History DOES Repeat Itself

Ok, I get it, history does repeat itself! Many of you know that my friend Ellen and I used to have this wonderful routine when we were teens; both our families had cabins on a lake where we would spend the summer. Our favorite summertime activity would be to take her small, motored, row boat into the middle of the lake, turn off the motor, claim it was broken, and pick up boys to tow us home! My mother couldn't believe how many times she would see us being towed up and down the lake! What fun...I definitely recommend it for summer fun! Well, yesterday my mom (now 91) and I tried to make it home in the middle of the snowstorm...the snow was coming down heavily and I couldn't get the car up the hill. Well, someone "up there" must have know my background because who showed up but an off duty fireman with a jeep and, yes, you guessed it...he towed us up the hill! Oh my, what a life saver he was because quite frankly, I was not sure how I was going to get mom home! The good news is, we're safe and warm in the house and the streets have still NOT been plowed! Interesting considering the storm started 24 hours ago and ended around midnight! The day has the possibility of a true Shabbat! Welcome to Connecticut in the winter! Actually it is still quite beautiful since the streets are snow covered and everything is still and quiet!

Yoga and Meditation Shabbat

Today was a very special Shabbat/Saturday for me. I'm not a regular synagogue goer; for some reason I can't seem to connect there. For the past few years, Temple Beth El, the conservative Temple in Stamford, has been running a Synaplex every few months. This is a totally different experience. I have attended a few of them. What I especially like is the yoga practice and the Meditation Service. Yoga starts at 8:45am; there is Hebrew chanting; Hebrew music and basic yoga postures. Very lovely and extremely spiritual for me. Yoga runs until 10:00 and then we go upstairs to the library where there is a Mediation Service. This service is totally amazing; no books, some songs, an opportunity to share, if you want and then some activity to connect us to the Torah reading of the week. This week the Torah portion had to do with Jacob wrestling with the angel (some interpret this angel to be God). When Jacob comes out of the encounter unhurt he is told by the angel that his name is no longer Jacob but rather Israel. So, Daveed, our leader asked us what we imagine would have happened to us if we had wrestled with the angel, would our name have been changed at the end, and, what would the name be and why? My reaction was that I would have won the encounter and my name would be Bella because I would have been happy that God was pleased with me and what I am doing with my life. Another portion of the service, the silent devotion, is done by finding a quiet place, by yourself, in the room. Once you find that spot the suggestion is to have a conversation with God...what a very powerful experience. Today I had one of the most powerful Shabbat experiences I ever had!

Chain of Generations Center

There are always new things to see in Israel. This visit we went the Chain of Generations Center. There were many displays made out of glass with names written in them. It is our tradition to name people after someone who has died; so we are a chain of names from one generation to another. I thought the artwork was so very beautiful. In the middle of the Center was a mikvah (ritual bath) that had been built over with glass so you were actually standing over it. Ok unless you have issues with heights as I do!

We're back!

View of some of the bridges from the canal.

It was a wet, cold day in Amsterdam!

Our first authentic windmill!

Well, back from our jaunt to Amsterdam, Israel and Morocco! What fun! Let's start with Amsterdam; we spent approximately 8 hours in Amsterdam. We were on a layover on our way to Israel. Through some investigation we found a company called stopover Holland. After many emails we arranged to have them meet us at the airport, take us into the city and arrange for tickets to the Anne Frank House as well as the Fysk Museum. One of the best decisions we could have made. I t would have been impossible for us to make all the connections on our own to say nothing of the stress level! We also went on a boat ride through one of the canals. Definitely wetted my appetite for a return visit. The Anne Frank House was quite an emotional experience. Actually being in her house after having read about it so many years ago, I highly recommend a visit.

New York Botanical Gardens

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the greater New York area. We went to the Botanical Gardens with our friends Patty and Jim Samuels. The gardens were hosting a show of Moore sculpture as well as showing their Kiku chrysanthemums! The colors were beautiful; not only were their an array of flowers in warm Fall colors; the Japanese maples were in all their splender. No matter how much I think I am unimpressed with the colors; when I acutally see the splender of the colors it takes my breath away. Here are some pictures.

Mah Jongg Gods Are Smiling

Mah Jongg is a game similar to rummy, played with tiles rather than cards. In China the game is popular among men; there are MJ parlors and, from what I understand, the winnings can get pretty big (that's another way of saying you can loose a lot if you're not careful!). Here in the States the game has been adopted by Jewish women for some reason! I can still hear the tiles being swished around by my mom and her friends and the call of bam, crack and dot as they throw out the tiles! For those of us who were raised with the game it seemed that it was an easy, no brainer game...not as challenging as Bridge...so I, for one, never picked it up. We all knew how to play since Mom taught us so she would be able to play! Well, a few years ago, when Bridge was getting painful to play because the cards were so bad, our Bridge game switched over the MJ! Well, now I've been bitten by the bug! I LOVE to play! As is true of any game of chance, some days you can do no wrong; other days you should just walk in, put your money on the table and have fun! Well, not to scare the MJ gods away; this seems to be a good few days for me; I'm winning. I'm sure in the next few days I'll be crying the blues again about how I NEVER win!

Jewish Arts & Film Festival

For the past 7 years the Stamford JCC has been hosting a film festival that runs for about 2 weeks. This year it was decided to expand the programs to include literature, photography, dance, music, and, of course film.

Saturday night, opening night, we viewed a movie "Noodle". Very wonderfully done! If you have the opportunity to see I suggest you do so.
Last night former Mayor of NYC, Ed Koch spoke. He is quite the personality; had something to say about everything with a great deal of wit in his presentation.
Tonight the speaker was Zion Ozeri, a photographer born in Israel, his family is from Yemen. He told the story of his parents living in a tent when they arrived in Israel . Not only were they in the tent, they shared it with several families! The good news was that his father was a very observent Jew, therefore, when Succot approached his father built a succah attached to the tent. It was the first time since they were married that his parents could sleep alone without an audience. As you may have guessed, Zion was born 9 months later! Sometimes there are more than the obvious benefits of being observent!

Zion's photography is something to behold. Go to his website and check it out www.zionozeri.com. We had the opportunity to ask him questions be it about the subjects of the pictures, technical questions about shooting the pictures, personal questions...whatever. I was interested in why he shot in black and white, what kind of camera he used and did he use film or digital.

He shoots in black and white because all of the photographers he admires shoot in black and white; also, when he is shooting in under-developed countries, he doesn't want to make it look better than it is with bright colors so he uses black and white. Currently he uses film, although he just bought his first digital camera...he's not sure how he will like it! All his cameras are Nikons.

It was a very exciting evening; hope you like his work.

Oh no, almost another month has gone by!!!

