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I never have my camera with me when I should.

On the way home from picking up Miss Nat from school she saw a friend and held her hand.

They walked down the block as the girl’s babysitter and I just smiled.

Called to another little girl from their class.

And she joined the party and skipped down the street.

Oversized backpacks. Hanging from the shoulders of three little girls wearing brightly colored dresses and stockings with bold patterns.

One waved to another girl a little farther up from them.

Natalie turned and handed her umbrella to me and made room for the fourth little girl.

As we crossed the streets and walked further away from their school, they started to go their own way.

Quick goodbyes. All smiles.

I think I’m starting to like Kindergarten.

Whether McCain or Obama gets your vote for President, one thing is certain… after this race for the White House, we are all going to need Election Day drinks.

So in the interest of bi-partisan libations, I offer you two recipes for Election Day Sangria.

Why sangria?

Sangria has always been the cheap drink in Spain. Who can’t appreciate a recession drink special?! J

I’m also choosing a drink that all fifty states can enjoy now as of this year… (Virginia, what were you thinking!?!?!!)

Here is the recipe for Celebratory Sangria –

• 1 large lemon (sliced)
  
• 1/4 cup Triple Sec
  
• 2 large oranges (one sliced, one for juice)
  
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar
  
• 1 (750-ml) bottle red wine (If you can’t find Rioja, any medium bodied chilled red wine will do.)
  

Mash the sliced orange, lemon and sugar in a pitcher with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves but do not totally crush fruit.

Stir in orange juice, Triple Sec and wine. Refrigerate for at least two hours. Before serving, add several ice cubes and stir to distribute settled fruit.

And for those of us who voted for the candidate who didn’t win, I have the perfect Sangria recipe to drown your sorrows.

Note: If you don’t have the strength to make a whole new recipe… just add your tears to the Celebratory Sangria recipe above.

Here is the recipe for Sorrowful Sangria -

• 1/4 cup brandy
  
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
  
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
  
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
  
• 1/2 large lemon cut in small cubes
  
• 1 medium sized apple cut in small cubes
  
• 1/2 large orange cut in small cubes. (Sad folks can just cut the fruit in slices)
  
• 1/4 cup sugar (you may want a little more, I like using ¼ cup)
  
• 1 (750-ml) bottle red wine (If you can’t find Rioja, any red wine on the slightly sweet side will do.)
  
• 12 ounces of Sprite if you prefer sweet, otherwise use club soda or your preferred sparkling water.
  

Combine all ingredients but the Sprite/sparkling water and chill for at least two hours so the fruit absorbs the alcohol. When ready to serve, add the Sprite/sparkling water.

Either way, I’ll have some sangria tonight.

While it’s chilling, I’m off to cast a vote for the next President. J

Last year around this time I woke up.

No really I woke up from a very stale way of thinking.

There was so much going on and I was filling my days with things I realize now didn’t matter.

I actually woke up one morning thinking I needed a change.

I needed to shake things up.

I was tired of my life as it was – the life I was supposed to live.

I got up and decided to take the road less traveled. Once again.

Yes, I had done that before but this time with three children it would be different.

I moved.

Not to Malibu.

Cross town.

Which can be like moving to Malibu from Kansas.

All my life the Upper West Side was my stomping ground.

Even the years I was away for school or was stuck in suburbia.

Last December, I became an Upper East Side mom on paper but not in thinking.

Since I couldn’t find the perfect apartment (no one moves in December!!!) I decided to rent for the year.

I received my lease renewal a few weeks ago. And I renewed it for another year.

So I can spend the next few months looking for the perfect place for us.

I woke up last year and decided to take my time to enjoy life.

The way I want. The way that brings my children amazing memories.

It was a great decision for me to make.

Over the last few months, I’ve been working on a new project.

One that only feels right doing this time in my life.

And soon I’ll be able to share it.

Here’s to waking up to your dream. J

Sure I went apple picking as a child. Every city dweller has made that trek at least once with their parents if not on a class trip.

I had the best laid plans when I decided to take my children apple picking in Upstate New York yesterday.

DREAM: We’d be in the car a little after eight, at Maskers Orchard by ten at the absolute latest feasting on apples.

REALITY: Leaving the city an hour and a half behind schedule wasn’t really a problem. Hey, it happens.

DREAM: The weather would be perfect.

REALITY: There was mud everywhere. Luke loved it. His little toy truck had plenty of fun areas to roll through.

DREAM: My kids would be in layers – pants and comfortable sneakers.

REALITY: Their kids were appropriately dressed. Their mother on the other hand wore jeans bought in the year 2000. (The shade of blue was pretty horrifying.)

DREAM: Natalie would say she was “so excited to go apple picking” about a thousand times while Luke would be busy listing who to bring apples to afterwards.

REALITY: Natalie would say she was “so excited to go apple picking” about a thousand times while Luke would be busy listing who to bring apples to afterwards.

DREAM: A nice scenic drive through the sticks
country upstate wooded area would be appreciated for what it was – a change of scenery.

REALITY: Signs posted on gun shops windows declaring “Sportsmen for McCain/Palin” would be viewed for a good six miles.

DREAM: I’d take photos of our adventures in the apple orchard and show family, friends, post some to my blog.

REALITY: 92% of the photos taken with my digital camera wouldn’t come out. At all.

DREAM: We’d pick “only two bags of apples” and since there would be too many for just us – give them to everyone we knew.

REALITY: We’d be lucky to fill a bag completely full of apples after realizing one in twenty apples would not be pecked by birds.

DREAM: After picking apples for a bit, we’d stop and have a picnic among the Macintosh apples.

REALITY: Our stomachs would order us to stop picking apples, get out of the orchard and go eat in civilization.

DREAM: A stop at the Country Store before leaving Maskers would garner apple goodies for us to take back with us.

REALITY: I’d look like a damn yuppie from Baby Boom buying up all of Diane Keaton’s apple sauce like we have none back in Manhattan.

DREAM: We’d have fun together outside the city.

REALITY: We’d have fun together outside the city.

Photo taken sitting in the mud in the Red Delicious apple section at Maskers Orchard in Warwick New York – September 30, 2008