OVERHEARD

"The #1 movie of the year"
- announcer for an ad for the new SHREK movie

"The #1 movie of the year"
- announcer for an ad for ALICE IN WONDERLAND

"The #1 movie of the year"
- announcer for an ad for AVATAR on DVD

How can that be true of all of those films?  And what exactly is the criteria that makes the movie #1?  I'm curious...

TO BAPTIZE OR NOT TO BAPTIZE (NYC Moms Blog)

In a little less than a month, my partner and I will be "baptizing" our daughter.  We're not necessarily Christians in the purest sense of the word, but we do want to welcome our baby girl into this world surrounded by family and friends and a sense of ceremony.  The thing is, we're writing our own baptism ceremony... and I'm not really sure how to do that without following the standard Catholic baptism rites I grew up hearing in church.  How exactly does one baptize a baby when the baby isn't being baptized into any specific faith?

CLICK HERE to read my full post at NYC Moms Blog

BACK WHERE I BEGAN

Isn't it funny how you sometimes end up right back where you began?  I often do this with my outfit each morning (my beau can attest to the pile of options that ends up on our bed as I stumble out the door)... starting with one look, trying on a dozen others, only to end up wearing the first thing I picked out.  And now I've done it with my blog.

This current format is the one I used three years ago when I first began blogging as a way for my family in other states to keep up with my crazy New York life.  The minor differences:  the background was black instead of white and the columns were switched (blog on the left, other stuff on the right).  And then, I got antsy.  I got bored.  I wanted to change it up.  It started with the picture I had at the top near the title - I changed that from a pair of hands, to an OM symbol, to a pregnant tummy.  I changed the color of the links and the headers.  I changed the order of the side bars.  And then I changed the template.  I went from two columns to three columns - whoa!  It was wild!

And now, after a few days of bouncing back and forth between several different looks, trying them on like a dozen different outfits... only to end up back where I began - in the same black top & jeans (my "go to" classic style).  It's comfortable.  It suits me.  It makes me feel like I know where I am, what I'm doing, where I want to go.  And I like it.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

NEEDING BOUNDARIES (NYC Moms Blog)

Boundaries.  Security.  Comfort.  It was a lesson I'll remember long after I forget how to conjugate verbs or diagram a sentence. And ever since then, I've been aware of our need, as humans, for boundaries.  Spacial security.  Comfortable structure.  I see it on the subway, in conversation, and even in the crib.

CLICK HERE to read my full post at NYC Moms Blog

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Trying out some new formatting on my blog.  With my writing starting to pick up more and more attention, I'm trying to streamline a bit and figure out the best way to move forward.  Hope you'll bear with me over the next week or so while I dabble around... and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the changes (likes or dislikes or suggestions - whatever!).

IS LIFE

"Film is art.  Theatre is life.  TV is furniture."

- Author Unknown

(Or at least unknown to me!  Let me know if you know the source.)

OVERHEARD

FRIDAY WORDS OVERHEARD

"How 'bout that party last night, huh?  She was wasted!  And she kept being like 'Hey! Why aren't you drinking? You look like you need a drink. I'm buying you a drink!'  She's a mess..."

This particular "overheard" is one that hits a little close to home.  I was in an elevator with these two guys while they were discussing said party; we were on our way up to the 12th floor of a rehearsal hall for a staged reading of a new musical.  And although they didn't know who I was, I knew who they were (the theatrical community is small, people!).  And although they had no idea, I was also at that party the night before (did I mention how small it is?).  And the most uncomfortable example of this small world... I knew the "she" they were talking about.  She's a friend of mine.  They had no idea.  So, I guess I mean that it was uncomfortable for me - they were oblivious.

What a wake up call for me, though!  A reminder that New York isn't as big as it seems, and the theatre world has a million small connections - you never know who you might wind up in an elevator with.

THE METAL CHILDREN

THURSDAY THINK LINK

Warning: Reading Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Vera’s reasoned argument for the aesthetic and moral power of the novel is among the stronger speeches in the play. “As a reader you construct the world of the book with the author,” she says. “You’re in essence a performer. A creationist."

