dog days of summer

why is it that the dog days of summer usually mean that i am working like a dog instead of lazing around like a dog?  being an adult really stinks. all of the responsibility, but none of the perks. then again, as a kid i always wished i was an adult so i could stay up all night. now that im an adult i wish i could get myself to sleep earlier and not stay up half the night.  as a kid i always wanted to be able to eat as much junk food as possible. now i can eat as much nosh as possible and wish someone else was cooking for me so it would be easier to eat a more nutritious diet. homework was always such a drag . now i wish that homework was my only responsibility! as and adult i have realized many of my childhood wishes and now i wish i was a kid again without the realities of adulthood. in fifty years i am sure i will wish i was back at this phase of my life. i guess we people are just a bunch of kvetchers. there advantages and disadvantages at every stage of life. the trick is to consciously appreciate the good parts as much as we can.  its tough , but necessary.

frum and single

i think i have hit my saturation point in the new york singles scene. with all of the singles here you would think i would have met mr .right. guess again. i always thought that if i did not find anyone by a certain age i would leave. i have passed that age and now im thinking now what?
i take advantage of the cultural aspects of new york city , but i also know that other cities have culture as well.  the same things that are in new york city exist elsewhere but on a smaller scale. though new york city has so much to offer, there is not always enough time in the day to enjoy it all anyway.
the job market is tough everywhere, but even the fact that i have a job right now isn't enough to keep me here. i am not a chief executive commanding a ginormous salary or someone with a family to support.
 the shtus in the shidduch scene is driving me a bit crazy. there are lots of mr. right nows out there just not a lot of men who will be there for the long haul. i don't know if the phenomenon is new york specific or if its this way everywhere. i just don't want to be single forever and i see some of the older than me singles around here and i don't want to be one of them.
any suggestions?

midwood mardi gras

midwood mardi gras is like going to an open air amazing savings store. amazing savings is like an upscale 99 cent store. i am not a big fan of amazing savings stores, but i do find the midwood mardi gras to be entertaining.  its a great time to people watch. the only really good deal i found this year was simpsons groggers. the  person who sold them to me had no idea that i was preparing for next purim when i bought them but i'm sure he appreciated the sale anyway.

a minute on the lips forever on the hips

last year when i weighed five pounds less than i do now i felt fat. when i will lose five pounds this year i will feel so accomplished . its all relative. what i want to know is why i am able to gain five pounds in two days but it can take me more than a month to lose those same five pounds? a minute on the lips forever on the hips.

avoiding the other "F" word

as a child i was always thin. until i graduated college i  never needed to pay attention to what i ate. it took me awhile to admit that i had packed on the pounds. it finally had dawned on me that if i did not take drastic measures i would be that dreaded  "f" word. i would be fat.
when  i realized that i needed to reduce i had no clue how to achieve my goal. i didn't want to be just svelte . i wanted to be svelt and healthy. the first time around i went the start fresh (a boro park based weight loss program) route. i lost thirty pounds in three months.
while start fresh helped me achieve a goal weight that i maintained for quite a few years eventually i regained the weight and then some. i wanted a new weight loss route so  the second time around i chose weight watchers.
through weight watchers i reached my goal weight after seven months of hard work. the weight watchers diet was not as rigid as the start fresh version was which was just what i needed the second time around.
while the weight watchers diet was better for weight loss , i'm not sure it was as good as start fresh was for weight maintenance. then again, the second time around i was a little older so that might have been why it  was more difficult to maintain.
  i am back at weight watchers. now there is a new plan. there are also new weight watchers meetings leaders and a new way of counting points. both of these things are making my third weight loss journey more "exciting".
the best part of weight watchers in brooklyn are the meetings. you get a multi-cultural crowd. there are a lot of frum jews and a lot of catholics and everyone speaks to each other. though there are mostly women in the group there are also always a few men even a few frum men. (gasp!)  its also fun to see how even non jewish weight watchers leaders make sure everyone knows which weight watchers products are jewish. there is even one leader who made sure to talk a little bit about how to deal with an upcoming (shavuos) holiday at the end of a meeting because she knew a lot of the members were frum.only in brooklyn!

