Yesterday I took Norah to the bookstore for the first time, and honestly, she slept through the entire experience. Which means I got to pick out her read for her! (I got her a copy of "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein -- it was one of my favorites when I was a kid.)
Taking her to Barnes and Noble kinda made me nostalgic about bookstore visits when I was a kid. I grew up in Denver, CO and I spent many hours at the Tattered Cover, a beloved Denver independent bookstore. My dad used to take my brother and I there on Saturdays, and we always got to pick out a book for ourselves. Today, the Tattered Cover is no longer in its original Cherry Creek location, but there are still two other locations in Denver that people can go to (one is in LoDo and one is on Colfax; I recommend the LoDo location because it's most like the old Cherry Creek store) if any of you live in Denver or visit it.
Now, I feel a bit like a suburban sellout going to Barnes and Noble, but we honestly have no independent booksellers in South Florida, so Norah's first childhood bookstore experience was B&N. She did not have a latte.
After we got home from the bookstore, and I had big chain bookstores vs. the independent on the brain, I decided I just had to watch "You've Got Mail." I love that movie; and it was the perfect "fall" movie (I love the line, "I love NY in the fall; it makes me want to buy school supplies. I would buy you a bouquet of sharpened pencils if I knew you."). Remember my little rant not too long ago about how the romantic comedy sucks these days? Well, "You've Got Mail" is exactly what I wish more romantic comedies were like: It's charming, witty, and the characters have real depth and chemistry.
Watching it made me wish there were some kind of cute children's bookstore like Meg Ryan's Shop Around the Corner to take Norah too, but I guess for now, she'll have to settle on getting her Dr. Suess, et all from the big, bad chain store. Oh well. At least I get a discount with my membership card :)
35 comments:
You've Got Mail was pretty weak compared to When harry met sally and of course, every guy's favorite, The Princess Bride.
Inconceivable!
Hi Jess - I am a friend of Shannon Polich and found your blog through hers. Congrats on baby Norah! She is adorable! I am having a baby in November and am determined to get back to running as soon as I can after the baby is born too!
Good luck getting back into your running schedule!
PS: You've Got Mail is one of my favorites too. I never get tired of watching it. My fav line is when Tom Hanks says "152 people think he looks like a Clark Bar!" It cracks me up every time.
You are going to be an awesome mom! I love that you took her to her first book store already! Nora is one lucky little peanut!
Love "You've Got Mail," I think I am going to go home and watch it now! Anything to remind me of how awesome fall is, is welcomed right now! So so so tired of the heat! Need me some cool running weather!
LOVE LOVE LOVE that movie...and i just went through this SAME thing a couple of weeks back when i walked to a historic landmark bookstore near my house and found out that the stupid B&N being built about a mile away was forcing them out of business...
i joined the facebook group called I WILL NOT SHOP AT THE WEST GRAY BARNES AND NOBLE group ...
and i wont. i will go to HalfPrice books from now on until i find another little bookstore.
Being read to every night was one of my favorite things as a kid, and I still have my first favorite book, one of Kermit's poems with wonderful watercolor illustrations.
I'm 100% with you on the love of small local stores. They are becoming so hard to find in all of the urban sprawl.
I love that line...great movie too! I'll have to pull it off the shelf and watch it sometime soon.
That was such a cute movie. Good call. I'll have to add that to Netflix this month.
What a fun trip to B&N!! I hear ya' on the small independent stores vs. big chain. Oh and I love love love You've Got Mail. I could watch it over and over again!!
I've been to the Tattered Cover, my aunt took me there when we visited her in Denver way back when. My favorite book when I was a kid was "Green Eggs and Ham", it was the first book I "read" myself. (I think it was because my mom read it so many times I had it memorized)
I lurve books. Take me next time. I promise I'll stay awake. most of the time :-)
Yay for Norah's first trip to the book store. Too bad you don't have any of those independent stores nearby.
Now I want to watch You've Got Mail!
I love going to the bookstore always have. Morgan loves going. We also take her to the library all the time. two weeks ago we spent 2 hours there and she didn't complain once. Hope you found some good reads.
that's a great book...we live close to a local library so we check out lots of kids books from there...i think reading to your kids, and getting them to love reading, is extremely valuable to a well developed child...
I second the library suggestion. Jack and I go there at least once a month, often more, and check out as many books as we can carry.
