Author Archives: Rebecca

How appropriate.

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I was poking around the staff library at work when I found this little gem of a book: aaa|The American Frugal Housewife|048640840X|aaa by Lydia Maria Child and published in 1844. It is full of helpful hints on how to tell if walnuts are ready for pickling and how housewives should be sure to employ their children in making their own clothes, etc.

With all the talk about the price of gas the past few days, I thought that this passage was particularly timely. While there may not be anything individuals can do about the rising prices, they can change their practices to save, none-the-less. Child tells us not to be ashamed of our frugality, but to embrace it.

>We never shall be prosperous till we make pride and vanity yeild to the dictates of honesty and prudence! We never shall be free from embarrassment until we cease to be ashamed of industry and economy. Let woman do their share towards reformation- Let their fathers and husbands see them happy without finery; and if their husbands and fathers have (as is often the case) a foolish pride in seeing them decorated, let them gently and gradually check this feeling, by showing thatthey have better and surer means of commanding respect- Let them prove, by the exertion of ingenuity adn economy, that neatness, good taste, and gentility, are attainable without great expense.

Thanks, Lydia!

Sweet like Betty Crocker

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fff|ggg|boston_with_jenn/P1040655|At the hatch shell…|ggg|fff

We had a lovely weekend with the beautiful [Miss Jennifer](http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/ “Jenn’s site”).

On Saturday we ventured into Boston with high hopes of seeing the city from 350 feet up. We found an interesting opportunity to take a [Helium Balloon](http://www.aeroballoon.com/buy.html “More info”) ride up above Boston Common. We were excited to go up in a balloon (a first time for all three of us), but the weather was working against us. It was too windy to be safe.

To assuage our disappointment we headed over to the South End for dinner at [b.good](http://www.bgood.com/ “Restaurant website”). Peter has been wanting to try it for a while and this seemed like a good time. Peter and I had burgers and Jenn enjoyed an Oriental Chicken sandwich. YUM. Check it out the next time you’re on Dartmouth Street.

Our appetite for sky-high views was still strong after dinner so up to the [Skywalk](http://www.prudentialcenter.com/play/skywalk.htm “Skywalk info”) at the top of the Prudential Tower. I hadn’t been up there in a few years and they’ve added a few things: an audio tour that gives a guide to the sights and exhibits from the now defunct *Dreams of Freedom Museum*. I love being above the city!

From the 50th floor we could see the [Hatch Shell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatch_Shell “Info at Wikipedia”). It looked as if they were testing the lights. We wondered what kind of concert would be taking place so we strolled through the back bay to find out. From several blocks away we could hear the main act…and Peter made a guess as to who it was. And, amazingly, was correct. So, who do we hear?

None other than [Jesse McCartney](http://hollywoodrecords.go.com/jessemccartney “Jesse’s site”)!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We enjoyed Jesse in *Summerland* but as a singer he’s a little too teeny bopper for me. Nonetheless, we stuck around for a few songs and had fun watching the 12 year old girls having the time of their lives.

Phew! What an afternoon!!!

p.s. You can see all of the day’s pics [here](http://gallery.prwdot.org/boston_with_jenn).

America the Beautiful…

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Have you seen ***Real Women Have Curves|http://imdb.com/title/tt0296166/***?

We watched it last night courtsey of Netflicks. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Mexican music and flair was entertaining, the story heartwarming and the dialogue sharp and witty. America Ferrara did a splendid job portraying a not-so-stick-thin gal struggling to find balance between family obligations and personal ambition.

I think you should see it. Be warned, however, that you will see underwear.

Historic New England does Newport

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fff|ggg|hne_outing/P1040577|Newport Harbor|ggg|fff

I spent the day today touring parts of the lovely town of Newport, Rhode Island. It was the Historic New England summer outing. I’d say that for a Monday it was quite lovely.

Our first stop was the ***Schooner Aurora|http://www.newportexperience.com/aurora.htm***. We took a nice “sail” around Newport Harbor. There was absolutely no wind! The crew was fun and raised the sails for image sake, but we had to motor for most of the time. It was hot and sunny and really pleasant.

After the sail we trooped across town to the ***Ocean Cliff Hotel|http://www.newportexperience.com/oceancliff.htm*** for lunch. We had a tent on the deck with a fantastic view of the harbor and the Newport bridge.

Our last event of the day was a tour of ***Rough Point|http://www.newportrestoration.com/roughPOINT/rough.html*** the home of Doris Duke. It was a beautiful mansion, and the first one that I’ve toured in Newport. It was incredibly lavish and furnished with 16th and 17th century tapestries and furniture and accented with 18th century Chinese imports and dutch portrature. A nice ending to a lovely day.

All my pictures from the day are in our gallery ***Here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/hne_outing***

ps. to my elementary/high school friend Erin Murphy–You were right Tropwen was great!

