her perfume lingers.” I’m sure King Solomon couldn’t remember what Cleopatra was wearing because he was hypnotized by her scent.

Diane von Furstenberg was in Dallas last Tuesday to launch her new fragrance Diane at Sephora in North Park. Watching Diane on Good Morning Texas I was tickled to hear her say, “Dallas has the most beautiful women in the world...Dallas is special.” 

Diane von Furstenberg’s new fragrance Diane has musky notes of patchouli, frangipani and violet flowers. It is seductive, mysterious and impossible to forget. Sephora describes it beautifully, “Built up like one of her dresses: it wraps up a woman’s body and stays with her all day long.” Her slogan for the fragrance is “Be the woman you want to be.”  

The beautiful ice sculpture bottle was inspired by the golden links of her sutra bracelets she wears. Carved into her bracelets are Diane’s mantras "love, laughter, freedom, harmony, truth, confidence and life.” I think you can sense the powerful aroma of her fragrance in her mantras.

 

Diane von Furstenberg, the Belgian-American designer was born the same year as my dad. Diane has said, “Beauty is perfect in its imperfections, so you just have to go with the imperfections.” I love the fact that the designer, who is sixty-four, has never had any plastic surgery and doesn’t plan to.

Diane has had a fascinating life! She married a prince in 1969. Her company was founded in 1972. She is most well known for her iconic wrap dress and her signature prints. All this time, Diane has been hobnobbing with the glamorous glitterati and has been photographed more than any designer.

Mario Testino who has photographed Diane told her to always smile big so she looks joyful in every shot and she truly does; she has a definite sense of self and exudes confidence.

Her fashion empire includes: clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry, luggage, tableware, bedding, and now fragrance. Diane is actually her second fragrance following Tatiana.

The DVF legacy is similar to Coco Chanel’s. They each invented their own feminine and modern style that has remained relevant for decades.

She likes the fact that her customers are so young; it makes her feel current. Her customers range in age from eighteen to eighty-eight.

I can’t help but think of Diane as I read Elaine Sciolino’s La Seduction. Even though she isn’t French, she has that obvious joie de vivre and a soft feminine power that only a woman can command. I believe Diane has the art of seduction down pretty well, in fact I can smell it!

If I were a celebrity, creating a fragrance would be first on my list of things I would do. There are very few designer fragrances I love. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely and Stella McCartney’s Stella are two of my favorites. Fragrance is so personal; it envelopes you as a person but also takes on the environment you’re in. As Diane says, “fragrance is about addiction and memory.” Diane has that je ne sais quoi that you don’t forget.

I wore Diane to a local fashion show and dinner out with my girlfriends this past Friday. After leaving a crowded night spot, I could still smell Diane in my hair (not the smoke). I like a fragrance that can stay with you through the variable elements of life. I imagine Diane thought about this from her Studio 54 nights.

When sampling scents at a counter at Neiman Marcus recently, the salesclerk had me smell a few different perfumes. When I told her which scent I preferred, she replied, “Aww…I can tell you are a good girl!” There is a definite yin and yang in fragrances, contrasting flowers just like the many personalities we wear. I may be a good girl, but I might like for some people to catch a whiff of something mysterious that leads them to ponder whether I’m always good! With fragrance, I think we can all be like Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” because it simply depends on how we want to smell.

A sick day, a snow day, a just say no day

There are days when we should stop and smell the chicken and dumplings and listen to some Christmas carols. Sometimes when we are so consistently scheduled, it feels really good to break the pattern. When you have a sick child, things have to change and we are all forced to slow down and say no to obligations. In a way it is a blessing! It's like a bonus day, a snow day...when you have the time for more of those things you don't usually get to enjoy as long as you wish like coloring, cooking, and cuddling.

You know how there’s a Seinfeld episode for everything that happens to us in life? I think the same is true for Beatles songs…After a long week at work, I kept having a Beatles soundtrack in my head that related to how I was feeling…It’s been a Hard Days Night and we keep having to Come Together at work when all I want to say is Don’t Bother Me because I’m so Tired. I know that All Things Must Pass so I’ll say Ob-La-Di and when I need some, I’ll yell HELP and I Call Your Name!

After singing these songs in my head for a few days, my daughter got sick. I thought…more stress, but it was truly a blessing because I was forced to slow down with her and just breathe. We curled up together sharing a blanket and colored princesses. Isn’t it true that once we relax, answers to problems will often be revealed? What had seemed like such a big deal becomes much less of one. Then we can be more productive in every area… maybe we all need to color more.

I remember enjoying sick days at home from school when my mom would set me up on the sofa with chicken noodle soup, hot tea, warm blankets, a fire in the fireplace, and I Love Lucy. I felt warm, safe, and secure. Nothing beats home when you are exhausted and curling up in your little mom-made cocoon is pure happiness. “Stay-at-home” mom is the dream job for most working moms, but it has a more special meaning on a sick day. We all deserve some “stay-at-home” time. Make sure you take advantage of yours when you can.

Sometimes the most urgent and vital thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.

~Ashleigh Brilliant

How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
~Spanish Proverb

Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself,
your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.

~Ralph Marston

There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them. ~Sylvia Plath

Sick

“I cannot go to school today,”

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I’m going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there’s one more—that’s seventeen,

And don’t you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut, my eyes are blue—

It might be instamatic flue.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I’m sure that my left leg is broken—

My hips hurt when I move my chin,

My belly button’s caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,

My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb,

I have a silver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is—what?

What’s that? What’s that you say?

You say today is… Saturday?

G’bye, I’m going out to play!”

~ Shel Silverstein

For your next “stay-at-home” day! Hopefully it will be a “snow day” and not a “sick day!” Read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, listen to She and Him, A Very She & Him Christmas, eat chicken and dumplings, feel a cashmere sweater against your skin, and sip and smell some peppermint tea. You’ll be feeling better before you know it.

Chicken and Dumplings

8 chicken thighs (with skin and bones)

Dredge in and brown in 2-3T vegetable oil:

½ flour

Generous amount of salt

½ t cayenne

¼ t black pepper

Sweat in 1 T vegetable oil:

3 leeks, white and light green part sliced in half moons

2 celery ribs diced

2 carrots, diced

1 sweet potato, peeled, cut into chunks

2 parsnips, peeled, diced

2 bay leaves

Deglaze with 1 C dry white wine

Stir in ¼ C more of flour

Gradually add 6 C chicken broth

Stir in browned chicken and juices

2 t fresh lemon juice

1 t sage and rosemary

For the dumplings:

Blend

1 ½ C flour

1 C parmesan cheese, grated

2 ½ t baking powder

2 t sugar

Salt and pepper

Heat:

1 C whole milk

4 T butter

Preheat oven to 375. Cut chicken into large pieces. Combine flour and seasonings in a resalable plastic bag. Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess in a deep oven proof pot, heat 1 T oil over med-high. Brown half the chicken; transfer to a plate. Brown the rest in a bit more oil then remove and reduce heat. Sweat the vegetables and bay leaves in oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with wine; simmer until almost evaporated. Stir in flour to coat vegetables. Gradually add broth then chicken. Cover pot and transfer to the oven; cook for 20 minutes. While stew is in the oven, make dumpling dough. Stir in lemon juice, and herbs before adding dumplings. Blend dry ingredients for dumplings in a mixing bowl. Heat milk and butter until butter melts; blend into dry ingredients. Shape using a small ice cream scoop then drop dumplings into the simmering stew. Braise in oven until dumplings are cooked through, about 20 minutes. 

Here’s to another week and wishing for Good Day Sunshine!