International Edition: The Ode to Gila

How's this for confusing? My last blog post, about America, was written in Israel. Now, I am writing about Israel, but I am back in America.

No, that's not confusing? I always knew you were smart, dear readers.

Anyway. I am recently back from a week in Israel, which is not nearly long enough, but better than nothing. The main purpose of my trip was to visit my dear friend Gila, as well as her delightful family (who you will meet below.)

This is Gila:

Gila and I met when I was teaching elementary school after college, before I realized that I would rather learn Talmud than teach multiplication. I was her assistant teacher. At first glance, we were not a likely pair. I had grown up in a secular prep school. Gila had grown up in Bais Yaakov. She wore a sheitl and had two kids, despite being only a few years older than me. I had none of those things. But dear readers, in an important life lesson, it is best not to make assumptions because lo and behold, we fell in love.

After two always interesting years together, we both left the school. I went to study Talmud full time and Gila made aliyah (aka moved to Israel) because we are both such mitzvah girls. But we have always stayed in touch via gchat and WhatsApp, and every couple of years I save my pennies so I can go visit. While I am there, we eat waffles and go to the mall and she works while I pretend to the do the same. I always spend some time in Jerusalem (and this time, briefly, in Tel Aviv too), but Modi'in, where she lives with her husband Donny and their kids, is the home base. (Despite the fact that is not dissimilar from deciding to go on vacation in New York and then spending most of your time in Teaneck, NJ. But sometimes you do what you have to do.)

Some pre-Shabbat hiking, after which I got to be in the family selfie!

Yes, you counted correctly. Gila and Donny have five kids now. Five! But don't worry. As she writes on her blog, twins are easy. (Also, even though her blog is not updated so often these days, I highly recommend.)

And since I promised you an ode, here you go:

Every few years I get on a plane
And fly 'round the world to see a great dame
Her name is Gila, she gives great advice
She might sometimes be skeptical but she's always nice
Her husband is Donny, whose humor is dry
And he claims that I function as his rabbi
Every time I come we have to eat waffles
And she introduced me to the world's greatest falafel(s?)
She has five lovely children, including some twins
She knows where to buy sandals, and so the blog wins
I could keep telling tales of an affection so deep
But it's nighttime in Israel and soon she must sleep
(And I want to finish before she goes to bed, so as to embarrass her in real time.)

Lest you think there are no sights to see in Modi'in, which would be unacceptable to Donny who claims it is the greatest city in the world (clearly he has not listened to Hamilton), here are some sights around town:

What, you didn't know Israel was known for its dinosaurs?

Oh wait, you came here to read about my outfit? I forgot! Here it is:

The view from the balcony

Not my most exciting, although I am wearing my Stitch Fix skirt which has become one of my great loves. Also, I had fun mixing blue stripes and stripes, so let's call that today's excitement. Like Modi'in, sometimes the fun is subtle, but that doesn't mean it isn't there...

Love you, Gila!

What I'm wearing: Jones New York shirt via TJ Maxx (similar here), Gilli skirt via Stitch Fix (similar here), Toms via Zulily (similar here)

I'm Baaaaaack! And a Baptism.

Oh hello there! Remember me?

I know, you thought I was never coming back. But here I am! By popular request. (No, really. Thanks to those of you who cared enough to ask me to resurrect the blog. This is for you.)

Anyway. It is not springtime, at least sort of, although May in New York has felt like more like March, and I'm currently in Israel where it was 106 degrees two days ago. So maybe more in theory than in practice.

The reason I mention this is to explain the pictures below, where I am wearing tights, despite the fact that it is May, thus going against everything I believe in.

On Mother's Day, my cousins Paul and Stephanie celebrated the baptism of their twin daughters, Alina and Malia (who have been on the blog before, as seen here.) The girls, who are identical twins, came home from the hospital exactly one year prior, so it was so nice to be able to celebrate that occasion. Also, my Uncle David and Aunt Champa (the babies' grandparents, of Nepal fame) are going back into the Peace Corp, this time to Moldova, so this was the last family gathering for a couple of years, sadly.

This was actually my first baptism (maybe not surprisingly), but the priest did a great job explaining each step of the way so us newbies could follow along. Yes, we are a very diverse family. Everyone got into it, including Leo, who I had to stop from crossing himself when the Priest explained how, and Maddie, who can be seen below reading her hymnal very carefully.

Here's the beautiful immediate family:

And our extended family. It's hard to get a picture where everyone looks good at once, so this wasn't Simon's best shot, but there we all were together.

I had gotten the perfect baptism-appropriate dress in my last Stitch Fix, but when I woke up that morning it was freezing and raining, and I didn't want to be cold all day. So instead I went with this dress I got from Boden a few months ago, which I like a lot despite the fact that wearing horizontal stripes can be controversial. What can I say, I live dangerously. I paired it with black tights and booties, and a black cropped cardigan, which maybe wasn't the most springy look, but was ridiculously weather appropriate even though it was May. The beautiful flowered dress will have to wait for better weather. Stay tuned.

What I'm wearing: Boden dress, Boden cardigan, Hue tights, Crown Vintage booties via DSW