happy friday..

have a great weekend.

like woody allen says..it's all about showing up.

i had this epiphany yesterday while i was working out: it's never over.

i will be working out to the day i die. ugh...that's a total bummer because honestly i don't love it all that much and i often wonder what all this sweating and pain are really doing for me.

but i do love when our teacher refers to us as athletes and talks about passion and integrity. i can sort of lose myself
in all the psychobabble and imagine that i am doing something big as opposed to just trying to work-off the chocolate
and red wine i probably consumed the night before.

the perks of aging...

there's nothing worse than buying something at full price and then seeing it go on sale a couple of weeks later.

this hasn't happened to me in a long time because i just know.

i know that basics and things that fit really well---sell. things that are a little weird....that my friend might say....oh that's such a helene top/dress/jacket---that will go on sale, guaranteed.

yep, this is what i call wisdom.

um, i can still dream...

one of the things i've noticed about women...or at least the ones i hang with...

there's always a comment on hair.. it's like the universal way to check-in..

'nice cut, where'd you get it?', 'did you straighten/color/just use a protein pack?', 'you're so lucky your hair isn't frizzy/flat/thin'.

i've run into people i haven't seen in years and the first thing that usually comes out of my mouth is...i love your hair...whether it's true or not....it just seems like the right thing to say.

and somehow i think this makes a great birthday card. still working on the message inside but maybe it's something like, 'dream on...happy birthday'.

monday...again.

if i'm not too distracted by the sunshine this week and there's a big possibility this will happen since i haven't seen sun since august and i am seriously vitamin D deficient not to mention green..i am going to post card thoughts about friendship. as usual all these postings are works in progress and someday they will come together as something but who knows what.

good friday..

this has been a crazy week.

we started off with passover and ended with good friday and easter.
i guess everyone got their fill of family this week.

the next couple of weeks will be major crunch time for sam and zoe as they finish up their junior year.
i am just trying to keep the house stocked with all the right snacks so they are adequately fired up and caffeinated.

happy weekend.

spring is here...

all anyone can talk about now is the weather.

the sun was out today but it wasn't all that warm. all eight million of us here in manhattan are just dying for some hot weather...and we are almost there...but not quite. but that didn't stop a lot of people from walking the streets today in shorts and sandals. i know they had to be freezing. i was and i had a coat and hat on.

i can hardly wait for the dog days of summer.

what would ms. manners say.

i actually love hearing from people over the internet on my birthday.

and i've sent my fair share of happy birthday texts.

not sure if this is ok according to the people who decide this stuff. but one of the reasons i started writing my own cards
is because the ones they sell in the stores are so awful.

and then there's the issue of thank you notes. is it ok to send these on the internet? according to my poll of two teenagers---yes. but i am not sure about this.

Zoe's in a movie...

I remember one cold sunday...around president's weekend...zoe announced she was going out to brooklyn to be in a friend's movie. well, here's the movie and it's great. it's a short (less than 10 minutes) so have a look.

i love that the girls' school has a "film festival" and is encouraging kids to produce their own films. this is very cool and a great experience for everyone.

congrats to all involved.

thank god it's friday...

is it me or has this been the longest week in the history of mankind? it would help a lot if we had more than just one nice day followed by several days of rain and cold. i am hoping that weather.com is not right about this weekend's forecast which given their track record is a distinct possibility.

anyway, i've been working on more book club napkins. and here they are.

happy weekend.

where are we going?

last night the freedom institute invited me to a screening of a 'race to nowhere'.

the documentary opens with a photo of an adorable 13-year-old who committed suicide after getting a B on a math test.

the movie talks about the pressures all of our kids are under. they are feeling it everywhere. school. at home. at after school activities. it's all about getting straight A's and being all around amazing so they can get into the right college (think harvard) so upon graduation they wind up in some job that will result in wealth and success.

meanwhile this pressure not only results in rampant cheating but is literally making our kids sick leading to adulthood diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and on and on.

this movie is a giant wake-up call. there are so many questions that need to be asked: first and foremost: what exactly are we teaching our kids? and in all the hours they spend at school and doing homework are they learning anything about how to be happy?

i hope so.

go get em, Sammy...

It's 7:30 in the morning and my daughter Sammy just left to take her ACT's.

We've been up since 3:45 am--a combination of nerves and excitement. She left extremely pumped and ready.

Good luck Sammy---we're rooting for you...

it's amazing what we have to remind ourselves to do...

sometimes the thing we really need to do is nothing.

it's hard because of all the blah, blah, blah in our lives.

years ago i was with a friend on a busy subway. at one point i turned to say something to him and saw that he was deep
in meditation. i was pretty impressed that he could drop out like that with all the noise. but he did. and 15 minutes later, mentally,
and physically he was in a completely different place.

doing nothing, disconnecting...there's a lot to be said for that.

for the to do list.

my state of being...in card form...

the kids are back to school and i am back to figuring things out.
geez, is this a lifelong process or what?

what are you doing today...

i've been spending a lot of time on the internet looking at other card designs.
while a great visual is always catchy
i am always drawn to the cards that are simple,
pared down,
lots of white space,
pithy thoughts.
that's just me and my brain lint.

i was sorting of thinking the same thing....

The Sum Total of Our Choices

“We’re all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions, moral choices. Some are on a grand scale, most of these choices are on lesser points. But we define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly, Human happiness does not seem to be included in the design of creation. it is only we, with our capacity to love that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying and even try to find joy from simple things, like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more.”

— Professor Levy played by Martin S. Bergmann, a New York University clinical professor in psychology, in the movie Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Woody Allen.

via swiss-miss