No heat, no light, got friends

It is dark and powerless in our area of little towne. We slept in an encampment by the fireplace, washed dishes by hand - thank G-d for small wonders, the water heater runs on gas, so it is quite a joy warming my fingers under the stream of soapy water AND getting read of the dirty dishes at the same time!

I’m in the library, writing to you and counting my blessings as a way of not getting depressed. If you need some Pollyanna mood, please skip to the blessing part below. If you are up for beaching, keep reading.

The Beaching list:

It is DAMN COLD! I don’t like cold. It’s freezing.

I don’t know how they did it in the old days, probably they had much less room, but here we are, all equipped with our iPhones, smart phones, droids, androids, BlackBerry, iPad, iPod, amplifier stations for the formerly mentioned, radiant heating, big screen TVs, elaborate ovens, refrigerators, microwaves, laptops, gazillion gadgets and NO GENERATOR!

Hubby actually offered to buy a generator and my response was: ‘let’s not make this big buy a hasty decision, electricity will probably be up soon and then we can sit down, discuss and decide, not under pressure. Well guess who’s under pressure now… if there was a generator available I would be up and ready with cash at hand but now there are NONE. On the other hand, we can sit and discus...

Starbucks looks like a deployed area. Every outlet hooked up to, every seat taken. Bacteria must be happily thriving.

No TV, no electronics, no connection, no access to news (ok, I’m exaggerating a bit), no phone, no video games, no light for reading, no way to heat up food or cook, no internet, no connection – did I say that already?

The Blessings list:

Few friends offered to host us while power is down – we love you!

We planned Hubby’s birthday and had it on Saturday (20 out of the 30 people showed up – yey!), in the candle lit living room, near the fire place, with big sweaters on, lots of cheese and wine – we had a blast!

Kids at school, hubby at work, my office was closed but now it is operating.

Malls are open

When in despair – clean. The fridge content is at the freezing garage, its inside clean (I really like the hot water)

Library is open, found outlets, am warm!

We have HOT WATER - yey!

Managed to talk to my mom, always up lifting

No vacuum, no light to see those pesky little dust bunnies:)

Went for coffee with a friend, found a warm CVS to walk around in –Oh, the glory of capitalistic society!

Restaurants are awesome and open


Amazing what we need to be happy when we have a lot. Even more amazing how little we need to make us happy when we have less.


Stay warm and happy, make sure to count your blessings every once in a while and share some of them with others. You’ll be surprised what you find!

Yours truly,
Sara Brown.

New Jersey Dreaming

It is Spring here, in New Jersey. The heat is on, birds started chirping, the park and its swings in a springy blast of action. Our friends took us to the Meat Market in NYC yesterday and there, too, was a springy blast of action, of a different kind of course.

We had a rough storm last week, my son informed me it was a level one Hurricane and some of my friends here just got their electricity back. It could be fun, a candle lit evening of board games and family quality time, but after a special evening like that most people want to get back to their blessed routine of free screens for all, watch their favorite TV show, cozy up with their computer or just zap the TV channels and complain. If you add the heat component you can understand how hard were we hit, due to the known parabola: no electricity = no warmth.

So we are out and about now, counting budding flowers outside, enjoying a light tan and one of those little umbrella drinks. Cheers!

Go out and celebrate,
Sara Brown.

Good weather in New Jersey

It has been a wonderful weekend, full of sunshine, birds chirping, one good birthday party, one great dinner with friends, now I just need to lose some weight and gain some employment and I'll be great!

What makes you happy?

Tax Man

Its grade school, I'm in first grade, it's time for Math. The teacher is tall, the day is long, the kids noisy and the desk graphitized to death. Generations of students before me put their frustration into action and scribbled, etched, carved their sorrow into the desk.

Fast forward to fourth grade, the best and brightest are taught by royalty: The Principal. The group is spearheaded by the son of the shop owner from around the corner. He had lots of practice in algebra, taking our meager pocket money and exchanging it for toys, pencils, candy and the occasional birthday gift. I'm not in that group, I'm more of a shopper, you see.

