My old friend, Nancy Drew

She's forever 18 years old.  The attractive young lady with titian hair who drives a fabulous convertible, has a hunky boyfriend, solves mysteries with courage and grace and never misses a clue.

My dear friend, Nancy Drew.

Have you seen the gorgeous new covers at Target?

I want to buy one of each, just because.:)

(Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk craft)

Nancy Drew and I spent many afternoons (as well as late nights with a flashlight) together.  To tell you the truth, I'm more of a Bess (pleasingly plump and tend to be afraid of my own shadow) but oh, how I wanted to be Nancy.

(crafts created in my Nancy Drew class)

Nancy was gracious, a true young lady, and always willing to help those in need.  She caught every young man's eye, too.;)

And talk about brave!  Even when she was tied up and close to drowning in a sinking submarine (Mystery at Lilac Inn) she never lost her cool.  

I dressed up as Nancy Drew for Halloween (carried a magnifying glass but no one knew who I was.) and tried desperately to find a mystery that needed to be solved.  

(part of my swap package from a Nancy Drew swap I hosted)

A real mystery never appeared so, as an adult, I now host mystery parties- the next best thing.  Have you ever attended one?  My husband and I stayed at a bed and breakfast one year for our anniversary. It was a mystery weekend and we were in character the whole time.  I played the role of Yvette Lovings.:)  It was a complete blast and I ended up solving the mystery!

 Nancy would've been proud.

(Nancy Drew book purse my swap partner, Shawnee, made for me- LOVE!)

Nancy Drew is still a part of my life.  I made Nancy Drew Scrabble tile necklaces in my shop for a time, hosted a Nancy Drew class for my daughters and their friends, organize Nancy Drew swaps and am currently re-reading the mysteries when I have a spare minute.  

Nancy was, and still is, a lovely example of how girls can be intelligent and brave while still being feminine.  I was delighted to be able to share her with the young ladies in my class.  We cooked recipes from the Nancy Drew cookbook (there is one!), created crafts and discussed the mysteries.  Such good memories.

Just for fun, I recently read a book about what Nancy would've been like in her 90's- if she were still solving mysteries.  It was such fun!  The author doesn't have the rights to use the name Nancy Drew, but true fans will know exactly who she's talking about.;)