Don't Pretzel My Buttons

And don't think I'm so clever, either: it's the name of the OPI nail polish I just got.  Kudos to the witty nail polish color writers.  Takes on a whole new definition of Hallmark card writer.  It was Concealed Light, Levi and I at the nail salon.

CL was such a great helper with the baby and reminded me of Miriam in this week's Torah portion, Exodus (Shnmot in Hebrew) who was a midwife and helped out her own mother as well.  Okay okay my daughter isn't quite catching babies as they exit the womb, but she did hold my baby while I was getting the mani.  

Coco, the ever chic Korean proprietor of my nail salon, questioned if it was ok that my 10 year old was holding him.  Clearly she didn't know that Jewish girls (and boys in my home) are employed at a young age to assist in childcare!  Let me give credit where credit is due and say that Coco was also an awesome helper.  She held Levi while I was getting my pedi and Concealed Light was getting her manicure.

Ultimately it was because of Miriam's prophecy that she and her mother Yocheved cared for, in secret, the Jewish baby boys, and saved the entire Jewish people.

Go girl power right from the start.

Like the color?

What's a Whole Phamily blog post without some music.  So, enjoy Bob Marley's Exodus," have a great Shabbes and enjoy your manicure if you got one this week!

Bottega Veneta can be Hippy Chic

Or, in Case You Thought I Was a Card-Carrying Hippy Chick...

My mother has good taste.  She told me about Bottega Veneta when I was a young girl, and when their store opened in our mall she told me that it was a fine place to shop for handbags.  I am so grateful to my mother for planting the seeds of the finest of taste.

Only recently have I learned about the company's history and the workmanship that goes into each piece.  That's what you get for reading The New Yorker.  No, I can't post a link to the great article, as Conde Nast is highly protective of their Intellectual Property.  Ya know what, good for them!

Bottega's classic butter-soft leather woven bags have a distinctive look which has been copied many times over.  You know the look, but you just don't know that it's Bottega.  These bags are the ultimate understated elegance.  One need simply only to say Bottega and nothing else.  No flashy labels, no flashy logos, no flashy nothing.  Their artisans, working out of a small town in Italy, are trained and apprenticed to hand-craft their bags.

Indeed, their company motto is "When your own initials are enough."

I don't want a Kelly bag.
I don't want a classic quilted Chanel bag.
Louis Vuitton totes?  So passe!
One day I would love a big ole Bottega.

Advertisement from back of  a recent New York Magazine 

 I was blown away to see the above ad.  Just as my 5th grade teacher taught me, if the ad is on the back of the magazine you know it's important.  Check out how they are making home furnishings now.  And look at that pillow.  I'd take just the pillow alone!

Last spring I had the opportunity to visit their Manhattan store on 5th Avenue.  What a lovely ambience.  Some older women were in there buying Bottega luggage.  As if!

Take a guess as to who now owns the Bottega company?

Gucci.

How Bout Dem Apples?

Earlier this fall I went into Ezra's class to do a taste test of various types of apples with the first graders.  I brought in Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji and Braeburn (note my executive decision to capitalize the Names of the Apples).  I got the idea because in a conversation with Ezra, the Wolfman's Brother, I realized he didn't know that there were different kinds of apples.  Plus I wanted to find a reason to do something in his class.  It's good when your mama comes into your class to do something.  In 1982 or so my friend Rachel's mother came in to my 3rd grade class to make something called moon bars.  It coincided with a Space Shuttle launch.  They were yummy and chocolatey.  And then my classmate Marlene's mother came and made what was called ambrosia.  It coincided with nothing.  It was coconutty with oranges and marshmallows.  It was gross.

Surprisingly the kids chose Granny Smith as their overall favorite. I thought it would be Honeycrisp.  A little boy named David, one of Ezra's friends with a huge head of black curly hair, was wearing green that day.  He kept wanting more Granny Smith.  He was even wearing a green kipa.  It was so funny!  Coincidence or not?  Who knows.

  And now I can declutter by posting a photo of the lovely thank you note from the class.  I especially love how Nate, a soft spoken boy with light brown curly hair, signed his name.  First grade is so sweet and Ezra is fortunate to have Mrs. Laytin as his teacher.