Did you know that today is Harry Potter’s birthday? Author of the bestselling series, J.K. Rowling has mentioned July 31st as the date of Harry’s birthday in her novels (which, in no small coincidence, happens to her birthday as well!). We hope that the birthday of this wizard is a magical one!
In case you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer for part 1 of the final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which will be released on November 19th of this year.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the release of the first paperback book!
In 1935, Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, had the idea to offer affordable books at places such as railway stations and newsagents as well as bookshops. He wanted a way to make books more accessible and less expensive for all–thus the idea for the paperback book was born. What a novel idea!
Penguin Book’s official website has more information about the launch of modern paperbacks. Take a look:
Lane launched his new line of books on July 30, 1935, with ten inexpensive paperbacks. Simply designed with broad bands of color, the original ten books immediately established themselves within the history of design. Skeptics dismissed Lane’s idea as imprudent and crazy, but by March 1936—ten months after the company’s launch—one million Penguin books had been printed. Within a year, Penguin had sold three million paperbacks. The skeptics were proven wrong and a new, innovative publishing model was launched into the world.
So curl up with your favorite novel and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the paperback book!
It’s summertime and we figure that a lot of you will be heading to the beach at some point! But what about those of us who won’t be able to make it down to the shore? Our suggestion for this Theme Thursday is to create your own seaside getaway by throwing an ocean-themed birthday party!
Amazingmoms.com has some great suggestions to make it feel like you’re celebrating under the sea. Take a look:
Decorations:
Your guests will feel like scuba divers when they arrive at the under-the-sea adventure you’ve created. Hang several strips of party streamers vertically from the ceiling. Cut streamers in varying lengths and shades of blue. We use “sticky-tak” to avoid making holes in your ceiling.
Add paper fish intermittently with the streamers.
Cover the party table with a light blue or white sheet.
Make a festive party centerpiece by attaching a bouquet of balloons to an ocean-themed toy, such as a heavy plastic whale. Add other plastic toys as well. Use butcher paper or poster board to decorate the front door with an underwater scene.
For added effect, switch out some of your standard light bulbs to colored blue and/or green bulbs.
Party Games:
Shark or Whale Tag: The birthday child begins as a “shark” in the middle of a large playing area. All other players are “fish,” who must try to run past the shark to the other side of the playing area. If a fish is tagged, he or she holds hands with shark to build a bigger shark and help tag more fish. The last fish left wins!
Minnow, Minnow, Shark: Children will play this game just as they would “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Replace the fox player with a shark.
Fishing for Treasure: Explain to the children that an old sunken ship is rumored to hold valuable treasure. Their job is to find clues that lead to the treasure, which is a box filled with their party bags. Before the party write and hide your clues. Attach the clues to items you would find on a ship… silverware, candlesticks, teacup, personal items, etc.
Today we’re celebrating the birthday of beloved children’s author and storyteller, Beatrix Potter.
Beatrix grew up in London but spent her summers in the English Lake District and Scottish Highlands exploring the countryside with her brother. These explorations developed her deep appreciation of nature and her fascination with plants and animals.
Years later, Beatrix began writing short stories and greeting cards that reflected her love of nature for the children of her governesses. One such story would become the basis of her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The book was a huge success and Beatrix soon acquired a publishing deal with Warne & Co. Beatrix went on to release 22 more books before retiring to a life devoted to looking after her farms.
Her writing style has proven to withstand the test of time and her books continue to be read by children throughout the world. Happy birthday, Beatrix Potter!
Today is birthday of Academy Award-winning actress, Sandra Bullock. This versatile megastar is celebrating her 46th birthday today.
We found a biography on Who2.com that gives us more information about this talented celebrity. Take a look:
Bullock had been a Hollywood favorite since starring as Keanu Reeves’s plucky love interest in the 1994 bus-gone-crazy film Speed. The film’s success made her one of Hollywood’s go-to actresses. The honeymoon was brief, but Bullock moved into making light comedies and romances as a solid lead, usually playing klutzy girl-next-door types. Her films in the era included While You Were Sleeping (1995), Forces of Nature (1999, with Ben Affleck), Miss Congeniality (2000) and Two Weeks Notice (2002, with Hugh Grant).
