Declare Yourself

I've purposely stayed away from blogging about the upcoming election these last few months. This is my personal site, and while I have strong views on the candidates, I know that many readers do not feel the same way I do. So I've been trying to remain nonpartisan. Watching my first election since leaving life on the hill has been an interesting experience.

Throughout these months, I have constantly been impressed by the work of Declare Yourself, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to empower and encourage every eligible American to register and vote in the presidential primaries and 2008 presidential election.

This is their most recent video urging everyone to vote on election day. Declare Yourself has really cast a wide net, and it's great to see celebrities like Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Shia LaBeouf, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Scar Jo, and Justin Timberlake participate in their efforts.



Founded by television producer and philanthropist Norman Lear, Declare Yourself was launched in 2003 as the culmination of the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a nationwide multimedia exhibit and tour of an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. Using media partnerships, celebrity spokespeople and the Internet technology, Declare Yourself's campaign registered over one million young people in the 2004 and 2006 elections.

This year, Jessica Alba and Hayden Panettiere’s ‘muzzle’ ads were a central part of the “Only You Can Silence Yourself” campaign aimed at registering every eligible 18-to-29 years old to vote in the 2008 presidential election. In addition to their video, I thought the photo campaign and billboards were effective and very well done. Here is my favorite:



As I said above, this has been a very interesting experience. So please, vote on November 4th. No matter what the outcome, it will be an historic election.

Halloween Crafts and Apple Picking

On Friday night, I went to Fara and Hunter’s house for Shabbat dinner and my traditional Halloween craft night with Marin. We started this annual practice a few years ago when we made a Marin sized scarecrow “Marincrow” and decorated Halloween cupcakes together. This year, we frosted and decorated cookies and put stickers on trick-or-treat buckets.





While dinner was cooking, Marin, Riley and I decorated pails with Halloween stickers, Hannah Montana stickers, Disney princess stickers, jewels and more!

When dinner was ready, we lit candles and had “wine” and challah for Shabbat.



Then we decorated cookies and finished the trick-or-treat buckets.


Decorating our Halloween cookies



Before we knew it, it was Marin’s bedtime. It was very nice to spend time with Fara and Hunter- between camp and the holidays in Florida, I had not seen them since July. We had lots to catch up on!

Saturday was rainy and grey. David and I spent pretty much the entire day cleaning out our loft and storage closet. I know it’s usually called “spring cleaning’ but we weren’t able to get to it until fall- so this was our ‘autumn attack’ on our junk. It was a dusty activity but very productive and ultimately successful. We made several trips to the dumpster and managed to create a lot more ‘living space’ in the loft area. No pics of this activity- it wasn’t a pretty sight.

While we were cleaning up our place in Maryland, wedding preparations for Hayley and Shawn were in full swing in New York. Saturday morning was their Auf-Ruf in Dix Hills.



It would have been a lot of traveling if we had gone up to Long Island this weekend and then to NYC for their wedding next weekend, so we did not attend. However, Shawn’s sister Alana sent me this picture from the event so I could post it here. Thanks so much!

Our reward for all of the housework was a (somewhat belated) birthday dinner for David at Capital Grille with Becky and Aaron. Our last visit to this restaurant was not a good experience at all, but this one more than made up for the last time. Our meal and service were excellent, and the wines we had were fantastic. I will post pictures of dinner soon.

After our big night out, we slept in on Sunday morning. In the afternoon, we made yummy grilled chicken nachos and headed to Clarksburg to watch football with the Baeckers. While the boys spent the rest of the afternoon tracking their fantasy football scores, Becky and I went to Larriland Farm for apple picking and their Fall Festival.









In addition to pumpkins, hayrides, a straw maze and haunted “boo barn” for children, you could pick your own seasonal vegetables (including apples, beets, spinach and cauliflower). In their barn, they were selling fresh apple cider, sweet potatoes, several varieties of squash, jams and fudge. There were fresh kettle corn and apple fritters as well! Becky and I stuck to the apples and had a really nice afternoon outdoors.









We returned the Baecker’s place to watch the Giants game and put our apples to good use. Check out the apple cake we made- it came out pretty tasty!

