Last night

Yesterday was not a good day at work. But it was also the season 4 premiere of Once Upon A Time. Rebekah came over and we drank hot cocoa with cinnamon and watched. It was a very nice way to end the day.

Happy Birthday

Today is the birthday of one of my all time favorite authors; Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

(Did you know he was named after his distant cousin Francis Scott Key who wrote the poem The Star Spangled Banner which was later put to music and that we all know and love as our National anthem?)

Did you also know that he died thinking himself a failure? He truly believed that his work would die away and he would not be remembered. Oh, Scott, how wrong you were! I wonder if his life would have been different if he'd known what an impact his work would have. How popular and classic it has become. I'd like to think he'd have been happier, but I suppose we'll never know.

Edit: It is no longer Fitzgerald's birthday. I should have posted sooner. His birthday is the 24th.

Halloween costume selection time.

I love dressing up in any way, but I especially love costumes. So Halloween is an awfully fun day for me, and the planning process is at least half the fun. So a few days ago I began thinking about it. I decided that my parents should dress up as the Weird Parents from Audrey Wood's book Weird Parents, and my brother is dressing up as a Mutant Ninja Turtle with his friends. But what am I to wear? I was thinking I'd be Alice from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland but I wasn't hugely excited about it. I like costumes that have a nice full skirt so that was the main draw. But today at work I was shelving books in the children's section and I came across one I'd never seen before. The Princess Who Had No Kingdom. 

The story itself is darling. It's about - shocker - a princess who has no kingdom. She travels about the country in a cart, with a pony named Pretty and a red umbrella when it rains and she looks for her kingdom. She earns money by delivering packages like ostrich eggs that are close to hatching and cranky old grannies.

In the end she marries the court jester and he sells old jokes and she delivers packages and they travel around and are adorable.

So this year for Halloween I am going to be the Princess Who Had No Kingdom.

I now officially work in a bookstore.

I wanted to post a video of a specific scene, but I can't find it so I'll have to just tell you about it. One of my family and my favorite movies is You've Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Meg Ryan plays a young woman named Kathleen Kelly who owns a childrens book store called The Shop Around The Corner. Tom Hanks plays Jo Fox whose massive chain Fox Books comes into the neighborhood and threatens the life of The Shop Around The Corner. No spoilers but there is a scene near the end of the movie where Kathleen finally gives in and goes into Fox Books and up to the children's section. While she is there a woman comes in asking the clerk "do you have the shoe books?" of course the typical Chain Store Employee has no idea what she is talking about. And of course Kathleen knows all about them. She suggests beginning with Ballet Shoes "It's my favorite. Although Skating Shoes is perfectly wonderful too." She tells the Chain Store Employee how to spell the author's name "Noel Streatfeild." and the scene ends. I have since read Ballet Shoes - although none of the others sadly, and it is indeed perfectly wonderful.

One week ago today I worked my first day at the locally owned bookstore Face In A Book. And last Saturday a woman came in and asked "do you have the shoe books?" I don't think I've ever smiled so hard in my life. I of course am not the typical Chain Store Employee and so lead her straight to them. As she left I thought to myself "I now officially work in a bookstore."