(Mountain) Biking

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fff|ppp|Corey

Corey

|ppp|fff

CONGRATULATIONS to my brother ***Corey|http://corey.prwdot.org*** for finishing 57th out of 600 in the annual ***Mount Washington Bicycle Hill Climb|http://www.mtwashingtonbicyclehillclimb.org/hillclimb/index.cfm*** yesterday.

The Official Race Results can be found ***here|http://www.mtwashingtonbicyclehillclimb.org/hillclimb/results_05/index.cfm***.

For those of you (myself included) who would never dream of riding the 8 mile long road up the highest mountain in New England even once…Consider this: the photo to the right was taken last month during Corey’s PRACTICE RIDE. So now he’s done it twice! Pics from yesterday should be available soon. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s time to put on makeup…

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qqq|It’s time to play the music,
It’s time to light the lights,
It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight,

It’s time to put on makeup,
It’s time to dress up right,
It’s time to raise the curtian on the Muppet Show tonight,

Waldorf- Why do we always come here?
Statler- I guess we’ll never know
Waldorf- It’s like a kind of torture
Both- To have to watch the show

And now lets get things started
Why don’t you get things started
It’s time to get things started
On the most sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational this is what we call the Muppet Show|qqq

If watching aaa|this|B0009ULBGS|aaa is torture….strap me to the racks and let that water drip!

Please help me relive my childhood by buying me the aformented DVD (it goes on sale tomorrow). Then all I would need is to get my red table and chairs back from my baby cousins…and find a DVD of ***Solid Gold|http://imdb.com/title/tt0080277/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1Tb2xpZCBHb2xkfGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1*** and the time travel would be complete.

Something Exciting? I don’t think so.

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You may (or may not) be keeping up with the merger of the two major department stores Macy’s and Filene’s. As it stands here in New England most of the Filene’s stores will close…and a couple Macy’s as well. The assumption is that all of the Filene’s will be replaced with Macy’s.

This makes me pretty sad. I do 85% of my clothes shopping at Filene’s. They have super sales almost all the time and I can actually find clothes that FIT, I feel good in and are not too expensive. Macy’s just doesn’t do that for me. I find their stores (well, the few I’ve been in) to be messy, unorganized, and full of clothes that are either too expensive, too young or too old for me. I can’t think of the last thing that I purchased there…it may have been a frying pan. (just try wearing that to work!)

Bloglines alerted me to another post in the Boston area written by someone with similar views as mine. ***Check it out here|http://www.bigdumptruck.com/2005_07_01_oldblog2.php#112260117103279878*** and leave me a comment if you have something to add!

I think I’ll be headed to Filene’s today, coupon in hand, to try to savor my last few moments there. Alas!

Yellow and Pink

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fff|ggg|baby_quilt/P1030803|Pink and Yellow Quilt|ggg|fff

We know two baby girls who celebrated their first birthdays this summer. I sent off their gifts already, which were little summer outfits made from cute, pink, tropical fabric.

I had some of this cute fabric leftover and I had a little brain storm. A baby quilt! So, last weekend I got to work and made such a little quilt. Currently, I have sent presents to all the baby girls I know, so it will have to wait before being gifted to anyone.

It was my first foray into machine quilting, and while it worked well, I know that there are things I’d do differently next time. All in all, however, I think it’s pretty darn cute. More photos can be found ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/baby_quilt***

Willy Wonka

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On Friday night Peter and I joined the hordes at the movie theater to see ***Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|http://imdb.com/title/tt0367594/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1jaGFybGllIGFuZCB0aGUgY2hvY29sYXRlIGZhY3Rvcnl8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=5***. I had my doubts about seeing this film. I love the 1970’s version of this film, starring Gene Wilder, and didn’t know how’d I’d feel about the new film.

As luck would have it, I really enjoyed it. It was a very entertaining movie that didn’t outshine its predecessor. The elements that were the same brought out nostalgic memories, and director Tim Burton, didn’t feel the need to rehash the old jokes. Johnny Depp plays Wonka with a fresh and new perspective, and Freddy Highmore shone as Charlie Bucket.

Personal Highlights:
*Getting to see the Chocolate Factory in its “fully operational ‘heyday’ days”.
*Helena Bonham Carter’s appropriately bad teeth. (inappropriate teeth in movies is a pet peeve of mine!)
*That an entire theater-full of adolescents was laughing, cheering and enjoying a movie devoid of sex, foul language and nudity. Perhaps there’s hope after all!

ps. My college roomie, Melissa, will be relieved to hear that this movie is also lacking in a certain song entitled “Cheer Up Charlie.”

pps. Fun Fact- I once knew Roald Dahl’s first wife. She is a lovely woman who still carries her “old Hollywood” air about her.