Shana Tova!

As I wrote in my previous post, Rosh Hashanah is a time to think about the past year, and also a time to celebrate the year ahead. In honor of those two sort of dichotomous ideas for this upcoming holiday season, I'm posting two videos for your viewing pleasure.

The first is a thought-provoking clip brought to you by Jacob Da Jew:



And the second is just a fun and cute little video:



Shana Tova - Happy New Year!! May the year ahead bring happiness and good fortune to all!

looking ahead

I can't wait to go to Lehigh next weekend. Really can't wait. It will be the much-anticipated break from the craziness that is event season at work that I need to survive. It will be a good change from the weekends I've had lately, spent mostly sleeping and eating and shopping. It will be amazing to see Katie and Jill, whom I miss terribly. It will be careless and fun. It will be. Period.

However, before that, I have the doctor on Wednesday (ick!) and a big conference I have to work on Friday - not such great things. But even before that, I have Rosh Hashanah, which I am definitely looking forward to. Two and a half days off of work, cooking and eating, and spending time with the family. In keeping with my new-found appreciation and love for Jewish traditions, we're doing a few things this year that we've never done before. Round challah, symbolizing the circle of life, although we're buying, not making this (we have too many other things to cook and bake!). Apples dipped in honey, apple cake, sweet potatoes and carrots (all home made) for a good and sweet year ahead.

I'm also looking forward to going to the Mets game with my dad tomorrow. Not only is it going to be an extra exciting game since it's the last regular-season game at Shea Stadium ever, but it's a very important game that will decide if the Mets are in the playoffs or not. Big game! The stadium is going to be really packed, and I think the atmosphere will be amazing. It should be a really cool and fun day, so I hope the rain holds out for us. Let's go Mets!!

I really have a lot of things to look forward to. How great is that? Sometimes, life is so hectic and crazy, and there are not-so-fun or bad things going on, that you forget the good aspects. While there are certainly things that get me down and I feel bad about lately, I have a lot of wonderful things going on as well. And now is the perfect time to look back on the past year and think about all that has happened, all you've done, all the good and the bad. It's a time to make improvements and changes for the new year. I'll definitely be doing a lot of thinking this week (really, when am I not?), and making some goals and wishes for the year ahead. What will you be doing this Rosh Hashanah?

the events are coming, the events are coming

It's official. Event season is upon us. We have 12 events from this Sunday until November 19. Needless to say, as the only event planner at my job, I'm going to be pretty darn busy from now until the end of November. While it's definitely a lot of work - tiring work that I am very unappreciated for - I'd much rather be busy than bored, and planning events is what I do. It's what I love to do.

There is definitely an excitement I feel on days or nights of events. I love to see all the hard work I put in to something come to life. Even if I get yelled at for little things that may go slightly wrong, and I'm often not thanked properly for all the things I did right, I know in my heart I did a great job. All of the events I've helped plan so far have been successful, well-attended and well-liked.

So anyway, while I've had time to post during the day over the past few months, I don't think that will be the case for the upcoming months. I'll definitely have a lot to share though, so I'm hoping to get some good weekend blogging in.

P.S. - Last night I finished the Nicholas Sparks book Nights in Rodanthe, which was recently made into a movie starring Richard Gere (who I just love) and Diane Lane, coming out in theaters on September 26. Amazing. What a romantic, yet tragic, story. If you are a sucker for romance, I would definitely recommend reading this book. I'm a pretty slow reader, but I finished this one in less than a week, probably because I had a tough time putting it down at night. It was so touching, yet also relatable to pretty much anyone who has ever been in love. Really, it was a great book, and I am very excited for the movie - anyone want to come see it with me?

nkotb

OK. I have to get something off my chest. I love boy bands. I always have, and I always will. I am not ashamed of this, even though many may laugh or make comments under their breath about how lame I am. There is something so simple and easy about so-called boy band music. It's about love. It's about heartbreak. It's about sex. It's about youth. The themes are repeated over and over, yet catchy beats and danceable tunes keep songs fresh and fun.

Take, for example, NKOTB, better known as New Kids On The Block. Crazy-popular, drool-worthy boy band of the late 80s/early 90s. Teenage girls around the world went absolutely nuts over Jordan, Joey, Donnie, Danny and Jon singing and dancing along to songs like "The Right Stuff" and "Hangin' Tough." They were marketing dreams with pillow cases, lunchboxes, notebooks and posters ripped off shelves, and sold-out concerts across the country. While they certainly weren't the first "boy band," they definitely helped pave the way for groups like Backstreet Boys, N'Sync and 98 Degrees, who all enjoyed popularity in the mid/late 90s. Now that was my era. I was just a little too young to obsess over NKOTB, but the guys of N'Sync were mine. I instantly fell in love with their simple, fun, catchy tunes and "in sync" dance moves. I was a little more than obsessed, and still listen to their albums often, as well as the solo ventures of Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez. I bought apparel, merchandise and concert tickets (I won't admit to how many show I went to, or how much money I've spent on them over the years, but it's a lot). When they finally get back together, I'll be the first in line for their CD and concert tickets. I'll be waiting for that day.

But for now, here I am writing this blog, listening to "The Block," the latest come-back album from none other than NKOTB. I am a 22-year-old college graduate with a fairly extensive musical repertoire, and I can't help but sing along to songs called "Sexify My Love," "Big Girl Now" and "Twisted." Now I'm not saying that songs with lines like "You go hit the lights, I'll set up the camera, Let's get to the action" are going to go down in history as classics, but they are so fun and enjoyable. A little dirty maybe. But what's wrong with that? They really aren't "kids" anymore (four of the five members even have children of their own!), and their fans have grown up too. Would I want my 13-year-old niece or nephew listening to these lyrics? Probably not. Will they want to listen to it? Probably yes. But alas, these are the times we live in. Boy bands sing raunchier songs. Female pop singers dress sluttier. Vice Presidential candidates have 17-year-old pregnant daughters. We don't live in a wholesome world anymore.