Also, check out "Time for Bed." It was one of my favorites when Jack was a baby.
Just wait till you get to take her to story time!! (usually 18 mo-4 ys)...its the best, and a great free activity. The lady here in Phoenix is 65 or 70 and completely gets into it. She is so cute! Now the boys are 7 and 5, so no more story time. Makes me want another.
There's a little bookstore in the town we visit when on vacation, and I LOVE it. At home, I have to settle for Borders. But the coupons are nice! You should pick up Pinkalicious and Purplicious for Norah . . . they are very cute, and Sophie's current faves! Of course, I always have to get a couple of books for myself when we go.
I remember getting a book everyweek...at the grocery store, of all places. I was a "babysitters club" JUNKIE, and for some reason or another, the grocery store always had them...
i love you've got mail too. when harry met sally is still the fav though.
Ok, a couple of things I had to reply to ;)
1) I get "The Giving Tree" as a gift for a lot of friends new babies, christenings, etc. People forget about it ... but its a very good book to have!
2) I begged and begged my DH to go to the coffee shop where they meet in NYC. He thought it was so dumb, "Why would we go to the coffee shop from that dumb movie?". We never went...but someday I will!
3) We actually have a lot of kids bookstores here in Chicago, but I (guiltily) still get all of Brooke's books from B&N because they are so much cheaper (and there we go, it circles right back to You've Got Mail)
The Giving Tree is one of my all time favorite books, it's already on my baby's bookshelf just waiting for his arrival :)
books instil our imagination, you will only enhance baby Norah's life by reading to her and making sure she knows how to read.
Not, text, blog jargon nor slang...you will give her an amazing journey ... xoxoxo
I loved the Tattered Cover when I visited Denver several years ago. I went to the LoDo one and I could have stayed forever.
It is a bummer we don't have a indie bookstore here in SoFlo. I'll hit Borders before B&N, though.
Gotta get her addicted asap! :) Books are the best!
Aww, cute post! :) sounds like you are enjoying !
I love "You've Got Mail"! Now I want to watch it myself! :)
I've never seen "you've got mail". I'll have to get my hands on that one.
We have several small bookstore options here, but we mostly use the library now. We have a HUGE collection of picture books and such at our house (what can I say, I'm a librarian), but Jones is currently going through chapter books faster than I can get my hands on them.
I don't think I have ever watched You've Got Mail or When Harry Met Sally all the way through. I might have to netflix it.
The Tattered Cover is a great bookstore. I can see why you like it so much.
I am a Borders girl over B&N. I am also an "in and out" shopper. I like to get in, browse for my books, and then get out. I don't sit and read or purchase coffee.
While reading your post I realized that I miss going to the bookstore! I spent many hours in many bookstores in the past. Due to lack of time, I've been ordering a lot of my recent reads through Amazon, or checking them out from my library. The Giving Tree is one book our entire family enjoys, too!
"You've Got Mail" is my favorite movie. And, I wish there were more romantic comedies like it, too! It is my go-to movie for days I feel down or sick. I don't even need to watch it to "watch" it because I've seen it so many times. I can just listen and close my eyes and drift off to sleep with lines like "You need quiet when the hot dog is singing?" and "It's pissin' me off, actually," dancing in my head. I blogged about this movie on my mommy blog last year before Christmas when my son was about 6 months. http://www.sanitydepartment.com/2008/12/youve-got-therapy.html
Glad to know someone else like that movie! Most of my friends just make fun of me!
Kerrie
http://momvsmarathon.blogspot.com
It's also one of my favorites too! I love Tom Hanks in that movie. I love every witty line!
One of my favorite books when I was little, and Shannon's and now Rylee is learning to like it,
Mike Mulligan and his steamshovel. I still get teary eyed when I read it.
So cute, I remember going to the library with my mom & sister as a child too, it is such a great memory for your daughter to have :)
i pass the restaurant from that movie a lot--never eaten there though. glad norah got a book to start her collection--an excellent pick!
I love You've Got Mail. And I'm a huge bookstore lover, but I must admit most of the time it is just Barnes and Noble.
Eric Carle all the way.
Oh that's right. I do remember going to Tattered Cover bookstore in Cherry Creek. What a memories! I do agree that LoDo is the best since there are plenty of terrific local breweries after reading books.
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