ADVANCED PLANNING (NYC Moms Blog - Book Club Post)

Reading a book about puberty, periods, breast development and "the first time" when your daughter's only 15 weeks old... crazy or brilliant?  I'm choosing the latter.

Honestly, I was not sure what I expected from The Body Scoop for Girls, Dr. Jennifer Ashton's delightfully spirited book on those oh-so-awkward years somewhere between childhood and adulthood, but I found myself right back in high school wishing I had this book 15 years ago.

As I turned each page, I was launched forward a decade from now when my own daughter will be experiencing the amazing, confusing, wonderful, awful time of puberty and self-discovery.  And my reading was peppered with laughter as I thought of her ever-loving father trying to field answers to those confusing questions and offering her the timeless advice to "go ask your mother".  I wonder what she'll be like as a tween, as a teenager, as a young adult - making hard decisions, and forging her own path in this world.  And I must admit, being reminded of those embarrassing first few periods, those uncomfortable sex-ed classes, and the pressures to "do it" before I was ready have really made me think about the challenges my daughter will have to face as she grows up.

I've always heard about how mothers (and fathers!) want the best for their children, want to be able to support them, want to be able to make their pain go away when they're hurting.  And now I know what that feels like.  I'm truly looking forward to being able to have those difficult conversations with my daughter.  And I'm also scared to death.  I suppose I'll tell her my own stories of having to wrap a sweater around my waist when I unexpectedly started my period in the middle of math class, feeling left out when a group of my friends lit a joint in one kid's attic and then teased me because I had the courage to just say no, and how my heart ached and ached for what felt like an eternity when my high school boyfriend broke up with me because I wouldn't have sex with him.  And I'll tell her about my less-than-ideal choices as well, like when I was caught making out with a guy I liked in the music rehearsal room at school, and when I threw up all over someone's front lawn the first time I drank one too many strawberry daiquiris.

However, there is one line from this book that really sticks with me:  "The truth is, girls are smart. Given the right facts, they usually make smart choices."  Oh, how I hope this will be true for my daughter.  (And for her mother!)

Disclosure: I received a copy of The Body Scoop for Girls by Dr. Jennifer Ashton to read and discuss as a contributor for the Silicon Valley Moms Blog. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

Dr. Jennifer Ashton is a Board-Certified Ob-Gyn, who specializes in Adolescent Gynecology. At Hygeia Gynecology, her private clinical practice in Englewood, New Jersey, Dr. Ashton has emphasized a return to old-school medicine with a new-age approach. You can purchase your own copy of her book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Indiebound.

Click here to check out other posts inspired by this book.

quit facebook day

TUESDAY NEWS DAY

Delete Your Facebook Account: 'Quit Facebook Day' Wants Users To Leave

I love Facebook.  I cannot tell a lie.  I love it.  And I'm definitely on the verge of being addicted to it.  I check it often, more often than there are actually updates to check, and I find it engaging and entertaining to read my friends' wall posts and see their new pictures and keep up with their lives via the world wide web.  I doubt that I'll join up with the other near 5,000 people pledging to quit Facebook on May 31st... but all things in moderation, right?  So perhaps I will take part in the June 6th one-day protest regarding those pesky Facebook privacy issues. 

What will you do?

Your request i

BLOGGER EVENT

MONDAY MORNING MEMORY

Remember yesterday afternoon when I went to my first-ever blogger event?  Remember how people asked if I had a card and I started thinking to myself that I needed to get some of those?  Remember all the cool products that were being discussed?  Remember the tasty free samples?  Remember this?  Remember how you felt to be part of that trendy, hard-working, fun, normal, active moms' group?

Oh, you don't?  Well... that's just because I haven't told you about it yet.  Stay tuned!

90 DAYS (a third time)

A while back I wrote a 90 DAYS blog.  And after that I wrote a 90 DAYS reprise.  Today is our daughter's 3 month birthday and it makes me reflect on that 90 day cycle yet again.

So much has happened in these past 90 days - giving birth, visiting family, learning to parent, leaning on each other (well, let's be more honest, clinging to each other) for support, going back to work, fitting back into my clothes, getting engaged, planning a wedding... it's all too much sometimes!

Too much of a good thing, that is. 

And I've heard you can never have too much of that.

Here's to whatever the next 90 days may bring...