In America, many things can use a serious rebranding. A few notables: marriage, step parents, and my favorite, cat ladies! Exhibit one: Beth Stern. Exhibit two: Taylor Swift. Exhibit three: More hot famous ladies with their felines. I only fell in love with cats two years ago, which means I missed out for 39 years. Two years ago, my two kids and I decided we … Continue reading “I’m a Cat Lady” Club
A library is a museum of books; a shrine to literature. It is more accessible than a museum and always free to enter. It is far less elitist the a museum: a poorly written book could exist on the shelf next to best-seller. Obviously the greatest aspect of the library: borrow books (up to 50 at a time!), enjoy them at your leisure (in the … Continue reading “I Heart the Library” Club
The Mamas & the Papas sang about it. So did Aerosmith. Dream a little dream of me. Dream on. In modern America, #LiveYourDream is on billboards, shopping bags, t-shirts, mugs, and in combinations of status updates, tweets, and Instagram memes. A blinking mantra of our time; we love to share quotes and we love for them to be inspiring, but how often do we practice … Continue reading “I Don’t Have a Dream” Club
I don’t remember the first show I saw on (or off-)Broadway which ingrained the love of theater in me but I don’t remember not LOVING it. This week, I finally saw Book of Mormon. It had been the anniversary gift my husband and I had been promising to one another for five years. It was everything I hoped it would be and more; the funnier … Continue reading “I Love Theater” Club
I am not a ballerina, even though I have the perfect name for one. Girls typically start dance classes in grade school, but we were new Soviet immigrants living in the projects, and we saved the dancing for parties at Russian restaurants. At one point, somewhere between age 6 and 13, I passive-aggressively mentioned to my mother how I never got dance lessons even though … Continue reading “I’m Not a Ballerina” Club
I’m not good at picking places to meet – for coffee, for dinner, or to exchange artwork and catch up with a friend I haven’t seen in real life for 25 years. When my husband drags us along, completing his travel-based project across the country on 2-week road trips, it falls on me to find places to eat along the way. Thank the technology wizards … Continue reading “Don’t Ask Me To Pick a Place to Meet” Club
On Valentine’s Day, my family visited my 87-year-old grandmother. My five-year-old daughter wanted to dress up. She donned a dress with a sparkly heart top and a tutu skirt. She asked me to do her hair with the curling wand (she saw me using it earlier). Then she took my brush and put on some blush and some red (!) lipgloss. I also let her … Continue reading “I Tell My Daughter She’s Beautiful” Club
When I first created HeartsEverywhere.com, I wanted a catchy name for a blog I could use as a writing platform. The name came obviously and easily. Deep in love, I discovered hearts everywhere, which exploded all around me alongside Twitter and Facebook. Throughout the year, I sought out reinforcing signs from the universe yearning for the reasons and explanations. I was so uncertain of myself, … Continue reading “Hearts Still Find Me” Club
Skepticism is my natural inclination, my snap-judgement dial glued to the default: doubt. You may think I’ve developed this slightly pragmatic, partially dubious character over time, but I’m quite sure I was born this way. I began speaking at nine months, and by a year, I “spoke in full sentences,” according to my mother. I must have received a shitload of applause for my precocious … Continue reading “I’m a WYSIWYG Girl” Club
I truly started to value the shower 13 years ago when my son was born. As a new mom, my hierarchy of responsibilities and time management had endured an earthquake and luxuries such as bathing ended up very low on the priorities list. Of course, this was completely counter-intuitive, because what I needed more than anything was 15 minutes of solitude for more than just … Continue reading “The Shower is my Temple” Club
Steve Harvey recently said that everyone is given a gift and to really succeed in life, you have to jump.” It was an inspirational 6-minute pep talk, but it left me thinking, “What is MY gift?” I really need to figure this out at 41 so I can jump already. My husband says I have many gifts, and unfortunately therein lies part of the problem. … Continue reading “I Have Career ADD” Club
The winter before my marriage ultimately crumbled, my husband and I went to a movie, for the first time in two years since our son was born. It was a gorgeous night and we saw Garden State at Lincoln Center and walked home. I enjoyed the movie and thoroughly loved the soundtrack; so much so that I was singing it out-loud, almost skipping in my … Continue reading “I Have an Ex-Husband” Club
