Thank you for the nomination, now please vote!

If you are a first timer visitor or a regular reader, thank you for reading my blog!

I've been blogging since 2007 and have enjoyed every minute, especially meeting people who recognize me as the "Lively Librarian". I've met some amazing librarians, brilliant authors and fellow book lovers in the past 5 years and look forward to meeting many more.

Exciting news! My blog Lively Librarian has been nominated for a Fascination Award: 2012's Most Fascinating Librarian blog.

I'd love your vote which you can do by clicking on the VOTE FOR ME badge on my homepage and selecting my blog from the list (www.livelylibrarian.blogspot.com is listed as the 17th blog on the list). Voting is open until March 6.

Thanks for your vote and THANK YOU FOR READING!

Book to Academy Award Nominated Film

Did you know that 6 of the 9 Best Picture nominees were adapted from books? How many of you saw the movie, read the book or both?

• The Descendants, by Kaui Hart Hemmings
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis
  
• War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

My Annual Oscar Party was fantastic, a PJ party with "Hugh Hefner" serving cocktails, trivia, contests and lots of laughs. The food was movie themed and guests brought favorites, here are a few of the dishes we shared:

• Cheesy grits with shrimp-inspired by The Help
• Macaroons-inspired by Midnight in Paris and Hugo
• Chocolate covered espresso beans and popcorn with the $ symbol on them-inspired by Moneyball
• Pineapple and mango salsa-inspired by The Descendants
• Cucumber sandwiches-inspired by The Iron Lady
• Popcorn-inspired of course by The Artist and all the movies
• Lots of cocktails including appletinis-inspired by Bridesmaids

And of course, thanks to Sara, chocolate!

Flash Back Friday #50

Because my annual Oscar party is this Sunday, I thought today's Flash Back Friday should be a classic movie. Gone with the Wind (1939) was the first film to be nominated for more than 5 Academy Awards with 13 nominations and 10 wins. And yes Vivien Leigh won for Best Actress, so did Hattie McDaniel for Best Supporting Actress. The film also won Best Picture and Best Director.

This movie has been a favorite of my sister and I since we first saw it. I'm such a fan of the movie that for the 50th anniversary in 1989 I queued up outside the Music Box Theater in Chicago in minus 0 degrees for hours for the chance to see the movie in an old fashioned movie house. I can still remember the lines to get in the theater, it was worth it to watch the movie on the big screen.

Sister, when Paul and I come to stay at the mountain house to go skiing, let's have a Gone with the Wind night. I'm thinking a Southern dinner during intermission!

Enjoy and don't forget to watch the Oscars readers.

A favorite scene, "You need kissing...badly, that's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often and by someone who knows how..."

Vintage DeLIGHT

Since I started remodeling my 1950's era home I have added some wonderful vintage pieces to my house. Thanks to my parents who are antique mall, Ebay and resale shoppers I have a collection of glassware and china, including George Briard and Edwin Knowles Weather Vane. I've also purchased some great mid century furniture pieces including a fantastic table that folds up flat against a wall.

During my frequent shopping trips I've found some odd pieces that now have a place in my home. This fantastic blue chandelier I found in a shop window for $60. My parents call it the "Big Ugly" but I love it and it's a great conversation piece.

I recently found this little treasure, a gold and crystal cherub chandelier in an antique mall and it's now hanging above my bed. We are calling it, "Baby Big Ugly". The light is very dim, like the glow from candles and I'm crazy about it. I painted the wall behind it a bright blue to highlight my growing collection of dress forms and vintage hats. My most recent purchase, an early 20th century gorgeous but very fragile hat of feathers was bought for the 1920's era Great Gatsby party Paul and I are having this summer, you can see it in the photo below on one of my dress forms.

And finally for less than I usually pay for light bulbs I found this mid century lamp that is now in my living room. Odd right, but so unique. I mean why have something everyone else has? Traditional I am not. Boring, why bother.

Later this week I will blog about some of my favorite vintage sources online. I will also add them to the Vintage page.

Stories are Everywhere

I'm at work. It's about 8:30 pm and as I'm sitting at the reference desk I can see and hear the library bustling around me.

