tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20096055763739891142024-03-14T00:48:37.236-07:00Three PinksLeslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.comBlogger484125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-28914050900315223702017-07-14T21:58:00.000-07:002017-07-17T10:44:05.756-07:00And now a tale of Three Quilts<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-btXKx3c4Vdo/WWlxaMMslYI/AAAAAAAAEL8/6A8ohuZUjZgB735k6v7DAAGRGWe5sUqygCLcBGAs/s1600/First%2Bof%2Bthree%2Bquilts%2Bthis%2Bpattern%2B-%2BMarch%2B2017%2Bcopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-btXKx3c4Vdo/WWlxaMMslYI/AAAAAAAAEL8/6A8ohuZUjZgB735k6v7DAAGRGWe5sUqygCLcBGAs/s320/First%2Bof%2Bthree%2Bquilts%2Bthis%2Bpattern%2B-%2BMarch%2B2017%2Bcopy.JPG" width="240" /></a>I have a tendency to iterate quilts.<br />
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I make a quilt. And then I make it again, tweaking it to improve the end result or just changing it up to satisfy my curiosity. Since I started quilting 25 years ago, I've made more than 40 quilts and at least 15 of those have been repeats.<br />
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It's rare I like the first iteration of a quilt better than the subsequent ones. But sometimes it happens, as was the case with this one.<br />
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The last few years I've focused on modern quilting. The top photo was the first of three quilts I made from this pattern. I can't really put my finger on the reason it's my favorite. It might be because it's all flannel, and is super soft. But I really like the colors and it's big -- perhaps 6 feet by 4.5 feet. My quilting trademark is that every one I make has a <strike>mistake</strike> quirk -- a block turned the wrong way, a fabric inside out or a mis-sized block. If you look carefully here you will find it. I've long since stopped being bothered by this -- it's part of the charm of a handmade item.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EJJnKjr6cCU/WWlxabvvDjI/AAAAAAAAEMA/FPnWBB2apvUh4C1qHy5JgtCsTNeq2K7SwCLcBGAs/s1600/Liberty%2Bof%2BLondon%2Bquilt%252C%2BApril%2B2017%2Bcopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EJJnKjr6cCU/WWlxabvvDjI/AAAAAAAAEMA/FPnWBB2apvUh4C1qHy5JgtCsTNeq2K7SwCLcBGAs/s320/Liberty%2Bof%2BLondon%2Bquilt%252C%2BApril%2B2017%2Bcopy.JPG" width="240" /></a>After this beauty was complete I swore I wasn't going to make it again. But then came a surprise package in the mail from sweet Hayley in London. This girl knows my obsession with Liberty of London fabrics! The Tana Lawn print she sent me was so gorgeous that I actually bought a blouse in the same fabric when I went back to London this spring. The poppy colored flowers on an off-white background are so happy! In fact, I think I might have to wear that blouse today. I only had a meter so I resized the pattern (by hand mind you, a significant feat for someone with my math skills) and used every last bit of the fabric. If you love Liberty, too, a great U.S. source of it is duckadilly.com, conveniently located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Yes, I have a personal relationship with the shop owner and if you're looking for a discontinued Liberty print, the chances are decent that I have some of it in my personal stash.<br />
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While I do like V2, I think the pattern better lends itself to multiple fabrics and colors.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJ8eiTtFnWw/WWlxVNGZ-wI/AAAAAAAAEL4/-lNcUY_RH0M5-yYLbwixtsDG3sWASs_3QCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJ8eiTtFnWw/WWlxVNGZ-wI/AAAAAAAAEL4/-lNcUY_RH0M5-yYLbwixtsDG3sWASs_3QCEwYBhgL/s320/IMG_7529.JPG" width="240" /></a>Again, I thought I was done with this pattern. I <i>hoped</i> I was done. But then Eldest Daughter had asked me to make her a modern, neutral quilt to take to school. I went to town one more time, in shades of grey, with one pink block representing her. Of course I didn't finish this quilt until this summer, in time for her second year of of college. But I really like it. And she does, too, which was the goal. I can picture her curled up underneath it in bed at school, snow falling, <strike>watching Netflix</strike> studying. I backed and bound it in grey polka dot fabric, which is a departure from my usual practice of binding a quilt not to compete with the modern design.<br />
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Really and truly, I am not making a fourth quilt in this pattern. In fact, I've just put the pattern in the outside recycling bin to be sure.<br />
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<br />Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-39899145712879280122017-07-08T22:18:00.000-07:002020-04-18T20:29:05.134-07:00A Tale of Three BeachesMy family seems to have taken a hiatus from sightseeing-style vacations. Instead, our last several trips have been more relaxed. The fact that we now have three teenaged daughters, each with her own strong opinion about what she would like and not like to do, seems to be a contributing factor. I have to admit I'm enjoying this stage.<br />
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A year ago we vacationed on St. Simons Island, off the coast of Georgia. We spent our days trying to eat our weight in peaches and BBQ, boogie boarding in the warm coastal waters just outside our back door, watching the spectacular rainstorms, hunting for sea turtle nests, and biking into town for ice cream.<br />
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This being the southeastern US in July, we had to physically work at breathing. That's how thick the air was. It was like Hawaii without the floral fragrance. Gradually we got used to it but never the humidity. We were always hot and sticky, and slightly uncomfortable. Still, I loved it.<br />
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The beach home was easily the nicest home we have ever rented. It was tastefully <i>ongepotchket</i> -- if there is such a thing as tasteful <i>ongepotchket. </i>Our time there felt like were were staying in a friend's home, a friend with an enormous house on three levels with just a pool and a lawn between us and the ocean. It had all those details you'd put in your vacation home if money were no object -- a separate guest house above the garage, four HVAC systems, washers and dryers on each floor that had bedrooms, a poolside cabana, a bucket on a pulley system to move cold drinks from the second floor kitchen to the ground floor pool, iPad controlled music, and on and on. I loved that house so much that I came home and sketched the layout so that if I get the chance to build an ocean or lakefront home, I can replicate it.<br />
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Fast forward to last week, where we visited Capitola-by-the-Sea, an easy 90 minute drive south of Danville. Capitola is near Santa Cruz and there we stayed walking distance from both Capitola Beach and New Brighton Beach. The village reminded me of St. Simons Island with its requisite ice cream, t-shirt and home decor shops. But the water was much colder and the beach more crowded. We went to Santa Cruz one evening and took a short bike ride with friends to the lighthouse and Natural Bridges Beach.<br />
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This weekend we're in Bolinas, 15 miles north of San Francisco as the crow flies. Marin County has some of the country's most expensive real estate. Location, location, location and all. The majority of the cars were of two types: new Audis or old Subarus, both sporting surfboard racks.<br />
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Bolinas is a hidden gem and the hippie dippie locals like it that way. In fact, there are no signs leading from Highway 1 to Bolinas. You're either in the know or using GPS. There's one restaurant, one bar, the post office, three art galleries, a general store, and two surf shops. In the surf shops are the tiniest wetsuits I have ever seen, wetsuits suitable for toddlers. I kid you not. (Bad pun.) We're staying in a cottage next to one of the art galleries. It's 500 steps from our front door to the beach. While Capitola was cute in a stereotypical way, this area is mindblowing for its natural beauty. The unmarked road here is lined with redwood and cypress trees, and the Bolinas Lagoon sits on one side of the town while the ocean is on the other. The colors shift from beige to grey to blue to the reds and oranges associated with sunset. Shoes are optional. Bras are optional. Haircuts and hair color are optional, for both sexes. Clothing is optional for kids on the beach. Wet suits appear to be <i>de rigueur</i>, though, as that water is cold!<br />
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Three beach towns on two coasts. Three very different experiences. The next beaches on our list are Meeks Bay, Kaanapali, and Manzanita.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-70505908725981488822017-04-22T18:55:00.003-07:002020-04-18T20:31:27.751-07:00Fewer museums, more shoe stores.That sums up my recent experience traveling to London and Amsterdam without the kids.<br />
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Here are some other things I noticed:<br />
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1. I lingered over meals, and even ate them when I was hungry, not when the clock or someone else's stomach dictated. I could skip meals altogether and also mentally move an apple tart into the fruit category.<br />
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2. I rode public transit without cries of "Can we take a taxi instead? I don't like streetcars / metro / buses." I actually like figuring out and taking public transit; it's part of the experience.<br />
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3. When I got lost on the way back to my friend's home in London, I convinced myself that I was exploring the neighborhood rather than cursing the fact that the adorable row houses look the same.<br />
