Hanukkah 2008

Happy Hanukkah everyone!



Tonight is the first night of the Festival of Lights, so David and I (and Jerry) lit candles at home and opened a few presents.



Before you say anything about my menorah, I know I lit them from the wrong side. It's supposed to go from right to left- I know now, ok? I wasn't sure, and I took a guess and it was wrong. I'm a little fuzzy on the details with this cold- I promise that I will do a better job tomorrow. So we will have to live with this bad menorah pic until I take another one then.



In the meantime, check out this pic of Jerry. He got into the holiday spirit too. (Actually, he looks a little annoyed, but he was rather playful- you will have to take my word.)

Hills West 10-year Reunion

The Friday after Thanksgiving was my High School 10-year reunion. When I got the save-the-date in the mail earlier this year, I could hardly believe that it had been an entire decade since our days at Hills West. Time has really flown by!

After a little back and forth about whether or not to go or to bring David we both went. While we didn't have the best turnout for the event, I am definitely glad I attended. I loooved high school, and it was great to catch up with people I had lost touch with and see all those familiar faces again.

David was an incredibly good sport and hung in there for three and a half hours of frantic shrieking hugging and picture taking. The man is a friking saint.

Our night began when Hayley came to my mom's house and picked us up. I had not seen her since her wedding and it was great to relax with her before the reunion insanity really began.



We met up with Loni and got drinks at Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon in Melville. With its four-season design concept, the place not only has different rooms to celebrate the seasons- but the menu changes every 13 weeks as well to feature local and seasonal ingredients.

Then it was time to hit up the reunion.

First of all- big shout out to Allan who is a fan of the blog. Your picture with David didn't come out great, so I'm not posting it. Rachel's picture however, came out great. It is one of the pictures below.



So lemme tell you a few things about my buddy Brad: 1) I've known him since we were toddlers; 2) He is brilliant; 3) He is hysterically funny; 4) I don't see him nearly enough. I was very excited to spend time with him, introduce him to David and catch up for a while.



Another person I was very excited to see again is Stephanie. She and I were the "voices of Hills West" senior year. She is just as gorgeous as ever and a ton of fun to hang out with.



The reunion was kind of a hectic night- it would have been impossible to have a real conversation with everyone there. So I'm very happy Cristina and I had a chance to catch up earlier in the month when she was in Virginia for her sister's wedding. In addition to maintaining her amazing style and wicked sense of humor, she now has a great husband and two amazingly adorable kids.


I wish I had more pictures to post. Here is a nice one of Jim, Loni, Hay and John


Rachel and Kim looking gorgeous as ever.

Like I said earlier- I am SO GLAD I went, but for what we paid (about $85/person) I was hoping for ... a little... more I guess. I would have happily traded in the DJ and about half the buffet for an open bar. I didn't have much time to go to the room where the Hills East reunion was being held, but it was very nice to see some of them again too.

It was great to see Anwar B, Kim B, Selena B, Nancy B, John B, Lauren C, Stephanie C, Janine D, Tim D, Josh E, Danielle F, Elyse F. Brian G, Monique H, Jim M, Michelle K, Rachel K, Cristina K, Justin K, Will K, Eric L, Hayley M, Rob M, Marissa M, Russ M, Marissa N, Anna N, Sharleen R, Jenene R, Brad R, Annette S, Laura S, Carolyn S, Brett V, Loni W, and Jamie W and so many more! If I leave you out of my recap, I'm so sorry. A lot of the night was a blur of hugs and rushed conversations. I wish I had more time to spend with all of you.

Thanksgiving 2008

I hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving weekend. I know I sure did. Here’s my recap….



We drove to New Jersey after work on Tuesday. After spending some time with Fran the next morning, we arrived at my dad’s where turkey day prep was already well underway. We jumped right in with the slicing, baking, roasting and brining.


slicing apples for a pie


David and the magic dancing carrots

On Thursday morning we woke up early and got back to work. Mom brought over bagels and helped me set the table while David, Brian and Dad worked on the rest of the meal.


