It's a Good Thing

Today I went to a taping of the Martha Stewart show. It took us only a few minutes to get there, the studio is in Chelsea. The studio was ice-cold, our teeth were chattering by the end of the show! Martha looked pretty dowdy and was pretty snooty. I have to say it was kind of boring, the show was on keeping stress low and doggy yoga, along with a dog behaviorist. Hmmm..... We got some Frederic Fekkai shampoo and some other minor give-aways, nothing major. But for as low-key as it ended up being, I definitely am signing up to do it again- maybe I'll be there for a whole show on chocolate. 

Fighting off Winter Blues with a Stick

It's official, it's winter. I'm cold, I'm anxious, I'm depressed. I miss the sunshine. Whereas we normally get the sun streaming into our apartment during the day, we have not felt the rays on our faces until today. Don't get me wrong, we've had sunny days, they've just been so dreadfully cold that you don't look up. We go to school, piano, ice-skating, the store, with our heads buried in our scarves, our hands shoved in our pockets, our cheeks numb to the cold. I know we don't live in Canada, sure, but in all my running around with my kids I am constantly aware of Mother Nature's mood swings, and she's been pretty bitchy lately. (Am I allowed to say that?) 

It's finally affected my mood (obviously), and I find myself sleepy, cranky, and screaming inside my head. This happens every year, this year is just a little more intense than usual. But if I didn't know it was because of the weather I'd be going crazy. So instead I just don't answer the phone, lay low socially, forgive myself for fixing eggs for dinner, and try to exercise as much as possible. I'll feel like I need to jump off a bridge, but then I remember that it's only Winter, March will come, and like the talk I give myself during that last mile I'm running, I say, 'you can do this. this will not kill you- this will be over soon.' 

So anyway today wasn't too terribly cold- a reprieve before we dip to the 20s again. All 5 of us had almost a spring in our step as we hit the end of cold, gray, sun-sheltered Warren Street, looked up and down Church Street, and felt the sun in our eyes. We can do this. March will come. 

(And really, I'll get my sunshine fix sooner than that: We leave for Arizona in 2 weeks. For 5 days we'll get some high-quality Vitamin D, we'll be spoiled by Grandma, and we'll get to cut down on the packs of second-hand smoke we breathe. WE CAN'T WAIT!)

La-La-La-La-London

London had her recital. She played Vivaldi's 'Spring'. We were proud of her. She takes lessons down the street at Church Street Music School, ironically located on Warren Street. :)

Phoenix Suns visit the Whitings in NYC!

Jason and I went with some friends to the Suns/Knicks game thanks to our respective employers. It was at Madison Square Garden, which was fun. Our friend Rob had a pair of tickets courtside, so for the first half his wife and I sat there while the boys got something to eat upstairs in the restaurant. We loved being so close to the players. I could have thrown my Cracker Jacks at Shaquille O'Neil, but given the surrounding company and my aim, I decided against it and ate them instead. 

Then for the second half all four of us sat in Jason's tickets, behind the basket. I was into the game by now, cheering a ton because the score was neck and neck the whole time. If there was going to be any throwing of food it was going to be towards me, by all the Knicks fans around us! A great date night. Suns lost though. :(

Hudson Plane Crash

As I left for the gym tonight I could see the flashing lights of the boats on the Hudson

Daisy and her dancing...

It was Parent Observation Week at Daisy's ballet school, and so I got actually allowed into the inner sanctum that is Daisy's ballet class. The teacher lovingly but firmly runs a tight ship, so if parents distract, the door is closed and we don't see them until they appear all smiley at the end of class. So today was an unusual day. I loved watching her.

One of the benefits of being in New York is that her dance class takes place at the nationally renowned Joffrey Ballet, located in the West Village. But after the 'hey, that's cool!' wears off, it is just your average ballet studio with an amazing teacher and peeling paint. We like it, and most importantly, Daisy likes it.

This is how they move around the class - in a little train. It's such a cute group of kiddos.

Circle time is important, and also each child gets to do their own dancing.

Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Legos...

McAllister and I went on a date on Saturday, to (blech) Times' Square's Toys 'R Us. Should be renamed 'Crowds 'R Us', but I'll do anything for my boy! He's the slowest to transition to the move, so these dates are important. We went to Toys R Us to add a very small accessory to his Lego Indiana Jones things- he LOVES Legos, LOVES building them with his dad. The precision and attention matches his personality. 

We had a good time, I even got him to pose with Geoffrey, the freaky Toys 'R Us giraffe, even though he still can't stand fake mascot-y animal-y things. We learned that at Disney when the only person he would stand next to was Buzz Lightyear. All the other Disney characters he wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. That's our boy!

It's a Londonberry Jam

Last Friday night London and I had an opportunity to go to our school auditorium and be taught by Alvin Ailey Dance Teachers. For those who don't know Alvin Ailey, it was the first African-American dance company founded in the U.S. in the 1950's. On a Saturday last October, Jason and I actually took the kids to the 50th Anniversary Alvin Ailey Block Party in Midtown. They were giving away tickets to a one-hour production of the Alvin Ailey Dance company, which included such amazing original works:  Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham, and my favorite, 'Fix Me, Jesus'. As a former dancer, the interpretation of the words of often-overlooked 200-year old 'Negro Spirituals', created while enduring slavery but still exuding amazing faith and hope in God, actually made me weep. I embarassed my kids I was clapping so loud (just a little life-changing, but I digress....). So needless to say, I jumped at the chance for London and I to do this little class.

We got to learn an African dance and a Hip-hop dance. She actually was concerned I would embarrass her, and just like the first time I got "ma'am-ed", I knew my life will never be the same because a new element of getting older had been added! But she and I both had a great time, mostly because it was nothing like ballet, a dance medium she's grown to despise after a series of less-than-stellar experiences with ballet teachers. I guess that's where Daisy might come in?