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4. I was not constantly on the lookout for bathrooms, knowing that someone would soon need one. And I was not getting glaring looks, imaginary or not, from merchants knowing we were more interested in their plumbing than their product or service.<br />
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5. I did a whole lot of people watching and then discussed those people with my travel mate, sometimes using words or making observations not suitable for impressionable young minds.<br />
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6. I flew home as an involuntary standby passenger and didn't stress about it.<br />
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7. The kids and Dave are fun, intellectually and socially curious travelers. I missed them!Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-19060673240859544742017-03-23T21:40:00.001-07:002017-03-23T21:48:39.969-07:00Things you do when your daughter is going to have her ACL surgically repaired.<br />
<ol>
<li>Blog. For the first time in six months.</li>
<li>Stop watching Grey's Anatomy reruns.</li>
<li>Stress bake.</li>
<li>Facebook. See where all those high school seniors are headed next year. Send texts to their parents congratulating them all. </li>
<li>Go out every night of the week the week prior so when you get home at night you go straight to bed, reducing the amount of free time to think about the fact that someone will be slicing open your baby and doing some rearranging of parts in there.</li>
<li>Work. A lot.</li>
<li>Volunteer. A lot.</li>
<li>Curse the French Laundry for changing its private dining room policy so that rooms can only be reserved 60 days in advance.</li>
<li>Read. A lot.</li>
<li>Research rehabilitation programs designed to bridge her physical therapy back to her sport.</li>
<li>Take your daughter to visit a friend who had her ACL surgery this week.</li>
<li>Take everything out of the freezer, clean it and put everything back in, organized.</li>
<li>Rearrange the dining room furniture.</li>
<li>Make a list of non-athletic summer options for your daughter.</li>
<li>Visit a friend with an adorable one-year-old.</li>
<li>Clean out kitchen junk drawer.</li>
<li>Delete duplicate pictures from iPhoto.</li>
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<br />Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-9226363663588929862016-10-23T14:14:00.000-07:002016-10-23T20:34:53.011-07:00The Roommate<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbnsSIp8WGM/WA0mfUXU_uI/AAAAAAAAD0c/1WJtw0AAx5QEja3MkA8pzppqYoQAhpL8QCLcB/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbnsSIp8WGM/WA0mfUXU_uI/AAAAAAAAD0c/1WJtw0AAx5QEja3MkA8pzppqYoQAhpL8QCLcB/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="240" /></a>"You can't be roommates," I told Eldest Daughter. "You can be friends, good friends, but not roommates."<br />
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"Why?"<br />
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"Because roommates always have fights. At some point in the year you'll hate each other and then you'll blame me," I said.<br />
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"It'll be fine, Mom. We have a lot in common and she's really sweet. I really like her."<br />
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The knot in my stomach grew. It flipped and flopped while I tried to sleep that night, which was mostly me counter-flipping and counter-flopping.<br />
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We talked again as she was having breakfast. "Okay. Be roommates. But pinkie promise me that you will remember that <i>everyone</i> has a fight with their roommate sometime. And you will be kind to her no matter what."<br />
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"Mom, you're making too big of a deal out of this. Just think of how much fun you and her mom will have together."<br />
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And so they decided to become roommates.<br />
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Two months earlier, one of my sorority sisters posted on Facebook that her daughter was going to the same Big 10 school that Eldest Daughter planned to attend. The sorority sister and I got in touch and decided to introduce the two of them, thinking that they might have something in common, the least of which being they were both headed a plane ride away from home. I had not seen this sister since our college graduation from a different Big 10 school and she was raising her family on the east coast. The four of us went to orientation together in July and, while our daughters met with their advisors and discussed dorm room decor, we created new memories to go with the decades-past ones.<br />
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As it turns out, the two are super close and have made a nice squad of friends. Both are little shy, fiercely loyal and own up to their intelligence and the places they'll go.<br />
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Eldest Daughter tells me that there is a lot of pressure at school to find your people, to find your forever friends. This picture was taken yesterday, before the football game. These two may be on their way. Only time will tell.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-76188520780129818902016-09-05T15:33:00.001-07:002020-04-18T18:15:17.528-07:00Into the Wild<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=resting%20bitch%20face">RBF</a> has nothing on me. I've come up with a new acronym: CMF. Crying Mother Face.<br />
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Admit it: quite a few of you are rocking this look lately. It's what we wear after we drop our children at college. I put on an Academy-Award-worthy performance of bravery when actually in the presence of my child. It was after I left her dorm room that I completely lost it. I cried so hard that my throat ached and I had to gasp for air. I walked away from my husband, not because I didn't want him to see me cry, but because I didn't have enough Kleenex to share in case he melted down, too.</div>
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When I stopped crying, I realized that our younger two children will need to go to one of the colleges within an hour's drive of our home. There is no way I can do that again.</div>
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The thing is, Eldest Daughter is happy. She got into her first choice school. Her roommate is super sweet and they seem well-suited for each other. Except for Fridays, her classes don't start until 11am. She hit the jackpot on the dorm; she's in a 1930s building which was renovated a year ago and which is connected to the student union. This means that during the most miserable of Michigan blizzards she can wear flip flops to get Panda Express and a grande quad nonfat one pump no whip mocha. This weekend she went to some fraternity parties and a football game at The Big House. This is what we hope for.</div>
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Classes start tomorrow. I wonder if she will shoot a selfie on the way out the door just because it's tradition.</div>
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Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-58463810784359461472016-06-21T21:39:00.000-07:002020-04-18T20:33:45.271-07:00Forever on the first teeIt's hard for me to imagine a world without <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montereyherald/obituary.aspx?n=margo-patricia-donahue-wallace&pid=180391065">Margo</a>. But here we are.<br />
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Margo and Dave were close friends for 28 years. They met at his first job out of college and their friendship would span three marriages, a whole lot of now-defunct-or-acquired startups, dozens of bottles of really good red wine, and countless rounds of golf. Dave officiated at her wedding to Dennis, on the 18th green at Pebble Beach.<br />
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She and Dave were in constant competition for the #1 sales spot at whatever company they both worked for. Because of this we traveled to Palm Springs, Cabo and Puerto Rico together. She taught us the expression "closing skirt." That, apparently, got her husband's attention as he started out as a customer.<br />
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Margo wore a hat to our wedding, many hats while golfing, but no helmet the weekend we skied at Kirkwood. The last hat she wore was of the Penguin variety, with a serving of dry ice.<br />
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Six years ago she called Dave and told him that she had just been laid off from her job. While that was bothersome, what really irked her was the diagnosis she'd just received of breast cancer.<br />
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If anything, that diagnosis made Margo work harder. She started a new business, traveled even more, and thought of her cancer only when she absolutely had to. As she put it, "It's a book on my bookshelf. I take it down when I have to and then I stick it right back up there."<br />
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I could write on and on about her entertaining, because it was legendary. Dave's birthday. Seth and Lori's anniversary. Dennis' 50th birthday at Lake Tahoe. Christmas parties in the San Carlos hills house with the tree on a turntable which so brightly that it could be seen from space. Or at least from the approach to SFO. Regular dinners at her house were special occasions.<br />
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However, what stays with me most are the little things that make up a whole person -- how much she loved her dogs and loved sharing them with my animal-passionate daughter. How she was so excited for Dave to meet Dennis, who was so sweetly nervous that he spilled a drink all down his shirt. How much thought she gave to decorating her stepson's room in their house.<br />
