Inauguriffic!

I get to post every time I participate in something historic, so this is it. Mehrsa took one for the team and stayed home from President Obama's inauguration with the kids. I took some of the young men from our ward, Gerson, Ashani, and Eddie, and was accompanied by Sunny. Everyone had permission slips, even Sunny.



We went down to DC early Monday morning and we saw a few sights, were warned of the Judgment Day, took in a gallery, and in general filled the tank on high-octane Obama-mania.











We stayed the night with Andy and Bethany Spalding (THANKS AGAIN) and they had a few of their YM over for ice cream and games. The boys decided we should wake up at 4:30am in order to beat the rush on the mall in the morning of the inauguration. We woke up at 4:30, but we didn't beat any rush.

The streets were packed with 2 million ticketless people jockeying for prime positioning. We all soon learned that there was none to be had and settled on the mall. We made it up to the third jumbo-tron just as the first lights of morning were creeping over the capitol.







It was really cold and we had several hours to wait still. We sat and eventually laid in the dirt trying to keep warm. The hour finally came and out marched the politicians and the well connected. Vice President Biden and President Obama were sworn in and the crowd went nuts. Excitement is an understatement.







It was very cool to be there. Everyone was happy and very nice - strangers hugging, high-5's all around, etc. I read somewhere that there was not one arrest, 2 million people and not one arrest. Wild. The poetry cleared the mall, and it was mayhem getting back to the Spaldings'. Eddie lost his camera so was pretty grumpy, but otherwise I've never seen young men so willing to get up early and generally do things that are asked of them. Another reason to like our new President, if one was needed.

That hat that nice lady made.

My friend Kimber made Cyra this lovely hat (Kimber does not have a blog--so primitive. I actually have to call her to catch up. It's a wonder we are still friends. I am not sure how long I can keep doing it). Cyra referred to this hat as "that hat that nice lady made for me." Anyway, she was riding on Jared's shoulders as we were coming out of a train and the hat fell off and fell down--way down:


Jared and I used to play this game on the subway platform where we would answer the question: If you dropped ____, would you go down and get it? We both said not for our wedding rings (we are not that sentimental and there are RATS down there), no to most personal possessions, but maybe our wallets and only if there was a lot of cash in there. Needless to say, we did not go down there to get the hat.



For those of you who do not live here, it's nastier than it looks in these pictures and way further down and I doubt any new york subway driver would even flinch before he ran you over (that's not true, they might honk a horn or something). Anyway, Cyra was really sad and was worried that the rats were going to eat it, but we convinced her that they might need it to keep their rat heads warm.

So if any of you are at the 72nd street station any time soon and see a lovely hat on a rat head, tell Cyra that mommies and daddies do not lie to their children.

New Year's Eve Party

We had our third annual Youth New Year's Eve party at our house this year. Our friends Aaron and Alita were visiting from D.C. too and Lulu fell in love with Eli, their son. It was so cute:



She would just go up to him and hug him with this huge smile on her face and just hold on to him and laugh. Poor Eli is so confused.



The ultimate sign of true love: Lulu loves my kitchen towels. She just grabs them and walks all over the house with them and you can't get them away from her for anything, but she just grabbed them and started handing them to Eli. Her little treasured offering.







Harlem youth and leaders.





Happy New Year everyone.

Christmas Photos

Oops. I thought I already posted these:














What's odd about this photo?



The second one was taken last year--in the exact same pj's. She still fits them and for some reason I put them on her again. I didn't even realize it until she was opening presents and I got Dejavu. That's what happens when you have small kids--you don't have to buy that many clothes for them.





She's trying to hide the fact that she doesn't really like the doll. She came out with it afterwards. We asked Shima and Jeff to get her an African doll and it was definitely not her favorite present, but it was mine.





Lulu loves my mom. She will not even let me hold her when we are at my mom's house. It's a little disconcerting.



What's Christmas without some pomegranates?

This will definitely be a post without a picture

It is not clear when boot cut jeans and Danskos were no longer the cutting edge of fashion, but it turns out they are not. (I know, I was shocked too.) Being somewhat beholden to worldly trends, I went out to conform and got myself some cute skinny jeans and some great boots. Yesterday we were on our way to Target up in the Bronx, where all new fashion is test driven, and I was dressed to the hilt in my new skinny jeans and boots. Lucia was fussy and I was trying to figure out what she wanted when Cyra made it clear to me: "Mom, Lulu doesn't like your costume." Costume. Yes, that's right, a costume to camouflage my fading youth. Out of the mouth of babes...

Christmas Party at Jared's Firm

Nothing says Christmas like...


Balloons?

















Lulu really liked the spotlight:




She kept getting closer and closer trying to figure out what was in there.





Lulu dancing with one of the people they hired to dance and I am pretty sure that she is a dancer in her night job too. It was a bit odd. And here's Lulu trying to imitate her moves.