After a few years away from the screen, Bullock married Jesse James, the star of the reality TV show Monster Garage, on July 16, 2005 and settled in Texas. After her big hit with Miss Congeniality, Bullock stayed busy appearing in The Lake House (2006), Infamous (2006, as author Harper Lee), Premonition (2007), The Proposal (2009, with Ryan Reynolds) and All About Steve (2009, with Bradley Cooper). Her 2009 film The Blind Side cast her as an upscale interior designer who adopts a struggling black high school football player; it was a huge hit and won her the Oscar.
However, her marriage to James fell apart at almost the same time…. Bullock filed for divorce in April of 2010, while announcing that she would complete as a single parent the adoption of a son, Louis Bardo Bullock, begun before her break with James.
Check out this great post from Karyn Brianne, Blogger Advisory Council Member, at the Fab Giver:
Health has always been an issue close to my heart. Growing up, I had my heart set on becoming a doctor because I’ve always believed that if you don’t have your health, everything else suffers. In college, however, I decided that being healthy starts before the treatment process. Every day that we wake up, there are things that we can do to take steps to being as healthy as we can be. So, I decided to study marketing and use those communication skills to promote healthy behaviors and empower others to take an active role in their health. And, as a member of the American Cancer Society’s Blogger Advisory Council, I’m committed to using my online presence to do just that.
This week marks National Minority Cancer Awareness Week, and recognizing this issue is very important to me. As an African-American, I was blown away to learn that we have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the US for most cancers. National Minority Cancer Awareness Week is about recognizing the health disparities that exist within our communities and encouraging action to help shrink the gap. About fifty percent of cancer deaths can be prevented through regularly scheduled screenings, healthy eating, regular physical activity and quitting tobacco use. However, minorities continue to have lower screening rates than whites; report less physical activity than recommended, and consume less fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
These simple lifestyle changes can go a long way towards ensuring that we are around to see more birthdays for ourselves and those that we love. I’m dedicating this post to my maternal grandmother, maternal great-aunt, maternal great uncle, maternal great-cousin, paternal great-grandfather, and paternal (step) grandfather. They passed away due to cancer and build a strong case for why I have to take the necessary steps to be as healthy as I possibly can. I’ll admit that I don’t know all the facts and haven’t been as healthy as I should be, but I’m committed to making that change. This week, I’m setting up appointments ranging from a general checkup to screenings necessary for my health and I encourage you to do the same.
The ACS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-227-2345 to help answer any questions about cancer and provide information on what resources exist for free or low cost cancer screenings. Get the facts, understand your medical history, and commit to your health! Some might say that it’s easier said than done, but when has that ever stopped us?
To learn more about the American Cancer Society, please visit cancer.org.
You never forget birthdays that are special to you… for me it was my 7th birthday and my mom orchestrated a surprise party in our garage. She did it with such secrecy and pizazz and that I will never forget… It was a typical Saturday at our house. I had a soccer game in the morning and my mom had made cupcakes for the team instead of the usual orange slices. I had told my mom I wanted a party but it was a week or so away so I wasn’t really thinking about anything happening until then… After the game was over, we headed home and as my mom opened the garage door, there were my friends and family waiting to say, “SURPRISE!” Indeed I was suprised. My mom had pulled off an unbelievable birthday celebration for me and managed to keep both of my older brothers from spilling the beans!
The reason this story is so memorable is because this was the last time I remember my mother healthy… shortly after this, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and although she was a fighter, she gave up her battle on June 14, just 2 1/2 years after her diagnosis. She was 41. She died 1 week before her 42nd birthday…
So you see, birthdays are not just special, they create lasting memories when there are no more birthdays to celebrate with loved ones gone before us…
Treasure each birthday and treasure each day… remember someone, somewhere is making a memorable birthday today.
This weekend, my 12-year old daughter and her friends are hosting a surprise birthday sleepover for one of their friends whose mother lost her very short battle with lung cancer this past July. Each year, her Mom would have a huge sleepover birthday party for her which all the girls looked forward to. This will be the first birthday she will have without her Mom and it will probably be difficult for her and her Dad and brothers.
I am so touched by the extraordinary compassion and sensitivity displayed by my daughter and her friends. While they are just 12 years old, they instinctively knew what to do for their friend. So, Saturday evening, think about the 10 twelve year olds who understand the meaning of more birthdays!