Years go by and it's me who has a business, selling hand made, artfully designed scrapbook albums. I'm still lucking in Math but VERY good at shopping and so tax season is not my cup of tea. My coffee tucked safely at my side, the desktop smooth and gleaming, I'm having the gloomiest day ever. Excel charts carve their frustration into my brain, receipts are flying about, the different passwords I most creatively created at some point (beware thy hacker, you'll never get THIS combination!) are long forgotten and the effort of re-creating them is enormous. Hubby, AKA Numbers Man, refuses to help - after all, it's my business and I have to learn how to do it myself. Isn't there a quote about  'Thou Shalt Not teach a tired frustrated student'?

Almost midnight, I flex the numbers, stretch my spine, flex my feet, point them, to no avail: numbers stay the same and I have to jump in the receipts bin once again to find that long lost piece of paper that will save the day. Wish me luck...

How's your tax season and what do you think of Obama's efforts to kill the bourgeoisie in favor of social capitalism?

Be happy, get a CPA that does it for you,
Sara Brown.

6 Golden Rules to Cellular Etiquette

1. If you don't have anything to say but would like to pass the time, or if you don't have a piece of REALLY juicy gossip for us - take your phone and leave the room. We have our own to-do lists and boring tales, we don't need to hear yours.
2. If WE are engaged in a conversation or past time, there's no room for your long lost friends and family unless you have them over and a proper, personal introduction is made.
3. Texting hold the same rules. Yes, I can still see you texting under the table...
4. If it's me calling and you have to accept the call (of course) let me know right at the start I'm on speaker phone in your car/office and am talking to all of your back seat  friends/kids/carpool mates.
5. You have to take the call? Really have to? Excuse yourself and go out (I know it's freezing, you had to, remember?)
6. Public domain is, as its name hints: PUBLIC. Have your PRIVET conversations in PRIVET.

You are not perceived as very important when you are constantly on the phone, just an arrogant nudge. Kapish?

Stay warm and in touch:)
Sara Brown.

Happy Love Day

I know it's tomorrow, Being Jewish we celebrate the concept, so we started today.
I took Prince Charming to The Miracle Worker with the charming Abigale Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, remember?) as Helen Keller, Alison Pill as Helen's teacher, Annie Sullivan (also acted in one of the best movies ever, Dan in Real Life), and one of my favorites on House, as Helen's mother: the lovely Jennifer Morrison. The show took place in this gem of a theater, Circle in the Square, where the stage is circular, the theater small and you can see, sniff and feel the presence of the actors from every corner of it.
We later went for some coffee and Pizza (guess who ate what) and took the bus home - lot's of mother-son interactive time.

When we got home we found out there were surprises waiting for us. Father-daughter time proved to be no less exciting: Princess got her nails done (I was holding on not to do it because it is so un-educational), I got an assortment of body creams from the Body Shop, all pleasantly tried out by the house Princess, and an assortment of chocolates in flavors I really like from Godiva. In addition, I got this massager that looks like... well... it is a family blog, so I won't say, but you know what I mean...

It was all very educational really, so explained Hubby, as part of the campaign to stop Princess from sucking her royal thumb they got the NO liquid to put on the poor thumb and the nails done (highly effective reward part of the campaign).

We ended the day watching The Invention of Lying which has a great concept and a beautiful execution, plus I like Barbie like Jennifer Garner.

And the kitchen sink (had to peek) was clean. Yippee!

Feel free to tell us how you spent your Love Day!

First Snow Day

A childish joy came over us this last Wednesday as the Snow Day was announced by the schools. It caught us getting ready to go to bed, so we all jumped around for a while. Hubby anticipated the snow storm so we had some real good lamb chops for lunch - yummy!

Surprisingly enough, my kids got off screens for awhile and we all enjoyed Candy Land, Uno and Tacki - great games even when your kids bit you! We called grandma and broad-casted breaking news about the snow levels throughout the day, checked on our friends and managed to shovel a bit in the late afternoon.

Here are some photos for you:

Donald finding his way in the snow

Donald is back from the cold

Our neighbors snowy fence

The plants became snow stands

Our sunny California outdoor table became a snow cake at 9am.

Our snow cake at noon

Our snow cake gets measured at noon

Our snow cake at 2pm

Our snow cake at around 4

Our snow cake at 5

Our snow cake at 6, about 12" of snow!