Where does the time go? I have been spending a great deal of time catching up on my photo books. With the wedding, the party here and the shower that was held in August I have had a lot to do! Well, the good news is just one more book to finish up and then it will be time to do some traveling!!! Yeah, can't wait!

In mid-November we are off to Amsterdam, Israel and Morocco! We are planning on attending the annual conference of United Jewish Communities in Israel and came up with the idea of traveling to some new places for us both coming and going! I have always wanted to see the Anne Frank house, so that is what brings us to Amsterdam. Given the time of year, I'm sure tulips will not be in evidence, however, the canals will definitely be there! Morocco is proving to be more of a challenge. There is so much to see and we will be there a total of 2 and a half days. The only way to experience as much as possible in a short period of time is to use a driver and a guide. Not our usual way of traveling, however, doesn't seem to be a choice!

Look forward to telling you more details as they become available.

As promised, some pictures!

So here are some pictures of the beautiful couple! See how many you can recognize!

Waiting for pictures

Oh my, Matthew aka Matt is married! I am so excited I can't stand it! And, in case that isn't enough, they're pregnant! Wow, I'm going to be a grandma! What fun. Will post more with pictures as soon as I get them!

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

I have been talking about how bad our cell service is at our house for years! Of course, no one in the neighborhood can complain too much since we were one of the first groups to vote down a tower! Who knew that cell phones would be the wave of the future and we had shot ourselves in the foot! Today I went to Costco to find out what kind of special deals they could provide for one of their most loyal members. Well, it seems that you can get a free car charger and headset from them...not bad. Now the big issue, which provider to use. More and more people I know are using Verizon, they seem to be very satisfied, unless you count the ones that say it used to be good but the service is not good anymore...they need more towers, especially in north Stamford! (Yes, that's where we live!) We currently have ATT and that is better than Cingular was, but we don't have to worry about Cingular anymore, ATT gobbled them up! I decided I would try Verizon, I have 30 days to change my mind with no obligation. But what if an upgraded phone on ATT gets better service...and ATT has a pink phone, however, the Verizon phone has a larger key pad! What to do! The only decision I could come up with was to try both and see which works best most of the time! So, that's what I have done; can't tell which is better yet, will make a decision by Sunday!

And the Winner is...

Noah Stewart! Today we went to Little Italy in Manhattan to witness the Mario Lanza vocal competition. It was wonderful. There were 8 tenors competing and some of them were so very talented! The music was great, the day was beautiful and a good time was had by all! We were standing in the front with our friends so there was lots of opportunity to make eye contact with the performers! The host was someone named Dominick who also did some performing...Very fun! We had lunch before hand at one of the many yummy restaurants and after the competition who could walk away without a gelato! The flavors were outstanding, so very creamy and delicious!

A Little Knowledge is Dangerous

I have to admit, I am just about convinced that Mac is the way to go! The fact that there is no ready help available from Microsoft other than that damn dancing paper clip, makes me think there must be a better/easier way! I cannot believe that I have spent hours as well as at least 50 pages of labels trying to print out the labels for Matt and Rachel's celebration here in Stamford! I used the program for the Save The Date cards...no problem. This time it was an utter nightmare! First I spent time with Amy with her walking me through the process only to find out that the program was reprinting some labels and not including others! My friend Hillary came over after Mah Jongg today to walk me trough it. Would you believe it took both of us and another 6 or so wasted pages of labels to get it to happen! So, maybe having someone do calligraphy might have been an answer! Considering the money I spent on wasted labels I would have been able to afford at least 10 hand done labels! So, the lesson to be learned here...don't think because you have done something once on the computer it will be easy the second time. What I better do is put an announcement on a local Yahoo site telling of my talent before I forget how to do it again!

Strong Women

I'm sitting here thinking about the women I know and their strength of character. What brought this to mind was reading Amy's blog and reading her thoughts about Christina Applegate. At first I thought, yes, Christina is strong because she's an actress; perhaps she is just acting. Then I started to think of the conversations I have had over the past few weeks with people, women, who are going through extraordinary experiences. Barbara, a long lost friend from growing up, lost her husband a few weeks ago; he wasn't in great health but he certainly wasn't sick enough to suspect that he would die. Then there is Linda, her daughter was a dog walker, 33 years old, lived in San Francisco. Robyn took some dogs for a walk, fell down/passed out, several hours later, dead. Robyn practiced yoga, ate healthy, who would think this would happen. Linda is picking up the pieces, going back to her yoga and living her life. Marcia, has nursed her husband through cancer for the past year. Jeffrey had just retired and their plan was to do some traveling; within months he was diagnosed with cancer. Marcia is a community activist, she is picking up the pieces and continuing her life. How do these people do it? When I spoke to Barbara today she summed it all up..."Life is not easy; this is what its about, now I have to go through this alone and come out the other side. I know it will be tough but I have to do it myself, you can't help me." Wow, talk about strong! In my heart of hearts I pray I will never have to go through these things but who am I kidding...this IS life and you've got to suck it up and go on with it or you can spend the rest of your life in your bed with the covers over your head!

Interesting Summer Salads

Well, its that time of year when the produce is so succulent you don't know what to eat first! I have been doing some different additions to the dinner salads that have been wonderful. First, fresh figs seem to be in season. I have added them with goat cheese to the salad along with fresh herbs: basil, tarragon, thyme and drizzled with a bit of raspberry vinegar! Very yummy! Then I remembered last year I made a salad of watermellon, goat cheese and fresh basil with a little balsamic vinegar delicious! Have also been into summer squash. I have been sauteing onions in a little olive oil adding the squash, cookling until tender. Than add fresh basil or thyme. To die for! Anyway, those are the food thoughts of the day! More to come!

Down to one Kindle

Do you know what a Kindle is? Well, its an electronic device that you download books to. it is sold by Amazon and I thought it would be the perfect thing to take on vacation and to also remove the clutter of books to be read or already read on my night table. So, after much thought I decided to get one (not inexpensive so had to think it through!). Well, this is a remarkable device. It has the capacity to hold up to 20 books; no book costs more than $9.99 and you can download from where every you are; well, except for my house. The technology is based on the same waves as cell phone coverage. That should have give me my first hint since the cell phone coverage here is limited! Well, after many attempts I could not get online; customer service said according to their info I should be fine. Well, they decided it must be the Kindle they sent me so they sent a new one...same problem. Well this happened a second time; new Kindle arrived and, you guessed it, still didn't work. Now I'm at the point where I'm thinking I may go into competition with Amazon and sell my own Kindles. As a matter of fact I have named the 3rd one Number 3 as this is starting to get funny. Well, it seems that this one (#3) has the ability to work, sometimes. So now Amazon wants the others back! They are no fun! So much for my latest business! Anyway, I suggest going online and checking it out. It is a wonderful convenience although you do have to get used to not turning pages!

