Advent Calendar 5th December

Advent Calendar 5th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 5th day Christmas countdown

Hi my dear readers, today is the fifth day of the month and another time I've chosen a beautiful musical among those from the old Hollywood.

It's a 1944 classic, starring the wonderful Judy Garland : MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS.
It is a film adaptation signed by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe and inspired by a series of short stories by Sally Benson, originally published in The New Yorker magazine.
Later became a novel entitled 5135 KENSINGTON.

THE STORY: A young woman eagerly awaits the start of the Saint Louis World's Fair as well as the arrival of the boy next door she loves madly.
Unfortunately the girl's father seems to have other plans due to the possibility of obtaining a promotion in New York City.

Among the songs in the film, one in particular stands out: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, sung by J. Garland and which has become a musical standard over time.

The quote I chose is something that each of us should remember every day at all times.
Sincerity, in fact, is always the winning card.

I hope you like my suggestion to spend a cheerful afternoon or evening in front of the screen and I'm wishing you a good day!

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Advent Calendar 4th December

Advent Calendar 4th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 4th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody dear friends, wishing you a happy 4th day of the month.

Since today is also my birthday I chose a classic novel I loved so much in my childhood ( and still do ) and that is also an homage to all women : A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnetts
( At the link above you can find several editions ).

As many of us know, this this novel for children, published for the first time in 1905.

It tells THE STORY of little Sara Crewe in an exclusive boarding school where she finds herself first as a privileged student and then, following the death of her father, she is forced to work as a scullery maid to support herself and forced to do all sorts of errands and given very harsh treatment.

What is moving is that Sara, even in poverty, demonstrates great generosity towards other people who suffer like her. And when she finds the help of good people, she will be able to share her fortunes with others.

I have seen many film adaptations, well made and engaging, however my favorite remains the 1939 Hollywood musical with the legendary prodigy child Shirley Temple.

The quote is a phrase that I have always liked.

Furthermore, considering that women throughout history have always been put in second place compared to men and that even today, despite emancipation, they are often mistreated and suffer abuse (and in many parts of the world they still experience situations of submission to men), on my birthday I wanted to remind all women that we worth. Young or old, rich or poor, beautiful or less beautiful, we all are princesses!

If you like the image above, you can download it , print it and save it as a nice bookmark :-)

(NOTE : I know my English is not so good, my native language is Italian, so please be lenient with me)

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Advent Calendar 3rd December

Advent Calendar 3rd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 3rd day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, here is the third image of my Advetnt Calendar, a cheerful Christmas countdown with quotes from novels and movies I love.

This time I chose a classic movie from old Hollywood, the musical SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS.

The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley, is based on the short story "THE SOBBIN' WOMEN" by Stephen Vincent Benét, in turn based on the ancient Roman legend of the Rape of the Sabine Women.

THE STORY: 1850, Oregon Mountains (United States ). The story tells us about the Pontipee Brothers, all beautiful and a little wild, so much so that they seem more like a tribe than a normal family.

When they go down to the village one day, they soon fall in love with the village girls and start a fight with their boyfriends.

Returning to the mountain, the woodcutters feel they are suffering from lovesickness and the older brother, already engaged, suggests they kidnap the girls, as the Romans did with the Sabine women.

The movie offers beautiful dance choreographies and beautiful songs and with the snowy landscapes it enters the Christmas atmosphere very well.

The quote I chose is funny and romantic at the same time, since is spoken by a simple lumberjack, who doesn't know much about good manners with ladies, but understands perfectly how true love leaves its marks on the heart.

If you like this image you can download it by clicking on the preview and print it to use i as a bookmark.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Book review : Upon the Midnight Clear by Tasha Alexander

Upon the Midnight Clear #13.5
A Lady Emily Christmas Story
Lady Emily Mysteries
by Tasha Alexander
My rating: 3.4 of 5 stars

Short Christmas story from a mystery series that I love very much, not only thanks to the 2 main characters, Lady Emily, an amateur sleuth, and her husband Colin, a spy in the service of the English crown, but also thanks to the historical part always included by the author in her novels and to the mysteries/detection aspect always very well thought.

While usually I really love the novels in the series (almost always 4 and 5 stars for me), the short Christmas stories had disappointed me a little so far: set at Christmas, they had nothing Christmas-like about them.
That didn't stop me from reading the last short Christmas story I had left with these protagonists and finally in this little book I was able to breathe a bit of festive air.

___THE PLOT___ London, 1901. While Lady Emily and her family are shopping in Hamley's toy shop, a stranger gives her three sons some Christmas crackers that, when opened, reveal a mysterious messages.
Meanwhile, a slightly eccentric man requests the help of Colin and Lady Emily to find his daughter, taken away by the parents of his wife who died during childbirth.

---> In this story, as in the longer novels is palpable the mutual love between Emily and her husband and the joy and serenity of the whole family with their 3 children and the faithful nanny.

