Memories Monday - Fond Memories of my friend Barbie

I could not let this day pass without mentioning the anniversary/birthday of a woman who meant a lot to me growing up, and that woman of course was Barbie. I heard this morning that today is Barbie's 50th birthday and I for one hope that I look that good at 50 and can be that good at reinventing myself along the way.

As a girl growing up I loved my Barbies. I played with them for hours in my room, creating elaborate story lines about her friends and her boyfriends and her adventures. I had everything for her, including the Barbie dream house, corvette, horse and jeep, and even the Barbie McDonalds (yes they made these things, and yes I had them). When I went to a friend's house with Barbie, I lovingly packed her into her own pink Barbie suitcase with space for clothing and accessories. With kids of my own now, I'm just beginning to appreciate the tremendous investment my mom and dad put into Barbie and Mattel (but I digress). But, alas life was not always so easy for Barbie in my house. Between being subjected to my hairstyling techniques that frequently included scissors and food coloring, and being terrorized by my little brother - who often bit the feet off of my dolls, life was a series of highs and lows for Barbie - and yet she always seemed to weather these trials with a constant smile, ready to start a new day. Not a bad approach to life.

This is possibly the start of a weekly feature on this blog, that will be called Memories Monday, in which I write about memories big and small, and consider ways to use these memories in a scrapbook. What about you? Is there a toy that you grew up with that you still have fond memories about? Write those thoughts down, and consider doing a scrapbook page about that toy, with or without photos. I for one am off to look for that picture of myself in front of my Barbie dream house on Christmas Day in 1981.