Visiting with the Bogners

Ok, so I thought I would take a break from kvetching about wedding planning to get back to the fun stuff in life...talking about our trip to Israel.

When I last left off, we were headed to visit with the Bogners.

Last year when PHD went to Israel, I was most certainly jealous when he got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Treppenwitz before I got to meet them. For this trip, every list I had made of things that we absolutely had to do while we were in Israel had meeting up with them at the top. My wish was granted and we FINALLY got to spend some time with them.

We made plans to have dinner at their home. Zahava came to pick us up at the coffee shop that they met PHD at last year. This was our first opportunity to meet the little boy we have heard so many wonderful stories about...


Unfortunately for us, he was having a little schluf. (I was a little nervous he would wake up and be freaked out by the two Chinese gals in the back seat with him, but my fears were totally unfounded.)

Zahava gave us a wonderful tour of Gush Etzion complete with some history about each area she drove us through. I can't imagine that anyone could have given a better tour than she did. She most certainly could give some tour guides a run for their money. (As an added bonus she brought us to the Naot Factory Store in Kfar Etzion when I proceeded to contribute plenty of money to the Israeli economy.)

Then it was off to their home in Efrat where we got to meet the rest of the family and were treated to a delicious BBQ.


We got to hear Gili play his new guitar (and wow does he have a nice voice).

And even Yonah chimed in with the sweetest version of the Beatles' song Lady Madonna.

It was a lovely visit and one of the highlights of our trip. I feel blessed to have had this opportunity and to know this family.

A postnote: LO has talked incessantly about our trip. She mentioned that she liked it at the Bogners and that she thought, "the boy was NICE". I said, "Yeah - Yonah is cute isn't he?" She said, "Is Yonah the little boy or the big boy?" I replied, "The little boy". Her response? "Oh, he was nice but the big boy is REALLY NICE." Zahava thought Yonah might have a little crush on LO and it looks like LO has a little crush on Gili!

Here comes Bridezilla

I am thisclose to becoming Bridezilla with this whole wedding thing. Just when I think the whole wedding planning thing is under control, something comes flying out of nowhere and hits me in the face.

You may remember that we wanted a very small, very simple wedding. We would have been perfectly happy having nothing more than the required minyan to say the Sheva Brachot. And then we seemed to have gotten caught up in sharing our joy with our friends and family and very quickly, our nice little minyan blossomed in THREE minyans. And now with some guilt from assorted family members including this whole issue, we are on the verge of FORTY people.

Yes, I know that 40 people is not a lot for a wedding and I should be happy to be sharing our simcha with everyone...but I am not. This is not what we wanted.

In the end, I am sure everything will work out just wonderfully and the wedding will be beautiful. But I have to admit that now I understand why some people just run away and elope. (I'm just saying!)

Ok - breathe in, breathe out - everything will be fine.

Wishing you all a beautiful and peaceful Shabbat.

Chocolate Ice Cream

I had insomnia the other night so I went as downstairs. Of course I had to go in and check on LO because she is so darn adorable when she is sleeping. (Oh, alright, she is pretty darn adorable when she is awake too.) I kissed her on the forehead and started to leave her room. Just as I reached the door she started talking...

"Yes - I'll have some chocolate ice cream and cookies. Oh and I'll have manicotti too."

Yep - talking in her sleep....about food. That's my kid. (Guess she was having milchig!)

I need chuppah help!

Want to help me with a decision? The chuppah (which I thought would be the least of my problems) is turning out to be a bigger issue than I expected. One Rabbi has the portable poles but no tallit for it. Our Shul has free standing poles - but two are in the Rabbi's office serving as flag poles and one is broke. I can rent one for $175 but again, no tallit. So...I am in the market for a tallit.

Yes, I am kicking myself for not buying one while we were in Israel. However, I found www.tallis-n-tefillin.com where I will be able to purchase one at a reasonable cost. The man who owns the site is in Ft. Lauderdale (so this is basically local) and he has been very kind in answering all my questions. Here's my problem...I'm at a loss of what to buy.

I know what you're thinking, I should ask PHD. Well, I did. He thought we should borrow one from a friend but I don't want to be responsible for someone's tallit. I am too worried about ruining it as we would use the tzitzit to tie the tallit to the poles. He also thought of using an Israeli flag. While I love Israel as much as he does, I think this is tacky. I could go to the fabric store, buy some fabric and make one (since I am crafty that way) but to be honest, I have too many other things to worry about without adding a sewing project in. So...I am going to buy one despite the fact that PHD thinks I shouldn't spend the money on something we will use only once. (I told him we should be glad we would use it only once and that I would save whatever we bought and give it to LO when she gets married so she doesn't have to go on this search.)

So...pretty please with sugar on top, help me choose...white with white stripes? white with blue stripes? white with black stripes? Want to pick for me? I'll be your best friend. Have a better idea? I'm all ears.

Yes, I'm frazzled with all this wedding planning. But I am thankful to G-d that my biggest problem of the moment is that I can't decide what color tallit our chuppah should be. We should all only know of such problems, right?

Hope this finds you all enjoying the meat-free, dirty laundry days. :)