An Open Letter to Betty Draper

Note: After the jump, this does have spoilers in it up to the most current Mad Men episode.

Betty Draper, you confuse me beyond belief. You are were my favorite character. You're a young mother of some very cute kids. (Like me!) You're married to a incredibly handsome man. (Also like me!) You're intelligent and poised, sophisticated, beautiful. (Uhhh....maybe like me...sort of?) From day one I have felt for you and your struggles. But upon entering Season Four, I have as yet to draw my line in the sand. I want to like you, I really do. But you make it so hard, darling...

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Why You Should Watch Mad Men

I debated about whether to write this post after the season premiere tonight or if I should write it beforehand. I ended up writing it after because time got away from me today. If you haven't heard of my love for Mad Men, you obviously don't follow me on Twitter. I'm joking...but I do talk about it a lot on there - and I follow lots of cool MM peeps on there as well! Anyway, it's an awesome (and critically acclaimed) show. My hubby and I heard about it from one of his former co-workers, rented a DVD and got hooked. According to the all knowing Wikipedia:
Mad Men is set in the 1960's at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City. The show centers on Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), creative director at Sterling Cooper, as well as those in his life in and out of the office. It also depicts the changing social mores of 1960's America.
The show is currently on it's fourth season (it premiered tonight) but seasons one through three are available in stores, on Netflix, etc. And to sway you some more, I present my reasons why you should be watching Mad Men:

The style and design of the show is beautiful. The costume designer Jamie Bryant is amazing. The women's dresses are drop dead gorgeous down to the last minute detail. Watching the show makes me want to wear dresses, aprons and heels daily. If only I had enough money to buy a fabulous vintage wardrobe. And patience to put on all that clothing every morning. And smaller feet that would fit into cute heels... Ahem, I DIGRESS.
The cast is incredibly talented and each is suited just right for his or her role. The development of the characters and story lines are constantly evolving. It's intriguing seeing how things have changed since the 1960's not only with women's rights but with marriage, child-rearing, race, careers, pregnancy and family. The events and products that were popular and happening then - Kennedy vs. Nixon, the Playtex Jackie or Marilyn campaign, the Civil Rights Movement, etc. - are really interesting to see when we know from history what's going to happen, but maybe not exactly how.

And if that's not enough...I'll tempt you with pictures:

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Too Much TV?

While browsing the internet the other night, a statistic from an Elle magazine article about television caught my attention:

Watching TV is the world’s most popular pastime, and the latest Nielsen data shows that as of December 2009, Americans were watching more than ever before in history: 35 hours a week, to be precise. And, despite the economic downturn, we haven’t stopped buying televisions. In fact, we reached a record high in January, with an average of 2.93 TVs per household.

That's about five hours a day! I was very surprised...but then I got to thinking about it. Do I watch that much? It depends on the week, I guess. And it's kind of sad when I think about those weeks when I said "I don't have enough time" but yet I found enough time to watch 35 hours of television! ;)
I'm not against the television, I don't want you to think that. I do like it - I think it can entertaining, a useful educational tool and a way to spend time together. But I also think there's a lot of bad stuff on it, it can distract us from other things and can enable us to be more lazy. I've seen both sides of the fence on this issue - I know some people that don't watch television at all and others that are obsessed. I myself am a person who has a few favorite shows but I don't watch very much "live" TV. DVR is my near and dear friend. Having kids, it's not always convenient (or sometimes appropriate) to watch television with them. So I set up the DVR to record my favorite shows and then watch them later, usually after the kids go to bed. I almost never watch television during the day, unless it's a kid's show.
And speaking of kids - according to researchers, a 3 year old who watches two hours of TV per day is 20% more likely to have attention problems at age 7 than a child who watches no television. If my son (who is four, soon to be five) watches too much TV it makes him incredibly hyper and it seems like it's harder for him to pay attention. But wait before you chuck your television out the window...because other studies show preschoolers who watch high-quality educational television programs tend to score better on reading and math tests. I know that to be true - I've seen my son spelling and sounding out words along with the kids on Word World. There are a lot of good shows for kids on PBS (and other stations, I'm sure - we mainly just watch Boomerang and PBS) that teach kids about words, math, reading, science, etc.
I think it's all about finding your happy medium. If you're okay with the time you spend watching TV and it's something that you enjoy, then it's probably okay. But if it's getting in the way of your relationships, taking care of your house, self or kids...then it's probably time to retire the TV for awhile or at least put some more limits on it. As far as kids go, I think if they don't watch too much and they do well watching it, then it's okay.