The turkey came out delicious!

My mom’s seven layer salad is something I look forward to all year. It is usually only served once a year after Yom Kippor but since we missed it earlier this year- it was brought back for Thanksgiving.



Leslie accomplished her task of replicating a classic restaurant bread basket




A picture of the whole table

Here is a recap of our extensive meal:
Black Mission Fig and Olive Tapenade on Crostini
David’s Seared Tuna with Cilantro Ginger Balsamic sauce
Pumpkin- Black Bean Soup with optional Sherry Shooter
Judy’s 7 layer salad
Roasted Turkey and Gravy
Chestnut, Mushroom and Apricot Stuffing
Grilled Italian style sausage with red and yellow peppers
Molasses Roasted Butternut Squash
String Beans Almandine
Roasted Beets with Oranges
Rosemary and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Spiced Maple Syrup Yams
Fresh Baked Corn Bread
Pickled Brussels Sprouts and Red Cherry Peppers
Judy’s Cranberry Relish
Pumpkin Beer
Several Delicious Desserts

I'm tired from just typing it all up! After we ate ourselves silly, we relaxed a bit and (of course) took more pictures!






It was great to see Devaki and Mallika again. Apparently, we all got the "only wear grey or black to dinner" memo. Thankfully, all of their family is safe in India.

On Saturday we went to Chinatown for lunch at David’s favorite restaurant, Joe's Shanghai. No visit to New York is complete for David without a stop at one of their three locations for their famous soup dumplings.



We ate lots of yummy food and walked around Chinatown for a while before heading to Long Island for my Ten-Year High School Reunion.



The reunion was a lot of fun- I will do a separate post about it later.

My mom took us shopping on Saturday for ski gear. Happy early Hanukkah to us! I got new gloves and David got new pants. We are going to be warm and stylin' in Vail this February!

After returning with our new gear, we spent most of the afternoon watching classic game shows on the Game Show Network. We watched a little bit of Card Sharks, Family Feud, Lingo, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and a new one I had never even seen before called Russian Roulette. I could have easily spent several more hours watching this channel but eventually we had to get off the couch and eat.



Saturday night we went out for a yummy seafood dinner with my brother, mom and grandparents at Riverbay Restaurant.

The next morning we said goodbye to my mom and grandparents and drove to Queens for breakfast with my dad and cousins Meg and Steve before the long drive home.

There were lots of good times and even more good food this weekend. We weren’t able to see as many people as we wish we could have- but we hope to make it up to them soon.

Brenna's Bat Mitzvah

This weekend we went to Long Island to attend and celebrate my cousin Brenna’s Bat Mitzvah. I’m officially old for saying this, but I really can’t believe that Brenna is already 13. I remember when she was born! But she is, and has become a really beautiful person. It was great to see her and the entire Ferney/Dreier clan. Brenna’s service was held at Temple Chaverim in Plainview, New York. She lead the service beautifully, you can tell she had really worked hard to learn her torah portion.

I know this next part is not about Brenna or what we did this weekend, but one of the more remarkable things about the synagogue was its beautiful ark. I just had to write about this 100 year old enormous carved wood piece. I don’t have any pictures of it- so you will just have to go see it for yourself some time.

When the synagogues first began, it was a small congregation that met in various places. As their membership grew, they needed to build a permanent home so in 1996, they began to construct their current location. In the process of gathering design ideas, a member read a book about old synagogues of New York in which many shuls in New York City, past and present, were catalogued. One Orthodox shul described in the book was Congregation Ahavas Israel, which had been founded in 1900 and closed in 1980 when the Orthodox Jewish population shifted away from Jamaica, Queens. The book included a photograph of their beautiful Ark and details about how it had been disassembled and placed in storage when the congregation disbanded. With the blessing of the Temple Board and a surviving trustee of Congregation Ahavas Israel, the ark was moved, reassembled and restored at Temple Chaverim. It really is gorgeous.



After the service, it was party time! So we headed to Oragin in Farmingdale. Nikki, Brian, David and I had a fantastic time. In my next life, I think I want to be a Bat Mitzvah dancer. Nikki too.