A few feet away from me in an aisle between the books on trains and the oversize travel books a mother and her son are reading together. The mother has placed her coat on the floor like a blanket and is laying on her side. Her son is curled up against her as she turns the pages. I can hear them as the mother points to pictures and her son reacts with "ohs" and "ahs". There is a large pile of books at their side and the boy is holding a large zip loc bag full of toy train tracks.

As the mother murmurs to him and describes the places and cultures in the pictures he asks her question after question. She quietly answers him and creates story after story. The Library will close at 10 pm and I think they might be here until then, curled up on the floor, completely at home in the Library and with the stories they are creating.

Love Love.

Many call this a "Hallmark Holiday". Yes it's rather silly to mark 1 day a year to celebrate love when we should remember to celebrate the love in our lives every day. For me its the little reminders of people, places and things that I love.

I presented to a group this morning on Creating Videos for Your Business and one of the attendees gave me a heart shaped chocolate lollipop. Love it.

When I turned on the new vintage chandelier in my bedroom this morning, the newly painted walls shined. Home Love.

I enjoyed a delicious lunch with my son today. My 3 year old niece mailed me a handmade Valentine. My Mom texted me a picture of the flowers she got from my Dad. Family Love.

A surprise gift was waiting for me at work. Happy Love.

Tonight an evening out with my Love where we first met. Love.

So no matter what you do today...buy flowers at the grocery, make handmade Valentines, create a delicious meal for someone special, or even ignore the commercial aspect of the day...I hope you spend time surrounded by people or things you love or creating the love you want.

Oscar Worthy

In preparation for my annual Oscar party this year I've been viewing as many of the major nominated films that I can before the show on February 26. During the last 2 weeks I've seen 4 excellent movies, My Week with Marilyn, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo and The Artist.

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn was extraordinary. Williams was a rather unconventional choice as Marilyn, Williams is tiny and although they dress her to play up her assets I don't think she looks much like Monroe. What she does have is Marilyn's movements, her luminescence and her sex appeal. You simply cannot take your eyes off her. She's plays her as a childlike woman, very lost and sad but very wise to her role as a sex symbol. Williams has my vote for Best Actress.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it's quite a ride. Rooney Mara has a well deserved nod for Best Actress, she is fantastic in the movie and my second vote for this category. And what a cast, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard...and no, believe it or not, I have NOT read the book. I know I know, it's on my list especially after seeing the film.

Hugo. What a magical movie. Martin Scorsese has created an extraordinary film based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret about an orphan living within the Paris train station. The character of Isabelle with her love of books and her devotion to her friend Hugo is my favorite. I like many others assumed this was an animated children's movie, it's almost too beautifully filmed to be anything but animation. Run out and see this movie, today. Oh and it's in 3-D, when the snow falls in Paris its as if you are there. My vote for Best Picture.

The Artist. How to describe this charming movie. A silent film. Black and white. Funny, nostalgic, uplifting. It's wonderful. Set at the end of the 1920's when films were moving from silent to talkies. The costumes, the sets...a throwback to the days when movies were simple, the story was perfect and there is even a cute little dog who steals every scene he is in. Jean Dujardin has my vote for Best Actor.

I have a couple more weeks to see:

Moneyball

The Iron Lady

and one or 2 other films I didn't catch last year.

See you at the movies, or at my Oscar party!

What's on Your Reading List?

Where do you begin? Do you scribble down the books you want to read in a notebook, on scraps of paper, in emails to yourself? Do you have a pile of "to-read" books in your home library?

Do you virtually organize your library on Goodreads? (I've been on Goodreads since 2007, find me and lets compare book lists and reviews)

Well to get some book related conversations started with friends who read my blog, here is my list of "to read" books for the next few months...

1. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
2. Making Handmade Books: 100 Bindings, Structures & Forms by Alisa Golden
3. Do it Yourself Kitchens: Stunning Spaces on a Shoestring Budget
4. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
5. Salvage Secrets: Transforming Reclaimed Materials into Design Concepts by Joanne Palmisano
6. Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase
7. Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
8. Simple Asian Meals: Irresistibly Satisfying and Healthy Dishes for the Busy Cook by Nina Simonds
9. The French Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins