Good Bye Bucket List. Hello, Bucket List!

There is a traditional Aramaic prayer said at the end of learning any significant body of text called the Hadran. The word Hadran, which means "we will return," states our desire to return to the text we have learned, and that the text will return to us as well.

Now, you might wonder, Rachel, why are you writing about Aramaic prayers when this is supposed to be a modest fashion blog??? (A better question might be, Rachel, why are you updating your blog when you are supposed to be reading the Cambridge Companion to Rabbinic Literature? But I have no good answer for that.) Here is why: because as soon as I finished this bucket list, I started a new one!

As I said, I did, in fact, finish every single thing on the bucket list shortly before Labor Day. The last two things-- walking a bridge and going to Brooklyn Bridge Park-- were done together, with my favorite nephews and niece (and their parents.)

Simon is super into engineering these days, so he was very into how the bridge worked. And we all agreed that Brooklyn Bridge park was both fun and beautiful, if SUPER hipster Brooklyn. (For example, artisanal lemonade. You can't make this stuff up.) We made it across the Brooklyn Bridge, took Maddie on her first carousel, ate ice cream, and went to a playground where everything was about moving water around.

My favorite part was probably the Please Touch art installation/ splash pad. As you can see in the pictures below, it was a grid of four boxes with water that flowed up on the grid lines. The water would stop and start on a cycle, so it was actually possible to go inside of the grid without getting wet. But it was very hot out, so I decided to take a different route:

Was I soaked all day? Yup. But totally worth it. It was actually as fun as it looked in that picture.

I've decided to do another bucket list for fall/ winter. I understand that most people do not need to make lists of fun things to get them to leave the house, but I am not most people. I found it really helpful to have a written account of all of the things I wanted to do because you know what-- then I actually did them! I tried a lot of new things this summer, was much more social than I might have been inclined to be otherwise, never felt like I had nothing to do, and never had a day that I regretted doing things on the bucket list. In fact, I think I would do them all again. So maybe I will next summer. But for now, the seasons have switched (although not in St. Louis, where I am right now, where it is currently 83 degrees) and so will my activities. New list coming soon!

And finally, here is a picture of Maddie enjoying the sprinklers after we had to take off all of her clothes because she tried to eat ice cream with her hands. Third children, man, I'm telling you.

What I'm wearing: Eshakti dress (old, similar here), Kosher Casual shell, Rebecca's hat that I borrowed because it was too sunny and I am very pale

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram! @curlyhairglasses

A Day in the Garden

So I was going to write a post about transitioning summer pieces for fall today... But then I woke up and checked the weather, and the current temperature was 37. Which I think we can all agree is really unacceptable for October 18. Thus, instead, I will hearken back to a happier time, when it was still warm out, and Shaina and I went to spend a lovely morning in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

[On one hand, these pictures were taken long enough ago that Shaina was still pregnant, and as of today, Baby Pickle is a month old. On the other hand, in my defense, he did arrive earlier than planned.]

The garden was really beautiful. It was full of late summer flowers, and the weather was absolutely perfect. For a garden outing,  I chose my chambray skirt with flowered embroidery around the bottom. Looking at the pictures, I might go with a colored shirt next time. You know, when it's warm again.

One of the coolest things in the garden was a smelling garden, where there were all sorts of flowers and herbs with strong smells. It was designed especially for the blind, under the assumption that, just because they can't see, it doesn't mean that they can't enjoy the gardens. Plus, there was a flower that smelled just like chocolate, which was pretty amazing.

Smell the flowers!

 I am always a sucker for a Japanese Garden. There's something about the greenery, water and wood that is especially evocative to me. The water was really green, which was pretty gross, but hey, you can't have everything, right?

Me, Shaina and Pickle, when he was still inside.

With my IDNYC, I joined the garden for free. (If you're a New York City resident and don't have one, I highly recommend it. It takes 10 minutes and you can join all sorts of amazing cultural institutions for free for a year, as long as you do it by 12/31/15.) I am hoping to go back some time this fall to see the leaves changing, and definitely in the winter, when I bet snow makes it even prettier.

And then, because we were in Brooklyn, we went to a kosher bakery to get some of my favorite kiddush cookies, which most people think are gross, but I love. Yum!
A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I'm on Instagram now. I'm not totally sure how I'm going to use it yet, but feel free to follow me @curlyhairglasses!

What I'm wearing: super old Boden skirt (vaguely similar here), Kosher Casual shirt, b.o.c. sandals

A Perfect Day at the Ballpark... Except for One (Big) Thing

For reasons that nobody in my family, including me, really understands, I became a hardcore sports fan when I was 10. Every morning, I would make a beeline for the sports pages. I could recite  all sorts of random statistics at the drop of a hat. My bedroom walls were lined with sports posters. My family thought I was some sort of alien.

If my father had cared about sports, it's possible I would have ended up a Pirates fan, but he didn't, so I chose my teams. And, as would be the case with almost any kid choosing their loyalties from New York, I chose the Knicks and the Yankees, because in those days, they were the ones who were winning. (Yes, I know. I have paid dearly for those Knicks teams of the 90s in recent years.)

Over time, my obsession wained and became more of a hobby. I still pay attention, but if you asked me to name, say, C.C. Sabathia's ERA, I would certainly not be able to summon that information from anywhere in my brain. But because this was the summer of the Bucket List, I made sure to head to Yankees Stadium. My friend Yossi, who is (along with his wife Brooke) among the hardest of the core, was kind enough to accompany to a day game on a BEAUTIFUL day the last week of August.

One of the things I liked best about the Yankees, even as a kid (besides, you know, all of the winning) was how classy they were. Mariana Rivera (hence my t-shirt), Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams-- those core guys stayed out of the tabloids, kept their heads down, and got things done. As a mediocre athlete with a strong sense of sportsmanship, I think that appealed to me. So it was fun, before the game, to head with Yossi into Monument Park, where so many Yankees of that era have had their numbers retired. Even if it also made me feel sort of old. But also like I got to watch players I might tell my kids about one day. Hate on the Yankees, as I'm sure many of you do and will, but you have admit that they have history.

The perfect day for some mediocre baseball.

 The weather was perfect. Monument Park was so cool. There were kosher pretzels and ice cream. The recipe for a dream day at the ball park. Except...

The Yankees forgot how to play baseball for the fifth inning. They remembered again later in the game, but by then it was too late. And, as happened earlier this week in the Wild Card game, the Astros just totally shut them down. It was not pretty, the score was not close, and even that score suggested it was closer than it was. Oh well.

But part of being a true fan is picking your head up and carrying on. So I am doing my best to get my nephews (and niece, when she's older) to cheer for the Yanks. Because their father is a Red Sox fan, and that just won't do.

Pinstripes forever! See you at Spring Training.

And because this is a fashion blog, at least theoretically... Yes, I am wearing red pants! It took me a long time to get up the courage, but now I have somehow managed to accumulate two pairs. Go figure. These are the casual ones. I love them.

Also, yes, my Converse have holes in them. I know, they're disgusting. One day I will throw them out. It turns out Converse aren't supposed to last 10 years. But man, do I love them so...

What I'm wearing: LOFT cropped khakis (similar here), Yankees t-shirt (similar here), '47 baseball hat (similar here), Converse sneakers (not made in this color anymore, but similar here)

Gonna Make Me Sweat

Hello from the library! The blog catch-up continues.

People like to say that women don't sweat, they glow. Well, people, that is dumb. I sweat. Sometimes gross amounts, or at least certainly more than I care to acknowledge sometimes. But you know what? It's part of being a human. And it means my body is working and doing cool things. So there.

These pictures were taken at Nyack Beach State Park, where I did my bucket list hiking with my friend Hannah. It was SUPER humid that day. We were both sweating before we even started up the mountain. Where we proceeded to lose the trail and get lost. Oops. Don't worry, everyone made it home safely!

See, we made it back to the bottom.

As a modest dresser, exercise clothes actually provide a significant challenge for me. I care not at all about what I look like if I'm, say, out running-- it will all be disgusting and sweaty in a few minutes anyway-- but I still want to maintain my modesty standards as much as possible. However, it seems that someone decided that everyone in the world only wants to work out in leggings. I do not wear leggings. But sweatpants don't work because they fall down, and I think we can all agree that mooning people certainly isn't modest.

The view from the top!

So I did a long and intensive search and finally found some workout pants at Marshalls that didn't fall down and weren't leggings. But now that I see these pictures... they look like leggings. Sigh. I promise they aren't, but there was only so much time and effort I could devote to this shopping project. But if you have any suggestions (that aren't insanely expensive), please let me know in the comments!

And now, some pictures of nature:

What I'm wearing: Look Human t-shirt, Danskin capris via Marshalls, '47 Yankees hat (similar here), Adidas sneakers via DSW

Remember When It Was Summer? (3 Days Ago?)