Our snow man is ready and the entryway is Finlay shoveled -Hooray!

Sentence of the day: A family that shovels together, gets massages together!

Stay warm,
Sara Brown.

5 Reasons to Like Job Search

1. You meet tons of interesting contacts on the way.
2. One day all these contacts will be useful in a way you can't even imagine now.
3. You get to check yourself out once more, figure who you are at this point and what you want to do, who you want to become. It's hard yet great to do every so often.
4. You learn a lot about jobs, employment opportunities, job search and try to stay away from the Book of Job kinda' mood.
5. Suits can be awesome. We should bring dress up back, it's fun!

5 Reasons to Dislike Job Search

1. You are constantly on sale, on show, out there.
2. Cover letters are SO cumbersome.
3. Unless you've been doing the same thing for a decade (yuck) and are looking for the same exact thing again (oy), it's hard to know what's your actual everyday life will look like behind the shiny job description.
4. At school they teach you to be humble, job searching is a study in ego-inflating.
5. If you didn't get the job it's quite deflating.

Hope you found your calling, I'm still searching.
Sara Brown

Who Am I?

Good question, if I may say so myself.

It's been a week full of learning, and we still have the other half of it to go.
I decided to learn as much as I can about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), copy writing and social media, so I took some webinars, ordered some books and I'm immersing myself in this mess-of-knowledge, trying to find my Element, like sir Ken Robinson said.
With all these Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn registration forms, with job interviews and discussing me with myself behind my back, I found out some definitions are just empty shells: some 'old skins' and some are just 'for others' but don't really define ME.

So here it is, the real (yet peculiar) definitions I came up with. They fit me best, for now.

• I'm a bee. I like socializing, I'm the buffet type, I start here, than go there, or maybe that way is better... hey I'm interested in that too... a buzzing bee. With all these words stuck in one phrase you might have mistaken me for a disguised ADD, but I'm not. As bees are, I'm very organized, my hive is spotless (most days) and my file cabinet (or e-files) would have been the envy of the neighborhood, had they known or had access to it. In my family I'm The Queen Bee, of course.
• I'm a Personality Dula. I know, sounds a bit pretentious, but I am. I help people become who they are in their core. They do the searching and hard work, of course, I just stand aside and suggest, enable, facilitate, mostly soul working. I get to know people and somehow it dawns on me who they really are... most times.
• I'm a Professional Meidale. Meidale is a Yiddish word meaning 'people's person', especially older people. I was the classic 7 going on 70 and still can converse with anyone about anything as I like many different things, see Bee above.

Who are you? No, not the outside you, who are you really?

Our First Snow

It snowed yesterday. Four hours of snow and my carbs craving is aiming to hit the roof. I started a list of 'what else do we need to make it through the winter' and it gets longer and longer...
Here are some photos from this morning:

Icicles on the few bushes that managed to still have their leaves on

The girls made snow balls

Donald tries to figure out what is this white stuff and where the heck did his bathroom spot gone to?

California Dreaming

We spent 4 magical days in sunny California this week and I have mixed feelings, both happy and sad. On one hand I got to see some good friends, got reassured that our friendship knows no geographic boundaries. On the other hand, everything was too raw. With memories picking from every street corner, I didn't want to drive by our old house.
I love my friends and am sure we'll keep in touch, seeing each other here or there; but this time I really said goodbye, mentally collecting the memories and stacking them in my mind-album. I went to my favorite places, buying things, seeing and feeling them again, separating and preparing to cherish those treasured moments I've experienced there.
I discovered that it's hard separating when you don't know what awaits you on the other side, but this time I knew. I have built a new home, new friends, new treasury of favorite places here, in New Jersey and New York.
I have moved on while still loving and appreciating our old friends and experiences.
So now something in me mourns the fact that Orange County became my past, memories that will exist only as memories, moments that will not get experienced again, therefor not reassuring themselves anymore as 'life', as 'present'.

On the way back we saw the movie "Into the Storm" about Winston Churchill. I chose a few quotes of his for you:

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential."

"Difficulties mastered are opportunities won."


Stay healthy and happy,
Sara Browne.

5 Things I Like About NJ

If you are one of those people who are looking at the screen now saying: why only 5? and you can think of more, PLEASE DO ADD THEM as comments. I'd love to hear from you!