Long Weekend Away

We are just back from a fabulous weekend in the Berkshires! You know you go away for a relaxing weekend and you feel like you've been away for a week. We are so fortunate to have friends with a weekend/summer/winter home in Lenox, Mass, home of Tanglewood. How lucky are we to be invited up there at least once each summer and again in the winter. Have to admit I prefer the warm weather activities to the cold. We went to Tanglewood both Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night was Joshua Bell, violinist; Saturday night was Renee Flemming. What an audience Tanglewood has. They clap for just about anything! If I were an artist Tanglewood would be the venue I would like to perform for. At the end of the evenings my hands were sore from clapping! Well, to sum it all up this was a weekend of culture, good food, and, above all, great company...or was that us, the good company!

David and Matthew do New Jersey Triathlon

What a weekend! Saturday afternoon David and I drove to Mercer County New Jersey, the site of David and Matthew's first attempt at a triathlon! They were both wonderful! David did a Sprint and Matt an Olympic. I'm not sure of the exact length of either, just know the Olympic is the longer of the two! So the drill is first swimming, then biking and finally running. We sat through the orientation and by the time they were through explaining what you had to do I was totally lost! From what I understand, each participant has an area the width of a bike, where they can put all their stuff (bike while you're swimming and running; sneakers while you're biking and swimming, etc). There are different routes depending on which of the events you are doing. The coordination and planning for this experience is amazing! The facility itself is outstanding. There is a beautiful lake as part of the park. Unfortunately Rachel and I arrived too late for the swimming part of the race, it must have been quite a scene. There were 2500 participants overall! Winners are determined by age group. David came in second for his group! Interesting, they write your age in black marker on your leg along with your bib number. No hiding how old you are!

Here are some pictures.

Left out 2 people!

So very sorry, I left out Surjit (Marlene's mother-in-law and Tylia.

Pictures from the Tea for Rachel

OK, as promised, here are some of the pictures from the Tea. It was not only lovely it was also delicious!

In the middle picture Rachel is opening some tea cups from her sister Emily; they came from the Republic of Tea. The holey paper she is holding up is the leftovers from making the tea bags! Cool, don't you think!

Great Weekend it DC

Just back from DC; what a great weekend. Rachel's sister had a Tea for her in celebration of the upcoming wedding! What a fun event! The sandwiches were yummy, my favorite being chicken salad and also cucumber with butter I believe, very delicious. However, the best was the chocolate brownie! I have NEVER had such a decadent brownie. The chocolate was fudgey and the icing was creamy and yummy! Definitely worth the calories! The other tempting morsel was a petti fore; white cake with creamy filling, a layer of marzipan and then iced all over with white very sweet fondant (I think that's what it was). If you were looking for your sugar fix for the month this was the route to go. Let me tell you, I would definitely put my trust in Emily (Rachel's sister) and Jenny (Rachel's long time friend and growing up next door neighbor) to spend my discretionary calories! As Grammie would say "What a way to go!" I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

My Kindle FINALLY has success!

Are you familiar with the Kindle? It is an electronic reading device developed by Amazon. I thought it would be such a cool, convenient item to own; so approximately a month ago I decided to splurge and buy one. I had all kinds of rationale. first, it would get rid of all the books on my night table; second the books would cost less than the average book I buy now. The books cost $9.99 or less. The other benefit is you can put approx 20 books at a time on the device. It all sounded so very practical to me. The day arrived and waiting at my door was My Kindle. So, I charged it and got ready to go shopping; one problem, I couldn't get an Internet connection. Well I tried for several days...no luck. Before I could call the Kindle help line they were on the phone with me. We tried all kinds of experiments, no luck...could not connect. Somehow or other the book that I ordered for the device did arrive on Kin during the night. I was able to read the book but not make contact with the site here at home although the customer service dept could not understand why there was a problem. The staff was so very lovely but the connection could not be made.

Several days later a new Kindle arrived at m door. I quick opened the box charged Kin and tried again; nothing! With the old Kindle I could sign on away from home; this new one would not even let me do that. Well, several days later the CS people contacted me again;still not idea why I couldn't log on. The thought, maybe I needed a new device. We talked about it and decided that was not going to solve the problem; I would just have to be patient again!

Well, here we are another 3 or 4 days later and what is waiting at my front door? You're right, another Kindle. At this point I have very little if any hope of it working. However, I do hook it up and would you believe, it worked! I was able to download a new book and reload a previously purchased book to this device! I can't believe it! Let's see how it work tomorrow!

On a loosing streak for Mah Jongg

Well, if you're looking to make some easy money at Mah Jongg, I suggest you invite me over. Today I lost a total of $12! That's a lot of money! Next time I'll see if they take credit cards! Not sure why my stars are not aligned but will have to work on some new strategies.

On another topic, David and I have been working on putting together a butterfly garden. I have a book that tells what flowers each butterfly is attracted to by region. We'll see how it goes. They are such lovely insects I would be so happy if they adopted our yard as one of their summer homes! Will keep you posted on how that's going.

Where does the time go???

Tonight we went out to the movies with friends and saw "When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Father?" We all thought it was a fantastic movie. I spent a lot of time thinking about the name of the movie...when was the last time I saw MY father as I knew him? On that same theme, I was looking through some old pictures this afternoon. There was one with a picture of my dad cutting his birthday cake for his 85th. Now, looking at that picture, even then, he was not my father! One of the things that really brought this home to me today was that Uncle Paul (Dad's youngest brother) was visiting this week. I have always felt the two of them look so much alike. So, how far back do I have to look to see when I last saw my father. One of the women tonight commented that out of the 8 of us I was the only one that still had her father. Do I really have him or just physically someone that looks like him?

Been Goofing Off!

Hi all,

Can't believe how long its been; time to get bac to blogging!

This past weekend was a fun one here in Stamford. United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien decided to try something new in the fund raising arena. We sponsored a 60 mile bike ride for Israel's 60th anniversary. The event was a total success! There were 49 riders who were totally challenged by the event! What a wonderful way to build Community; in the Campaign arena; over $55,000 was raised! There were fabulous prizes for the event with first prize being a $3,000 bike by The Cycle Center here in Stamford, Camel's by Lapine Associates, and some other bike stuff (that I don't totally understand) by the Insurance Exchange! Talk about generosity! What a great event! So, next year 61 for 61????

Here are some photos!

Pictures from our trip

Picture on the left is the center of Obidos; the flowers were plentiful! Picture on the right has some on the flowers from the outdoor market at Caldas da Rainha.





