A visit from Marty- history, houses & home improvement

My dad came down to Maryland this weekend to catch up a bit, plan for Thanksgiving (if you've ever met my dad, this need no further explanation), check out a house we were interested in buying and -as it turned out- participate in some home improvement projects.

He arrived Saturday afternoon. While David worked, we went to DC for a little touring around at The National Archives. I can't believe I've lived here nearly 10 years without having seen the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other documents kept and displayed here.


Dad, outside the Archives building


The lighting is kept very dim in the display area- sorry these photos are dark. Here, dad checks out the Declaration of Independence.


We the People....

Of course we've all learned about the 56 signers of the Declaration in school. Still, it was cool to see the actual signatures of founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock and Thomas Jefferson.



In addition to the famous Charters of Freedom, we saw documents like the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France, the Louisiana Purchase and the Emancipation Proclamation, Additionally, we saw historical patent applications such as Thomas Edison's Light Bulb Patent and Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, and the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education and Marbury v. Madison Decisions.



With all the new museums opening up in DC (Newseum, Spy Museum, etc) that charge visitors to enter, it renewed my sense of appreciation for the many free activities the city has to offer. All you have to do is walk through a metal detector and anyone can see these amazing historical documents.

Afterwards, we walked around a nearby sculpture garden and enjoyed the sunny cool afternoon together. Then we headed home to meet up with David and check out the house we were interested in. I don't know if this is "the house" for us- but it certainly was helpful to hear an engineer's thoughts on it.



Sunday we had brunch at Tower Oaks Clydes- they are all ready for Halloween. There's a contest to see how much this enormous pumpkin weighs, so of course we had to enter a guess. We think 540 lbs is the winning guess- that’s going to make a LOT of pumpkin pie!



Then we went to Lowe's for some new wall sconces to replace one that had broken a while ago. Of course I need matching fixtures- so there were multiple lights to replace. We all participated in hanging them up, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and watching football.


Men At Work: David and Dad hanging up one of the new light fixtures.




Putting the finishing touches (light bulb and lamp shade) on.

Sadly, dad eventually had to head back north so we drove him to the airport and said goodbye. As we drove around this weekend, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty the trees are this time of year. They are big part of why I love autumn- the crisp weather, apple picking and pumpkin carving, and how gorgeous the area looks just before the leaves begin to fall. I’m definitely not looking forward to the chore of raking all those leaves when we eventually buy a home- but I plan to enjoy the autumn colors while I can!

I met the President this morning

Well, it's not like we had an actual conversation...I shook his hand and managed to mumble something close to, "very nice to meet you sir."

I was a lucky seat-filler at a speech given by President Bush this morning about at the Chamber. Coming into work early every day finally paid off!


Bruce, our Executive Vice President of Government Affairs introducing the President.


President Bush speaking about the economy this morning


Wrapping up his speech


See that space between the woman in purple and the man in grey? I stuck my hand right there and reached out to shake his.

I also have a video I took during the speech- I really hope this uploads right. The highlight is in the last few seconds. I call it "Hi, Mom!"

Our First Anniversary- Part II

On the evening of our first wedding anniversary, we celebrated with a quiet dinner at home. As tradition dictates, we ate the top of our wedding cake (no, not the whole thing) which was actually still quite yummy.

A year ago, it looked like this....



But now it looks more like this.



Thanks very much to Karen and Mark for keeping it safe and frozen solid for several months.



my masterful cake cutting skills



Finally- we get to have some wedding cake! And for anyone who remembers a certain cake-on-the-face incident... yeah, I got my revenge. (No pics, sorry)

Thanks to everyone who sent us sweet anniversary cards - it was very thoughtful and they are on display in our home.



The celebration continued on Saturday night. We went to Marcel's for an incredible Anniversary/ David's Birthday dinner. This restaurant remains one of our absolute favorite places, and our night was filled with delicious food, incredible wines and of course, amazing service.


Celebrating at Marcels

We drank a 1986 Château Climens with our first and last courses, and a 1995 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée with our middle courses. Domaine du Pégau was one of the wineries we visited on our honeymoon, and sharing this bottle really brought us back to that time.



Our waiter was so nice- the overall experience at Marcels is truly first rate and made our evening very special. They made this plate for us at the end of the night!

