sarah in nyc

 Sunday we did part one of Thanksgiving shopping with our dear friend Charley. We made the trek to Bingo (the frum answer to Costco) in Monsey. Their Brooklyn store is ten miles closer but the travel time to Monsey  is less and the trip is less irritating because of Brooklyn traffic. We are doing Thanksgiving with Charley. One constant on his Thanksgiving table is brisket. My job is to cook the brisket. Last year, the brisket came from a fancy local kosher butcher. I almost fainted when I saw the price on the meat. Charley joined us for Passover and had brisket I had sourced at Bingo. Despite it not being polite to share the cost of the food with your dinner guests I did share the cost of the brisket with our dear friend. He suggested that we make the trek to Bingo. There are many wonderful things to buy at Bingo. The produce is beautiful, really beautiful. I didn't take photos of the produce. I was distracted by OTHER things. I was distracted by the green marshmallows. I love look

 Usually I end my Friday posts with some music videos. Today I start my post with one. My parents used to sing this song often on long car trips. my earliest childhood was filled with many car trips to visit my ailing grandparents. I am not exactly sure why this has been my earworm for the past while but I decide to look it up. The melody is an old russian military march, the words רְשׁוּת הַדִּבּוּר לֶחָבֵר פָּרַבֶּלוּם רְשׁוּת הַדִּבּוּר לֶחָבֵר תַּת-מִקְלָע בְּעַד אַחִים טְבוּחִים בַּגֶּטוֹ, שֶׁלֹּא הִגִּיעוּ לִגְבוּלָהּ – נִתֵּן – רְשׁוּת הַדִּבּוּר... בְּעַד סְפינַת גּוֹלִים נוֹדֶדֶת שֶׁלֹּא הִגִּיעָה לְאַרְצָהּ – נִתֵּן – רְשׁוּת הַדִּבּוּר... A rough translation is  It's time to give the floor to our friend  Parabellum the right to speak to our friend the sub machine gun on behalf of our brothers slaughtered in the ghettos that didn't get to arrive at our borders on behalf of the ship bobbing on the ocean that hasn't been allowed to dock on it's shores The song w

 There are times when the design for a tallit comes together in a quick hour. There are other times when a client and I will talk for months  or even years until the design for their tallit comes into focus. The design for Nini's tallit has come together over a long, long period of time.  If you think of each individual's life as being an orbit of sorts --there are some people who travel in nearly exactly the same orbit that we do. Nini and I have only been in the same physical space a few times but aspects of our lives have intersected over and over again over the course of our lives. Had we grown up in the same city, we surely would have been good, good friends. We share many beloved friends.  Nini actually spent the formative years of her childhood in Halifax and knew my dear friend Shawna. Although Nini moved to Philadelphian in middle school the place where she feels the most at one with herself and the most connected to God is in Nova Scotia.  So, Nini and I are not the o

 We changed the clocks this past Saturday night. The election took place on Tuesday.  A friend from our community died unexpectedly, so not the easiest week. I comforted myself by making myself a fast dress. The dress itself is based on the brillant Mary Brooks Picken's one hour dress. In the original version the extended sides are gathered into pleats at the hip. I like the look of an asymmetrical hem. This is what my dress looks like opened out on my dining room floor. I made the dress out of two yards of  Michael Stars knit fabric that I bought for two bucks a yard. so for less than the cost of an ice cream cone in my neighborhood I am feeling a little better. These eight challot are about half way done being baked. We are eating a comforting shabbat dinner of a beef stew.  The crock pot is doing it's thing so I can attend to some other tasks. And now a few small topics that may be no no interest to anyone but me.   My son was complaining that his leather jacket needed to b