Wonder Around The Corner

My sweet husband and I have been on a little adventure this past month. As with any adventure, there have been unexpected turns and challenges. There have also been moments of transcendence. One of those came when we drove across the border from Colorado to Utah. We took a little detour and visited Arches National Park. We hiked up to a vista where we could see the famed Delicate Arch just in time for sunset. As we stood in awe of the beauty around us, we thought about the last year, our three years together before that and the endless list of things we have to be grateful for. This week, I want to express my gratitude to all of you for your love, your support, your enthusiasm, your prayers and thoughts. I want to thank you for joining me and my sisters on our blogging journey. We love reading what you have to say and sharing with you. I am so grateful to be on this incredible planet because even when things are far from perfect, there is always wonder just around the corner and wonderful people to share it with.

Sometimes, even happy babies get mad.

Every Tuesday morning, Princess H goes to ballet class.

Tiny likes to pass the time by hiding in the lockers.

He loves his little perch so much, I thought Disco might enjoy hanging out next door.

I was wrong.

Top Five of the Internets

Yes.

5.  Morbid design genius <-- *hint hint* to whomever's in charge of my funeral arrangements.

4. Grumpy Charles Darwin is grumpy (geniuses have terrible-no-good-can't-even-write-a-full-sentence-bad days, too).

3. New DIY fashion goal -- I need fabric markers and a white shirt, STAT.

2. Nietzsche's Family Circus. Yes, yes, and more yes. I could spend hours refreshing this thing.

1. My new favorite awkward .gif icebreaker -- for that special internet someone who you've always wanted to get to know better.

Vintage Five:

Some Christmas cookies to get you in the holiday mood.


Do you have any cyber-space gems from the past week?

X marks the Talk

It's been a month of TEDxing. First, for a big, brilliantly produced conference at Sydney Harmon Hall and just this weekend, as part of TEDxYouthDay in San Diego, California. I was totally stressed out. From my choosing my outfit (which my friends helped me do -- thank you instagramers and tweeple) to what I was going to say, to the sweet makeup artist ironing my shirt with a flat iron, it was all very overwhelming and exciting. But once I got there, it was fantastic. The kids were amazing -- so enthusiastic, kind and helpful. The other speakers touched my heart -- the man who started my session off is the go-to guy on evolution in 3-D printing of organs and another guy who should have been paralyzed from his chest down, walked onto stage, with canes. It was pretty great. When I went out and sang my aria, the crowd went wild. We talked about working together to make our dreams come true and three standing ovations later, I was blushing. It was a wonderful day and I was so happy to be there. Now it's back to work, but I just wanted to say thank you to all of my new friends in The Mid Atlantic, San Deigo and all of the old ones who were there supporting me.

Thankful

 We are soooo very excited to be heading back to D.C. this week. Wheee!

The Perfect Hostess Gift

I've always had a soft, squishy place in my heart for Hostess treats. Even though I didn't eat them that often, I knew that I loved them deeply. Today, Hostess died. They will no longer grace supermarket shelves with their neat little cellophane calorie pouches. I stumbled to the supermarket today after a bona-fide all-nighter to get all of the treats before they can't be gotten anymore. I figure that the best gift I could give to Hostess now is to let them give a gift to me. . .you know, the gift of cellulite. 

Now I feel sick. With grief.

Go out and get a Twinkie while you still can.

And get as many as you can, because I hear they last indefinitely. . .

. . . it can be like they never left.

New Traditions or Diwali Cross-Culturized

Today is the second day of Diwali, the Indian festival of light. Depending on what region you're from, and what religion you practice, the specific meaning of the holiday may be different, but the ways it's celebrated are relatively standard. Lights are hung, candles and lamps and fireworks are lit, sweets are shared, and families try to be near one another.

This is my first Diwali as a member of an Indian family, and thus far Dr. P and I have done little by way of celebration. Our little family has inherited a robust collection of cultural identities, from Momo's Jewish ancestry, to Dr. P's Hindu culture, or the traditional Anglo-Christian customs from my Dad's family. Each branch carries a distinct calendar of festivals and holidays, and rites and passages, and while the prospect of paying each their due respect can be a bit daunting I also realize that our observance of any or all of these things will be a choice. So this year, instead of charging forward into the cultural bounty, we're taking things slow and thinking hard about forming an identity as a family unit.

Which brings us to last night. In honor of Diwali, Dr. P and I lit a few candles and discussed what Diwali meant to him as a child, what it means to him now, and what we hope our children will someday cherish about this celebration of light and new beginnings. We came up with a list of traditions, some new and some ancient, that we plan carry on with our family. The plan is to repeat this process with pretty much every holiday this year. Maybe we'll even share a few of our ideas here on the blog.

Cross-cultural marriages are becoming more and more common, and I often wonder how others have chosen to manage merging experiences? We'll be sure to let you know how it goes for us, but any experienced-based wisdom would be much obliged!

Happy Diwali!!