One Year

One year ago, we stood together under a family chuppah, and vowed to love each other forever.



Surrounded by our family and dear friends, we celebrated the beginning of our lives together. It was an incredible, emotional, precious, exquisite evening- it went by so fast, and yet it feels like it just happened yesterday.





To everyone who was a part of our wedding, guests who traveled from far away and our amazing wedding party, we are fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family. Each of you helped make it a very special and memorable evening. We cannot thank you enough for your love, wisdom, generosity, guidance and support. To our brothers, we don’t see you nearly enough- your friendship and support has meant to world to us.



And finally, to our parents and grandparents; thank you for teaching us to love unconditionally, and for giving us the values on which we will continue to build our life together.



This has been a year of many firsts and new beginnings, challenges, communication, growth, breakthroughs, adjustments and celebrations. It has been the best year of my life- I am so lucky to be sharing forever with David. Together, we look forward to many more years of friendship and celebration with all of you.

Ever hear of Film Racing?

Diesel Film Racing is a nationwide competition that challenges filmmakers to create original short films under extreme time constraints. Basically, film makers are challenged to create an original short film in 24 hours.

They are given a theme and an element they need to include in their film. The plot of the film must revolve around the Theme. (Examples of past Themes are ‘Revenge’, ‘Bad Advice’ and ‘Spare Change’) . The Surprise Element can be a prop (a toothbrush) or an action (a slap) that must be used at some point in the film.



The tour is currently going on right now, and by its end, the tour will have visited 17 cities.

In New York, the Theme was: Happy Birthday and the Surprise Element was the action of Hanging a Picture

In Toronto, the Theme was: Fake and the Surprise Element was using the prop Chopsticks

In Miami, the Theme was: A Dare and the Surprise Element was using the prop Ice Cubes

In Boston, the Theme was: Dating and the Surprise Element was the action of Fluffing a pillow

So in the Los Angeles leg of the tour, the Theme was: Karma and the Surprise Element was the action - Watering a Plant. I came across this video and thought it was so clever and timely, I had to post it here.

L’Shana Tovah

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were Rosh Hashanah. Before I give my little recap, a bit of explanation...

In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, “head of the year” and is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the Jewish High Holidays, and marks the beginning of the ten days of repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur. Many Americans use the New Year as a time to make resolutions and plan for a better year. Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and plan changes.

Not everyone observes this holiday the same- but the common greeting is L'Shana Tovah (wishes for a good year). This is a shortening of L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem which means “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” This refers to the belief that during Rosh Hashana, the three books of account are opened, and the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the book of life, and they are sealed to live. The middle class are allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to repent and become righteous. The wicked are blotted out of the book of the living.

Rosh Hashanah is characterized by several traditions; two most popular being the blowing of the shofar and eating apples dipped in honey.

The Shofar is made from a rams horn. It is a call to prayer and the only specific commandment for Rosh Hashanah. The Shofar is intended to awaken the listener from their “slumber” and alert them to the coming judgment. The apples and honey are a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year.


Apples and Honey from our table on Tuesday night

Fran and Dov came down to Maryland to celebrate and observe the holiday with us, and it was great to see them.



On Monday night, we were invited to Steve and Marilyn’s home for a delicious dinner. I didn’t take any pictures (gasp!) so you are going to have to trust me when I say we had a really great meal!

As with most holidays- after spending the day in synagogue, we return home for the festive meal. So on Tuesday night was our turn to host. David had been in the kitchen for days preparing for this amazing meal which included matzoh ball soup, roasted potatoes, asparagus and lamb.


Working on the soup


perfect lamb roast

As even came, I lit candles and said the bracha I’ve chanted with my family for years. Then we sat down and said the blessings over the wine and challah before digging into our the delicious dinner!




Challah cover from my great great grandmother



So now we begin the ten days of refection and repentance leading to Yom Kippur. In looking back and examining my own actions this past year, I know that I haven't been a perfect friend, daughter, wife and Jew. I’m not sure that’s even possible- but it is my hope that in the coming year I can make amends for mistakes I've made and build on the good habits and relationships I have developed.

I wish all of you a L’Shana Tovah, and pray that all of us have a sweet, happy and healthy New Year.