Vacation Part III - NYC

Part II was light on photos, so here are a bunch from our very busy days in NYC.  We drove up - 8 hours in the car and the girls were absolutely fantastic the entire time until they started with piercing screams as we were driving through central park, minutes away from arriving at my parents' apartment. We went to see Rockefeller Center and the gigantic tree, the windows at Saks, the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, the Big Apple Circus, and to tea at The American Girl Doll store.  I'm exhausted just remembering it all.

walking around Rockefeller Center:

 watching the Rockettes:

 The Big Apple Circus (it is Grandma Clown's final year - boo too):

 At American Girl:

waiting to see their dolls with their newly pierced ears

Vacation Part II

After Miami, we came home for a few days for Christmas, and it was just lovely.  Fun times with my gang, dinner on Christmas eve with good friends, way too many presents to open, and just general merriment.

My Girls

They are totally adorable.  Can you tell?

we were going to the grocery store

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

To help brighten my days, I have been rocking E-nuf is E-nuf by Essie:

It is a bright coral that isn't too orange or red, just the perfect shade for something a little fun and different. My girls like it too, and it's pretty cute when we all match.

8 Nights of Books

I recently re-discovered the Mer Mag blog and I love it.  When there is a new post, I get a little giddy, like I have a little gift full of inspiration and fun waiting for me.  So, yes, I recommend it.

Merrilee of Mer Mag created a book advent calendar for her boys this year, and with my love of children's picture books, I decided to do the same for my girls for Hanukkah.
Some of the beautiful photos from Mer Mag:

 i love the way she wrapped the books.
each one was slightly different but all related to one another.

see the books lined up on the hearth?
 how did the boys not rip them all open at once?

I scoured Richmond to find good Hanukkah books (which was no easy feat, let me tell you!), and here are the 8 I chose:

 Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel
(A Hanukkah classic, if there is such a thing, that my girls were scared of - P said,"Mommy, you shouldn't have bought this book for us."  Whoops!  Maybe the goblins will be less scary next year?)

 Latkes, Latkes Good to Eat by Naomi Howland
(This is essentially a Jewish version of Strega Nona by Tomie DiPaola.  Instead of a magic pasta pot, there is a magic pan, and instead of pasta, there are latkes.  I was a little annoyed because I love Strega Nona and couldn't believe one author would take another author's story in such an obvious way.  I'm sure it happens all of the time, but it was rather unoriginal to me.

Pocketful of Posies: A Treasure of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor
(A sweet book of rhymes that most of us know, but the art is truly wonderful.  Mavor's attention to such fine detail with the use of beads, nuts, wood, thread, felt, and many other materials is captivating.)

You Will Be My Friend! by Peter Brown

(I love Lucille Beatrice Bear from Children Make Terrible Pets, and here she is back with her wide-eyed enthusiasm in trying to find a new friend.  Don't worry - she succeeds!)

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet

(I love when I learn something from a children's book, and this story told us about the history behind the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Tony Sarg.  Who, you may be wondering, is Tony Sarg?  Read the book!)

Liberty's Voice: The Emma Lazarus Story by Erica Silverman

(This is another true story that taught me about Emma Lazarus and the poem she came to write for the base of the Statue of Liberty.  Again, learned a lot from this book.  Oh, and just this week I read an article about an exhibition on Emma Lazarus in The New York Times.)

Five Little Gefiltes by Dave Horowitz

(A funny book that taught us all some yiddish!  Thank goodness my girls now know what schlep means!)

Chanukah Lights by Michael Rosen and Robert Sabuda

(Sabuda is an incredible pop-up artist and this book is a perfect example of his work.  My girls liked the pop-ups but couldn't have cared less about the text.  Sounds harsh, but it's true.)

What I'm Reading

I tried with all of my might, but I just couldn't get into The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.  It has been listed as one of the top 10 books of the year (well, last year - 2011 - that is) by The New York Times Book Review and Obreht has been praised as "the most thrilling literary discovery in years."  Yup, well, I tried and gave it almost 200 pages, and finally, last night, decided I was done.  I think I need something fun and easy.


Fun and easy, huh?  Well, this certainly isn't it, but it's what I'm starting today:

People of the Lie by Scott Peck was suggested by my therapist, so I'm going to give it a shot and see how it goes.  I'm dealing with some personal issues (hence, the therapist) and so maybe 2012 will be a year of personal growth and healing for me.  That sounds incredibly cheesy, but hey, it's the truth.

My next post will not be so heavy, I promise.

Hello again and Vacation Part I

I am sorry I have been gone for so long, but it was a wild two weeks and we were all over the place.  As you know, I am a visual person, so instead of telling you what we were up to you can see for yourself.  This is from Part I of our break from school with my family in Miami:

As you can see, there was swimming, running bases on the beach, iguanas, peacocks, and dolphins at the Seaquarium, and fun with napkins.  Oh, and yes that is P, my big girl, with the dolphin - she was chosen to be part the audience participant in the dolphin show and she loved it.  I may have loved it more - watching her experience the whole thing.  Makes me smile every time I think about it.

More photos to come from Parts II and III of our weeks off.

Hope you had lots of fun over the holidays!  xoxo