farmer's market

summer and fall are the best seasons for the farmer's markets in nyc. the most succulent produce is available. today i went to the farmer's market at second avenue and tenth street . there are only about three or four farmer's there, but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality. peaches were out today. you haven't seen a peach until you have seen one at a farmer's market. when you you hold a farm fresh peach you understand the true meaning of fuzzy. peaches in farmer's markets have velvety fuzz . its amazing to behold. literally. and of course green market peaches are the sweetest and  most juicy around.
today i also bought q-ball zucchini  which is round zucchini. i bought dark green q-ball zucchini, but it was also available in yellow and light green. all yummy and fresh.
farmer's market blueberries are a big temptation. they are more expensive, but worthwhile because they are so sweet.
i rounded out my visit with buying sweet potato and broccoli. the broccoli at the farmer's markets vary in appearance throughout the seasons. i don't remember which season appears which way, but its cool just to notice that there is a difference.
last but not least i bought a few apples- a few winesap , one cameo and one red delicious. farmers market apples are so nice because they aren't coated with wax as supermarket apples often are.
in my opinion the best farmer's market in manhattan is the one in union square. its open mondays, wednesdays , fridays and saturdays. if you can't make there, it is still worthwhile to check out some of the smaller green markets around the city. all of  these markets support local farmers from new york and new jersey . they also have some of the BEST produce in the new york city area. better than whole foods and cheaper than whole foods.its the only place in the city where you can buy a tomato that the vendor picked off the fields that morning. how cool is that?
there are always free recipes at the farmer's market . sometimes the farmers put little recipes on the price signs in their booths. they will also tell you how to "pick  a good one" if you ask them. green markets often have many varieties of ordinary produce.
when i am at the farmer's market i feel as though i am transported to the country . i feel much closer to nature. it makes buying nutritious food a divine adventure.

baby you can drive my car....if only i had one...

cars are  big status symbols that are wasted on me. i have a good friend who i often go to lunch with who drives us to lunch. when we walk back to the car after lunch i always forget which car it is we are looking for.

i am  only concerned with if the car works, not what brand it is.

if however said car is vintage, im your girl. its not so much the car i am into but the nostalgia. looking at old cars makes me look back at the past and i imagine what it would have been like to drive that car in that bygone era.

father's day

this father's day is the second father's day since my dad has passed away. it is also the first father's day that i don't have any relative to wish happy father's day to as my last living great uncle has passed away and none of my brothers are fathers (yet). its a weird concept to get used to . its kind of along the lines of life goes on. get used to it. and much as one is forced to get used to things, in concept it is always easier to do than in reality.
unfortunately people don't usually appreciate things until they are gone . appreciate your parents because after 120 when they are not around you will miss them terribly. unfortunately this is easier said than done.
happy father's day.

the people in the picture

now i truly know that time has passed. i saw the play the people in the picture which is the story of a grandmother who tells her granddaughter about her life as a yiddish actor and her escape from nazi europe.
the reason this play makes me think about the passage of time is because this story of grandmother and granddaughter is not of this era but that of  the late nineteen  seventies. it was a time when one could not   imagine a world where children will  never meet  a holocaust survivor. it hasn't happened yet but time is passing and there are less living survivors. for many children the holocaust survivor is a great grandparent they may never have met. for this reason i totally love this play. it breathes life into the memory of those who have come before us in  most charming fashion.
the story transports seamlessly from the past to the present. the yiddish theater springs to life on stage . some of the live yiddish theater scenes are projected onto the stage via film..
because this is a play and not a movie it makes the action feel all the more authentic..though recommended for all ages it is great at helping younger generations get a handle on the past in an innovative venue..
i highly recommend this play.

major chilul hashem

it is with great sadness that i post this . this is the biggest chilul hashem in the name of torah. they would be acting more properly if they were eating bacon and eggs at the kotel.

