the above may just be my most perfect dinner – grilled cheese, tomato soup from trader joes and a beer. it was a long day. a good day, but a long day. a good week, but a long week. i’m sorta thrilled it is supposed to rain all day saturday. staying in my pajamas with my little family, sounds like the perfect plan. along with making more chicken soup – can there ever be enough chicken soup?
but before we get to the weekend, let’s look back on the week:
DIGGING:
ALEX’S LIST of how to be a mom in 2012 – pretty much right on!
EYE BROW TINTING - i’m a long time tinter and have already promised EBN a mama/daughter dye job in honor of her bat mitzvah
one challenge that is true for all mama’s with growing wee ones, is getting the most out of our kiddo’s clothes – BABY BLACK BIRD shared some great tips that i will be putting to use on my next shopping trip
DREAMING OF:
peppering my house with more than a few terrariums
wine with hints of BACON FAT – uh, yeah, i’m running to trader joes to pick some up! would it be wrong to serve this at the passover seder? let’s discuss…
GABI’S APPLE-ONION TARTLETS – these are most likely going to be the first thing i make after passover – assuming i can wait that long
SCARY MOMMY shared a recipe for KAHLUA DIP – for some reason this recipe reminds me a lot of college – in the best way possible
fair warning, things may be a little quieter on the blog over the next week than we are used to. but passover prep has to take top priority. there’s no turning back…
in addition to making matzah balls for our upcoming passover seder, i spent a very rainy saturday doing some much-needed maintenance on ‘ye old blog (achem – ABN spent time on the blog, i just double checked his work). there’s still a bit more to do but luckily, it’s supposed to pour again this saturday so…
it all started with cleaning out my reader. i have been using GOOGLE READER for years but hadn’t cleaned it out…ever. do you know how many now defunct blogs are out there? a lot. by going through my reader not only did a clear out the junk, but i also rediscovered a few blogs that i have been missing.
while GOOGLE READER has always been reliable, i’ve been feeling like there must be a better reader option out there so i took the plunge and decided to give BLOGLOVIN’ a go. so far…i’m undecided. i love that i can organize my blogs by topic and that i can read a blog, easily, on the real blog page and so, in it’s intended format. i love the idea of jumping from blog to blog by just clicking on the arrow that appears on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. BUT. the pages take a long time to load and so it isn’t super smooth and it takes FOREVER. sure, i can use my bloglovin’ homepage and skim through posts and only open the posts i’m really interested in. but i’m having trouble keeping track of what i’ve read and what is new. if i don’t open a post, but i do scroll past it, it seems to continue to appear as new. also, i’d like my unread posts to appear in order from oldest to newest so that i can read posts in the order in which they were written. do you use bloglovin’ and have tips? do you use something else? can you help me…PUHLEASE?
in the meantime, MY links have been updated (look right…see?). i read A LOT of blogs, all of which i enjoy – why else would i read them? – but these are my very favorites. when a new post from one of these writers appears in my reader, my heartbeat speeds up a bit. i look forward to reading their words on an almost daily basis. one day soon these blogs may appear as buttons on my side bar but for now, enjoy the updated list.
as for buttons – i have one! thanks again to THE PAPER MAMA for her amazing design skills and making it all possible. go ahead and grab my button – that baby is too cute to pass-up!
a couple of weeks ago ABN asked me what i considered myself an expert in. huh (see a confused LBN, scratching her head and thinking…). expert? that’s not really my thing. i’m more of a learn-from-others-get-inspired-be-creative-and-try-try-try-again kind of girl. does making a chocolate cake out of a box count? ’cause i’ve got that down to a science.