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The memories of Margo come to me at odd times. They surprise me and I have to stop to catch my breath. Yesterday I saw a picture of the Musee D'Orsay on Facebook, a place Margo and I have been together. Today <a href="http://www.ktvu.com/news/163817471-story">Camp Parks</a> was all over the news because it was on lockdown; Margo dragged us to look at houses near there perhaps 20 years ago. (She conveniently neglected to mention the women's prison there. We passed on those houses.) Never again will I be able to eat bucatini without thinking of the day in we shared a plate of it in the pouring rain. In Rome.<br />
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I am grateful for Margo for bringing Dennis into our life. Godspeed, Dennis. We are right alongside you.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-40092574127364350812016-04-10T16:21:00.000-07:002016-04-10T16:21:38.100-07:00The search for the perfect roommate.One of The Pinks will start college on the other side of the country in September. She got in to her first choice school - audible sigh of relief - and has just selected a roommate.<div>
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Today's roommate selection process is very different than when Dave and I went off to college. Like many of you, were were randomly assigned roommates. Mine was actually from Madison, the city our college was in. She was a train wreck of epic proportion and flunked out the first semester. Yet her parents didn't know what to do with her and they'd paid her housing fee in full so she just stayed in the dorms, drinking her way through to June. My guess is that they hoped she'd find herself a husband. Or a sugar daddy.</div>
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Kids today can take the luck of the draw or they can request specific roommates. They find these people through apps such as Roomsurf.com or Facebook groups set up for their specific college. The back-and forth is a lot like I imagine match.com to be. Except that once you commit to a roommate, you are tethered together for an entire academic year.</div>
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The first part of this is looking at the prospective roommate's Instagram feed. If you like that then you start texting and asking questions along the lines of: Are you going to rush? Do you drink? Do you play sports? Have you ever been outside of the US?</div>
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What has surprised me most about this ritual is the number of people who look for roommates prior to actually committing to the school they are roommate shopping for. Apparently this is common practice.</div>
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I actually think that roommates should be vetted based on clothing and shoe size. Have you seen how tiny those dorm closets are?! Sharing is caring.</div>
Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-7009791176209399682014-12-31T23:30:00.000-08:002020-04-18T18:11:15.837-07:00The End.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-81Wz7YWDHLw/VKItHyDbKjI/AAAAAAAADTk/pkfTLKQJvlg/s1600/Ben_Jerrys_Silly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-81Wz7YWDHLw/VKItHyDbKjI/AAAAAAAADTk/pkfTLKQJvlg/s1600/Ben_Jerrys_Silly.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Five and a half years ago I began this blog.<br />
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Since then I've taken you to a whole bunch of places in the US, including <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2012/12/eight-twenty-nine-eighteen.html">Tahoe</a> about 20 times, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2011/08/aida.html">Italy</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/05/versailles.html">France</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/05/walk-this-way.html">the UK</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2012/12/one-perfect-day-in-puerto-vallarta.html">Mexico</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2009/06/tale-of-two-beaches.html">Spain</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2008/08/wat-pho.html">Thailand</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2009/06/africa-hot.html">Morocco</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2012/03/grub-in-singapore.html">Singapore</a>, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2012/04/its-all-about-buns.html">China,</a> and the <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanksgiving-on-paradise-island.html">Bahamas</a>.<br />
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My kids have moved from elementary school to middle school and from middle school to high school. Two are now taller than me. All three have entered Jewish adulthood and have <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bounty-garden.html">volunteered extensively in our community.</a> Friends have married and <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2012/03/happily-ever-after.html">divorced</a>. <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2010/06/chavurah.html">Some</a> have died. Dave hasn't changed the locks on me yet and I'm trying to keep it that way.<br />
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I've <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2008/09/open-letter-to-my-short-lived-colorist.html">bitched</a> and <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-done.html">quilted</a> and <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2011/05/birthday-scavenger-hunt.html">entertained.</a> Some of my favorite recipes have appeared here, including <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2010/11/callies-old-fashioned-molasses-cookies.html">Callie's cookies.</a> I've blogged on movies and books. And <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2009/10/mean-girls-find-another-zip-code.html">mean girls</a>, one of my largest sources of irritation and one that I am passionate about eradicating the behaviors of, one hormonal preteen at a time.<br />
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You know what I think about being a <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2013/01/observations-from-this-dance-mom.html">dance mom.</a> Here you've read more about <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2009/11/magnolia-vs-crumbs.html">cupcakes</a> than you ever wanted to know.<br />
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For the last five and a half years The Pinks have wondered which of their adventures would appear on this blog. As, in all likelihood, have some of you. The Pinks have asked me to stop blogging about them and so I am signing off. I will still write, of course, because that's what I've done faithfully since I learned to hold a pencil, but it will no longer be for public consumption.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-20291893012651678482014-12-29T18:55:00.000-08:002020-04-18T18:14:44.690-07:00For Sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One slope-side condo at Squaw Valley. KT-22 and Red Dog views. Two bedrooms, two full baths. In-unit laundry. Fireplace. Balcony facing mountain. Murphy-bed-style dining table. 1,100 square feet. One block from Village. Next to Cable Car and Olympic House. Underground parking for two cars closer to lifts than is Squaw's parking. 2 hours 45 minutes from our suburb without traffic. Pool, hot tubs, gym, tennis courts. Built in 2001. $844K.<br />
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Yup, we are selling our Tahoe place. We don't use it enough to justify the cost of ownership. I'm sorry to break this to those of you have become used to your annual vacation there. Or more than annual. That would be you, Dad. And it was our pleasure for you and your entourage to make it one of your homes away from home, too.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CDAnEPnI2zQ/VKISU-gLX2I/AAAAAAAADTI/epGKWzLiVrg/s1600/lgmsamnorthstar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CDAnEPnI2zQ/VKISU-gLX2I/AAAAAAAADTI/epGKWzLiVrg/s1600/lgmsamnorthstar.jpg" width="213" /></a>This place was a fantasy when The Pinks were younger. We closed on it a month before I got pregnant with the youngest ones. I loved its efficient size -- easy to clean up compared to our home in the Bay. We achieved our goal, which was having all Three Pinks ski well and having a place for us to create memories. There was no schlepping of gear. There was no wondering if there'd be games / pool toys / snacks / sunscreen there. It was so easy. And it's still easy, it's just empty most of the time.<br />
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Things I will miss:<br />
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1. The ritual of the drive: No electronics until we cross the Benicia Bridge. Pass the Jelly Belly Factory. Whiz past the Mondavi Center at UC Davis. The Yolo Causeway is two hours from Tahoe. Skirt Sacramento. Roseville. Rocklin. Stop at Ikeda for produce, snacks and Dutch Apple Pie. Historic Auburn. Gain elevation. Start to notice pine trees. Watch for snowline in winter. Gold Run. Soda Springs. Boreal. Descend to Donner Lake. Exit I-80 at Truckee and drive 10 more miles to the Olympic Rings! Three miles to go. Squaw Valley meadow. Arrive.<br />
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2. The view of the ski slopes from our bed. Skiing until 2pm then napping, waking up just in time to see the last of the skiers come off the mountain.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2s2O-gVcPrs/VKISUzgMNrI/AAAAAAAADTA/vDIK5005IsA/s1600/squaw%2Btable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2s2O-gVcPrs/VKISUzgMNrI/AAAAAAAADTA/vDIK5005IsA/s1600/squaw%2Btable.jpg" width="240" /></a>3. Not touching the car for a whole weekend. Who needs to when your activities are right outside your door and there are also restaurants, shops and a Starbucks?<br />
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4. Our neighbors, whose kids come in and out of our condo like it is their own. As do our kids with theirs.<br />
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5. The convenience of a season ski pass.<br />
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6. Winter days skiing with my brother and the extended family. Summer days at the Dollar Point Beach with the extended family.<br />