weight watching

i spent this shabbos catching up on my magazine reading. i know, i know, didn't i do that already this week during the two days of shavuos? WELL.... that would have to be no. i was all booked with shavuos meal plans and i was so wiped from the heat outside that when i got home from the meals i napped instead of read.
soo... today i read that ginnifer goodwin as well as jennifer hudson are weight watchers. its nice to know that celebrities are getting thinner in  a healthful manner. according to ginnifer goodwin she was chubby as a child so her parents enrolled her in weight watchers and she stuck with it. i applaud her for letting everyone in on her secret. so many actresses say that they just eat everything they want and that boom they are thin. no one is thin by chance. some people naturally aren't eaters, so it seems they are thin by chance but this is bogus.
even katie couric admits to being on weight watchers .
what is so cool is that weight watchers unlike a celebrity personal trainer and chef are available to the general public at a reasonable price and yet  people who rely on their figure for their high profile professions are relying on it and admitting to it .
well, i gotta go now and track my points!!

shavuous

ordinarily when holidays arrive it accentuates my singleness. this year i have a different attitude. i think that we should all really appreciate life and the fact that we are on this earth to celebrate another holiday. life is never what you expect it to be. this doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive for anything it just means that no matter how much effort is expended the outcome may not be as anticipated.
on that note, have a peaceful and grateful shavuous.

celebrate israel parade 2011

today was the salute to israel parade in nyc which was called the celebrate israel parade this year. im not sure the reason for the name change but to be sure it was political. in any event i saluted israel today as well as celebrated.
as usual i got a late start and arrived at fifth avenue and sixtieth street at about 2:45. the parade always runs later than anticipated so i saw a good forty five minutes of marching. it was very spirited .
many people lined the sidewalks wearing israeli flags. one man held a sign in memory of a young woman named shiri negari who was murdered in a suicide bombing. the theme of the day was jerusalem  forever being part of  the state of israel.
i think that there were more people than usual at the parade. at the concert there were more sets of bleachers this year and they were all filled with people.

the weather held up and it was quite an uplifting day.

breezy weather

im just going to take a moment to share with you how i am really enjoying this breezy 60's weather this evening.  toward the end of shabbos i sat outside on a bench on ocean parkway. it was a divine break from the steamy muggy weather we have been having lately. i know it won't last and that the steamy muggy weather will be returning soon, but i plan on reveling in this cooler weather as long as it remains.

back on the wagon

yes, i finally did it. after gaining back all of the weight i lost seven years ago on my first weight watchers journey i am back on the wagon. the weight watchers center is full of new faces and a few old ones. i feel funny to be back in square one even though i know that i am in good company. even the woman at the meeting i attended who was at her goal weight said that this was her third or fourth time down the weight watchers road.  i don't take this as discouragement. i think its a good thing.  though people have  failed at weight management  they aren't ashamed to go back to it.
i don't know if this jaunt will be my last  weight watchers journey, but i hope it will be. if it isn't i hope that i can pick myself up and get back on track sooner rather than later.

stay at home sons

i recently viewed the movie the hangover part two after not having viewed the first  installment. it was a funny silly movie that fully envelops the expression  "boys will be boys" and that boys don't really want to grow up. it also shows the contrast between those who actually have jobs and spouses and children and those who do not. one of these male buddies is a self proclaimed stay at home son.
what is a stay at home son you ask? a 35 year old man who doesn't work and lives with his parents. he lives in the past and still thinks he and his buddies are 12 years old (which is true on some level) . unfortunately i think i have met one too many stay at home sons to find this term endearing. there probably are in reality some stay at home daughters as well.  these are individuals who  have just missed the boat on life while everyone else has moved on. moving on isn't just marriage and kids. moving on is working, and having a life outside of being your parent's child. its important to honor one's parents, but it is also  important to grow up and have a life of one's own. this is maturity. a parent's goal is to have a self sufficient child so the parent does not have to worry that his/her child won't be able to take care of him/herself once the parent is no more.
stay at home sons makes sure there are less men in the dating pool. less men in the dating pool means a longer shidduch crises. g-d help us all!