Waiting for Ruby

Downtown Picnic Lunch

Dear Ruby,

It was a bootiful beautiful day for a picnic! I won't drive downtown, so I rode the bus in to meet Dad for a picnic lunch. Did I feel silly taking a picnic basket on the bus? Well, I didn't care what people thought,but I did feel uncomfortable about people staring. It is Halloween,after all, so there are plenty of strange people out, but then again,there are always strange people on the bus!

It was for the greater good of the day. After all,to experience a true picnic you need the old school basket and the works. We even had a little bouquet of daisies that the boy I babysit for brought me yesterday! He's such a charmer.

I picked up some delicious spinach and jack cheese perogies from a best-of-Philly-award-winning perogie kitchen right down the street from us. 

A ladybug landed on Dad's sleeve when we were about to leave. In many cultures, including China's,they believe it brings good luck if a ladybug lands on you and flies away on it's own. Good luck,we could use a little of that! So many things make us think of you,little Ruby. One day you will ride into the city with me,and the three of us will have a picnic during Dad's lunch hour. I dream about it often.

Love,

Mom

When we travel with water,we always use a SIGG bottle-they are the best- and if we pack sandwiches or certain snacks-we use reusable fabric wraps. Check out these products and even more green stuff here:

http://www.reusablebags.com/

Irish Soda Bread

When I paint my paintings, I listen to soulful music by David Gray, Ben Harper,and Damien Rice. But when I bake, I like to dance around the kitchen, especially to Justin Timberlake.Today I was shakin', and a bakin' Irish soda bread.

What you will need:

• 3 cups organic flour
• 2 cups organic raisins
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup Smart Balance butter spread
• 1/3 cup organic raw sugar
• 1 egg-beaten
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar,and salt together. Blend the egg and buttermilk together, then add it to the flour mixture. Mix just until moist. Stir in butter.Lastly, fold the raisins into the mix. Pour into 9.5 baking pan. Bake for 65-70 minutes. Wrap overnight and enjoy the next day for best flavor!

Babette!

Heavenly clothes for heavenly girls,this is the motto of my friend Geeta Patel's Babette! line that she sells through ebay. She makes custom leather shoes and hair clips, and sews one of a kind confections for tiny girls to wear for portraits, birthday parties, or any other time that a special outfit is desired. Many women sell their handmade creations on ebay, but Geeta's work is in a league of it's own. Ebay buyers spend staggering amounts of money on overdone ensembles that are plagued with frills, ruffles, and print upon print. Babette! is sophisticated yet still playful enough not to be mini-women's wear. She believes that all little girls are beautiful and that beauty should be accented,not covered up. I couldn't agree more. Her new listings, Tattered Beauty, can be found on ebay by searching theblossoms. If you want to learn more about Geeta,and to see past designs, click on the me icon next to her ebay user ID to read her About me page. 

Davina Zagury Feinberg

I really loved the story behind this children's art photographer's series of photographs of vintage toys. She came upon an abandoned tricycle in Israel and wondered about the child who had once owned it. She then realized that there were many lost toys out in the world-toys that had an interesting history,hold wonderful stories,and lived in far away places. "I decided their inner beauty and timeless playfulness needed to be captured in photography and framed-It was time for them to belong to others in a different way"-Davina Zagury Feinberg

To see more of the artist's work :

http://www.modernchild.net/index2.php?cid=45

I am an elephant

   

I am an elephant. An elephant's gestation period is the longest of any land animal at 22 months. My husband, Ron, and I sent our dossier to China in August 2006(our log in date). It will currently be 22 months from our log in date, until we receive our referral. We have been waiting 15 months for our daughter, who we've named Ruby. Hopefully, we will only have to wait 7 more months. The China adoption process has continued to lengthen, taking a month longer every month. I want to make something great out of this wait, so I started a blog about what I am doing while I wait. I love to draw, paint, sew cute little things, and try new recipes.