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7. Three generation ski trips which usually included dinner at the best restaurant in the Village, Mamasake.<br />
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Memorable moments:<br />
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1. The ex-wife of a still-friend who said to me as she was departing from her week-long stay, "How come there was no good coffee in the condo? I had to walk to Starbucks."<br />
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2. The nonstop snow, the mountain-closing kind, that kept my father, Thing 2 and I indoors the entire duration of one <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/03/blue-and-yellow-make-green.html">Three Generation Ski Trip.</a><br />
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3. Teaching the kids to play poker.<br />
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4. Paige teaching me that it's perfectly acceptable for kids to ski in their pajamas.<br />
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5. The ambulance ride to the Tahoe Forest Hospital when one of The Pinks had croup so badly that she was turning blue. Another time when I fled the condo at 2am and drove back to the Bay with all Three Pinks after getting one's croup under control after realizing that I had no chance of falling back asleep that night anyway.<br />
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6. Barry and Kristin's wedding on the west shore in August 2002.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7W153qmVZAU/VKISS5YXolI/AAAAAAAADS4/heH6P_Rz-JE/s1600/Tahoe025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7W153qmVZAU/VKISS5YXolI/AAAAAAAADS4/heH6P_Rz-JE/s1600/Tahoe025.jpg" width="320" /></a>We'll not stop skiing at Squaw. After all, The Pinks gain a huge amount of satisfaction knowing they can beat me down every single run. I maintain that my form is better. But we'll ski other places, too. And we'll look back on those years happily.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-1822769712614860562014-12-27T09:47:00.002-08:002014-12-27T09:47:34.849-08:00Dylan's Candy Bar, The Rockettes and The Statue of Liberty<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8jIvxf9ImWE/VJ7vkFJjUhI/AAAAAAAADRs/q_vmaHCBIyU/s1600/IMG_3892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8jIvxf9ImWE/VJ7vkFJjUhI/AAAAAAAADRs/q_vmaHCBIyU/s1600/IMG_3892.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a>As I mentioned while blogging about my trip to London and Paris with Eldest Daughter this spring, it's special traveling with only one other person. You get to focus on their needs, have in-depth conversations with them, just go where the road takes the two of you. During this trip to New York I got a refresher on how witty Thing 1 is and how fiercely independent she is, too.<br />
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It was important to me that she ride the subway and so, on the way back from the Statue of Liberty, we caught it. I paused in front of the ticket machine, reading the instructions. She became impatient and pushed me aside saying, "Really mother, this is not that difficult." She pressed a few buttons and then said to me, "Insert three dollars and we're done." And that was that. She also navigated the subway map and signs to get us on the right uptown train. I loved every minute.<br />
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Several people had recommended Max Brenner's chocolate-themed restaurant near Union Square. Both the food and the chocolate desserts were excellent. We are now fans!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TxWdN4f4YHA/VJ7vredSyBI/AAAAAAAADR8/Ugtu6EmtXlg/s1600/FullSizeRender-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TxWdN4f4YHA/VJ7vredSyBI/AAAAAAAADR8/Ugtu6EmtXlg/s1600/FullSizeRender-19.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Perhaps the best part of our trip, other than the one on one time, was seeing the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular featuring The Rockettes. The red and gold Art Deco auditorium, a masterpiece built in 1932, seats 5,900 people. Yes, almost 6,000 people can see The Rockettes at a time. The Wooden Soldiers number is a synchronized perfection in precision. Thing 1 and I liked that best although the Raggedy Ann dance in Santa's Workshop in the North Pole is magical, too. There are live camels in one of the dances! Around the corner from Radio City is a second location of the Magnolia Bakery. We got cupcakes there although neither of us really liked them; we both prefer them less sweet.<br />
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A trip to New York would not be complete without a visit to Dylan's Candy Bar. We made some good contributions to the local economy there and even returned for a mediocre lunch after learning that the wait for nearby Serendipity 3 was more than two hours. Of our meal Thing 1 said, "They should stick to sweets."<br />
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It is impossible to even scratch the surface of the city in a long weekend. In fact, I counted that this was my 14th time to New York and still, I did two new things! I dragged Thing 1 to Times Square and fed her a bagel. She would not eat pizza.<br />
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We gave the Christmas windows along Fifth Avenue a good long look and actually spent the most time dissecting the ones at Bergdorf's, across the street from The Plaza. We went into Tiffany and looked at the really big stones. And we were sad to come home Monday afternoon.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-8462306117656767202014-12-26T17:22:00.000-08:002014-12-26T17:22:38.217-08:00Same post, different year.<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0VU1KyYXNw/VJ4JT42rWtI/AAAAAAAADRM/ykDCvPemZ48/s1600/IMG_3996-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0VU1KyYXNw/VJ4JT42rWtI/AAAAAAAADRM/ykDCvPemZ48/s1600/IMG_3996-2.JPG" /></a>For the 12th year in a row, I think, we've gone up to Tahoe over Christmas. For most of the last several years Dave's sister and her family have come up from LA to join us. They did this year, too, and stayed with us for four nights. All that togetherness was great. I was reminded again how hilarious my niece is (aged 17) and the youngest Pinks liked all that extra time with her. I love having houseguests up at Tahoe because I'm on vacation, too, and Squaw provides so much to do outside, both summer and winter.<br />
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We skied. We ate. We played poker. We watched It's a Wonderful Life. We did a puzzle. My SIL did most of it. She has a lot of patience. We watched the snow fall on Christmas Eve and stayed an extra night to avoid the mess that had become I-80. We ate Japanese on Christmas Eve, too, because there's no Chinese food at Squaw.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_iNYExUoO4o/VJ4JUJ4Ok2I/AAAAAAAADRU/-zfmcHDk-pU/s1600/IMG_4006-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_iNYExUoO4o/VJ4JUJ4Ok2I/AAAAAAAADRU/-zfmcHDk-pU/s1600/IMG_4006-2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>My mother-in-law got each of her grand daughters selfie sticks so we played with that on the chair lift. Dave shot the picture here, albeit a bit nervously because what do you do if the iPhone falls out and into the snow below?!<br />
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On Day 1 I took a wrong turn off the Shirley Lake chair and ended up on the mogul course. If it hadn't been so icy I would have given it an upright shot. But instead I took off my skis and walked down. Until, that is, I slipped and came down a ways on my tush. Which again, would have been fine had I been wearing ski pants. Oh no. Thing 2 outgrew hers and so I was in jeans. Which then filled with cold snow. And one of my skis flew into the air and landed on my arm, which I thought might have been gashed open by the sharp edges. It wasn't, fortunately, but it is 50 shades of purple and yellow now. The orthopedic surgeon (the BIL) took a look and deemed it ugly but not dangerous.<br />
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Dave, Thing 1 and I met the Inverarity-Moffat's for dinner in Truckee one night. They are in from London and the meal was over in a flash. So good to see them as always. It makes me want to just hop the pond and weekend with them in places like Vienna and Berlin.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-82720602716946833842014-12-24T21:09:00.000-08:002014-12-24T21:09:00.654-08:00Breakfast in the Palm Court<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G21c5ajRZjA/VJZVWXVydzI/AAAAAAAADQM/OJNXwHTUY-g/s1600/FullSizeRender-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G21c5ajRZjA/VJZVWXVydzI/AAAAAAAADQM/OJNXwHTUY-g/s1600/FullSizeRender-9.jpg" /></a>Breakfast was included with our room at The Plaza and so every morning we dolled up and took the elevator down to the Palm Court. It's similar to the Sheraton Palace's Garden Court. They both have light furniture and stained glass ceilings. The Palm Court was mostly filled with multi-generational families, all well-dressed and well-coiffed, even the teeny tiny children whose plastic covered strollers awaited them post oatmeal. When the hotel is sold out, as it was during our stay, breakfast is limited to hotel guests only. These picture-perfect people seemed to be enjoying a Christmas time tradition of visiting the city. A few tables had work-related meetings going on. At the table next to us was clearly a job interview. I eavesdropped. Just in case you're wondering, the best part of breakfast was the fresh squeezed orange juice. Thing 1 had Eloise Pancakes and I had Eggs Benedict. And the New York Times.</div>
Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-4707959443075754012014-12-20T16:59:00.001-08:002014-12-21T15:42:47.097-08:00Welcome to New York, Darling Daughter.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kEXIQ_SPjTU/VJTcOoazqbI/AAAAAAAADPI/2DC9L9NUl2o/s1600/IMG_3825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kEXIQ_SPjTU/VJTcOoazqbI/AAAAAAAADPI/2DC9L9NUl2o/s1600/IMG_3825.JPG" /></a>With big eyes and a death grip on my arm, Thing 1 was uncharacteristically quiet. After all, we were in her first New York taxi, in rush hour traffic no less, en route from the airport into the city. Why it is called rush hour will continue to remain a mystery since there is a lot less movement in bumper-to-bumper traffic occasionally punctuated by an expletive and accompanied by a slamming on of the brakes.<br />