Dear readers, Labor Day was only 3 days ago, and yet, summer still feels like it was over a million years ago. Sigh. Let us use this time to reflect, remember, talk (once again) about modest beachwear.

Next time, perhaps I will remember to take
pictures before I'm soaking wet and standing
super funny. Oh well.

 As you might remember, I had a day at the beach on the bucket list. I ended up going to Sarah, my mom, Simon and Leo, so it was a whole family party. My mom grew up in Freeport, Long Island, so we ended out to Jones Beach so she could get emotional and sentimental and stuff.

Jones Beach is beautiful, if you've never been there. The sand is super soft and the ocean is clear. Plus, when we were there, there were excellent waves, which Simon, Sarah and I had a great time riding.

And of course, no day at the beach would be complete without ice cream. Obviously.

We also got to try out my waterproof camera bit. There aren't so many pictures, but as Simon said, "Sometimes the best souvenirs are your memories." Truth. Although weird for a seven year old to say that. He's pretty deep when he isn't talking about poop.

This is my second rash guard. Obviously I chose it because it was polka dotted, which you all know by now that I love. However, since the black and white is pretty plain, I paired it with these board shorts, which were both long enough, super neon, and really cheap. I probably should have gone down a size, as they are sort of huge, but whatever. Live and learn. At least I did not get a sunburn. Modest and practical all in one.

I know it seems sad to talk about swimwear right now, but now is actually the season to buy if your body is more or less staying the same, because everything is on sale. (Up to 65% off at Lands End, where I got my fun rash guards.) So think ahead-- there's often an advantage to buying off season. Plus, then you have something to look forward to! A win-win.

And for those of you keeping track of the bucket list, Sarah and I also hit Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags to fulfill the amusement park item. It was really fun, and some of those slides are super bonkers. Like the cobra.

Great fun was had by all, in the same outfit I wore kayaking.

You don't scare me, shark!

And now, summer is over and I am back to tackling my comps list. I'm 44% done! Not that I'm counting or anything.

I hope to get one more post in before Rosh Hashanah, but if I don't, Shanah Tova-- a sweet new year to everyone celebrating. Hopefully this will be a great year filled with new adventures, exciting opportunities, and adorable outfits.

What I'm wearing: Lands End rash guard (both of them, buy now on sale!), US Polo board shorts via 6pm

A Bucket List Two-for-One

Well, tomorrow is Labor Day. Summer is over. Sad. But we still have many blog posts to go before to blog has reached the end of summer.

This pictures were taken by my friend Sarah on the High Line during a beautiful sunset. Zing! Way to double up, team. (We won't mention that it was 90 degrees and thus very unpleasant out. See how the dress doesn't show sweat??)

I love this dress. Is it the same color as my skin? Yes, sort of. Does that mean it's probably not the most flattering thing I own? Probably. Do I wear it anyway? Yup! Because it's comfortable and just the right amount of modest and a really pretty pink floral texture. And you know what? I get dressed for me, so if I like it, then sometimes I can wear things the same color as my skin. So there. (Nice sunburn lines too, no?)

Beautiful sunset over the Hudson. 

One of the things I like about the High Line is the cool blend of the urban and the wild. (For those of you who don't know about the High Line and its history, you can read more about it here.) This was my first time visiting the northern extension, which is beautiful and also way less crowded than if you go further south.

Crowd Sourced Lego Building

The original train tracks from the rail yards.

Most of the High Line blocks the view of the river, so we hung out in the northern part until the sun mostly went down and then headed south. There's something for everyone-- legos, flowers, art (most of it modern, which is not so much my thing, but to each her own), food, music, yoga... The list goes on and on. It obviously has a really different feel than most other parks, which are purely nature-based, but I like the urban and wild combo a lot. It reminds me that Manhattan was not always a crazy city with tons of buildings, but rather, there used to be nature. Who knew?

This dress is from an online boutique called LulaRoe. They do pop-up boutiques, mostly in person, but also sometimes on Facebook. You can also order online, although I've found that their stock is limited. It's all made the USA and it's all modestly-oriented (think length and sleeves). Also, they make only a few of each piece in each print, so you're unlikely to show up and find someone wearing the same outfit. Fun for everyone.

What I'm wearing: Pink dress via LulaRoe (online boutique here, Facebook group here), Downeast Basics cami, Bare Traps sandals (similar here)