Babyccino In Space!

Just wanted to put it out there. If any of you want to join our mod moms meet on Monday mornings, now's the time! We're already 3 weeks into our Spring series, but there is still an astronomical amount of outer-galactic fun to be had!! Here are the deets:

While creating this space-themed series, I spent lots of time browsing the www in search of any and all creative concepts revolving around space, galaxies, planets, elements, and anything other-worldly. There is such a plethora of creative people and projects out there - doing creative research like that always makes me reflect on what a magical place the internet is!!

There were many many things that caught my eye, but this animated short film by Pixar called La Luna, totally stole my heart - the way a great film should. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/60381274

P.S. We also had a great time with these simple yet wonderful sensory discoveries: Moonsand, Galaxy Dough, and Space Putty (scroll down a bit)!

Raising Girls

Last night I went out with a friend of mine, just to grab a drink or two and gab about life. While sitting in a darkened industrial-chic bar and exchanging thoughts about childrearing and upbringing, we haphazardly dappled in the topic of little girls - it was a few short sentences, and then it was over, we continued talking about something else. But I was still thinking about it by the time I settled into bed a few hours later. Little Girls...

I often catch myself wondering about the way I'm raising Freida, and how it sometimes feels like instead of empowering her I'm stifling her. It's not that I really notice it while I'm doing it, but every once in a while she'll say something that will completely make me cringe ("Do I look really beautiful today?") and leaves me pensively combing the way I treat her and her little girlfriends. The truth is, I do often say things about her looks - it just comes out so naturally, the same way I smother her in kisses all day, I tell her she's a little beauty. But! When I hear it out of her own mouth, it gives me a bit of a sinking feeling, and I know it's not the greatest way for a 4 year old to be talking...

It's not so much the concept of her being aware of her looks or her clothes or her hair - that I find natural, normal, and even wonderful; it's the fact that I don't want her to be misguided into possibly thinking that looks are the only thing, or the most important thing, that matters in social life. I want her to be deeply aware of the fact that her peers throughout life will value her for her character more than her wardrobe!

A few years ago I read a really wonderful article about How to Talk to Little Girls, and after a bit of web browsing I found what I was looking for. It was a piece written by Lisa Bloom for Huffington Post, and it touched upon this topic in such a simple practical way!

"Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything. I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are... It's our culture's standard talking-to-little-girls icebreaker, isn't it?"

And it's so true! Whenever I meet a little girl, the first thing out of my mouth is something about her looks! It's almost instinctual to me to compliment her on something as a way of striking up a conversation. But what I fail to realize is that striking up a conversation that begins with looks is setting up for a conversation about looks. That's not much of a conversation at all. How exciting can it really be to talk about how her mommy made her pigtails and braided them like this or that...? What a waste of an introduction to a little person who likely has so much creativity/imagination/curiosity to offer up!

"Try this the next time you meet a little girl. She may be surprised and unsure at first, because few ask her about her mind, but be patient and stick with it. Ask her what she's reading. What does she like and dislike, and why? There are no wrong answers. You're just generating an intelligent conversation that respects her brain.  You may get some intriguing answers. Tell her about your ideas and accomplishments and your favorite books. Model for her what a thinking woman says and does."

Isn't this a fantastic fix to a common problem? I'm so excited to put this new tactic to use, and I can't wait to meet or greet a little girl and see where our conversation goes. It can be as simple as what she ate for breakfast, why she's most excited for summer, what kind of music she likes best, or even what her favorite color is (contrary to popular belief, it just might not be pink!). I know I would love the refreshment of someone meeting Freida at the park and asking her something about herself, or even complimenting her on her monkey bar skills instead of her blue eyes. And I know for certain that Freida would react marvelously to a question that actually makes her think, and values her being and opinion.

So ladies, let's get to it and fix the world problem of self-sexualization one little girl at a time! Who's with me?

Mod Men

Like most of my neighborhood right now, I've been completely enwrapped in the new season of Mad Men. The 2 hour premiere had me benched in its iconic riveting drama (I'm usually too ADD to sit through a full-feature film of 90 minutes or more!), and this weeks episode, To Have and to Hold, left me entrapped in their mid-century modern world - thinking about their lifestyles and relationships in a way one usually only thinks about themselves... Aside from obsessing over the time-period pieces of furniture and fashion, I've been thinking lots about the contrast in the roles of the sexes, racism, and even politics. TV has gotten seriously thought provoking, ladies. And I'm loving it.

Anyways! While the world was waiting anxiously for the premiere of Season 6, heaps of graphic artists and designers produced pieces inspired by the Mad Men time warp. This collection from Shutterstock made me look: Mod Men, The World of Man Men Through a 21st-Century Lens:

Honest Photography

I know I've posted here before about the concept of honest photography, but I thought I'd revisit it once more via the most honest wedding photos I've ever seen. When we were in Florida back in January for my brother Yossi's wedding, Zalmy Berkowitz  (remember this honest photographer?) joined in the celebrations by gracing us with his camera lenses (and his presence). And while a bearded dude in a kasket with several leather camera straps around his neck (talk about hipster) may not bear any semblance of "professional photography", the captured images emanate beautiful honestly. Seriously, have you ever seen a more radient bride?? He captured her beauty. In the most natural, personal way. To me these photos feel so alive and intimate, I almost feel like I'm invading someones personal space...

