Tag: Thomas Jefferson

My Favorite Holiday

Sadie2 Comments

February is such a great month (despite the questionable weather) because I love Valentine’s day, and I love President’s Day even more! And this year they are both combined into one long weekend! What is better than celebrating TJ with chocolate, hearts, and flowers?

TJ

Lately I’ve been in a broadway mood, so of course they best way to celebrate President’s Day in my mind is to listen to the 1776 soundtrack! I saw 1776 on broadway in the 1990’s and it has always been one of my favorites (I wonder why).  If you didn’t have the chance to see it on Broadway, there’s always the movie version with Mr. Feeney playing John Adams, it’s a classic!

1776

TJ is always my number one, but John Adams really steals the show in this one. To get in the presidential mood today, I would highly recommend checking out some Youtube clips of the movie or recordings of the stage productions. I would go with this one, this one, and this one. Unfortunately the best productions happened pre-Youtube, so the quality and availability isn’t optimal, but fingers crossed they’ll revive on Broadway again soon!

Speaking of Broadway…Did you hear that Carly Rae Jepsen took over for Laura Osnes as Cinderella in Cinderella? I saw it almost exactly a year ago. I’m curious to hear how she does. She’s obviously a singer, but I wonder if she has Broadway worthy pipes…

carly rae jepsen

Library of Congress

Sadie2 Comments

Last weekend was my mom’s birthday, so as a treat, we met up in Washington DC and had a little girls weekend.  Neither of us have spent much time in DC recently so it was fun to try some new restaurants and do some sight seeing.

LOC
A slightly blurry pic of the super decorated main hall

One of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting the Library of Congress.  I know that sounds kind of nerdy, but hear me out.  As you may or may not know, I am a big fan of Mr. Thomas Jefferson. The Library of Congress was basically started by TJ selling Congress his personal library.  So we took a tour at the main Library of Congress building (there are several ancillary buildings around DC), and there were several references to TJ throughout the tour. There was even an exhibit that was a replication of his original library as he would have laid it out in his house.

The building was a lot more ornate on the inside then I was expecting. It was basically decorated wall to wall with paintings, mosaics, and sculptures. Every piece of art was chalk full of symbolism of muses, historical references, and lots of famous faces.  I took a couple shot on my phone but they don’t do the building justice. You should definitely stop by if you’re in town!  There are several rooms and exhibits that don’t allow pictures so there is plenty more to see!

The ceiling of the main foyer of the building
The ceiling of the main foyer of the building

Nerd Alert!

Sadie3 Comments

Guess what.  I am a Thomas Jefferson fanatic.  Do you think it’s a coincidence that I go to business school at his alma mater?  I think not.  I actually love US presidents in general. I know a lot of useless trivia about them, but TJ is my favorite by far.

Last year I had the pleasure of visiting his house, Monticello, outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.  I was in Charlottesville by myself for a completely different reason, but you better believe I booked a tour at Monticello before I left.  I’ve done a lot of mansion tours in my day: up in Newport, RI, The Biltmore in NC, Versailles in Paris, the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT, and several chateaus in the Loire Valley just to name a few.  This tour was different because I knew TJ was there. I loved learning about all of the choices he made in the design, and about his daily habits in the house.  I highly recommend it if you’re in the area!TJ

But I digress, this post is actually about a new book about TJ that I recently bought on tape (well CD actually).  I bought the audio version of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, because I’m doing a lot of long drives this month, so I thought it would be good for that.  I haven’t even finished the book yet, but I’ve decided to give it a good review. Often times, these types of books are rather dry, and difficult to get through at times.  I find this one continually interesting.  I am filled with little tidbits about TJ and his family that I never knew before and I’m only up to 1784.  Here are a few I’ve learned so far:

  1. Martha Jefferson (TJ’s wife) actually went by Patty
  2. Patty made TJ swear on her death bed that he would never re-marry and he abided by her request
  3. TJ’s relationship with his mother is largely unknown because all of their correspondence was destroyed when her house burnt down, there is question as to how well they actually got along
  4. Sally Hemmings (TJ’s slave and mistress) was actually his wife’s half sister because her father was Patty’s father (the Hemmings served Patty’s family until Patty’s father died)
  5. Though TJ held numerous leadership roles, perhaps his most disappointing was his stint as governor of Virginia, to his embarrassment, his tenure was largely criticized in an official capacity by the Virginia House of Burgesses

The fact that I live in Virginia is an added bonus as I listen to this book.  I am constantly hearing the names of streets and schools in the area, and now I can identify the significance of their namesake.  Who knew there were so many important Virginians!

Have you read or listened to any good books lately?