but a few days ago, it dawned on me – there is one thing on which i am an absolute expert. the training has been passed down from generation to generation, from THE REAL NANI, to my mom, to me and one day, to EBN. it will be our ever lasting legacy – how to write the perfect thank you note*. below, find my tips:
1. get going, don’t delay: the most important determining factor in a good thank you note is when the note gets to its intended recipient. if a giver went out of his or her way to get you a gift, or do something to make your day better – then you can go out of your way to get a thank you out in a matter of days or weeks. believe me, it’s easier to send a note when the gift or good deed is still fresh in your mind. it feels less like something you need to do, and much more like something you want to do – which should really be the sentiment…no? some of my own timing guidelines: for stand-alone thank you notes, those that are written in response to a dinner party host etc – 48 hours turn around – TOPS. for thank you notes that come in groups – for instance – a child’s birthday party – you’ve got 1 week baby. for something larger – say, a wedding perhaps – i’m going to go with 1 month (give or take to allow time for a honeymoon)**. but really, there is no reason to let the notes linger. think about how good you will feel when you cross that last thank you note off your list. and while thinking that your list is oh so long…get over it and just write the notes. think about it this way – if you write 10 notes a day, for 10 days, that’s 100 notes. do that twice. that’s 200 notes. if gifts come in before the actual event – get a head start! take advantage of the opportunity to tell the givers how much you are looking forward to celebrating with them. this leads me to my next tip….
2. make it personal: make it clear that not only was the specific gift or service special but the giver is important to you as well. it’s not just about the candlesticks, right? one thing that makes those candlesticks special, is that they came from your favorite uncle mel. take the opportunity of the thank you note to tell mel how much he means to you.
3. be specific: none of this, “thank you so much for the gift…” nonsense. if you are going to write that thank you note, you may as well start writing now and just add a date and a name later on. rather, let the giver know how grateful you are for the gift and how you plan to use it – for example, “thank you so much for the gorgeous candlesticks. we can’t wait to light them the next time we have a dinner party.” or “thank you so much for inviting us to brunch on sunday. i can’t decide what was better – catching up or that french toast casserole!”. with gifts of money – specifics can be tough. if you are using that money for a specific purpose – ie college fund, travel – go there. otherwise a simple, “thank you for your very generous gift in honor of my birthday – it means so much that you would think of me,” will suffice.
4. skip the complaints: this isn’t so much a tip for writing the thank you note itself but more of a general life lesson (from me…the expert…remember?). i find it annoying difficult to listen to others complain about writing thank you notes. i get that it might not be the most fun for everyone (because in all honesty, i find it a great stress reducer) but i think we have to remember, we’re thanking people for a generous act and when we complain about it to others, well that kinda negates the purpose…no?
and there you have it. i’ve imparted my wisdom to the best of my abilities. go forth – write thank you notes and spread the gospel. in a few months we can all come back to this space and laugh about how writing thank you notes is now the in-vogue thing to do. maybe ALANIS can be our mascott:
*this post is written in honor of a FABULOUS thank you note i received last week, following the wedding i attended in atlanta. not only was the note extremely personal and thoughtful but it arrived less than two weeks after the event and the gift wasn’t even ordered until after i returned home. i’m saving it…forever.
** there seems to be a widely held belief that after a wedding your wedding you have until your 1st anniversary to write your thank you notes. i completely disagree. you have 1 year, as a guest, to send a wedding gift. thank you notes should still be written for gifts in the order they are received and in a timely manner. please help spread the word
i’ve always loved getting mail. let’s assume it has something to do with all those summers spent at camp. throughout the day we’d repeatedly ask, “mail here?”, only to be told that it had arrived but it hadn’t been sorted or, a reminder that we didn’t get mail on saturday because of shabbat and that we would have to wait until sunday. at the end of the day, as we scurried back to our cabins in our flannel shirts, giggling about boys; as we shoved retainers into our mouths and danced with every ounce of summer energy to SHINING HAPPY PEOPLE – mail would be distributed. my mom was the queen of letter writing – it was the rare event that a day went by that i didn’t hear the latest celebrity gossip – i’ll never forget the summer that JULIA ROBERTS MARRIED LYLE LOVETT. i seem to remember my mom even watching the summer episodes of 90210 so that she could report back and keep me completely up to date.