Above left, the castle in Obidos now is a pension; right is David braving the wind as we venture down to the water near our hotel. Big wind buy no rain at this point. We are looking at the Atlantic!

Quiet day in Portugal

I decided to spend the day close to the resort today. The wind and rain are unbelievable! As you know we're sitting on the Atlantic Ocean; with the wind today you could easily see how ships could capsize! The waves are humongous! Tomorrow we will rent a car and go north. Hopefully it will be a good sized car so it will stay on the road. Another option will be to put a sail on top and save on gas! We'll see how it goes. Just finished my second book of the trip; first was "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon; second was "The Kitchen Boy" by Robert Alexander. They are both wonderful reads, I strongly recommend both of them.

Caldas da Rainha

This is an interesting city north of where we are staying. The R in the last part of the name is interesting; it is pronounced like a ch in Hebrew. It is amazing the many influences on the Porteges language CdR was a draw for me because they are the only city in the area that has an outdoor market. The day started off in a panic since I had a cab picking me up at 9:30 and I overslept until 9:50; not a fun way to start the day. I dressed and ran down to the entrance of the hotel, ate something in the car and started my adventure. The day started off pleasant enough, no rain! I strolled through the market where there were all root vegetables and fruits of the region; there were strawberries the size of small golf balls and the most Delicious color red! There were stalls with olives and cheeses; again wish I could bottle the aromas! Then I started to wander around to find some pottery stores. I knew I was pushing my luck because within minutes the rains started and this time it was like a small monsoon! I found a pottery store but they wouldn't take a credit card so had to find an ATM. Went back in the teeming rain (should I say swam back???). the woman was so happy to see me, I may have been the sale of the week. She wrapped up my purchases, went into the back and gave me an umbrella; then walked me to the door and opened the umbrella for me. Oh yes, she also wrapped my camera in a plastic bag so it wouldn't get wet! Amazing, just like home...NOT!!! I stopped for lunch before meeting my cab. Things here are so very expensive because of the weakness of the dollar. Lunch, on the other hand, I thought was a good buy. They served me a large bowl of a fish stew (that salted cod but it was not salty)that had potatoes, tomatoes and spices in it. Delicious! I asked for some vegetables; they served me a large head of broccoli that was prepared perfectly; bright green and still a little crunchy! I also ordered a bottle of water; the bill was a grand total of 7.50 euros; I thought a pretty good deal!

In the afternoon the TNS group went on an organized tour of Obidos with booklets that had questions are the area. At dinner there was a game with groups to see who had the most correct answers. We also went on a tour and tasting at a winery. From what I hear the wine was very good.

We'll see what tomorrow's adventures turn out to be!

April in Praia D'El Rey Rey, Portugal

We are in a Marriott golf resort about one hour north of Lisbon; the facility is beautiful. We are on the Atlantic Ocean (if you want to run to the beach and send us a bottled note we'll run down and get it!). the food has been plentiful, good and expensive! Actually with the dollar being so weak; everything is expensive. Today I took a cab to a small town of Obidos (the "s" is pronounced as a "sh" so it takes a little getting used to. This is a small village with a castle and surrounded with a wall that dates back to the Moors. There are two main streets and, lucky for me, this is off season. If the tourists were here I wouldn't have been able to get a picture without hordes of people! I did meet some travelers; one group from Maryland another woman from Virginia traveling alone. The only negative about the trip so far is that the weather stinks! It has rained since we got here. Most of the time it is on and off drizzle until tonight when it all time poured! The good news is the flowers are in bloom so I have pictures of Wisteria, roses, Calla lillies and orange blossoms! I wish there was a way to bottle the fragrance and bring it back. Unfortunately forgot the cable for my camera so I won't be able to send pictures until I get home. Have something planned for tomorrow if I don't get rained out!

Bridal Showers

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to a bridal shower. This shower was not the ordinary eat a filling lunch; watch the opening of endless gifts and then on to an "ok" cake...this shower was called a Kitchen Luncheon Shower! First, the weather that had been predicted to be raining and cool was actually sunny and warm (around 60 degrees), this of course added to the festiveness of the day! The home was lovely. It was in Rowayton, in a house that was totally remodelled with the most up-to-date kitchen I have seen in a long time. What was nice about it was you could see that the kitchen was used! In today's world that is a very nice thing since it doesn't seem to be the trend. I was standing next to the hostess at one point and asked her if the square stainless steel unit in the island was the microwave. No, she responded, that is the steam oven. It seems that steam ovens are used when you bake bread! Well, with everything that she had (including the full sized Wolf range) she did not have a foot pedal for her sink! Oh, these silly women, $200 and you can be a happy camper!

The "entertainment" for the day was a local woman who writes a cooking column for the Stamford Advocate, Ronnie Fein. Ronnie made spanikoptia; delicious chicken salad with Israeli cous cous, oranges, pistachios and a vinaigrette dressing. The interesting suggestion she made for the spanikoptia (Gini, sorry if I've messed up the spelling) was that for a meat meal for Passover, you could leave out the cheese, put in mushrooms and put matzo on the top. The method would be to soak the matzo in water then put it between 2 towels to dry it out and place on top of the spinach mixture. Then brush olive oil on the top so the matzo would brown and be crunchy. Once all the preparation was done you could then freeze everything before cooking. I had read a recipe from a Joan Nathan book where she made a tsimmes (mixture of dried fruit, sweet potatoes and carrots, some people put meat in, I leave mine vegetarian) and put the "batter" for matzo balls on top. I was thinking this could be interesting for the spinach since you would be able to give it more flavor than just the plain matzo. Anyway, I digress, let's continue with the Shower!

After lunch, which was the food Ronnie had prepared; we went into the living room and watch the bride open her gifts. I remember some 40 years ago at one of my showers, my mother and her friends saying now they could use a shower! Well, that's what I was thinking as I saw the beautiful gifts being opened! it seems that the bride had put chocolate brownies on her list so, one woman gave the bride a beautiful, LARGE tray with at least 4 dozen brownies! Of course we all at the decadent brownies!

Desert was divine! There was a cake called an Opera Cake that was like a richer, creamier Tiramisu. I had a little sliver and could barely eat it, it was so very rich!

BTW (by the way) don't you just love the bride centerpiece?????

Spring is coming!

Well, after all the rain we had this winter it is encouraging to know that Spring is on the way. You may ask yourself how am I so confident of its arrival? Well, here's one sure way to tell; the bulbs are pushing their little heads out of the ground and the tips of buds are coming out of them. Seeing the buds is quite an achievement since we never know when the deer will attack them. We know from previous years that the deer love nothing more than the new buds. When we moved into this house my mother gave us many bulbs from her garden. Mom used to have the loveliest tulips. I was certain there was something wrong with our soil, the exposure or, perhaps, how the bulbs were planted. One evening I came around the corner to our house and there was Bambi and all her friends, chowing down on my tulips! So, now I know, the exposure is fine it is the 4 legged critters that love the new spring shoots!

