LOST IN LOS ANGELES

We have polished the silver menorahs until they gleam. My bubbe’s menorah is tall and majestic with wide branches spreading out of a silver trunk, the holder filled with pools of golden oil. The children’s are homemade of clay, and tile with colorful candles. We hang the crayon sketches of draidels and latkes, and gold coins.  We display all of this proudly in the front window where those who know can look and see. My children beam with pride and anticipation. But the whole scene isn’t very big. You have to look for it to know that it is there. And who will look for it? The season outside is so very big, so exaggerated and all encompassing. Their holiday has music and peppermints and men standing outside of stores ringing bells. They have emails and catalogues and matching striped pajamas. And we have these small silver lights. I think of this as I stop myself from humming in the car along with songs that are not my own. I think of how it must seem to our childre...

Nostalgia is a funny thing. Everyone has memories, special recollections from the past. But it takes a special memory to make something nostalgic. I think the difference is that nostalgia is the intangible way that you miss something - the way that sometimes, often unexpectedly, a memory pulls at your heart strings and in my case usually triggers uncontrollable misty eyes. On a vacation about three years ago, I experienced a surprising longing for the past and found myself reliving flashes of vivid memories that rolled through my mind like a movie reel. On this trip, I visited San Francisco with my Sorority Sister. Both of us are products of the mid-eighties and fondly remember the sitcom, "Full House."   We wanted to see the memorable “painted ladies,” a row of Victorian homes that are featured in the picnic scene in the opening credits of each episode. This was easier said than done. I guess we both assumed that there would be signs posted all over the ...

Love. There are a million blog posts which can be written about love. It's a four letter word which can either make you cringe, go all mushy, cry (post break-up) or think of the "Big Day". It's perhaps the only word which can bring every emotion known to mankind alive. And its a pain. The problem is simple. Ladies, we all seem to fall very easy. The issue, the guys generally don't. Now it would be fabulous to pin point the exact reason for this. Simply so we could have something to go by. Or a guidebook - that would have its uses too. Sadly, these resources are not currently on the market so we have to figure out the male brain for ourselves. The majority of men have the beautiful ability to be emotionally unavailable, and the good ones we rarely find and are usually taken. It's enough to drive any self respecting girl to that tub of Ben and Jerrys. (Or 5) Whilst growing up, my experience of boys went a little like this: W...

I will be interviewed on Friday, September 23rd, for a talk radio station here in Los Angeles. The woman interviewing me is getting me all the information to promote when I see her on Tuesday. I am so used to being the interviewer, being the interviewee will be completely different!!!

I met Mikey a few weeks ago at the Andy Grammer/Lonestar concert at The Grove in Los Angeles a few weeks ago ... He is a video blogger & just a fun guy! Here's his video of the concert we met at & belo this is when we were at a flash mob earlier this week! :)

Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive ... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~~Howard Thurman      

From all the clothing I wore as an eight-year-old, I remember the silver-and-jean dress clearest. It’s not surprising, considering the fact I wore it solidly, every non-school day, for about seven months. I loved the glittery “adult” belt, though possibly my real attachment to it was due to the love and attention behind the purchase. It was on my special birthday shopping trip with my grandmother that I had gotten it. With the taste of my bakery birthday treat still on my lips, it was the sweetest, best thing to happen to me. My real attachment was due to the love and attention behind the purchase. Similar birthday highlights throughout my childhood years come to mind: alone time with a parent/grandparent, splurging on fun accessories or toys, and always a “pick anything that you want” bakery treat. A little older, and the silver-and-jean dresses got replaced with real jewelry, up-to-date gadgets, and gift certificates at expensive stores. And that’s what made my birth...