Choosing Me feels selfish. It causes intense guilt that never really goes away. Mothers are supposed to be martyrs, not egotistical. But Choosing Me has always moved my life forward. While it wasn’t always the easiest choice, ultimately Choosing Me equaled choosing happiness. When I was 15 and I used sun-in in my hair because my mother didn’t let me color it, I chose me. … Continue reading “I Chose Me” Club
When I started this blog, I had the intention of posting photos of hearts I discovered in my path and creating a forum for strangers around the world to share their heart discoveries with me. However, the blog has long ago become a words-dominated forum. I, on the other hand, continue to find hearts – and they find me. Last year, even in the midst … Continue reading I Doodle Hearts
My son turns 10 years old today, and while he celebrates turning double digits, the celebration is essentially all mine. Growing up, on my birthday, all my parents’ friends used to call and “Congratulate” them on my birthday. I thought it was a stupid Russian thing; “It’s MY birthday – they get their own day.” But after I made it through the first year of … Continue reading A Decade of Motherhood
I haven’t blogged in over a year. I just got annoyed at the whole internet, at social networking, at sharing my life with anyone. I just got disinterested. I wanted my life to myself; a private celebrity if only in my own mind, wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses and avoiding the media. I hated my blog; every single thing about it. I was in … Continue reading A One Year Hiatus … But Who Even Missed Me? Maybe Just Me …
Will someone please nominate me for What Not to Wear? I have been in a major style rut for the last 18 months. When I first lost my job, with it also went the obligation to “dress up.” (But truthfully I wasn’t so upset about that.) Then I got pregnant – and for the nine months I spent hovering over or around a toilet, I … Continue reading I’m in a [I don’t work a corporate job] Style Slump
After my cousin had twins 4 months to the day after I had my baby girl, we were comparing gifts. Kind of like, “How many baby blankets? What’s the most hideous outfit?” Finally I ask, “How many baby books did you get?” She says, “What do you mean “baby books?” You mean How to Expect: The First Years?” No, I clarify, “Like a book for … Continue reading Do You Baby Book?
Last week I decided it was finally time to color my hair. It had been months that the tufts of gray on my temples were bothering me. With the baby, I was always putting my hair up in a ponytail and the clown-like, white bunches weren’t funny anymore (no, they never really were). Most people said they didn’t notice the gray – until I pointed … Continue reading Dying My Hair
It’s been a full week since I’ve completed the NaBloPoMo challenge. I did it for the whole 28 days, just like I did two years ago. There were things I liked about the challenge – and obviously things that annoyed me. Most of what annoyed me was that I found myself sitting at the laptop around 9:30pm every evening saying, “Shit, I have to blog” … Continue reading 28 Days of Writing Followed By a Week of Nothing
It was the perfect night – as we knew it would be. The evening was exactly what this couple needed to celebrate their 6-year-anniversary. After careful consideration, we decided on an evening that was typical for us. We went to our usual sushi place in Union Square – and instead of going to see King’s Speech, even though I knew it would win the Oscar, … Continue reading Anniversary Night Recap
Even though we sometimes sneer at other people’s Facebook status when they sound like romantic, corny saps – we both posted something in today’s status. I think it says it all – even if we did say it to each other in witness of hundreds of people, most of whom only exist as “friends” on the virtual ‘book. This holiday, as special as it is, … Continue reading Six Years Ago Today
Tomorrow will be six years since the day I met my love. We’ve spoken about it for the last few weeks – “can you believe it’s six years since the day that changed our lives forever?” We wanted to go to a nice dinner; my sister is babysitting – but none of the restaurants that made the “best of” lists seemed to get either of … Continue reading Six Years Ago Tomorrow
Sometimes I sit down to write when I have a few minutes in between the running here or there. Many times I think I’m going to have enough time to write something comprehensive, but often times I have a paragraph or two written in a Word document – and keep it open for days. More times than not, I forget where I was going with … Continue reading Love is Life
I never imagined what it would be like to have a little girl. When I was pregnant the first time 9 years ago I knew from the minute I got pregnant it was a boy – not because we had a sonogram to tell us – and not because my belly looked like a boy – but because I just knew that I would be … Continue reading The Baby Girl and Her Barrettes
