On my recent vacation to Washington, DC while visiting the American History Museum, I stumbled upon this book at the gift shop. I must say, I immediately had to have it. I’m telling you, “How to be Popular” by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz is one of my favorites. And just a note to those who have no idea what this book is about, I do not believe it is supposed to be taken very seriously as it is basically a compilation of magazine articles and such from around the 40s to the 70s. But most of all, this book is hilarious. Our poor mothers and grandmothers before us really had a lot of social rules to follow that are just not practical in our generation. For instance, do you know how to swing dance? That was common knowledge to the women before us, and they were expected to do it well. How’s your posture? I’m willing to bet you do not emphasize this much with your children, and certainly not to the degree it was emphasized to your mother, or even her mother before her. Do you even know what a sun tan tattoo is?

You see, this is just the kind of wisdom “How to be Popular” imparts to us who know so little of real culture. Propriety was the order of the day, not clubbing and looking cheap at a bar. Why was I not born 50 years ago? Haven’t you even wanted to be Lucille Ball or June Cleaver? I have. I have often wished that I was a perfect hybrid of the two.

Also, I don’t know if you have heard of all the flooding in Queensland, Australia, but you can get involved and help by bidding on quilts. Your donations will go directly to helping the victims. Anna Maria Horner is donating a beautiful quilt here. Also check out Red Pepper Quilts here.