Big day for Mah Jongg Players!

Well, March 26th was the day this year for all the Mah Jongg players in the US...what could have happened you may wonder; its the day the new cards came out. Every year the National Mah Jongg League puts out a new card. It is a good idea since the card tell which hands you can play and playing the same hands year after year would definitely become boring. So, what did these women come up with...the idea of changing the card every year! So, for 71 years players all over the US spend the last 2 weeks in March pondering when the card will arrive. It was believed for a long time that the new card coincided with Passover (also usually the end of March). So this year there was much concern since Passover doesn't start until April 19th! Oh my, what a frenzy! The good news, went to the mailbox yesterday and there it was! Now the next ritual is to spend the first few weeks with the new card grieving over the hands that have changed; how much we miss them and mourn their loss! All kidding aside, it is a fun game and I'm happy I've become a regular player (well, as regular as I can be!).

Bratislava Book is ready!

Hopefully you were able to view Budapest; so now here's Bratislava! Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. The good news is there were very few tourists. Hope you enjoy the book.

http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/index.php

order number: M647858

Password: 1139910

It does work!

Ok, so here's how to do it! Go to the site; when the page comes up click on Book Store (upper right hand side of the page). Enter the order number (the number preceeded by an "M". After you do that enter in the Password. When the book comes up, follow the instructions on the screen to view the book. Let me know what you think!

Tried it out

Ok, so here's what you need to do; when the site comes up, look on the top and see where it says Book Store. Click on that, then on the right put in the order number; that is the number preceeded by "M". Then on the next screen you put in the password. The book will come up and then follow the directions on the screen to view the pictures. Hope you enjoy! Let me know!

Where does the time go???

I cannot believe that it is 12 days since my last post...if you don't follow this blog I don't blame you! Anyway, I spend the weekend making books out of our Budapest and Bratislava experiences. The good news is the Budapest book is up and ready so I'm going to post the link so you can check it out. sorry to send you on this separate journey, but at least this way I'll know you're going to see the pictures! I'll post Bratislava when its ready! Have a great day!

http://www.mypublisher.com/bookstore/book_viewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E32765%3A2

Your book ID # is: M647779Your password is: 1139833

Hope this works, I'll try it out to see!

Chatam Sofer Memorial Bratislava

Below is a description of a memorial that we visited in Bratislava (the capital of Slovaka). I will post some pictures shortly.

------- CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL ------- FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL - IN BRATISLAVA, NEAR THE RIVER DANUBE LIES AN OLD ORTHODOX CEMETERY. RECENTLY UNKNOWN, ALTHOUGH FOR ABOUT HALF OF A CENTURY VISITED BY PILGRIMS FROM THE WHOLE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM UP TO NEW YORK. THE REASON FOR THEIR VISITS IS THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER. THE BRATISLAVA’S RABBI AND SCHOLAR, WHO IS FAMOUS AND IN THE SAME TIME UNKNOWN, SIMILARLY AS THE PLACE OF HIS LAST REST. THE NOTED BRITISH HISTORIAN PAUL JOHNSON IS NOT MENTIONING THIS MAN IN HIS LARGE BOOK A HISTORY OF THE JEWS (1987). HOWEVER, IN THE COMMUNITY OF ORTHODOX JEWS CHATAM SOFER BELONGS TO THE MOST IMPORTANT HALAKIC AUTHORITIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE YESHIVA HE LEADED IN BRATISLAVA AND WHICH WAS THE CENTRE OF THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH TEACHING IN EUROPE, IS FUNCTIONING IN JERUSALEM AS PRESSBURGER YESHIVAH TILL TODAY. CHATAM SOFER, BY OWN NAME MOSHE SCHREIBER (1762 – 1836), WAS BORN IN FRANKFURT AM MEIN. HE LIVED IN CZECH PROSTÌJOV, LATER IN MATTERSDORF . HOWEVER HE BECOME AMOUS JUST DURING HIS WORK IN BRATISLAVA./1/ THE FORMER JEWISH CEMETERY WAS FOUNDED IN THE 17TH CENTURY, WHEN THE BRATISLAVA FAMILY PALFFY HAS ALLOWED JEWS TO BURY THEIR DEAD NEAR THE FORTIFICATION ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK. IT WAS USED TILL THE YEAR 1847. SINCE THAN IT WAS OUT OF WORK, THOUGH IT WAS PRESERVED. IN THE YEAR 1942 A LIQUIDATION IMPENDED THE CEMETERY. THE REASON WAS BUILDING OF A NEW TUNNEL AND REGULATION OF THE DANUBE RIVER. MOST OF THE GRAVES HAVE BEEN EXHUMED AND THE DEAD RESTS WERE BROUGHT OVER TO THE NEARBY NEW ORTHODOX CEMETERY. ONLY A SMALL AREA – 23 GRAVES INCLUDING THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER – REMAINED. THROUGH THE INCREASE OF THE GROUND LEVEL ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK, THE CEMETERY GOT IN THE UNDERGROUND. IT WAS COVERED BY CONCRETE PLATES AND REMAINED SO FOR A HALF OF A CENTURY. THE ONLY WAY TO REACH THE CEMETERY LEADED THROUGH AN INARTISTIC TIN SHELTER. ONLY THE NEW POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SITUATION IN NINETIETH ENABLED THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CEMETERY. THE UNITED EFFORT OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE GRAVESITES OF GEONAI PRESSBURG RESIDING IN NEW YORK AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF BRATISLAVA SUCCEEDED TO REALISE THE IDEA OF CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL. THE TRAM TRACKS WERE MOVED, THE CEILING OF THE CEMETERY WAS RAISED, THE TOMBSTONES WERE RESTORED AND NEW SPACES FOR VISITORS WERE CREATED. TOWARDS THE ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT ARCHITECT MARTIN KVASNICA CONCEIVED THE MEMORIAL AS A WAY, A WAY TO A STRANGE WORLD, A PILGRIMAGE TO THE GRAVES OF FATHERS. THE UNAMBIGUOUS LINE OF THE ENTRANCE PATH LEVITATES OVER THE AREA OF THE FORMER CEMETERY, COVERED BY TINY GRAVEL. THROUGH THIS BENCH GETS THE VISITOR TO THE BLACK PRISM, ARCHETYPE OF A TOMB. THE REINFORCED CONCRETE PRISM IS STEEPED BY BLACK COLOUR WITH ADDITION OF SILICATE, WHICH GIVES THE SURFACE INCONSPICUOUS DARK SHEEN. THE PRISM IS AN INTERFACE BETWEEN TODAY AND YESTERDAY, BETWEEN THE PRESENT AN THE PAST, BETWEEN PROFANE AND SACRAL WORLD. THE LIFTED ENTRANCE PATH AND THE BLACK OBJECT WITHOUT CEILING ARE THE STRONGEST AND MOST GENEROUS PARTS OF THE CONCEPT. THE FEELING OF LONELINESS AND ANXIETY THAT OVERWHELMS ONE IN THE CRAMPED SPACE BETWEEN THE BLACK WALLS UNDER THE DISTANT HAVEN BELONGS TO THE MOST REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES. THE WAY LEADS THE VISITOR FARTHER TO THE UNDERGROUND, WHERE THE RELIC OF THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY REMAINED. TWO INNER ROOMS, LIFTED OVER THE LEVEL OF THE CEMETERY, ARE DARK SIMPLE RECTANGULAR SPACES (ONE ROOM IS FOR LAYMEN, THE OTHER SERVES FOR PRAYING BELIEVERS) WITH GLITTERING BLACK FLOOR. HERE THE VISITOR COULD SEE THE GRAVES BEHIND THE GLASS WALL FOR THE FIRST TIME. A SUBTLE STEEL STAIRCASE LEADS THAN TO THE GRAVES AREA. HERE, BY THE GRAVES OF CHATAM SOFER AND OTHER IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BRATISLAVA ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY CULMINATES THIS PILGRIMAGE. IN THE UNDERGROUND SPACE OF GRAVES THE CEILING WAS LIFTED AND VISUALLY CONNECTED WITH THE VISITORS SPACES. THE SYSTEM OF ILLUMINATED GLASS PLATES PENETRATES THE CEILING AND PASSES FROM INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR. THE FORMER UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING OF LOW, NOT MAINTAINED BASEMENT, DISAPPEARED IN THIS WAY COMPLETELY. LAYERS, SYMBOLS, NARRATIVES AND UNREASONABLENESS HOWEVER, ANOTHER REAL AND ILLUSORY LAYERS ENTER THE CLEAR CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL AND ITS SOBER ARCHITECTURE. ON ONE HAND THEY CONTRADICT THE CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL, ON THE OTHER HAND THEY DEVELOP THE UNIQUE EXPRESSION OF THE WORK. THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL IS PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC MOSTLY AS A MEMORIAL OF THE IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ORTHODOX JEWS. NEVERTHELESS, ON THE RELICT OF THE CEMETERY ARE BURIED ALSO THE FATHERS OF HEINRICH HEINE, KARL MARX AND OTHER PERSONALITIES, WHICH WERE CREATING THE UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE OF PRESSBURG AND EUROPE OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY. THE MEMORIAL COULD BE THAN PERCEIVED AS A RELIGIOUS JEWISH PLACE, BUT IN THE SAME TIME AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT ON THE MAP OF EUROPEAN MULTIETHNIC AND MULTIRELIGIOUS CULTURE. WE COULD ASK, HOW HAS THIS MOMENT INFLUENCED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MEMORIAL? MOST EVIDENT IN THIS CONTEXT IS THE CONTINENCE OF ITS ARCHITECTURE. IN THIS REGION IT IS NOT USUAL TO BUILD MONUMENTAL TOMBS AND MEMORIALS. EVEN THE WAR MEMORIALS, WHICH ARE LARGE FOR LOCAL CONDITIONS, COULD NOT REACH THE ONES BUILT BY GREAT NATIONS. BIG GESTURES ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL HERE./2/ THE WORKS OF ART – COUPLE OF GATES AND THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING WERE DESIGNED BY FRANTIŠEK GULDAN IN CHARACTERISTIC NATURALISTIC-NARRATIVE PENCIL. THE FIRST GATE DIVIDING THE INNER SPACE OF THE PRISM FROM THE SURROUNDINGS IS INTENTIONALLY INARTISTIC TANGLE OF RUSTY STEEL BARS. THEY ARE IDEOLOGICALLY RELATED WITH THE WOVEN SHELTERS OF NOMAD JEWS, WHICH HAVE IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDED AND NOT DIVIDED THE ABODE FROM THE LAND. SIMILAR FABRIC USED TO DIVIDE PARTICULAR PARTS OF THE TEMPLE. COUPLE OF BIRDS HAVE ALREADY MADE THEIR NEST IN THE PLAITS OF THE BARS. THE GATE WANTS TO EVOKE THE THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD HISTORY OF JEWISH RELIGION AND IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDE THE SURROUNDING WORLD FROM THE DARKNESS OF THE OLD CEMETERY. THE SECOND GATE IS MADE OF COMPACT PATINED STEEL. IT SHOULD REMIND OF THE PLATES ON THE STONE GRAVES. THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING IS A COMBINATION OF THE BASE MADE OF SMALL STONE FRAGMENTS AND PATINED COPPER BOWL WITH A COUPLE OF TIN POTS FOR RINSING THE HANDS. ALL THE WORKS OF ART ARE INSPIRING IN THEIR AD HOC NATURALISM, THOUGH GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH PRECISE AND RATIONAL PURITY OF THE BUILDING. IF THE WORKS OF ART GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH THE PURE BUILDING BECAUSE OF THEIR NARRATIVES, THAN THE DIRECT SURROUNDINGS CONTRADICTS THE BUILDING BY ITS ACCIDENTAL QUALITY – THE CONCRETE SUPPORTING WALL, THE TUNNEL PORTAL, THREE PREFABRICATED HOUSES IN THE BACKGROUND AND EVEN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE CEMETERY. HOWEVER THIS IS A NATURAL LOCAL STRATIFICATION, ACCIDENTAL OR SPONTANEOUSLY ACCUMULATED IN THE PLACE OF THE CEMETERY. THE FENCE, WHICH AROSE IN ADDITION, IS COPYING THE VARIOUS LINES OF THE PLOT AND ONLY ITS ENTRANCE PART LOOKS LIKE TO BE IN ADEQUATE CONNECTION WITH THE ABSTRACT BLACK PRISM. THE REALISED PROJECT STANDS THEREFORE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A GESTURE AND A CLEVER SOLUTION OF A RESIDUAL TERRITORY. “THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CREATIONS OF ITS TIME RESULTED, ON MY OPINION, FROM UNREASONABILITY, WHILE THAT, WHAT RULES THE WORLD, WHAT GETS ON, DOMINATES AND OFTEN KILLS, HAPPENS ALWAYS IN THE NAME OF THE REASON, THE RATIONALITY.” STATED DANIEL LIBESKIND IN CONTEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY COORDINATES OF HIS PROPOSAL FOR THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN./3/ BY THE PROPOSAL FOR THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL PLAYED THE UNREASONABILITY ALSO AN IMPORTANT ROLE. THE FORM OF MEMORIAL IS LIKEWISE A RESULT OF VARIOUS ENTRIES: THE COHENS (THE DESCENDANTS OF TEMPLE PRIESTS) RULES, THE AWARENESS OF ACTUAL ARCHITECTONIC TENDENCIES, THE NARRATIVE SYMBOLIC OF WORKS OF ART, THE PROTECTION FROM THE ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALS, THE ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CEMETERY, THE SHAPE AND THE SCALE OF THE CEMETERY RELICT AS A RESULT OF PARADOXICAL HISTORIC SITUATION, THE ORIGINAL CONCRETE BEAMS PLACED ON THE EDGE OF THE PLOT, THE PLANTED GREENERY, WHICH COULD BE ACTUALLY PLANTED ONLY BY GOD... IMAGINATION IN COMBINATION WITH UTILITARIAN REQUIREMENTS, ABSTRACTION AND IN THE SAME TIME NARRATIVES, REMEMBRANCE AND CONCEALMENT, THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRATISLAVA FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL. ------- HENRIETA MORAVÈÍKOVÁ ------- NOTES: 1 BORSKÝ, M.: CHATAM SOFER. ARCH 7, 2002, N.6, P.24. 2 DULLA, M.: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND UNDERGROUND. CHATAM SOFER MAUSOLEUM IN BRATISLAVA. ARCH 5, 2000, N.2, P.22–24. 3 LIBESKIND, D.: ARCHITEKTUR UND SCHRIFTEN. MÜNCHEN – NEW YORK, PRESTEL 1994, P.100.