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Welcome to New York City, my darling daughter.</div>
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Ninety minutes later we were deposited at The Plaza hotel on Central Park South. It was lovely, just lovely. Old world elegance at its best. The bellman took our bags and we located our antique-filled room with its own balcony and lounge chairs. Mosaic tiles in shades of gold and white greeted us in the bathroom, which had a separate shower (with gold rainfall fixture plus a handheld) and deep tub. The toiletries were Caudalie, which David Lebovitz just blogged about, and the vanity was solid white marble.<br />
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The bathroom reminded me of the <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2011/10/suite-my-fairytale.html">Fairy Tale Suite at the Disneyland Hotel</a>. All it was missing was the cloyingly sweet voice coming out of the mirror-disguised entertainment system.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dB4GY-qkpVc/VJTcO5PocUI/AAAAAAAADPM/XZb6s4OlGPE/s1600/IMG_3822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dB4GY-qkpVc/VJTcO5PocUI/AAAAAAAADPM/XZb6s4OlGPE/s1600/IMG_3822.JPG" /></a>Given the choice, my child would have elected to hole up in our room all weekend, it was that beautiful. However, we were in New York, not Bakersfield, and so we freshened up and walked out through the revolving door in the hotel lobby, the lobby with no less than four mile-high Christmas trees sparking enough to give Tiffany, just down the street, some serious competition.</div>
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How did Thing 1 and I end up at The Plaza a few weeks before Christmas? Here's the truth: there is nothing like <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/10/todays-wish.html">having two people you are close to newly diagnosed with cancer</a> to prompt you to go big at the <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-wellness-gala.html">Cancer Support Community annual gala</a>. And so Thing 1 and I did a long weekend in the city of all cities during the Christmas season, her choice and a very good one.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jAk5ZkIbnng/VJTcPVj8cDI/AAAAAAAADPQ/JQ1PNtRQ6Wk/s1600/IMG_3846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jAk5ZkIbnng/VJTcPVj8cDI/AAAAAAAADPQ/JQ1PNtRQ6Wk/s1600/IMG_3846.JPG" /></a>The first thing you see when exiting The Plaza is the Apple Computer logo. It is seemingly suspended in the air in a 32 foot tall glass cube. The store proper is subterranean. It's also open 7x24 in case you're having a technology crisis. The individual iPads that operate the temperature and lights in the hotel's guest rooms are fairly finicky so maybe the store's location is strategic?<br />
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Just to the right of that was our first stop: FAO Schwartz. It's organized like a high-end department store, by brand or category: The Jungle, Life Sized Stuffed Animals, Natural History, FAO Schweetz, Muppets. Knowing it was barely a block from our new home, we only spent an hour there and I promised we'd come back. We spent the rest of the evening window shopping and returned to the hotel in time to have a late dinner in the Todd English food hall. </div>
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Assisted by the night-time cold medicine she needed as she was fighting a miserable head cold, Thing 1 fell into a deep sleep in the fluffy white bed.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-35211051584102603742014-12-17T07:44:00.000-08:002020-04-18T21:14:08.510-07:00She is twelve.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pLbpGtEOKKw/VJGj7PZrkKI/AAAAAAAADO0/MZmx_CJJgyY/s1600/IMG_3969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pLbpGtEOKKw/VJGj7PZrkKI/AAAAAAAADO0/MZmx_CJJgyY/s1600/IMG_3969.JPG" /></a>And when you are 12 to 16 you seek out places that have appeared in your favorite TV shows. Do you recognize this location? Clue: It's in New York City on West 63th Street by the Lincoln Center. I did not. And I have not seen the TV show that this facade is in. It's Gossip Girl. The Empire Hotel was Chuck's first purchase as a baby mogul. What that means I have no idea. But it was on Thing 1's list to do in New York and so we went. Fortunately it was across the street from <a href="http://www.thesmithnyc.com/">The Smith</a>, an American brasserie that Matt and Kim took us to, and so we had a good lunch there.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-78897135174769919182014-12-06T16:05:00.000-08:002020-04-18T20:35:08.881-07:00Touring Tesla<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Clean. That's how I would describe the Tesla factory. Thus far there is only one place that Teslas are manufactured and it's in Fremont, California, about 25 miles from our home.<br />
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Part of the draw of touring this factory is that it's not open to the public, as was the <a href="http://museomaranello.ferrari.com/factory-track-tour/">Ferrari Factory</a> in Marinello, Italy, which I dragged my family to the museo portion of.</div>
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Prior to taking the tour you sign away your life on a three-page NDA. This is the first sign that Tesla is a tech company, not a car manufacturer. If you actually read the NDA then you know that you are subject to being hung and then shot if you so much as pull your cell phone or camera out during the 45-minute tour. Tesla paid $42M for 5.2M square feet in this former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI">NUMMI factory</a>, which is a steal given the price of Bay Area real estate.</div>
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Most of what I saw I cannot write about due to that NDA. However, I can share with you that I felt this eerie sense of <i>deja vu</i> while there. Only when I was back in my Prius, which I liked a whole lot more before experiencing the Tesla 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, did I realize that it felt like I'd been in Tony Stark's Iron Man workshop, ala Marvel Comics.<br />
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Unlike most of the men and women who work in auto manufacturing, Tesla employees are not part of UAW. This has been covered extensively in the press. Hopefully Tesla continues to pay its people a living Bay Area wage so that the workforce can remain unrepresented.</div>
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Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-72087204841363098432014-11-30T14:36:00.000-08:002014-11-30T14:36:25.734-08:00Turkeys. And those who eat them.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Like many of you, I sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, and a table of nutritious, beautifully presented savories and sweets that could easily feed our group twice over.<br />
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On Tuesday The Pinks and I volunteered at the Monument Crisis Center handing out turkeys to families who might not otherwise have them on Thanksgiving. This was different than most of the volunteer work we do. It wasn't taking care of <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bounty-garden.html">The Bounty Garden</a>, which grows vegetables that benefit the food bank. It wasn't <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2010/06/tired-of-tyvek.html">building homes</a> for people who might not be able to afford them otherwise. It wasn't baking <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2010/08/rubby-ducky-youre-one.html">cookies for a community theater performance or washing rubber ducks</a>.<br />
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We interacted with the people who will be cooking those turkeys. There were easily 300 people lined up around the block when we arrived. Most expressed their gratitude verbally, some just took their turkey, eyes averted. Some had babies on hips and toddlers by the hand, others wheeled oxygen tanks behind them.<br />
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I thought about those people Thursday night.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-75037208757213357762014-11-22T17:08:00.000-08:002014-11-22T17:08:40.051-08:00Pre Ski<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm up at Tahoe with three twins and one more. Each of my twins brought a friend, one of whom is also a twin.<br />
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We drove up last night in a rental car, a Chevy Tahoe that we call The Island. It is the largest thing I have ever driven. One of our cars is in the shop because Eldest Daughter was rear-ended in front of the high school two weeks ago. This stuff happens. I could have driven the Volvo but it has 98K miles on it and our tendency is to replace our cars right before they reach 100K miles. There's no sense in rushing that.<br />
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Today has been very peaceful. The kids have been in and out of the hot tubs, (In case you wondered how many pool chairs could fit in one, the answer is eight.) in and out of Starbucks and Soupa, and in and out of our condo playing board and card games. I love this age.<br />
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It's raining here in the valley and snowing up top. The temperature is dropping and it will be snowing down here any minute. The fall colors are stunning adjacent to the tall green trees up the mountain and the falling snow line. This picture doesn't do it justice.<br />
