Thursday, October 03, 2024

Dolls On a Busy Day

Began the day with breakfast and The Scooby Doo Show. The gang's saying "Hang In There, Scooby Doo" when he gets caught on a hang glider before a tournament and ends up in a cave. The tournament and cave are being harassed by a half-man, half-pterodactyl who is seen flying into the caves. The gang follows him and some familiar music in order to figure out this high-above mystery.

Headed out to run errands next. It was the perfect day for it, too. The weather couldn't have been nicer for early October, sunny, breezy, and warm, into the upper 70's. No wonder the Westmont Plaza was so busy when I arrived. There were tons of kids everywhere, girls gossiping and boys riding around on bikes and getting in everyone's way. I forgot today is the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. They must have been out for the holiday or gotten out early. 

Thankfully, despite their screen saying the wait was almost an hour, Great Clips wasn't busy and had no wait. The tall, slender girl with the long face and cute bob style was a sweetheart and did a nice job on my hair. It's a lot shorter than I wanted, half-way up my neck, but maybe that's not a bad thing. We are coming up on the holidays. Might be nice to just put a headband on and go during the busy season. It does look very curly, layered, and darling.

Everyone must have been at Dollar Tree. They were mobbed, with lines down the aisles. My toddler niece Aurora and good friend Amanda had birthdays October first. I got them greeting cards and was able to get Aurora a gift card to Carter's and OshKosh, but the pet store cards I wanted for Amanda wouldn't work. I hated holding up that long line! I just got another card instead.

Target was busy, but when I couldn't find the mouthwash I wanted in a smaller size, I just moved on. Had more luck at Sprouts. Grabbed coconut milk for cheaper than the Acme has it and more of those dried raspberry-lemon mango slices in a bin. Found peanut butter bakery cookies and a brand of probiotic soda I'd never heard of before on clearance. Thankfully, they were not busy and I was able to get in and out.

Had lunch at the Westmont Diner, a block down on the hill under the Haddon Township Library. They were also busy with high schoolers and families having lunch together when I arrived around 1:30. I opted for one of their lunch specials...and boy, am I glad I did! The salmon burger was incredible, a perfectly cooked salmon patty with fresh lettuce and tomato and tasty Old Bay seasoned skin-on fries. Even the house salad that came with it was good.

Made one last quick stop at the PNC Bank in Collingswood for the rent and money for the Collingswood Farm Market and Book Festival on Saturday. Rode up to one of the outside ATMs, got my money, and rode home (dropping books at the East Clinton kiosk as I went). 

Went straight into dressing the dolls for October when I got in. Samantha is in her blue windowpane check Play Dress and Pinafore with the black and white boots from her Flower Picking Dress. Josefina gets her current meet outfit with the lovely red, blue, and orange flower-print skirt. Molly and Whitney sport hand-made dresses from local seamstresses. Molly's in blue gingham, while Whitney sports pink polka dots with a smocked bodice and pearl trim. Barbara Jean goes mod for Halloween in an orange, coral, and black chevron-print knit skirt with a white bodice and wide orange collar, with the flats from Josefina's Christmas dress and stockings from her Christmas dress. 

Jessa gets to try on one of the outfits I bought from Cottage Resale back in August, the rare late-90's Artist's Outfit. She looks adorable in the rainbow-blotched shirt, matching high-tops, and rolled-up overalls. Ariel looks very hip in her white satin blouse, pink tie scarf, orange knit vest, and plaid pleated miniskirt. Felicity and Kit are in their original meet outfits. Felicity's orange, red and brown print Rose Garden Dress is very appropriate for fall. Kit wears her lavender twin set with the floral skirt. 

Listened to more of my recent CD purchases while I worked. Little Richard was one of the great pioneers of early rock, bringing his flamboyant and dynamic personality to dance-a-thons like "Rip It Up" and "All Around the World." "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" are probably his most famous hits today, and the songs most associated with him, He also did two numbers in the 1956 rock comedy The Girl Can't Help It, it's raucous title song and "She's Got It." 

Avenue Q debuted on Broadway in 2003 as an adult-oriented Sesame Street parody. At the time, the idea of children's entertainment being used to comment on grown-up matters was a novelty. In this case, a group of Muppet-like puppets and three humans co-exist together in a dilapidated neighborhood in one of New York's outer boroughs. They're all parodies of the typical post-college slackers of the 90's and 2000's, from mismatched layabout and Republican roommates Nicky (John Tartaglia and Rick Lyon) to TV-obsessed Trekkie Monster (Lyon) to sweet teacher Kate Monster (Stephanie D'Abruzzo), who wants to open her own school for monsters. For all the goofy and potty-mouthed satire, my favorite number from this is the mature and pointed ballad "There's a Fine, Fine Line." Kate wistfully wonders where her relationship with Princeton (Tartaglia) is heading and why things work out the way they do.

The film and soundtrack of That Thing You Do! were surprise hits in 1996. This comedy about a rock band in 1964 who land a hit single, but find it hard to maintain their fame afterwards, remains a lot of fun today thanks to its energetic young cast and realistic music. Unlike the soundtrack from Eddie and the Cruisers, which sounds like the 80's version of early 60's numbers, the songs on this CD could pass for real hits from the early-mid 60's. The title song was so catchy, it ended up being the choice dance jam on real radio stations throughout the fall and early winter of 1996-1997.

Switched to Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter after I finished with the dolls. I go further into this adorable vehicle for English band Herman's Hermits at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.


Did a little bit with the inventories next. Added That Thing You Do! to the soundtracks and Avenue Q and Flora the Red Menace to the cast albums. After I did those, I had a quick dinner while watching Match Game '77. Charles tossed out jokes about Orson Bean's earring, then tried to make one himself with one of his blue cards.

Finished the night listening to that double disc Johnny Mathis set while working on my Mrs. Brown review. Warm and Open Fire, Two Guitars are different names for what amounts to the same idea - intimate standard ballads performed in quiet settings that are perfect for running on chilly nights by a roaring fire. Warm does feature Percy Faith and His Orchestra, but I like the later Open Fire better, especially "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," "I'm Glad There Is You," and "There Goes My Heart." 

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