1. The ONLY time I can appreciate the 25-40mph speed limit is on a day like today, sunny and nice, as I travel (said speed limit observed) through a street shaded by big leafy trees which make for a canopy of red, orange, yellow and green above me. There's just enough breeze to have the fallen leaves ahead of me dance, skipping in the wind, saying: "Follow the yellow leaf road, follow the yellow leaf road - because because because, it's gonna get cold..."
2. I found this near by OUTLET MALL called Woodbury. In one half a day I found me the necessary bubble-wrap coat, some cool (warm) jackets, kids clothes and now I see I absolutely HAVE to get back there for shoes.
3. We are soooo close to NYC! Shellie and I made a quick unplanned trip into town yesterday, got off the bus, walked our way to MAD - Museum of Arts and Design, saw the Slash and Read My Pins exhibits and were back in time to pick up the kids!
4. OK, now I'm stack. I'm stalling. I have no more favorite so I sit here and correct the spelling of those three other items... corrected. Hmmmm...Well, we are kinda' close to Boston too...
5. Our library is magnificent. Very welcoming. Really!

Would you help me find more?

Stay warm and safe,

Sara Browne

The Food Market and Politics

It's sunny now in CA. It's rainy here. Sorry, I had to compare. My kids compare, too and that's when the Food Market begins. They discuss what he got and why, why did she get less, what will I get later and, of course, what will he get if he ate his vegetables. But she LIKES vegetables. So that's not fair. "Fair is a complexion, desired by many, true, yet a skin condition" I want to say to skip the bickering routine once and for all but no, nothing will take my kids' mind off their usual routine. Hey, who am I kidding? It's my routine too. I secretly LOVE the Food Market routine, because at a certain point in time, just after the great disappointment of whomever is not getting dessert or what they WILL get for dessert, a little bit before the usual upset of the end, they start THE FOOD MARKET. "I'll give you this if you'll share your dessert with me" says the little one, she's the brain-in-training. But the older knows better, he knows she'll work her charm and get away with much more than was bargained for and so he calculates his steps carefully. In the end they reach an agreement that would have put experienced politicians to shame, so detailed and full of nuances it is, I feel proud of my strategically conniving kids. So I sit at the dining room table and think of what we should fight about next.

A trip to The City. I watched about 4 episodes of 'what not to wear' yesterday so I'll be dressed right for the occasion. Don't want to be caught in The City without the appropriate attire - right? or: Where are Stacy and Clinton when you need them....

The guy was very interesting, seeing hair dressing as sculpting. I was in for a treat.
The song that was rolling in my slowly melting brain (very hot, very humid, occasional showers) was Janice Joplin's "Oh lord, won't you buy me..."

Oh hairdresser, won't you cut me, a textured, cute cut
one that
looks pretty in
the morning and night?

See, when I go for a haircut it's not just the maintenance that I'm looking for, it's the treat.
Sitting on that chair flipping through all the different possibilities to beautify myself. All the best versions of myself 'till now and the endless possibilities that will soon erupt from the mind of a talented, scissorhand hairdresser.

It doesn't really matter if we come to the (almost) same result every time, its those few moments of the before, with the endless possibilities floating in my mind. Of course, I need to look like a model in the end...but it's the ride that counts.

New Jersey Bugs

My baby girl is sick again. It's been the fourth time this last month and a half. We figured there's a variety of about 6 different sicknesses and she got 4 out of the 6 so either she needs two more to "collect them all" and 'gain' the whole series, or she's getting immune. I do hope it's the latter because between all the bugs, bug spray, bug bites, bugging-each-other-while-we're-at-home, boogers, tissues and other bummers - I'm bummed!
A friend sent me this link awhile ago and I saved it. I think it's very appropriate now, so here you go:
Bugging You

Enjoy!

Driving New Jersey

Right now, many happy Orange County residents are non-chalantly driving 40-85 mph in the nice 75 degrees, fair OC weather. Here on the Eastern front things are a bit different. We drive 25-40 in the screeching heat of 92 degrees. I wonder what they say about it on Mars.