Brenna looked beautiful, Jill and Joey were amazing hosts and Chloe and Dylan are adorable! It was nice to have fun with a bunch of my family we don’t get to see very often. We even got a candle- so nice!




Let's see how may cousins can we fit into one pic... we've got Judy, Ken, Jan, Sofia, Gabe, Harlan, Lorie, Donald, Nikki, Rona, Brian, Leslie, David, Marty, me, Meri, Charlie, Barry and Ingrid. OK, 19- yep that's about it.


Brian and Nikki, Grandpa Don and Grandma Rona, David and myself


Hangin' with my fabulous cousins


Seriously Pazit- how do I not have a picture of the two of us? (sigh) This will have to do.

If you are going to have a Ben & Jerry’s theme for your party, what else would you serve for dessert other than yummy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream? Actually, you got individual ice cream cups as well as a choice of devildogs, ho ho and hostess cupcakes. Good times!











After the party ended, we took powernaps, went to the Ferney’s for a little after-party unwinding and then dinner at our favorite Cantonese restaurant, Kwong Ming. This place is old school- you can still order “one from column A...” and we always have a great meal there.



On Sunday, we visited Allison, Stuart and Brooke for an hour before hitting the road for home.


How friking cute?



We had gotten take-out from one of my favorite Italian restaurants and brought it home for dinner, so after our ride we relaxed and indulged (and I did laundry of course). Jerry seemed to have really missed us because he wouldn't stop climbing all over David on the couch.

It was a really fun weekend- great to see so many cousins and I hope we can all get together again soon!

Election 2008

By now, we all know that on Tuesday night, American voters elected Barack Obama to become the 44th president of the United States. I took a few days to take it all in, really examine the results and process their meaning before I posted about it.



I had drafted this whole ‘think piece’ about the issue of race in America, how this milestone did much to bring us forward and mend (but not erase) some of our nation’s racial blunders. I wrote about how proud I was to be a part of this election and my belief that it was a defining moment in our history we should build upon. And then I decided not to post any of it. I think it is a conversation best had between people, and not over the internet.

I will post that I look forward to a fresh face and a new approach in the White House. President-elect Obama has already started filling his cabinet, and it looks like he is going to surround himself with the very best. He’s going to need to- his administration is inheriting a deep and likely prolonged recession and two wars. I believe our nation has elected the right individual to lead us out of these difficult times, and now that the people have spoken, I only hope they have the patience to let the solutions take effect.

Now it’s back to the usual fun photos and recaps…..

So…on election night, I watched the returns come in at an Obama victory party hoisted by my friend Jenn. While voters waited in line at the polls around the entire country, she had been cooking up a storm all day in her kitchen (after voting of course).


Jenn and her very delicious baked brie. Seriously people, you missed a damn good election night party.



We ate (very well), drank (also very well) and watched the numbers come in. Our tensions started to melt away as states turned blue.


Patriotic tablescape


These grilled veggies were amazing. She had roasted them all herself!

Later that evening, I went home and continued watching returns for a few more hours until they officially called it for Obama. I didn’t get a picture of the final result, so here is a picture of my TV from when they called Illinois for Obama.





Since my office is directly across the street from the White House, news outlets like to lease space on our roof as a backdrop for their reporters. In the days leading up to the election, a ‘tent city’ has literally sprung up on our roof. So on Wednesday, I went up there to took a look around. Surrounded by the gorgeous fall foliage, White House looked really beautiful. It was like seeing the place with new eyes. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the White House Press Corps’ tent and take a quick picture from where they usually shoot.



It has been an amazing November. I even snagged a commemorative newspaper as a keepsake of this week.

