March began with the observance of Purim. Purim tells the story of Queen Esther saving her fellow Jewish people from a genocidal plot by the King’s evil advisor. Hooray! In modern days, Jewish people in the US celebrate by making Hamantaschen, something we’ve been doing for several years now, and my attending costume parties and […]
Archive for the ‘food’ Category
Winter holidays in Philly
January 11th, 2026 by pleia2
We spent three weeks in Philly over the winter holidays. I already wrote about our bi-coastal Hanukkah which was definitely a highlight of our trip, but the fun really began the night we arrived and the boys got to enjoy a few minutes playing in the snow. We wouldn’t normally indulge in a nighttime snow […]
Bi-coastal Hanukkah 5786 (2025)
January 7th, 2026 by pleia2
Over the winter holiday break, we came out to our townhouse in Philadelphia to spend a bunch of time with family. It just so happened that the timing of our trip meant that we’d celebrate half of Hanukkah in California, and half in Pennsylvania. In some ways this was fun, but as the parent in […]
44th Birthday
October 27th, 2025 by pleia2
On September 29th, I turned 44 years old. I think this is the first birthday where I actually started feeling my age. My ankle was recovering from a sprain, I had developed tendentious in my elbow, and for some inexplicable reason my back was hurting. Being reminded of weakness in my body all at once […]
School begins! And August winds down.
August 29th, 2025 by pleia2
Our summer in Philadelphia was lovely, but we had to come back so the kids could start school in early August. It’s still surreal to me how early they start, but it was an exciting year for them, Aaron was finally joining elementary school as a Transitional Kindergartner (TK), and Adam was starting 1st Grade! […]
A couple days in Boston
July 30th, 2025 by pleia2
“Weren’t you just in Boston?” Indeed, I was! But this time, it was the first major stop in a road trip up through New England with our family. I’d say this was our first proper Great American Road Trip with the kids. They’d done an hour or two here and there, and three hours when […]
Tourist in Boston: Lobstah! Baseball! Tea!
June 4th, 2025 by pleia2
I arrived in Boston a couple days before the Red Hat Summit so I could decompress a little and enjoy the city. Since I grew up in Maine, it’s a bit surreal to be in full tourist mode in Boston. On the one hand, I have New England woven into my soul, but on the […]
Organizing things and watching monster trucks
March 20th, 2025 by pleia2
A few weeks ago I began a home organization project whose goals were: To make me feel better about our home, rather than “argh, it’s always a mess!” To make it easier for me to complete tasks, less “where is that form for school?” and “where is that 9 inch baking pan?” And with the […]
Hanukkah 5785 in Philadelphia
January 31st, 2025 by pleia2
This year was the first time with the kids that Hanukkah ended up being observed all in Philadelphia. Because of how it moves around on the Gregorian calendar, there is always a chance that we’ll be spending part or all of Hanukkah in Philadelphia over the winter school break. It presented an interesting challenge, how […]
A castle, dinosaurs, and snow in Philly
January 22nd, 2025 by pleia2
I wouldn’t recommend flying across the country 12 days after an appendectomy, it’s painful, but we had holiday plans in Philadelphia and our flights wouldn’t wait! On December 18th, with a lot of luggage help from our au pair, we made our way out to Philadelphia for two and a half weeks. We were greeted […]