Budapest The Beautiful Day 1

We are staying at the Marriott right on the Danube. The view is beautiful, to our right is the Chain Bridge, the left we are across from the Cittedel and opposite the Castle. Couldn't ask for a better spot! Yesterday we took the tram (which runs right past our door) to the Parliment, the Musuem of Ethnography, the train station with the fanciest McDonalds I've ever seen. After stopping for a spot of tea we went on to St Stephen's Bescillica. Not to forget something for a very late lunch. Dinner was at a fusion restaurant; wonderful fresh food with offerings from Japan, China, and of course, Hungry. The decor was very modern with the addition of some Tera Cotta warriors! Those guys do get around. When we were told that they did not serve mint tea we decided to return to our hotel for a cup. The TNS group had taken over the bar area so we had tea and dessert in the main restaurant. This hotel has an interesting feature, you can watch the kitchen over a live cam on your tv. We had been watching earlier in the day but weren't quite sure what they were making in the pastry kitchen. We quizzed the dining room manager and then asked if we could go on a tour of the kitchen. What a place! Would you believe besides the main kitchen, meat slicing area, banquet kitchen, room service area, there is a chocolate room (locked), pastry kitchen (how much larger it looked on tv) with its own fridge (locked), vegetable prep area with its own fridge (not locked!)main chef's office, toilets for the staff! What a place. The hotel is in the process of being renovated and they must have started with the restaurant. Good idea, bringing in revenue while renovation continues!

Pictures from Ithaca

Having some problems posting, here goes again!

Just found out there is a blog problem, so enjoy this for now and I'll get some more out asap. This is Buttermilk Falls.

Weekend in Ithaca, NY

Well, the family tradition continues, we're still celebrating our anniversary from December! Our friends Len and Susan Mark wanted to go away for a weekend to celebrate with us; we decided on Ithaca since we all have children who attended school there. David and I haven't been there for years so we decided this would be a great time to go. We stayed in a lovely B & B called the William Henry Miller Inn; what a wonderful choice! Thank you Len! Miller was the first architecture student at Cornell and his house proved that. It was built in the 1800's, was restored by this innkeeper and was just lovely! We stayed in the turret room; there was an alcove in the turret that had a bed in it; I would have preferred a chair to sit and read. Oh well, not my Inn! The breakfasts were delicious: each morning there was a fruit, baked with some kind of exotic cream or honey to go with it; breakfast choices were either eggs made into omelets with fresh vegetables or scrambled; French Toast stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese and apricots, garnished with fresh fruit and hot maple syrup. In case you weren't impressed with the breakfast, each evening starting at about 7:00 there were fresh baked desserts, hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Always a chocolate dessert, lemon squares, Red Velvet cupcakes, choclate cookies! Wow!

We visited 3 different waterfalls; Ithaca, Buttermilk and Taughannock. They were so very impressive, the power of the water and the beauty of the ice! What an experience!

Interesting story, walking to Taughannock Falls we struck up a conversation with a young man. While discussing cameras, lenses, tablets (need to find out more about these) he suggested that we come to where he works to see some of his equipment. An where does he work?? you guess it Amy, Jon Reis! So now we're into the small world category.

Bee-Luther-Hatchee for Black History Month

Last night we went to see the current production at Stamford Theatre Works. The Show is called Bee-Luther-Hatchee. This is Black History month; historically STW does a production on this theme in February. This was by far the best Black History Month production I can ever remember seeing. Here's some of the information I found online about the show:

Synopsis:The editor of a best-selling memoir by an 80-year-old african-american woman finally meets the author, whom she has come to think of as a friend, even a mother figure. But the writer's true identify forces her to rethink her most basic beliefs about art and race. BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE. noun. A far-away, damnable place; the next station after the stop for the Biblical hell; an absurd place or an ironic situation located in a particular place; a mythical place. -- Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang
Shelita Burns, an African-American editor, publishes Bee-luther-hatchee, the autobiography of a reclusive 72-year-old black woman named Libby Price. Shelita has never met Libby, and when the book wins a prestigious award she decides to deliver it to her in person. To her profound shock, the actual author of the book is a white man named Sean Leonard. Furious and resentful, Shelita accuses Sean of perpetrating a hoax, while he defends the book as a truthful work of imagination. Their confrontation, played out on the edge of the racial divide, builds to a jarring act of violence.

"In our world of hot-button topics and uncivil discourse, it's rare that you get to hear an eloquent, complex argument where the sides are so evenly matched that you keep changing your mind about who's "right." It's even more unusual to see such an argument laid out in a contemporary drama with well-rounded characters who are more than authorial mouthpieces. The combination makes Thomas Gibbons' Bee-luther-hatchee...a powerful, provocative piece of theatrical writing. You want to run down the street twisting people's arms to see it... Poetic and subtle, asking penetrating questions without simple answers...one of the best plays of the season. It deserves a large audience."
--Linda Eisenstein, Cleveland Plain Dealer

This production definitely had us debating the premise all the way home, and, it is still very much on my mind. If the show ends up in your area, I strongly suggest you go to see it!

