WELCOME GRAYSON MICHAEL!!!

Here he is...All new and born and ready to take on the world!

The proud parents of little Grayson. Congrats you guys!!

Thanks again Maria and Andres!

I love Ecuadorian cheese and chocolate... :-)

Thank you JMo, Fio and the House folks

Certain Girls have arrived!

From one of my favorite authors...Just got the book yesterday so I haven't started it yet but I can't wait to read it.

Greetings from Philadelphia!

Not much to report from here. Nope. A nice, quiet, peaceful…oh, yeah! I had another baby!
I actually didn’t forget about her, but Phoebe Pearl, born November 30, 2007, is a remarkably low-key and unobtrusive baby, who is smiley and tranquil and can be amused for hours on end by her thumb (which I have to assume she gets from me…if you substitute Rock of Love for “her thumb,” we are basically the same person, only I’m much bigger, and with hair).In the year leading up to Phoebe’s birth, I was engaged in the act of prognostication, imagining what it would be like to be the mother of a thirteen-year-old daughter on the verge of her bat mitzvah. That’s the situation Cannie Shapiro of GOOD IN BED finds herself experiencing in CERTAIN GIRLS, the sequel, which is hitting the stores today.

As a writer, the moments that interest me most are the moments of transition, the instant when a character’s life is on the verge of breaking apart, and then re-forming in a new and interesting way. I always knew I wanted to write a sequel to GOOD IN BED…and I always knew I didn’t want that sequel to pick up six weeks later and have Cannie dealing with slightly updated versions of the same woes that plagued her in the first book (another dating disaster, another diet).

I wanted to write about Cannie as a mother. I wanted to see what kind of girl Joy grew up to be; how the events of her birth and her mother’s history affected her. I wanted to write about a marriage, and have Cannie, through her husband’s prompting, have to answer the questions that you deal with not when you’re looking for Mr. Right but after you’ve found him: whose definition of happiness prevails in a partnership? At what point does comfort become stagnation? At what moment is holding still motivated less by contentment than by fear? If I had to describe CERTAIN GIRLS in a single phrase, I’d tell you that it’s a coming of age story. It’s the story of Joy preparing for her bat mitzvah and her entry into Jewish adulthood, while navigating the shoals of early adolescence; and it’s the story of Cannie, as she deals with her problematic past, her rebellious daughter, and the big question of what, exactly, her happy ending will look like.
On the lighter side, I also was lucky enough to attend a number of bar and bat mitzvahs as research, to see what the services and parties are like these days, and to meet some really delightful 13-year-olds and their families.

I enjoyed writing it. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it. I hope that, if you live in New York or Philadelphia, you’ll make it to one of my readings (I’m doing a little tiny tour this time, on account of the little tiny baby), and that you’ll continue to check back on my weblog for an ongoing account of the writing life, the baby stuff.

As always, thanks for reading…and enjoy CERTAIN GIRLS.

THANK YOU Aras!

Aras came for a visit tonight and brought over a homemade cake. Thank you A!! We do love you and miss you.

Welcome Makenna!

that's a cute one...

I have learned...

"You should not have crazy friends...but sane and uplifting friends."
-- Anne Sexton

BeFrie Strikes Again!

Now that's funny even in Guatemala!

Zola & Zahria are here!

(replaced photo the next day)

Twin baby girls are now theirs! Can't wait to meet them...Then, I'll actually have a better picture.

RoWi didn't want me to take a photo of her the other day when I visited her in the hospital.

Instead, we enjoyed our pre-baby Thai food lunch.

Yummy time!

Thanks So and good friends!

So and her crying baby and his cute little feet

The Story of Cyana and her father Scyllias

The First Diver

The Story of Cyana and her father Scyllias or Skyllias dates back to 500 B.C.They were working as divers for the Persian king Xerxes to recover sunken treasure.Because Xerxes was on war with Greeks he made them prisoners and would not let them stop work and go back to their homeland.That's why during a violent storm at night, Cyana and Xerxes dove into the sea and cut the anchor ropes of the entire persian fleet that went banging against rocks and sunk.Then they swam back to the Greeks and were welcomed as heroes with a statue in front of the Delph Temple.

This story was told to Alexander the Great by one of his lieutnant named Neark.Hérodotus told his story around 484-45 B.C.

Love to my Jax Family

Visiting the Village

Today, I went for a tour of Give Kids the World...Never heard of it? Well, this place is absolutely amazing. From the moment I walked into the House of Hearts all the way to the end where I got to sit and have ice cream in the Ice Cream Palace. This is a special place that you can learn more about at http://www.gktw.org/.

Wave to the Nursery

Thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Photogenic who is also known as Mr. and Mrs. SUPER SWEET for coming over and helping us get the waves on the baby's room. We're getting closer to finishing the nursery every day. I don't know how we would've done it without you Maria!

TJ comes to visit!

Happy Easter!

Mock Sushi featured on the CRUFT Blog

I so want to make this sushi. I think I can figure it out even though I am not handy in the kitchen. Seriously, you don't want me in there unless it's to clean it up.

new mommy alert

So grateful!

Thanks all for a beautiful evening with great friends and good food!

Joy in my life!

Be Frie and her little Baby J. arrived in Orlando on Friday morning.

We had a wonderful day shopping and visiting friends. So happy she is here!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday Chinese Style!

Mr. Wonderful called some friends to gather for dinner and cake.

Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special! I enjoyed all of it!!!