Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year. We got to see lots of family and friends and we had a few adventures along the way. Here is a slide show of some of the weekend's activities. The new snow today was a highlight. Anja loved it! I even got to go out for an afternoon ski at Elm Creek - fun to be on skis for the first time this year.

The only bummer of the weekend was not being able to get together with Sarah, Joe and their two little girls Maya and Elliot who we hope are feeling much better by now! We're looking forward to a rain check on our brunch - I always need a bit of an excuse to bake pain au chocolat (and for Shana and me to really get the house clean)!

Stay tuned for some more pics from Holidazzle and other events from the weekend.

Ron and Linda went to Italy and all I got was this apron!

David I am not, but with the help of this apron I am one step closer. Ron and Linda went on a month long trip to Turkey, Greece, and Italy and they brought back some very nice goodies for us, including this apron. I think it's a riot and have enjoyed using it over the past few days. Our annual Thanksgiving party at City Academy is next Tuesday. The staff prepares the majority of the meal. I've cooked a turkey for the past 4 years, but decided to opt out on the bird this time. Instead, chef David will be baking 2 cranberry tarts along with a pair of pies for this year's feast. Shana also likes the new look and says the baking isn't bad either.

Note: While chef David will be preparing the baked goods, he will not be attending the school Thanksgiving party - unfortunately, Michelangelo is probably still better known as the nun-chuck wielding ninja turtle, a.k.a. the one with the orange head band.

Best Book Title Ever

Now that the elections are over, my masters is finished, and Anja's birthday has passed I have a little bit of time to catch up on some random web surfing. Believe it or not, this is a published book which you can purchase on Amazon. It is also a classic example of trying way too hard to reach a teen audience - I can't help but laugh every time I read "but awesome takes practice." Thus, as comic book guy might say, it is indeed "the best book title ever."

Anja Turns Two!

Good morning! I'm two today!

Anja celebrated her second birthday today with parents, Grandparents, and cousins. We kept up with tradition by starting the day with Norwegian waffles for breakfast and our ever-favorite chocolate ganache cake from the Franklin Street Bakery for her birthday celebration. We ended the day by reading On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier.

Anja is definitely two . . . full of boundless energy, spunk and ever-present curiosity. We certainly wouldn't want it any other way.

The 2nd annual chocolate ganache cake.


Once she got started, Anja had a ball opening her presents. Here she is excited to see two Charlie Brown DVDs.


Thank you Huerta family for the great new bilingual doll!


Papa helped Anja blow out her candle this year . . . three times.


Yummy! Cake before lunch today!


One of her presents was a Crocodile Creek ABC memory game . . . we played a few rounds after presents were opened and cake was eaten.

The Change We Need . . . Is Here!

History was made last night, and we elected Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States. What a relief it is to know that although he's got a lot of work to do, we have a capable, intelligent, insightful, thoughtful, and above all, respected leader headed to the White House in January. I look forward to seeing change being made in America.

In case you missed it, here's Obama's Speech from Grant Park. Wow, he's good.

Go VOTE, People!

So, there's a little bit of imprinting going on here . . . Anja can pick Obama out in pictures and can read "Obama" too. What a clever little girl we have!

Regardless of who you are voting for, it's going to be an historic day for every person who takes part. Be a part of the masses and go to your polling place tomorrow. If you don't know where your polling place is, just enter your address on this Google site and GO VOTE!

Note: All times are EST.