Super Bowl Soup a Success!

Well, the decision was made, Moroccan Vegetable Soup! The extra bonus of this soup was a farmer's market held in White Plains this afternoon. So, relatively fresh carrots and parsnips! Very exciting! So here's the recipe if you want to try this soup:
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 cups chopped carrots
1-1/2 cups chopped parsnips
8 ounces of pumpkin (I used 2 frozen packages of cooked butternut squash)
3 cups of vegetable stock (I ended up adding 2 extra cups of hot water, the soup was much too thick
salt
pepper
pumpkin pie spice

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add theonion and saute for about 3 minutes, until soft, stir occasionaly. Add the carots and parsnips and stir well. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add the squash, cover and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the stock and seasoning and slowly bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Leve the osup to cool slightly. Puree either in a food processor,blender or with a submergable blender.

The soup was such a winner that I won the pool for the game! Go Giants!!!

Photoshop Elements

Well, here's a new experience for me; I have signed up for an online class in Photoshop Elements! It is a unique experience. First of all the classes are very quiet! You get your first class, print it out and then find the items mentioned on the screen. What makes it a challenge is that I have a newer version of the software. So far that doesn't seem to be a problem although locating what they are talking about is often a guessing game. What I have found is if I just noodle around I usually find what I'm looking for. I am not ready to make this my "main" program. For now, I will continue to download pictures into Picassa. This first class has been a tour of some of the tools, now I'll spend the rest of the week practicing what I have been introduced to. A major plus of the class is there is a forum where you can post questions and also read what other people in the class are experiencing! This is big time fun!!!

Pedicure

So, its been rather cold and damp here so I decided it was the perfect time to get a pedicure. I've been rather concerned about using some of these Korean places so I went to my dermatologists office instead. Having used the Korean places in the past it was interesting to compare the two experiences. First, at the doctor's office, the person speaks to you and its English; the Korean place gives you something to drink (water, soda, etc) as soon as you sit down; doctor's office, nothing! Now the actual pedicure: the doctor's office, warm water and lots and lots of bubbles, in fact so many that at one point I think we are both going to float out of the room; Korean place, very hot water, no bubbles! Then the "fun" part, doctor's office, lots of removal of corns, nails cut very short, the emphasis is on making the feet soft and clean; Korean place, polish is the main concern of the day. Legs: doctor's office some cream on your legs and then hot "boots" on your feet for about 5 minutes; Korean place, honey scrub and your legs wrapped in hot towels, hot towel over your eyes, lean back in the chair and the attendant messages your feet for 5 minutes. Kit of supplies: doctor's office you buy all the disposable materials they use. this includes the polish, files, corn removers, sandals (rubber that can be reused) cuticle softener, base and top coat of polish, cotton, etc). Korean place, you pick out what polish you want and everything else is used by everybody. Cost: doctor's office $65 and one time charge for kit $60; Korean place $45.

so what was my decision for the next time? I'm going to stick to the doctor's office. I like the cautiousness of having my own polish, tools, etc. When I asked why you had your own polish, for instance, she said that they are concerned about fungus that can be transmitted by more than one person using the polish, tools, etc. Maybe I'm just a high maintenance person and the Korean place would be just fine...I just don't want to take chances! Bottom line, pedicures are not my favorite thing, I don't like people messing with my feet! However, I don't seem to be able to do an adequate job myself so it makes sense to me to go to the doctor! Now if only the insurance would cover it!!!

Get out those soup recipes!

Earlier in the winter we talked about trying new soups; well, now we are going to have to put that idea to the test. Our hostess for the Super Bowl has set the theme for the evening to be "New" since both teams have new in their name. I am responsible for the soup. Rules: it must be something new for you to make, in other words a recipe you have never tried. Tonight I have my soup cookbooks spread out to read so I can make a decision. Recently there was a recipe in The Times for Beet Curry Soup, sounds good to me but I know not everyone likes beets. Another recipe is Chicken and Almond Soup, the description says "this spicy soup makes an excellent lunch or super dish when served with Indian nan bread. I'm concerned this may be too spicy. so, back to reading my books!

Art Deco Hotels in Miami

Friday afternoon the plan was to drive to Ft. Lauderdale where we would be staying with Aunt Shirley (Grammie was already there) and then flying from there back to NYC. We decided before leaving we would do a walking tour of the area. We stopped in to visit a few of the hotels in the area. Here is some of the art work and decor! What a beautiful site!

We're back!

To those of you who check my blog to see if I've posted anything, thank you for stopping by. I'll see if I can be more regular with postings!

Last week David and I went to Miami for a sales conference held by his company. I have not been to Miami Beach for decades and staying at this hotel made the wait worthwhile. We were at the Loew's Miami Beach which is actually in South Beach. What a place, what a neighborhood, what prices! My experience at the hotel was basically sitting at the pool, reading and paying for food. The food was good and the help was outstanding! The night we arrived David had a meeting which included dinner; I had been invited but decided it would not be fair to him to have to worry about me so I told him to go on his own. I went down to one of the dining rooms and asked to be seated outside. As the hostess showed me to my table I noticed a young woman sitting by herself, reading a book. After I was shown to my table I went back and asked the woman if she would like to have dinner together. I explained I was not trying to "pick her up" (answering a question that would have been my concern) and so we had dinner together. What fun! She is from the Netherlands and was staying with a friend who was at the GE conference going on at the same time. We talked about American customs in eating and serving that seemed strange to her. For instance, why is the coffee always so cold...I told her that the Americans, in most cases, did not heat the milk before they added it to the coffee/tea and hence the cold coffee/tea. We spoke about Landmark Educ, she also had taken some seminars! Wow, it really is a small world! The next night we ate together at Emeril's Restaurant that was also in the hotel. The food was excellent, service, not up to the European standards (mine either!)! Wow, getting pretty demanding, don't you think. We both talked about how quickly the food was served and how fast the check appeared; not at all European! Well, if we go to The Netherlands we definitely have someone to visit!

Photography

Well as many of you know, photography is one of my very favorite passions. Recently I decided to see what I could do about selling some of my work. My doctor (Alan Falkoff) has invited his patients to display their work in his office. He is an amateur photographer as well and had one of this pictures printed on canvas. What a beautiful process...almost looks like a painting. So I had one of my China photos printed on canvas and it is being displayed in the hair dresser's where I get my hair cut...we'll see. This is the print that I had done. Now I have to decide if I should have another picture done to show more of my work, or, perhaps I'll put together a brochure. Stay tuned!