Falling in Love. Again.

Last week Hudi and I went on a quick jaunt to visit my family in Chicago, where we met up with my sister and her little babe as well. My sister Shterni had a baby girl 4 months after I did, and my Bubby hadn't yet seen either of the little ladies! I booked my ticket with some R&R in mind, but I knew essentially this trip was more about the babies than the mommies. (Though, packing up in my teeny-tiny DVF weekender suitcase proved to be a vacation in and of itself! Traveling solo with an 8-month old was pretty wicked on the supplies front - I remember having to bring tons of crap when I would travel with Freida as a baby, but somehow I slowly streamlined my goods and now traveling with a tot is a snap! But more on that later.. :)) Anyways, I absolutely relished in spending time alone with Hudi and really focusing on her and all her little gloriousness! I know that sounds obnoxious since I spend time with her everyday while Freida's off at school, but seriously, getting away with her (like last time!) taught me so much more about her!! Just being with her like that, away from everything else, lent me the calm to witness her incredible character development without any distractions. And those few days of un-interrupted togetherness were just precious!

Do you ever notice that when young children travel they seem to learn something new or grow in a huge way? I always feel like when we take a trip, going away for a holiday or something like that, somehow the babies seem to master some new skill or learn to do something ridiculously adorable! So I'm always left wondering if it's the clear mind that enables me to notice these things, or if they are, in fact, new. Truthfully, it's not at all about her big sister being around - I honestly believe that older sibling give so much more to the development of a child than parents can offer alone - it's more about being away from everything else. Being away from the phone, the dishes, the carpools, the jobs, projects, and deadlines. It's being at one with each moment, and being available in entirety because there is nothing else to do. It's lying alongside her all night long (and not caring that we're deviating from the sleep-training), waking up before sunrise to her sweet little voice (and not freaking out that I'll be too tired later while trying to get work done), taking her with on our shopping/lunch date (and not minding that she'll be missing a nap or two). It's just about being with her, and loving her, and learning her. It was mostly just the fact that those few days were simply about being. And not at all about trying...

And when we arrived home, after a 3-day breather, it was all that much easier. Hudi took to sleep training and night-weaning in such a trusting and easy-going way, and I really feel like it was due to the few days spending a concentrated amount of time with her mama. Once the sleep-training was in order, so was the napping. And while that leaves me home-bound for a few hours of the day, it re-introduced me to what a solid napping routine lends the mom; the amazing tranquility and productivity that we get from those daily quiet hours! Plus, that teeny-tiny little trip helped me so much to re-group, that arriving home afterwards had me feeling so much more in control of my life, and of my work/life balance in particular. Thanks for trekking out with me, Hudi! Looking forward to many more one-on-one vacations from life - be it one-on-one with my husband, my daughters, or myself. :)

5 Years of Love

Today marks 5 years since this post-wedding party stolen elevator kiss (that some mach-fast invisible photographer managed to snap!). :)

Sometimes it feels like we've been married forever, as if I can't remember life without him. And other times I feel like we just met, as if it were mere weeks ago that we moved our status from "friends" to "relationship"... Marriage seems to be magical like that: you live together, eat together, sleep together, birth children together, cry, laugh, and grow together, and you wake up one morning feeling like blood relatives. And then you don't. You feel vulnerable and organic again, suddenly; it's as if you just met, falling in love again. I love the ins-and-outs, the ups-and-downs - of course I'd pick the ups over the downs! - but it's the journey together that really enables us to evolve as a couple, to fuse together as a family.

You know how there's different elements for different anniversaries (silver, gold etc.)? Well, 5 years is wood, my favorite element by far. Earthy, raw, rustic, and natural - wood makes me thing of growth, and the 5 year mark is really still about building on the foundation of love and respect. I'm so blessed to have found such a special man to build with, and I feel so lucky that we respect each other enough to build on the young love and enhance the way we work and live together, and most of all; the way we love.

On the practical side of things, whenever I think about new love (especially with my brother Yossi engaged and all!!), I know that while marriage may be magical, it also takes a tremendous amount of effort and understanding in order to keep it functioning as magically as it should. And on that front, here are the 3 books that I'd suggest every girl/bride/woman read: Men are from Mars, Kosher Sex, and The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. And while those books may not be filled with mind-blowing novelties, having them in my repertoire of tools when caught under marital duress has proven priceless!

Also! A while ago I read a Huffington Post article that resonated so well with me! Here are 15 of the best marriage tips ever, enjoy! :)

Autumn & Atonement

While this past weekend heralded the start of the crispest season, here in LA it's been feeling like smack-dab-middle of Summer!! So while I crave a curb in the heat, I thought I'd share some links I've been loving (especially since I've been too busy lazy to properly post about them!):

- Cutest "Jonah and the Whale" craft ever! Just swap the sailboat for a little man!

- A. This sandwich looks delish! B. Can't believe this kid ordered it! C. How great is the photography??

- Gilded booties for fall! Link anyone?

- Freida and I have plans to make this honey cake together this evening after bathtime. (It became a bit of a tradition for her to stay up late and bake honey cake with me the day before Yom Kippur).

- Butternut Squash Bowling!!

- This family's camping trip took my breathe away! Looks incredibly delicious (especially the picture of those yummy little children peeking out of the tent all bed-headed)!!