And how about those family photos? The ones where the camera boss sets you all up to "perfection", tells you which hand to place over which, and just how to ever-so-slightly tilt you chin forward and gently smile? Ha! This man is evolved. And honest. :)

Not to mention, he gets results. Have you ever seen a more happy family photo? It may be imperfect, but it's so much more real! And so much more us.

I'm particularly partial to this shot, in the way my girls are so used to their crazy-ass daddy that they can't even be bothered to look up at him flinging himself off a sofa. They are so comfortable in the photo setting, they hardly notice there's a photographer at all; they're just stuck on the fact that they are jet-lag, hungry for dinner, and annoyed at the windier-than-expected weather. :)

But the greatest outcome is the love. How he captured the love...

It really feels too personal, right?

Photography is an art form. One that has been long lost in a rolodex of generic professional wedding photographers, sears family portraits, and studio shots. The life has been sucked out of this genre for much too long, it's time to go back to raw and organic film (literally, this guy uses actual film!). So do yourself and your family an eternal favor - seek out an honest photographer.

You can see a slew of more wedding photos and find out lots more about Zalmy here.

I'm Baaack!

Well, hello there readers. It's been some time. Lots of time. Looks like I haven't blogged since before Purim!! After getting some worried inquiries, and some friendly kicks in the pants, I finally made some time to sit down and fill you all in on why I've been so seriously MIA. So! Around the time of my last post, I was headed to a friends house one evening to share some music and burn new CD's for carpool. While getting out of the car, I accidentally knocked my computer bag quite heavily against the door, and that was the last time I'd use my computer for a few months. Apparently, the drive was running at the time and got kocked to the point of disc damage. When I realized I couldn't get my computer to boot, I figured I had used up all the space available, but the problem was a little bigger than that and needed some serious IT attention. For some reason, I got really lazy about it, and after having it looked at and diagnosed, I just sort of let it sit there idly on my desk and started to enjoy life without a screen. I didn't mean to do it, and it wasn't a preconceived experiment, it just sort of... happened. And once I got used to not using it, I realized I didn't really need it. And somehow, it wasn't even that big a deal! I'm even kinda shocked about it as I'm typing this out now - I can't believe how easy it was to live without it! At first I missed it, mostly just missed the browsing factor - checking out all the latest links and visiting my favorite blogs etc. But other than that, I got used to its absents very quickly. And! I don't even use a smartphone, (you may want to sit down for this part) I'm still using the same flip phone I've had since high school! Meaning, I really unplugged. Though, I do have an iPod, and did use that frequently for small things like checking my email, instagram activity, and a few other mom-life-saving apps (like Peekaboo barn). Here's an instagram photo dump of what we've been up to while I've been "away":

Unplugging for me was a really healthy experience. And I have to admit that I'm really happy about what I noticed in the interim. I didn't find it "mind blowing" or "life altering" at all! I'm not going to lie, obviously I spent some more quality time with my family without a computer in the way, and I definitely had more time for things, but it wasn't at all that big of a deal. I would miss it sporadically, and remind myself to get it fixed, but mostly, I didn't even think about it. It wasn't like this huge part of my life was missing, and that was so shocking to me! My mother kept asking me how I'm functioning without my computer like it was an impossibility. :) And my husband kept badgering me to get the thing fixed so that I could get "back to normal" i.e. not bothering him to check my bank account, email, news, etc. So while it was totally inconvenient, it wasn't a huge factor in my day-to-day life. And I would have thought that it would be...

To be fully candid and honest here, it was a real relief for me to see how happily and healthily I lived without being plugged in. When I started this blog back in 2009, a big reason for me taking up blogging to begin with had been that I was feeling lonely and even a little bored. I was a stay-at-home mom of a 1 year old, living in a second-floor apartment building, in a city where my friends were few-to-none. My husband had been working long grueling hours and commuting to LA and back which meant I didn't see him all day, on most days until after the baby was sleeping. I ate dinner alone with my DirectTV remote and a glass of wine, and while I thought I was totally enjoyed my life then, I needed an outlet for my creativity and I needed a connection to a world of mothers and friends - even if that had to be a cyber connection. And this blog worked wonders for me! I still love using this outlet, and when I unplugged these past few months I realized what I missed most was the concept of "sharing", but joyfully noted that my life has since turned so much more active and interactive that I really don't have the need at all for a social media platform like I did before. And that spoke volumes to me. And I was happy.

And now I'm happy to be back. :)

(But after being happy, I did finally snap out of the laziness and eventually approached someone for help. A friend of ours was the biggest savior - Ryan Silver specializes in IT and was a total godsend!! Hit him up here for any IT help you need - personal computers, startups, companies etc. He's super friendly and fully efficient, and will totally take your tech to the next level!!)