So dear readers, I ask you - what's your policy on the television, for yourself and your children?

TV picture by my wonderful friend Keshia

Style Icon: Betty Draper from Mad Men

Ever since I started watching Mad Men, I've admired Betty Draper's clothing. Her classic sense of style is refreshing in a time when skinny jeans and Uggs with short shorts have become the norm. Here's some things that I think represent Betty Draper's fifties/sixties housewife and mom style - but are still modern enough to wear today.

Pearls are a girl's best friend...oh wait, that's diamonds! Oh well, they're both pretty. The only jewelry needed for this look are some small pearl earrings and a long strand of pearls you can double up or wear long.

For a typical day around the house, Bets can often be found in something simple - a cardigan or sweater set and full skirt or a dress. A crinoline under the skirt helps it to poof out if it's not already a full skirt. As far as colors, she tends towards pastels, florals and creams.

When Betty has to get dressed up for a fancy dinner out with Don, she goes all out. She always looks sophisticated and put together. (Of course it might help that she has a housekeeper to watch her kids and clean her house while she's preparing!) She generally chooses jewel toned full-length evening gowns, like the ones below.

(Also - I'm thinking about making this a feature on my blog - posting every so often about a style icon I like. What do you think? Also also - if you're really interested in Mad Men style, their costume designer has a book coming out!)

Wordless Wednesday: Mad Men Yourself

The hubby & I if we were on Mad Men - Mad Men Yourself!

These Precious Things

"Pain is the payment for each precious thing," was a quote from this week's episode of CSI:NY. I've watched it from time to time but I'm not a super fan by any means - I was flipping channels and it just happened to be on. One of the CSI people was recovering from being shot and having to learn to walk all over again. His co-worker told him the quote I mentioned above, talking about how he needed to try harder to learn to walk for his precious little newborn baby. At the end of the episode, his wife (girlfriend?) wakes up, hearing the baby crying on the baby monitor. She gets up and goes to the baby's room only to find that the CSI is already up with the baby, shuffling around the room and patting it's back. She smiles as tears fill her eyes. It reminded me of two things - one, a very good friend of mine who recently went through that process of learning to walk all over again and two, the first steps we take as babies.

The first thing was a long and still continuing process for my friend. She spent most of last winter sick with meningitis. She ended up having her legs amputated, getting new legs and learning to walk all over again. It has been amazing to see her accomplishments. When she sent me the pictures of her first steps with her new legs, I cried. I'm very proud of her and all the things she has done. She has come a long way and I believe she will go even further than anyone has ever imagined as time goes on.

The second thing, our first steps as babies, are a huge, well..."step" in our life. We learn to roll, to crawl, to smile, to eat and eventually to walk. And once your children start walking, that's it! Soon they're getting into things, following their siblings, growing taller & stronger, reaching more & more milestones and moving on up out of our lives. Before we know it, they're adults with families of their own. When my son took his first tedious steps across the floor, tears immediately sprang to my eyes - my little guy was growing up! I was so proud. Now he tears around all over the house! :) I know I will do the same thing all over again when my daughter learns to walk too.

So that first big step is a big part of all of our lives - whether we're learning to walk for the first OR the second time. And sometimes it requires a little pain. But it's good to remember that "pain is the payment for each of our precious things."