But I've digressed. Moral of the story? Boy bands will always be around in some form or another. And I will always love them.

the tribe

OK, so I don't ever post twice in one day (nevermind within two hours), but I just watched a YouTube video (brought to me by Jewlicious) that I just had to share with whomever is reading this little blog of mine. I think everyone should see this short film, entitled "The Tribe," no matter what your religious background. It's one of those pieces that makes you go "hmm." Enjoy! (And let me know what you think!)

cruel and unusual exhaustion

I am so tired I could actually fall asleep right now...and it's 8 p.m. When did I become such an old lady? My own mother even laughs at me when I tell her I' m getting into bed at 9:30. Last night I struggled to keep my tired little eyes open through The Hills, and I immediately shut off the TV at 10:30 p.m. on the dot. To be fair, I'm not usually this tired this early in the week. Typically, the overwhelming exhaustion begins on Thursday. But not this week. This week the heavy eyes and pounding heart were there right from the start.

I did have a house guest this weekend, so maybe that contributed to my tiredness. If so, it was completely worth it. It was great to have Vic stay the weekend with me on Long Island, even if we did have an unwanted visit by Tropical Storm Hanna. Our plan to test our friendship despite battling baseball rivalries at the Mets/Phillies game on Saturday was rained out, and so were our plans to do anything else at all. So, Saturday was spent doing a little shopping while we experienced the calm before the storm, and then an evening of movie-watching, pizza-making, J-dating and TV-viewing. What can I say? We're wild and crazy kids. Sunday morning we woke up to an absolutely beautiful day, and we made our way to Shea Stadium for the rescheduled game. It was certainly a hot one out there when we arrived and found our seats were right in the bright sun. After about an hour, though, the sun moved and we were hidden and cooled by the shade. And even though the Mets lost pretty badly, it was still a great day, and Vic and I had a great time together. (And my boys pulled through to win the night game that evening!)

My next weekend trip is to Lehigh for Young Alumni Weekend Oct. 3-5, which I'm definitely looking forward do. I like having plans for mini-vacations and visits. Now that I'm not in school and don't have semesters or endings to count down to, it helps me to plan things to look forward to. If not, I sort of feel like I'm losing my mind with no end, no special things in sight. After that weekend, though, I have nothing planned. So who wants me to come visit?

abc wednesday

It's time for another week of ABC Wednesdays...this week is brought to you by the letter G.

G is for...

Graffiti. OK. So I am not feeling the creative vibes coming to me at all today and this is all I've got. Deal with it. Matt and Adam were a little bit obsessed with graffiti while we were in Israel. (Actually, I'm pretty sure they're obsessed with graffiti ALL the time, but we met in Israel, so they were obsessed there in my mind.) We found this "local art" while on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem, and they just had to take pictures in front of it. This is them being super tough and gangster. Yeah. Gangster Jews - what up, yo?

G is also for Golan Heights Winery. While in Israel, we visited this winery and got to do a little wine tasting one afternoon. Wine is really not my drink of choice, and I don't drink red wine at all, but it was still a fun experience. We learned a little, drank a little and bought a lot. No one in my family really drinks wine, except for my Pop-Pop, and even after learning about the wines, I still had no clue how to pick out an appropriate bottle of wine, so I bought my brother and his girlfriend Diana a bottle of olive oil instead. We also got to take home the wine glass we used in the tasting, which was nice. Hmm. Come to think of it, where is that wine glass? Note to self: Look for Golan Heights Winery wine glass.

mia

I've been extremely missing in action lately - not just in the blogosphere, but in life as well. I find myself zoning out, thinking way too much and just being absent from life. And honestly, I don't like it.

I realized this for the first time on Sunday while I was on a date. This date wasn't too bad for the most part - we met in the city, went to the Dali exhibit at MOMA, got some coffee and walked around Central Park. Nothing spectacular, but not awful as far as dates go. However, the date made a horrible turn for the worst when this guy, who I met on Jdate (yes, I'm on Jdate - and not ashamed to admit it), drove me to a random street corner on the upper east side and pulled over. He told me he thought I could get on a subway there and find my way back to Penn Station where I had to catch a train back to Long Island. He gave me a really hard time when I asked if he could drive me back to Penn Station instead, since I wasn't comfortable getting on a subway I've never been on before, so I felt guilty for pushing the idea any more. After sitting in the passengers seat and complaining for a few minutes more, I said "thanks for leaving me in the middle of no where" and got out of the car. Was he serious? Was this really happening? He's going to come running out of the car behind me, say he's just joking and make me get back in, right? No. Tell me: Am I totally out of line being mad and upset over this? I don't know, but to me, even if you didn't have a good time on the date, the decent and gentlemanly thing to do would be to drive me back to Penn Station when I said I felt uncomfortable going on this random subway (which didn't bring me straight to Penn Station, I must add). Maybe I was just expecting too much - you tell me.

Anyway, during the date (before it went horribly wrong), while we were sitting on a park bench he asked me, "Are you usually this awkwardly quiet?" And it sort of hit me - I was being awkwardly and uncharacteristically quiet. I found that I wasn't my usual talkative, bubbly self. Maybe it was him, but I'm more inclined to believe that normally I could blabber on to a brick wall, so it must be me. It made me feel upset and confused. Why am I just not myself lately? And how can I snap out of it?