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Dave and Eldest Daughter got a tour of Evanston, Illinois today courtesy of my aunt and uncle. Tomorrow is shopping the Magnificent Mile and Monday is the official Northwestern campus tour. From there they head to Ann Arbor. I find this all horribly unsettling since I basically birthed her yesterday.<br />
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My father recently put together a blurb book on the summer of 1987, when our immediate family moved from Alaska to California. The book covers our trip south on the Alaskan Marine Highway and ALCAN. I journaled during this 6-week voyage and went back to my journal to fill in some details for him. Looking back through those entries was a scary thing in so many ways. In retrospect, the trip itself was really dangerous. Second, I was a selfish terror at age 20. The comfort in journaling is the writing, not the re-reading. Funny, though, that I don't feel the same way about this blog. At least yet.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-40517861080988741512014-10-28T07:52:00.000-07:002014-10-28T15:59:11.554-07:00A normal fall weekend featuring Ariana GrandeOn Friday afternoon The Three Pinks and I fled the suburbs as soon as school was out and headed to Palo Alto. On the way down we stopped at Coffee Bean and Pizza My Heart, two of the kids' favorite eateries. Our next stop was a Halloween party at one of the large Silicon Valley tech companies. The entertainment was Ariana Grande, a 21-year-old singer / songwriter / actress who is moving her way up the charts right now after feature roles on two Nickelodeon TV shows.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwvJIkxWRAA/VE-poOo-nrI/AAAAAAAADLo/c5m8HbAoN0c/s1600/ariana7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwvJIkxWRAA/VE-poOo-nrI/AAAAAAAADLo/c5m8HbAoN0c/s1600/ariana7.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a>She played a 40-minute set and was super sweet with the fans. The Pinks managed to get pretty close to the stage while I hung back, seated on the lawn. I downloaded her most recent music the week prior and while I liked her vibe to begin with, seeing her on stage made me really like her. The Pinks had a blast. The party was well done with a carnival theme. We also oohed and aahed over the little kids dressed up for Halloween.<br />
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This was The Pinks first time on a large Silly Valley tech campus and Eldest Daughter noted that with all of its open space, modern buildings, bike parking, walkways, gym and restaurants, it looked like a college campus. Valid point.<br />
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After the performance Ariana and her entourage high tailed it to the airport as they also played the Hollywood Bowl that night. We headed for Sprinkles at the Stanford Shopping Center and then to a late dinner at Max's.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bjq0EBQj-4/VE-pmmdCgvI/AAAAAAAADLg/OwziSx7R0RE/s1600/ariana3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bjq0EBQj-4/VE-pmmdCgvI/AAAAAAAADLg/OwziSx7R0RE/s1600/ariana3.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>On Saturday morning the big bags under my eyes and I went to Marin to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of a childhood friend's son. What struck me most, aside from all the generations of love in the room, was how comfortable he was up on the <i>bimah. </i>I wish I could have stayed for the evening celebration but with Thing 1's first dance performance of the year in the afternoon, it wasn't to be.<i> </i>The cantor at their temple is spectacular, too, and I caught up with a few people I hadn't seen in many years. My parents and I went together and it was a treat to hear about their recent trip through the Southwest during the car ride, just the three of us.<br />
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Thing 1's dance performance went well, in spite of a last minute venue change caused by not-expected-but-much-welcomed rain. This is my favorite performance of the year because the team routines are unveiled. Being the data nerd that I am, I love watching them and then guessing which ones will place high during the year's competitions, which kick off in January.Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-26964530499486286872014-10-23T12:33:00.000-07:002020-04-18T21:13:57.650-07:00The scenic route<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--pezKM9Fy9k/VElXNKh8QfI/AAAAAAAADKg/UA9rXirf-7s/s1600/IMG_3481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--pezKM9Fy9k/VElXNKh8QfI/AAAAAAAADKg/UA9rXirf-7s/s1600/IMG_3481.JPG" /></a>Over the summer I drove to Tahoe via the Eastern Sierras. I hadn't planned to drive this route but having children means you sometimes take a detour. I spent the first part of the drive, the ugly freeway part, on a conference call. And then it was four lane roads narrowing to two lane roads into the mountains. As the trees got bigger I started to relax. I rolled down my windows and took deep breaths of the pine and earth smell.<br />
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After an hour-long stop at a lake where I spent part of my childhood and where I retrieved a child who was in the midst of hers, the two of us continued the adventure. There were no gas stations for the next 100 miles. She was chatty. We drove up and up and up until we hit the pass, and then drove down and down and down into the increasingly arid Nevada desert and where the landscape looks like paintings. We stopped for a late lunch at a dive pancake house. Finally we made a sharp left and after ten more miles of narrow, windy roads, saw Lake Tahoe. It was a relief to see water after so many landlocked miles.<br />
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It's not often I travel off the -- off <i>my</i> -- beaten path. This single-day journey was fun because it was unanticipated and because I got to experience it with one of my children. It made me want to take a road trip.</div>
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The Safeway in King's Beach had parking spots but inside there was barely any room to maneuver. This was expected at 6pm the night before a holiday. My daughter spotted a classmate's father, one who lives less than a mile from us in our suburb, We shopped and then drove on to Squaw Valley, where I stopped trying to keep my eyes open at 10pm and awoke 11 hours later.</div>
Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-79319526010369588202014-10-14T17:39:00.000-07:002014-10-14T20:53:57.902-07:00And more luau.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There were three hours between the end of the <i>Kiddush</i> and the party set up. The most significant thing that happened during that time was that Thing 2 chopped 12 inches off of her hair. She went back to her signature bob and harmony was restored to our home! Long hair is beautiful if you have the patience to take care of it. She did not. She looks like herself again and she is so happy to not have all that maintenance! As are we.<br />
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Now on to the luau. Although the fabulous Jenna was running the show, it still took a small army to pull it all together. Thank you Singers, Dave Harap, Bentleys, Willmarths, Wycoffs and The G/dfather. It takes time to pin grass skirts on table cloths, string lights and lanterns in trees and on poles, arrange rental lounge furniture, instruct the caterer, DJ, photo booth people, balloon lady, and set up tables for gifts and sign in boards plus two bars. (About that adult bar: I conveniently forgot that our little town only lets you serve beer and wine in its venues. We may have forfeited our security deposit over my interpretation of this rule when we served mai tai's but I won't know for another few weeks.)<br />
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The big takeaway from this luau was that the kids had a blast. Their smiling faces and moving bodies dancing will stay with me. Most of the kids had never been to a celebration such as this and the DJ and crew did their job of keeping the kids busy and happy. A few of Thing 1's dance friends are Jewish and they showed the new-to-this-scene-kids how it was done.<br />
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One of the dance team friends, a few years younger than Thing 1, came up to both me and Dave individually as she left and told us that it was the best party she'd ever been to. It was the sweetest thing.<br />
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Dave and I have a fairly diverse group of friends and the kids and adults just mixed and mingled. Melissa, the super-sweet new wife of one of Dave's childhood friends, came in from Dallas and explained her daughter's easy entry by saying, "This one has never met a stranger." How fabulous is that?!<br />
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In addition to dancing, the DJ did:<br />
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<li>Some sort of game involving stuffing children in large t-shirts with balloons</li>
<li>Limbo</li>
<li>Hula hoop contest</li>
<li>Volleyball</li>
<li>Macarena</li>
<li>Dances involving hats, sunglasses, glo-sticks, flashing rings, floral leis and blow up microphones, guitars and saxophones</li>
<li>YMCA and</li>
<li>Who knows what else. I didn't see it all.</li>
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Denon and Doyle provided the entertainment, which is four people: the DJ, the emcee and two party motivators. The party motivators make sure everyone is up and participating, and they also hand out those sunglasses, glo-sticks and air guitars. These people deliver a high-quality product. As Dave likes to say, as soon as you pick your <i>Mitzvah</i> date you call Denon and Doyle to see if they're available. If they're not, you change your date.</div>
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We did a candle lighting where The Pinks thanked special groups of friends and family by reading a poem. Pictured here are Thing 2's lacrosse friends after they lit their candles.<br />
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There was the slide show, <a href="http://threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-slide-show.html">previously mentioned. </a>At the end of the slide show I said a few words about The Pinks and told them how proud we were of their accomplishments. I reminded them of their continued responsibility to Judaism and to <i>tikkun olam,</i> making the world a better place.<br />
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We are a family of strong women. My mother and mother-in-law have long devoted themselves to volunteer causes. One of my grandmothers was a journalist, the other a force to be reckoned with in Memphis' Jewish community. Dave's grandmother owned and ran a women's dress shop in Napa for 52 years, back during the years that women just didn't do that. After Dave's grandmother passed away my mother-in-law had a few of her mink coats turned into teddy bears by a New York furrier. Each of her great grand-daughters received one at their Bat Mitzvah.<br />
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Dave spoke to the legacy of women in our family and The Pinks received theirs that night. (Sidebar: Thirteen years ago, when Dave and I found out we were having twins, he called his mother and said, "Mom, we are one teddy bear short." She didn't miss a beat and said, "You're having twins?! That's wonderful, David." And so another fur coat was shipped to New York and a fifth teddy bear was born.)<br />
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It was hard not to think about Dave's grandma Ruth that night because The Pinks spent a lot of time with her prior to her passing. She lived in an assisted care community near our first house in Danville and we visited her 3-4 times a week. We'd go over there and The Pinks would ride their scooters around the unit, play their toy musical instruments, and sing and dance. Not only did Ruth love it, the other residents did, too. The more chaos the better. It was a great diversion for everyone. (Confession: Visiting Ruth kept ME sane. It is HARD parenting twin toddlers and I loved every moment we spent with Ruth because I could relax.) I still think that Dave's father moving his mother near us was the greatest gift ever.<br />
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The picture above at right is Thing 2 with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. I love how Sara Singer, who always is wearing the exact right thing, was captured in it, too. Sara -- you must take me shopping.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nox7oKA2pEM/VDiraEGgzXI/AAAAAAAADIc/JNdiFEXm_xE/s1600/IMG_5446-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nox7oKA2pEM/VDiraEGgzXI/AAAAAAAADIc/JNdiFEXm_xE/s1600/IMG_5446-2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>The caterer was a risk. I let go, though, and truly trusted Jenna. She'd heard they were good although she'd never seen them in action. (Like the Jewish community, the Mormon community is tight. They might be in the same ward.) I put it out of my mind and figured I'd just double the alcohol if the food turned out to be bad. It wasn't. It got raves. We also had <a href="http://www.paradiseshaveice.com/home.html">Hawaiian Shave Ice</a> for dessert and the kids sang its praises although I didn't see it apart from the set up. Thanks Bentley cousins for the idea! They did it 18 months earlier in Santa Clarita. Heck, the little people share everything in our family. Jen -- have you figured out what we lifted from your suitcase yet?! Better install some locks on your closet door before we visit in March.</div>
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The last picture here is of my brother, his wife and my niecelets, and his in-laws. We spend a lot of time with Cathy and Steve at Tahoe, where they live full-time, and were glad they joined in the full weekend of festivities with us. They truly are family.<br />
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Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-15084135104127061512014-09-30T20:37:00.000-07:002020-04-18T21:12:15.352-07:00The Luau<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Much to my surprise, the <i>gemelli</i> agreed on a theme for their post-B'Not Mitzvah celebratory party: luau. One has the tendency to dress up while the other prefers to dress down. This worked for both and it also gave the guests a choice, too.<br />
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How hard could it be to outfit the four females in our family for this party? It was more challenging than you'd think. By contrast, Eldest Daughter and I had it easy. She found her dress in London, in the most beautiful Anthropologie I have ever seen. I bought mine at a boutique in Paris. Eldest Daughter's dress is so stunning that I'm going to lose 20 lbs and wear it to something. Dead serious.<br />
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Thing 1 is just picky and we easily bought and returned a half dozen dresses before she found "the one." I finally talked Thing 2 into wearing an Athleta dress of bathing suit material, very comfortable and casual. Then, at the last minute as we were dashing out to the party she decided to throw on a little dress she picked out on Catalina Island and I was so worn down by that point I just gave in even though it was strapless and I feared it would fall down. It didn't. (She apparently takes after Dave's side of the family.) It looked adorable and no one would ever know that it wasn't the original plan.<br />
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The party was held at the Danville Community Center adjacent to the library. This gave us both indoor and outdoor space. I wanted the adults to have some space away from the kids and also for the adult bar and kid bar to be at separate ends of the venue. </div>
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We strung globe lights across the patio and added large Chinese lanterns. In the trees surrounding the patio we added twinkle Christmas lights and hung teeny tiny Chinese lantern on those, too. The tables had coverings in bright pink, orange, purple and red, and each was skirted with grass. Double orchids (we have twins) were in bamboo vases on each table.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5FZwR2-zBCA/VCtyx851FPI/AAAAAAAADHk/XdDFvFSAN6c/s1600/IMG_5876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5FZwR2-zBCA/VCtyx851FPI/AAAAAAAADHk/XdDFvFSAN6c/s1600/IMG_5876.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a>Guests entered through an aisle bordered by 10'<i> </i>tall balloon palm trees and tiki torches. Passed h'ors d'oeuvres<span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px;"> </span>were Hawaiian meatballs and stuffed mushrooms for the adults, yellow M&Ms and gummy fish for the kids.<br />
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Adults had the option of mai tai's, Hawaiian beer, sodas, water or wine. Under 21s were offered Baja Blast, lemonade or water served from plastic pineapple and coconut cups.<br />
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The kids had their own luau lounge with couches and chairs. Over the summer Eldest Daughter made Hawaiian print throw pillows for them. There was also a <a href="http://www.threepinks.blogspot.com/2014/09/things-are-finally-getting-back-to.html">photo booth</a>, which you've already seen some fun pictures from.</div>
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Thing 1 made her grand entrance on a beach-towel-draped Cleopatra carrier. Thing 2 arrived standing on a surfboard. The DJ later told me that he'd never actually seen anyone stand on the surfboard before for an entrance. What a surprise -- my fearless kid was the first.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zH0kulbJuLg/VCt0UhRevSI/AAAAAAAADIA/lRSxEIyiMzk/s1600/IMG_5787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zH0kulbJuLg/VCt0UhRevSI/AAAAAAAADIA/lRSxEIyiMzk/s1600/IMG_5787.jpg" width="320" /></a>From there we launched into the Hora and the family going up on chairs individually. Something I love about the picture of Thing 1 at left is that one of our late additions is right in there helping. Our neighbors mentioned that they could only stay at the party a bit because their adult children and grandchildren were visiting for the weekend. As it turns out, we're friendly with their adult kids so I suggested they just bring them along. And they did!<br />
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The picture above of my mother-in-law and the <i>gemelli </i>dancing is spectacular, not just because of the look on Linda's face but because the photographer also captured my sister-in-law and Aunt Janice, my mother-in-law's sister, in it too.</div>
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<br />Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-23717458948935476832014-09-25T18:40:00.000-07:002014-09-25T20:24:07.836-07:00September 6, 2014<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-akuoJ0I5g0o/VCS6GFuF18I/AAAAAAAADEs/EB6AAkmVjIE/s1600/IMG_5307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-akuoJ0I5g0o/VCS6GFuF18I/AAAAAAAADEs/EB6AAkmVjIE/s1600/IMG_5307.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>This was Thing 1 and Thing 2's big day, the day they celebrated their entry into Jewish adulthood. We did the service at our house, in our backyard looking out at the golden foothills of Mt. Diablo.<br />
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On Friday came the deliveries: the 225 chairs, the risers, the chafing dishes, the sweets. It was surprisingly easy to fit all of those chairs in our yard. We'd planned to seat overflow in the family room, looking out to the yard, and also in our upstairs bedroom, overlooking the yard. The upstairs seating didn't end up being necessary but a few people did sit inside, presumably to get of of the direct sun. Fifty people were easily seated under the shade of the pavilion.<br />