It took me years to be proud of being Russian. (Growing up in American during the Cold War will do that to a girl.) I came to this country over 30 years ago when I was just shy of 5 years old. I remember very little from the “old country,” but few things still give me a great sense of nostalgia. As I’ve grown older … Continue reading I Heart Cheburashka
On this first spring-like day in 2011, we meandered through my favorite place in NYC: Central Park. It was 67 degrees and all the leftover blizzard snow created muddy pathways, but it was gorgeous. Couples lingered on benches eating lunch; runners circled the reservoir, and we strolled our 8-month-old under the still-bare trees. After a few hours, we made our way downtown and decided to … Continue reading Central Park, Carnegie Deli, Times Square
Today was one of those days when I was extra tired. My feet felt heavier, my arms hung lower and my eyelids downright drooped. Luckily the sunshine made the driving to and from Riverdale easier. We went to bed extraordinarily late last night. We pretended that we didn’t have a baby that will wake us at 6:00am and we pretended that I wouldn’t have to … Continue reading Today Was One of Those Days
Many of people hate Valentine’s Day – and I’m sure there are plenty of reasons. Here are some you may have heard: “It’s a Hallmark-created holiday to fuel the economy.” “I don’t need a holiday to tell my honey how much I love him. I love him every day.” “It’s a holiday to make us single people feel bad.” “It’s too much pressure and it … Continue reading For all the Valentine’s Day Haters
French toast is one of my specialties, so when my sister said she was coming for brunch on Saturday, it was a no-brainer. I make my French Toast ONLY out of challah bread. Usually, though, I buy the bread. This time, when I realized that the Fresh Direct challah rolls were going to cost me $10 worth of bread, I thought, can’t I just make … Continue reading Making Challah
Today was cleaning day. In its honor, I am posting one of my favorite animated movie clips – from Toy Story 2. Where Woody gets restored to perfect. Now who wouldn’t want a magic man like this one knocking on your door to bring everything back to new? Continue reading Cleaning Day – Ode to Toy Story 2
I went backwards in life with my money making. Now that I’m in my 30’s, I live very much hand-to-mouth, relying on the man in my life for much financial support. This was not so in my 20’s, when I was making a steady paycheck and spending whatever I wanted on almost anything I wanted (within reason, of course). I don’t buy for myself now … Continue reading Having Faith in Life
Mackenzie turned 8 months old today and to celebrate, she got up an hour early – but compensated with a late nap. After returning from my drive to pick up Jake at school in Riverdale I found the girl still sleeping at 5pm. Strange for someone who goes to bed around 6:30pm. I was excited at the prospect at dinner out with the whole family. … Continue reading Celebrating 8 Months with Pizza (Is There a Better Way?)
I’m a girl whose raising a boy. He’s six now; I’m 34. How can I control the programming for a gender for which I hold no code? I want to sculpt him into a good man. I want to make him tough enough to take the punches and emotional enough to cry when they hurt. I want him to be aware of his happiness first … Continue reading A Girl Raising a Boy: What I Want for My Son
This morning, my two kiddos decided to have a pillow fight. OK, one of them decided and truthfully it was kind of one-sided. In fact, baby’s dad wasn’t really on her side, as you can see in the video below. This lasted for over 10 minutes, but I figure these 40-seconds were enough to get a smile on anyone’s face. The best part is that … Continue reading Super Bowl Sunday Pillow Fight
The blog is called Hearts Everywhere but it had been a while since I had posted anything heart-related. I was having a crisis of blog identity; I wondered if my blog title no longer fit my blog. As a band-aid for my doubt/guilt, my boyfriend suggested I take one day a week and post something heart-related. (If you want to read why I started my … Continue reading Bringing Back the Hearts
Growing up in a donut shop – and in a family where both my grandmothers were bakers, dessert has always had a leading role in my life. I love baking, but ironically don’t enjoy many baked goods. My favorite dessert – or food for that matter – is ice cream. I eat ice cream on most nights – and often add embellishments. On this particular … Continue reading Blog-Worthy Dessert
I will remember this January as the one with all the snowstorms that didn’t really affect me much. (I had to drive in it once – but somehow didn’t mind; I grabbed my camera and got some good photos on the way.) I felt terrible for the rest of the country, but got annoyed at all the Facebook weather updates and the photos of the … Continue reading I Will Remember this January