Birthdays…for some it’s a special day to acknowledge another year of life and for others it’s just another day. For me, something always comes up on a birthday whether it be my own or that of someone I know…
In the summer of 2002 birthdays took on a whole new meaning. For 7 months I was sick on and off. I had suffered from fevers of 102, 103, and sometimes 104 degrees. I had drenching night sweats to the point that I would wet my clothes and the sheets of my bed. My lymph nodes were enlarged and in less than a couple of months I had shed a little over 20 pounds. These symptoms would come and go during the 7 months and when summer came I knew this all couldn’t be, “just another cold.”
In July, my mom who is a nurse had me stop by her clinic to see the doctor that she had worked for. There I told him my symptoms and he had examined me. When he was done he told me that I had Lymphoma. At 23 years old I had no clue what that meant. He had left the room to tell my mom the news. When she returned to the room it was clear she had been crying. I thought to myself, “Oh God, I am dying…” I asked my mom, “What is Lymphoma?”
On July 24, 2002 which is my dad’s birthday I was officially diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Stage 3. From there I underwent chemotherapy for 6 months and my cancer went into remission. Four short months later while randomly scratching my neck I found a lump. The cancer had returned. For my 2nd battle with cancer my oncologist suggested that we do an Autologus Stem Cell Transplant. It’s a transplant procedure where they harvest your own stem cells and re-infuse them back into your body. It’s like taking apart an old car, getting rid of the bad parts and rebuilding it with new parts. So, since the cancer didn’t hit my bone marrow, I was able to be the donor and recipient of my own stem cells.
On June 21, 2003, my 23rd birthday I sat in a chair for several hours with an IV drip of various chemo drugs instead of behind a table with a birthday cake. For several weeks after that there was more preparation for the transplant. In August I was admitted to the hospital for more chemo and to complete the transplant process. I was scheduled to be there for 30 days straight.
On August 18th, my oncologist’s birthday; he re-infused me with my stem cells and I also had 5 blood transfusions that week. Weeks later, I was released from the hospital on August 31st, the day before my son’s 3rd birthday. Jacob was born on September 1st which was also my OBGYN’s birthday. I made her miss dinner with her family that day due to Jacob’s arrival which was actually 3 days late. I have been in remission since October of 2003!
As you can see birthdays are not just another day for me…even if it’s not my own. Prior to my transplant my friends and co-workers celebrated my several times in the month of June to make up for having chemo on my special day. Every day of life is precious! Celebrate the birthdays in your life because you never know what someone else is going through that day. This year is my 30th birthday and 6 year cancer free anniversary. It’s also the 25th anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. So, how am I celebrating all these special events? I am attending 25+ Relay For Life events this summer from March through August. I’m a 2 time cancer survivor so what better way to live out the rest of my life than to… CELEBRATE, REMEMBER, FIGHT BACK!
For my 18th birthday, I was a senior in high school. I was at school for 15 hours that day because on top of school, it was Tech Week for our Winter Play. When school let out for the day, my friend and I hung out with our friends down in the Robotics Lab before grabbing a bite to eat for dinner and heading for rehearsal. Rehearsal went very well, and when it was over, the Stage Manager told my friend and I to organize the prop closet. Later, she came back and told us to sweep the stage. When I came onto the stage, the entire cast and crew was standing there, and started to sing Happy Birthday to me, and my other friend brought out the cake he made for me. I was completely surprised, and that made me so happy!
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Did you know that today is Harry Potter’s birthday? Author of the bestselling series, J.K. Rowling has mentioned July 31st as the date of Harry’s birthday in her novels (which, in no small coincidence, happens to her birthday as well!). We hope that the birthday of this wizard is a magical one!
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the release of the first paperback book! 
It’s summertime and we figure that a lot of you will be heading to the beach at some point! But what about those of us who won’t be able to make it down to the shore? Our suggestion for this Theme Thursday is to create your own seaside getaway by throwing an ocean-themed birthday party!
Today we’re celebrating the birthday of beloved children’s author and storyteller, Beatrix Potter. 
Today is birthday of Academy Award-winning actress, Sandra Bullock. This versatile megastar is celebrating her 46th birthday today.
This weekend, my 12-year old daughter and her friends are hosting a surprise birthday sleepover for one of their friends whose mother lost her very short battle with lung cancer this past July. Each year, her Mom would have a huge sleepover birthday party for her which all the girls looked forward to. This will be the first birthday she will have without her Mom and it will probably be difficult for her and her Dad and brothers.