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A few weeks earlier we'd had 200 people in the yard for a BBQ for local incoming San Diego State freshmen so we knew the space would work out fine. The weather, I wasn't so sure of until a few days prior when we saw that the forecast was for sunny skies and warm temps but not super hot temps. We were prepared for the sun with bottled water and sunscreen available to people as they entered and throughout the service. If it were a few degrees warmer, out would have come the soccer canopies!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qisaCSB9sFI/VCS6DTp5B0I/AAAAAAAADEU/21mFlY9DDjo/s1600/IMG_5148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qisaCSB9sFI/VCS6DTp5B0I/AAAAAAAADEU/21mFlY9DDjo/s1600/IMG_5148.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>I loved having this <i>simcha</i> at home and would recommend it. I created custom <i>siddurs</i> (prayer books) online then printed them out. This gave us the flexibility to include the songs and readings that were meaningful to us. The service was on the shorter side, perhaps 75 or 90 minutes, which was comfortable. We were able to video tape the service because it wasn't in a synagogue. Two guitars played by one rabbi and one rabbi's son provided beautiful music. Rabbi Rick encouraged people to get up and move around if they needed to get out of the sun or get water. That's another thing you can't easily do if you're in a synagogue.<br />
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The women in our family all wore white, which is traditional on shabbat. Shabbat is referred to as the Sabbath Bride.<br />
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My parents got Things 1 and 2 each a<i> tallis,</i> which they picked out on a shopping trip with my mom. You can see these prayer shawls in the pictures. Only Jewish adults can wear them.<br />
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Thing 1's <i>d'var Torah</i> (speech) was very funny because her section of the Torah portion included the laws around prostitution, which she didn't want to talk about. Nor did she want to talk about the conditions under which a man whose twig or berries are injured can enter a house of worship. In case you're wondering, the answer is never. In the end and after some awkward moments and terse discussion, she decided to talk about the necessity of rules and how her portion was about things that, if made into a movie, she would not even be old enough to see it.<br />
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Thing 2's <i>d'var Torah</i> was about rules, too, and she let everyone know how ironic it was that her portion was about rules since she isn't very good at following them. The picture below at right is of Thing 2 reading from the Torah itself.<br />
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At the end of the service Eldest Daughter surprised her sisters with a pelting of wrapped candies thrown by the handful from the fists of guests with pent up energy from sitting still through the service. Thing 1 screamed and crawled under the <i>bimah</i> to get out of the line of fire. Then the little kids hopped up and gathered up all the candy to eat, pinata-style. The candy represents the sweetness of the occasion.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GekYHTWWnMo/VCS6C2LpjxI/AAAAAAAADEc/TMrvjLimJK0/s1600/IMG_5212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GekYHTWWnMo/VCS6C2LpjxI/AAAAAAAADEc/TMrvjLimJK0/s1600/IMG_5212.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Rabbi Rick does the <i>hamotzi</i> in a way that everyone connects to each other -- physically. A few people hold the 4 foot long <i>challah</i> and then everyone touches a part of another person until everyone is attached. Then he leads the blessing and the <i>challah</i> gets ripped apart from every angle. Some families cut the <i>challah </i>into nice neat slices. We are a family of rippers and tearers. (In my opinion, the only reason to slice <i>challah</i> is if you are making French <i>Challah</i> for breakfast.) This particular <i>challah</i> had sprinkles on it, something that Dave feels strongly about. The blessing over the wine used wine we saved from Eldest Daughter's Bat Mitzvah four years earlier. Those of you who attended her Bat Mitzvah might remember that we used wine from our wedding for that.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qCPdSwdBPgk/VCS6EQ9gK8I/AAAAAAAADEY/mnqKIT72FsM/s1600/IMG_5288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qCPdSwdBPgk/VCS6EQ9gK8I/AAAAAAAADEY/mnqKIT72FsM/s1600/IMG_5288.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>A few of Thing 1's dance teammates are Jewish and it was neat to see them explaining the traditions to those not in the know. One of Thing 2's secular friends sat right up front so she could catch every last word. One Jewish adult friend, who should have known better, chatted with the person next to him throughout the service. Another napped. People brought young children who were not invited. The young children squirmed, as was age-appropriate. All but one of the great aunts and uncles came. My mom's siblings were in town for a full week so we were fortunate enough to spend additional time with them.<br />
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Immediately following the service we had a <i>kiddush,</i> which is light snacks. We served some of our favorite foods, including bagels, lox and cream cheese, strawberries, watermelon, chicken salad sandwiches, Claire's lemon cupcakes, my mother's three-layer brownies and my mother-in-law's fudge, almost none of which we got to eat because we were socializing and just being proud. People hung out for about an hour, the tween set popping picture after picture of themselves all dolled up.<br />
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At one point the little kids hopped in the neighbor's golf cart and attempted to drive down the street. Fortunately the rabbi's son, who is 16 and licensed, clued into this joy-ride-to-be and gave the littles a short ride to placate them.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AneSa6e723w/VCTCE-88xkI/AAAAAAAADFE/HGVFxtlYy6o/s1600/IMG_5311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AneSa6e723w/VCTCE-88xkI/AAAAAAAADFE/HGVFxtlYy6o/s1600/IMG_5311.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black;">Here's one especially good picture of the tweens. Look how gorgeous this group is! That morning I'd asked Thing 2 to put on shoes. Apparently she went into my closet and took a pair of mine that matched her dress. I'm loving that we wear the same size shoes these days. One clever mom popped a similar picture and then turned it into a card prior to the party. Best card ever!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nqhQr_UrqCI/VB-EG4QTDkI/AAAAAAAADDo/NNziJLR0xQ8/s1600/Family%2BDCC%2BSep-00150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nqhQr_UrqCI/VB-EG4QTDkI/AAAAAAAADDo/NNziJLR0xQ8/s1600/Family%2BDCC%2BSep-00150.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
Dave and I, and my parents, attended the Cancer Support Community's annual wellness gala with my brother last night. My brother is both a board member and a survivor. The event was at our local country club, which was the icing on the cake. We missed my sister-in-law, who stayed home with my sick niecelet.<br />
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It's hard not to be touched and inspired by the people we met, the stories we heard, the content of the program itself. It's an easy cause to contribute to because so many people each of us know are affected by it. At the Friday night dinner prior to Liberty and Victoria's B'Not Mitzvah I was seated at a table of ten where three people had first-hand cancer experiences.<br />
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And as a bonus, we ran into some friends we hadn't seen in several years. I out-shopped them all. For the cause of course.<br />
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<br />Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009605576373989114.post-45288255366435753042014-09-15T17:26:00.000-07:002020-04-18T21:14:48.531-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gp9Hoz_4mQc/VBUUo87tUDI/AAAAAAAADCo/7ayoW0CWKrE/s1600/jake%2Band%2Bkevin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gp9Hoz_4mQc/VBUUo87tUDI/AAAAAAAADCo/7ayoW0CWKrE/s1600/jake%2Band%2Bkevin.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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Things are finally getting back to normal around here. </div>
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<a href="http://www.magbooth.com/">Magbooth</a> gave me access to the digital files. These are some of my favorites. I thought they did an excellent job. I had to ask The Pinks who was who in some of the pictures as that's how much some of their friends had grown over the summer. Dressed up, the girls who have hit their growth spurts look like elder teens. The boys, not so much yet. If your child mentioned that they were in some pictures and you want the files, ping me and I'll send you the link and password.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKk9vvc97bk/VBUU0_oiQFI/AAAAAAAADC4/_zvFZLFrfaw/s1600/megan%2Bliberty%2Bkinsley%2Bbethany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKk9vvc97bk/VBUU0_oiQFI/AAAAAAAADC4/_zvFZLFrfaw/s1600/megan%2Bliberty%2Bkinsley%2Bbethany.jpg" width="218" /></a>I've cleared off my dining room table by returning all the platters and plates, and put away the extra cellophane bags we used for the out of town hospitality bags. I easily have 50 left and that will benefit some NCL philanthropies if I ever feel like baking again!</div>
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Back to Target went the extra globe lights and candles. Back in boxes went those grass table skirts. Back to the neighbors went the twinkly Christmas lights. Back to Jenna, event planner extraordinaire, went the crock pot that was hiding when she came over to retrieve it earlier in the week. Back to the shelving in the garage went the extra water bottles, now all dressed up in colorful luau labels. Back to my brother went two extension cords. Back to Magbooth went that mustache on a stick pictured here, the one that somehow came home in the box of paper lanterns.</div>
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<br />Leslie Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16554687146237067593noreply@blogger.com0