My boyfriend and I are the type of couple, which up until our daughter was born 7 months ago, would be out at least 4 nights a week. (Not necessarily partying, but always out soaking up the greatest city in the world.) However, since her birth in June, we have been out alone on only 3 separate occasions. Once when we went to see the … Continue reading The 6-Hour Date Night and the Screenplay that Wasn’t
We threw a surprise party for my sister this weekend. It was the second time we were able to do this; the last time being 18 years ago. My goal, on her 30th birthday, was to make sure she realized she was not # 2. She has gone through life doing everything after me – and with a big mouth, a matching personality, and a … Continue reading My Sister’s Surprise Party & The Year of the Family
Driving is fun – when you live in the city and don’t get ample opportunity to hit the open road. Driving is not fun when you have to drive your 8-year-old son to school and back – through Manhattan traffic – three times a week. If it was just in one direction – it would be tolerable. But on Mondays and Tuesdays, I have to … Continue reading Finding Bliss in Driving
I’m not one of those bloggers that publishes stream of consciousness writing. You know what I mean … more like journal writing or ranting. Not much for sentence structure or even direction. Just trying to type fast enough to keep up with the words my brain is spitting out. In theory, it could go something like this: I woke up this morning and my eyelids … Continue reading Stream of Consciousness Blogging: Can I Do It?
As long as he’s been able to speak, my 8-year-old has been philosophizing, rationalizing and challenging me. He’s not just precocious – he’s insightful, kind and caring. I knew it was just a matter of time before he said something that completely paralyzed my normally loquacious tongue. We were passively watching David Turtera’s “My Fair Wedding,” and the boy asks me, “If you had a … Continue reading One Order of Happily Ever After, Hold the Marriage
On a recent morning as I was driving my 8-year-old to school, I noted that the usually congested West Side Highway was rather empty. “Look how good the traffic is today,” I said excitedly. Without missing a beat, he comes back with, “Hey, don’t jinx it!” I noticed this had become a trend and I wondered if I was partially to blame. How often … Continue reading Don’t Jinx It:Russian Style
The boyfriend is sick with the stomach virus and sleeping in bed. The baby naps in a room down the hall. The older boy is at his father’s house. The house is still and eerily dark. It could be the middle of the night, but it is just shy of 2pm. It is silent except for my nails clicking of the keyboard and the white … Continue reading On the Edge of 2011
I wrote this over 6 weeks ago and rereading it, so much has changed – especially the ROCKING, which is gone, gone, GONE! Sleep training is a tremendous gift parents can give their children and themselves. I cannot say enough about it – and because it’s such a personal issue, I won’t. I’ll just say that it has revolutionized our baby-centered lives. I am preempting … Continue reading And So the Days Go By …
So it all started when I got fired and I realized I didn’t want to just another rebound job, falsely following another golden paycheck. Truth is money never turned me on; all I really wanted to do was write, travel and take photos along the way. This was, as my boyfriend clarified, called “my dream.” (He is a role model for anyone who doubts they … Continue reading A New Look, An Old (Refreshed) Commitment
From Hearts Everywhere Week 2 was easier since we were based in one place (Bar Harbor cottage). I highly recommend staying in a rental rather than a hotel when traveling with children. A separate bedroom for parents and children and a kitchen go a long way towards maintaining sanity and recreating any semblance of the much-needed routine they crave. Reading back on my notes in … Continue reading Summer Vacation: Week 2 – MAINE
So it took me two weeks of detox to finally go through pictures and find the strength to post notes from our vacation. [Note – that if 2 weeks seems long, I still have not posted notes or photos from last year’s 10-state in 10-day road trip. That trip was sans children and had 5 times the amount of photos. I still haven’t given up … Continue reading Summer Vacation – Week 1: NEW HAMPSHIRE
So it’s my birthday and we spent the day packing for our two-week road trip through New Hampshire and Maine. It will be mommy, daddy, 8-year-old boy and 2-month-old baby girl. On the road. Together. 2 weeks. I feel brave, excited, nervous and slightly crazy all in one. Here’s the plan – and what will happen is yet to be determined: Rent car in Jersey … Continue reading Getting Ready for the 2-Week Road Trip
HeartsEverywhere 