We've been stopped recently, no ticket - thanks G-d - but the nice smiling cop warned us that 25 mph is the permitted speed in any residential area from here through NY and up Connecticut. I want to see the New Yorker who drives 25 mph. Probably cussing loudly all the way to his destination.
So all this time, when I thought people here are really old or really drank (hence their aggravating 25 mph driving speed), they were actually lawful citizens, aware of residential traffic laws and the cops behind those lovely green bushes...

At 25 miles per hour you can go brain dead. You can read a short article. you can put mascara on. Or open the mail. Text all your friends, breath slowly and get into a hypnotic state, interview for a job on the phone, meditate (maybe even float to the top of the steering wheel), consider vacation plans/wedding plans/your options plan if you're lucky enough to have one. At 25 mph your mind can get lost and find it's way back to another era, driving a buggy. And if it's hot like today you can slowly evaporate into your seat, dreaming of flies and horse shit.
Luckily we got home safely and I can type, 50 words per hour, no ticket in site.

Sorry to end this so abruptly (when you're on the 25 plan EVERYTHING is abrupt), I have to go Velcro my tires, it will help me keep from crossing the limit.

The City

So we joined the crowd of New York goers or as they say it here: we went to The City. Kind of familiar, close by, and yet o-so-important, The City.
All dressed up and packed light we waited, my son and I, in the station for our bus. Now we too, were amongst the important people who have business to attend in The City.
We went to The Jewish Museum and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, ate in an Italian restaurant with more waiters-in-suits than actual diners, walked 5th and Madison, and saw all those fashionable New York dwellers going about their business as if they didn't know they lived in The City.
Now, the reason I'm telling all this is because I'm actually setting stage for the real, priceless, ever so magnificent big, great moment of the day. Are you holding on? are you in full attention? Don't take your break now, listen to this:

I got a complement from my son!

We joined a tour in the Jewish Museum, my son was participating so nicely with the docent, the other visitors thought I get a paycheck at the end. They were so smitten by him that they asked him where did he learn all this knowledge from? and so he said (hold on to your chairs, take a breath, drink some water) "My mom taught me everything I know, I owe it all to her".

Some moments are just bigger than life. They are the kind truly worth living for. They fill you with love and joy. So there, you've got something to look forward to. Beware, it will catch you when you least expect it:)

New Place, New Hairdresser

I loved getting my hair done. It was my time. I'd sit there and read all the magazines I didn't make time for before, have my coffee in their nicely designed ceramic mugs, listen to Daren's funny stories and (this is the best part) would come out "looking like a princess" according to my my daughter... and me, too.
So when it came time to go get my hair and my soul their tune-up, I tried to be mindful of the choices.

I stalled. I asked people for referrals. I looked around in efforts to find curly heads, thinking that's the best referral. Eventually my roots showed so brightly I had to do it.
I went to the Little Towne salon, located smack dub in the center of Little Towne down town. My husband told me it looked clean, big, with healthy traffic.

The receptionist was nice, made an appointment for later (good, they're busy) and assigned me to their colorist (a specialist! how lovely).
I came at the appointed time, set at the waiting area and hooked up with a magazine, all happy and ready for a treat. The hairdresser (HD) came while on her way to bill the previous customer and consulted with me about my expectations and needs. Half way through she left me standing, attending to her previous customer. I could have left than. "Be patient" I said to myself.
She came back eventually, gave me a smock and we headed towards her station. The station and its surrounding were still full of hair cuttings from the previous client. "They'll soon clean it" I said to myself. "Think of it as a good sign, it means she's busy!" I thought.

I told HD how Daren (my California hairdresser, funny, professional, great with curls) did my highlights so she took her tufts-of-hair chart and aimed to match color.
The conversation was pleasant, no highlights (even though we talked about it), no foil, no heat, a different person had to stop her lunch to wash my hair - washing machine style, tried to erase all the shady spots from my forehead - old painter style, no scalp massage, yes arm pit and food odors.

When trying to blow dry my hair without a diffuser I decided to stop the experiment and go home to attempt it myself, especially when costs climbed to the almost-double-what-I-used-to-pay for the pleasure at Daren's.

My hair doesn't look awful but it doesn't look good either. It starts off with some spotted souvenirs on my forehead, the roots are my natural color and the rest of it is a careful weave of highlights, in memory of Daren Days.