- Cuddly Kaporos. :)

- Was kind of disappointed MadMen didn't bring home an Emmy last night... Isn't Don Draper a tzaddik??

- Cookie Monster has had our house rocking to Share It Maybe!!

- Gorgeous fall lips!

That's all for now. :)

New School

Hi there Mamas! I hope you are mostly past the difficult new-school transitional stage...! Though it generally lasts about a month, some children seem to acclimate faster than others, and I hope yours was one of the latter! It's tough enough for moms to get back into the swing of things - with carpools and lunches and schedules, never mind if the kids are having a difficult time adjusting! Tough stuff. Freida started at The Chabad Garden School on Tuesday, and we've been having long tearful mornings, but wonderfully cheerful afternoons! To me, the way she comes home is really the tell-all; if she comes home cranky, naughty, and out-of-whack I know something is not working for her. But! When she comes home happy, well-behaved, and generally settled - I know she is well taken care of.

As you can see from these pictures, she was rather excited on the first day of school. :)

After that, things got a little more tricky. She realized that once I leave her on the playground with her teachers and friends in the morning she won't be seeing me again until 6 hours later... So, she whines a bit at night before going to bed, and she cries a little in the morning while we're getting dressed, and again a little more while we drive to school, but thankfully she is so verbally and emotionally expressive that I'm able to gage her "happy status" quite well.

For example, when she cries "Mommy I don't want to go to school", it's never followed with "I don't like school", but rather "It's so hard for me!". (I love that :) When I ask her what's so hard about it, it's not about anything specific going on in the classroom, but rather a clear expression of how hard it is for her to be without her mommy for so long.

Also, this was a huge sign for me: In general when I drop her off somewhere she doesn't want to go she grabs onto me while crying and needs to be physically peeled off of me. When I drop her off at the Garden School she starts to cry, but she sits down on the floor to cry instead of grabbing onto me - which shows me she really wants to stay. :)

In any case, I simply can't get over quite how big she is! I fully remember my first day of all-day school - in graphic detail! - and I can't believe my little baby is already at that stage in life!

Unfortunately, I'm weirdly marred from the concept of "school"; I think I had some of the worst school experiences, and they left me despising "systems" in general. I hated school each and every day - up until the 6th grade. Middle school brought with it a new set of rules (and a wonderful teacher!), and I think I was finally man enough to stand up for what I wanted without being scared of being shut-down. Anyways, it was very difficult for me to send Freida to school because of my feelings towards it... Truthfully, I'm so tainted by it that I secretly and desperately wish I could homeschool her through middle school, but I want to be bigger than my fears and do what's best for her - and right now she badly needs to develop her social skills more than anything else. And I suppose I can admit that though school crushed a young bright spirit inside of me, I really developed myself as a extrovert and I never would be the way I am if not for being in school working (and clashing) with people - contemporaries and authorities - each and every day. That builds character; not stay-at-home science lessons.

So I sent her on her way, off into the abyss of school systems (though one that I meticulously and happily chose for her!), and I'm happy and proud of myself for doing the right thing and helping her grow in the best way she can. Now, if only I could move past my nervous feelings of wishing there were a hidden camera in the classroom...!

Welcome to childhood, little lady!

P.S. Heaps of thanks to The Garden School team for making our first week of school so wonderful!!

Think Good

Ladies, I'm sorry I've been MIA but I've been so ridiculously busy! Freida suddenly decided last week that she didn't like camp and I had to pick her up crying a few hours into the morning two days in a row. Turns out (as the genius young counselor had suggested) that she was getting sick. So - I've had her home with fever, cough, cold for a few days... Which, naturally, gave Hudi some fever, cough, and cold - plus, another tooth bud to complain about! And so, as life would have it, instead of having one more week with Freida in camp and a list of chores and errands to knock out last, I was stuck at home nursing and nurturing my two little babes. Which was wonderful and depressing. :)

On Monday I took over for the director of the camp here and I'm running with it until the end of the week. It's only 5 days, but oh my was it exhausting! I felt like I walked through the twilight zone yesterday as I made an attempt to run "lineup" - who has the stamina for that kind of screaming anymore?? I was pretty humored by the fact that it took so much out of me to sing a few songs at the top of my lungs, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to getting back into it.

Anyways! I've been meaning to write a bit about how positive thinking has recently impacted my life, and about this poster that my brother gifted me with when I moved into our new apartment. He had been working on a few lines of art highlighting some chassidic sayings, and being a serious typography lover, this Think Good poster was my favorite.

I remember connecting to this mantra since the very first time I heard of it in middle school. Whether it worked magically or not didn't really make any difference to me, what I loved about it was how obviously positive a person who'd think like this would become. It just made sense to "think good" either way. I was always a more upbeat and positive person, but when things would start to go wrong I definitely had/have a tendency to start the downhill negative thought process. Which is why this poster helps me so much; it quite literally serves as a constant reminder to keep my thoughts positive. When things are going great, great; and when they're not going so great, keep thinking great things. That's basically the gist of it. :)

And you know what? It totally works!

Plus, I love that we hung it in the dining room facing the hallway. I see it all the way down the hall, even lying in my bed!

You can get one of these positive posters here. And, if this isn't quite your thing, check out the rest of his art for sale!

P.S. I've been really into the whole typography thing - especially random words of inspiration. You can have a look at some of my other favorites on my "words" pinterest board.