when not at camp, mail still seemed to arrive on a fairly regular basis. THE REAL NANI filled my mailbox with newspaper clippings about everything from extra-curricular activities that she strongly suggested thought i might like to try, to wedding dresses i should really consider one day. there was always a chain-letter to be part of and of course, especially as i got older, my camp friends stayed in touch during the school year through 10 page novels – no detail spared.
these days, even though i check our mailbox daily – it’s usually filled with bills and solicitations. the highlight of my month is when a thick VANITY FAIR jams the mail slot so nothing else can fit inside.
but today was just insane in the mail department. take a look at what arrived at our doorstep:
as you know, i take my APPLESAUCE MAKING extremely seriously – now i have the tools to get the job done!
someone say something about planning a seder? i don’t think much crocheting is going to be happening between now and april 7th
i’ve been rocking an EBN necklace since she was just weeks old – and i plan to continue to for years to come. but lately, i’ve been itching to mix things up and when i found JULIANA W. JEWELRY, i knew i’d found exactly what i was looking for in this delicate bracelet. i’m obsessed with her entire store (it’s possible i ordered a pair of earrings too) and plan to become a frequent customer
and, don’t think i was the only one who received mail – look what arrived for EBN today! it’s from her NANI and GRANDPA so for now it will hang out in the closet – they arrive in just a week and will put it together open it in person
in 2004 i was totally on top of my shit. i was living in manhattan. i walked to work – all 20 blocks – in high heels – because that’s what you did when you lived in manhattan. i ate at hot restaurants (SUSHI SAMBA) and went to interesting events (concerts in downtown venues with 2 drink minimums). i watched SEX AND THE CITY the night that aired (was there another option?) with various groups of friends, and i took crazy fun gym classes as that the fanciest gym on the upper west side (anyone remember NIA?).
anyway sunday, i felt a little bit like my old self. 1st, i went for a run. it’s like the new gym class. and, i have a new favorite companion – SAVAGE LOVE. ABN and i have been avid listeners for years but it really is the perfect length to accompany me on a run. and while i may look even more nutty now, as i giggle my way down the road, it seems to make the time pass more quickly, and who knows, i might even learn something.
then, because i have the best partner in life, ever, ABN watched EBN while i went to see THE HUNGER GAMES. you guys – for the first time in – FOREVER – i was part of a major pop-culture event. sure, the old me would have gone to see the midnight viewing on friday but i’m old now and sunday afternoon is really the perfect time (limits the possibility of falling asleep). it was SO good. there are a million reviews out there, but here are my thoughts:
i loved that it stayed so true to the book – and not in an annoying way. it didn’t have that scene for scene quality which i sometimes find annoying – like you’re constantly getting ready to turn the page. rather, it followed the book but flowed like a movie. does that make sense?
casting – the movie was cast so well. STANLEY TUCCI – a gem! WOODY HARRELSON – likeable! LIAM MILEY CYRUS HEMSWORTH – hot! JENNIFER LAWRENCE – completely believable. JOSH HUTERSON? he was – fine. truthfully, he was better than fine, he just wasn’t the peeta that i pictured. i always pictured DARREN CRISS (can i get an amen?).
LENNY KRAVITZ - okay, i love me some lenny – always have, always well. but he wasn’t all – maybe he should stick to singing? maybe he’ll be better in the sequel…only time will tell.
i only peed 3 times. the movie is 2 1/2 hours…i see this is as a major win
it was violent but it wasn’t over the top. i was expecting much worse – i only found myself hiding behind my scarf during the tracker jacker attack.
it should also be noted that i cried when the showed a preview for TITANIC. i’m pathetic.
when i got home we loaded the little one into the car and headed out for a family date night. now that EBN is staying up until 7:30, rather than 6:30 (baby steps), dinner out is a bit more reasonable. sure, the restaurant was just a neighborhood haunt but the adults enjoyed margaritas and the kiddo enjoyed quite a few brussel sprouts and french fries.
and finally we ended our night (or in truth – will end our night) with the return of MAD MEN. i can’t remember the last time i watched a television event, the night that it aired. it’s all so…retro.
