Family Masks

The female members of my family have a tradition of taking our picture with facial mask on, while on vacation. Yes, we are wacky! But we are a fun crew.

Now I cannot confirm the use of margaritas before these shots are taken. ~;)

Here are some sample family masks shots:




Here's to summer and family vacations! Be safe and have fun!

Purim!

Yesterday was Purim, and it was lots of fun!

Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. Again, someone tried to kill off the Jews.

On Purim we have 3 major obligations we must fulfill.
1. Hear the Book of Esther 2 times. Once in the evening, and once in the morning.
2. Giving monetary donations (tzedukah) to the poor and needy.
3. Giving Mishloch Manos (gifts of food) to friends, family and community.

We also celebrate Purim by having a Purim Seuda, Purim feast is during the day of Purim. There's that theme again of 'They Tried to Kill Us,We Won,Let's Eat!'

And Purim is the one holiday or time of the year where Jews are commanded to drink. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordecai". Now this does not mean the person is supposed to become intoxicated to the point of not following commandments, but to relax and enjoy.

Some of the students from two of our schools came by to collect money donations. This is always one of my favorite parts!

They sing, or have a skit, rhyme, poem, etc. They have on costumes, and it is fun! Here are the groups we had this year.
Yeshivas Aish Kodesh


Bina Girls High School


Hope you had a freilichen Purim!

I Break Stuff to Make Stuff

Who did that song, "Break up to make up, that's all we do"? That is similar to me and my mosaics. Yeah, I break things so I can simply put them back together again. Silly huh?

Mosaics were first introduced to me on the internet when I was searching for some crafting/art inspiration. The mosaic I came across was a incredible looking, and had such symmetry. Which being the anal perfectionist that I am it appealed to me right away. And no, I do not recall the mosaic. Figures huh?

Now some 2 years later this month I still love seeing, and playing with pieces of pottery, china, glass and other bits. It is like doing a jigsaw puzzle, but there is no box top picture to refer to for answers.

Today I wanted to post a few of my mosaic pieces, and in no particular order here they are.


Blue Flowers ( real creative on the name thing aren't I?), was a swap gift. This was one of my favorites, and it was hard to ship it off.

Shul Cart (there's that name thing again), was a collaboration between me and my dad. He built the cart, and I mosaiced the top. It was very rewarding on many levels.

Flow was my first glass on glass mosaic. It was created for my living room window. I went on to create two lamps for the same room in the same type of design, and colors.

The Sun and Moon mirrors were created for our bedroom. The celestial bodies have many connotations for us personally, and I love looking at them everyday.

So there you have a few of my mosaics. Creating them is something I love so much, but have so little time for lately. But I really have to work on that name thing...