Now, to all my West Wing fans out there- I thought I’d share this gem of an excerpt from the National Journal:
In an odd way, the selection of Rahm Emanuel as Barack Obama's chief of staff fulfills yet another plot line that unfolded during the final season of NBC's "West Wing," which must have been written by Nostradamus. As aficionados of the long-running show will know, Emanuel is widely cited as inspiration for the character of Josh Lyman, who becomes the chief of staff to the new president, Matthew Santos. And the real conspiracy theorists know why that's important: The Santos character is modeled after Obama. (The writers spoke repeatedly with Obama campaign manager David Axelrod while composing their plot lines.) At this rate, John McCain will be named as Obama's secretary of state. After all, that's how the season ends, with Santos picking his former rival in the ultimate gesture of bipartisanship.

Hayley and Shawn's Winter Wonderland Wedding

This weekend Hayley and Shawn got married. I knew how much planning, time and effort had gone into making this day amazing for Hay- so I was really looking forward to the evening. I had an idea for what was in store, but should not have had any expectations because they were all just blown away. Everything was beautiful- the bride, the reception, the smiles on everyone’s faces. It was an incredible day.



We didn’t want to be late for the rehearsal dinner, so after working a half-day, David and I drove straight to NYC. We got into the city a few hours early, and rather than take the chance of making it to Queens and back (to drop off the car) we spent some time at Rick and Carolyn’s place nearby. Benjamin was dressed a monkey for Halloween- totally adorable.


We went around their building trick-or-treating for a while.

Our walk to the rehearsal dinner was very funny- we saw tons of people dressed up for Halloween. The rehearsal dinner was held at Sarabeth’s near the southern end of Central Park. Once there, it was very picturesque, horse-drawn carriages line the park directly across from the restaurant. We had a very nice evening. It was great to see the wedding party and some high school friends. The Mayer and Rogol families were so excited.


Mel, Sharack, Ali and David




Allison, Stuart and Ariel





Since it was Halloween, and Hayley lets no detail go unnoticed, there were cute masks and candy on the tables. The night was great- there was good food, some sweet toasts and some very funny ones too. In addition to our (generous) bridesmaids gifts, Jodi and I also got white stoles to cover our shoulders under the chuppah.






scary, right?







After the rehearsal dinner, we went back to Queens to rest up for Hayley and Shawn’s big day. Apparently, I got so excited about the wedding; I completely forgot to charge the battery in my camera that night. I did get pics of Hayley, her family and bridesmaids getting ready and some family portraits, but the camera died right before the ceremony. Luckily, there were LOTS of others with cameras by then, so any of the following ceremony or reception pictures are from others who were kind enough to send them to me.

The bridesmaids all arrived at The Pierre Hotel for hair and makeup around 1 PM. We had lunch, watched the florist set up a bit and all had a relaxing afternoon together. Check out the view from our room as we were getting ready....


Central Park in the fall is amazing.











Hayley looked incredible…and Shawn didn’t look bad either. After family portraits it was Showtime!






Hay and Shawn with their very adorable flower girl and ring bearers





The ceremony was so beautiful. Everyone in the wedding wore black and white and the chuppah looked snow had just fallen onto a canopy of trees.


Here comes the groom- with his parents Sandy and David


Maid of Honor extraordinaire, Dr. Jodi Michaels


me


Here comes the bride! (with Esther and Rob)


ceremony pic

And it just kept getting better! Cocktail hour was amazing, the ballroom was beautiful, the band was fantastic everyone was happy and we had a phenomenal night. Hayley had said that she wanted it to look like Central park just after a snowfall and she got exactly that(only not as cold). It was a winter dream.


how gorgeous...right?


first dance







I charged the camera battery after we got home Saturday night so I was able to take pics of the brunch on Sunday. It was the day of the NYC marathon, so Amanda, David and I took the subway from Queens to the Loews Regency Hotel for the post-wedding brunch. The end of the wedding was a little hectic, gathering belongings from upstairs, trying to say thank you and goodbye to guests and friends, etc. It was nice to see everyone once more before we really left. It seemed like we all had a great time the night before, everyone was a little tired but very happy.


Hay and Shawn, mom and David and me


Hayley, Amanda and me


There were some extra of the yummy Crumbs cupcakes handed out after the wedding, so we snagged another one on Sunday!


Mom and Esther