The moments of shopping, ironic but affectionate jokes between the two spouses, the excitement of the children in opening the crackers, give a lively and fun atmosphere to the story.

The mystery of the disappearance of the daughter of the man, who hired our two investigators, is well thought out despite the brevity of the story and it's engaging until its conclusion.

---> The only thing that always annoys me are the dialogues that the author writes for the 3 children: they are 5 years old and even assuming that they are ultra-intelligent kids, at that age they cannot speak as politely as 20-year-old adults who they have already completed the entire course of their studies. We know that the 3 children already know how to read and one of them is a little genius... but the speeches made by all 3 children are unlikely in reality.

Despite this, I always recommend this series to all lovers of historical mysteries, in my opinion it is one of the best, especially if you love the historical component (don't start from the Christmas stories, start from the 1st or 2nd novel in the series)

(Thanks for reading my review, please pardon me for any errors in the text, I'm from Italy and English is not my language )

If you are interested in other reviews about Lady Emily mysteries you can find 2 of them here ( I also reaad other books in the series past years, but I didn't have my blog yet, I'm trying to rewrite them all, but it takes time )

BOOK #2 : "A Poisoned Season"

BOOK #3 : "A Fatal Waltz"


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Advent Calendar 2nd December

Advent Calendar 2nd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 2nd day Christmas countdown

Hello everyone!

Here you are my second picture for a cute Advent Calendar as Christmas countdown.

On the second day I included another classic novel LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY by Frances Hodgson Burnetts, of which we all know the legendary 1980 film adaptation, with Alec Guinness and Ricky Schroder.

If you've never read it or seen the film, here's THE STORY:
little Cedric Errol, fatherless, carefree childhood in a working-class neighborhood of New York with his mother and his greatest friends: Mr. Hobbs the grocer and Dick the shoe shiner.
Suddenly he learns that he has a grandfather, the Lord Earl Fauntleroy, in England whose heir he became after his father's death.

His life will change radically and with his spontaneity, joy and generosity he will be able to conquer his grandfather's hard heart and to help many people in need.

The novel was first published in installments in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886 and finally in volume in 1886.

Like every classic story, this one also contains a stimulating invitation to shed light within oneself and to give value to feelings.

The quote I chose is about friendship and sincerity, 2 very rare things in the world of yesterday and today.

As I suggested yesterday, if you like the picture and usually read not only ebooks, but also paper book, you can print it, paste on cardboard and after have applying a transparent adhesive paper on both sides, you can use it as bookmark.

(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )



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Advent Calendar 1st December

Advent Calendar 1st December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 1st day Christmas countdown

Good morning and happy start of December!

Here you are my creation to the first day in the exciting Christmas countdown.

On the first day of December, I want to remember one of the classic novels that I love the most since I was a child: LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott
you can find several editions by clicking the link above ).

Originally published in two volumes (LITTLE WOMEN in 1868 and GOOD WIVES in 1869), it was then unified into a single volume.
I guess everyone knows THE STORY, anyway it tells about the four March sisters lives from their childhood until womanhood.
The girls Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy actually are referring to the author herself and her 3 sisters.
It's interesting to observe through happy and sad events the growth and inner transformation of girls, from adolescents to adults. It's a funny and very touching family drama at the same time.
Alcott also wrote LITTLE MEN ( 1871) and JO'S BOYS (1886).

This wonderful book has inspired many films and TV series, but my favorites remain these two adaptations from the past (1949 and 1994).

Among all the lines I chose this quote to remember because it sounds very sweet and suitable to everyone.

If you like collecting bookmarks and/or postcards or illustrated images, then it might be a good idea to download the image and use it as a bookmark.

I usually print with a color printer, paste on cardboard and then apply a transparent adhesive paper on both sides, so that the bookmark does not get damaged and the image remains intact for years.

(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Giveaway : Free Printable December 2023 Calendar

December 2023, free printable calendar

Here we are, the last month of the year is now upon us.

The most exciting and lively month of all 12 months, where the frenzy of shopping for gifts makes us lose our minds and events and appointments overlap one another.

There are only a few days left and December will begin, which is why I have prepared my usual planner full of colors and cheerful drawings, to print and fill in with the main commitments or to keep on the computer desktop to always have the days of the month in sight.

You can also print it in a smaller format, stick it on cardboard and use it as a nice bookmark for your Christmas readings.

Just click on the preview image and then DOWNLOAD FOR FREE :-)

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
December 2023 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

This is also the month in which good people try to be even better and more available towards others and they usually formulate many good resolutions for the new year and for the future in general.

Thanking you for stopping by my blog, I wish everyone a peaceful and MERRY CHRISTMAS.
I'm wishing you also a good end of 2023, a HAPPY NEW YEAR and that all your good intentions will be successful! :-)

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