Essie Fishnet Stockings

I was sitting with my cousin Liba at a wedding, and I couldn't stop gazing at her nails. Luckily, she knew the name of the shade. 

Next day I was ordering it on Amazon. 

The website describes Fishnet Stockings as "a spicy, dark creme red." I happen to like creme finishes; no sheen for me. 

Since my lack of photography skills manage to butcher the actual color (it's not remotely that light), here are some alternate images: 

Via community.thenest.com

Via thedailyvarnish.com

The Impossible?

Maria Belon is a Spanish woman who was vacationing in Thailand with her husband and three sons when the tsunami hit. Yes, the Tsunami. 

She and her son were separated from the rest of the family, and her story of survival was made into a film, The Impossible. 

She was being interviewed on The View, and she said something that stuck with me. 

We think we know who we are, she said. We go through life, so sure we know ourselves. But then we go through something horrific, and from deep inside this . . . strength comes to the surface, strength we never knew we had. Then we know, she said, who we are. 

When I was a kid I could never connect the stories of my grandparents' survival with the mild-mannered people that shuffled about their living rooms. How Zeidy was sent to a labor camp in Siberia, how Bábi kept her sister's children alive, how Zeidy wasted away from typhus, how Bábi made it through a death march. 

Them? These ordinary folks? The same Zeidy who could subsist entirely on sugar, the same Bábi who loves to sleep in, the same Zeidy with the corny jokes, the same Bábi who lives to Windex?

From time to time I have paranoid fantasies, like the government is taken over like in V for Vendetta, and a fascist regime comes up again, and I must survive and take care of others by my wits and perseverance. There is the question of what would I do then? 

Now I wonder, Who am I now? What am I capable of, now? What strength is in me, now, that I could tap into, today?    

Paging Dr. Love

I went to a doctor (against my will, for nothing serious) and was surprised to see his name a week later on my caller ID.

Oh, shoot, I thought. I didn't pick up that prescription yet. But it costs a fortune and not even that necessary. How did he know? Dang. 

I picked up the phone, feverishly trying to come with a viable excuse. 

"Listen, I know a tall guy, and since you're tall, I thought of you." 

I was totally sandbagged. 

"Is it okay if I give him your number?" 

"I . . . um . . .  who . . . name?" I managed to stammer. 

"His name is Carlist Rieekan. Can I give him your number?"

"He . . . not serial killer?" I hemmed. 

Silence. 

Oops, no sense of humor. 

"I . . . guess . . . okay?" I hawed. 

"Great! I'll give him your number." 

Click. 

I stared at the phone in shock. What just happened? 

Carlist called a few days later, and we went out. He was actually hysterically funny, but we didn't seem to have anything else in common. I actually thought of another girl I knew for him. 

But what to do about my shadchan? I can't exactly ignore him, and I don't know when to call a doctor to make polite chit-chat.

I sent a thank you card.

Battle of the Bulge: Toxic Hunger

When I started bringing more veggies into my diet, I began to notice that I was fuller faster, fuller longer, and no longer frantic for sugar. 

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who was featured yet again on Dr. Oz, explained the concept of "toxic hunger." If one isn't eating the right foods, when they are hungry, they aren't actually hungry; they are actually going through withdrawal for those unhealthy and addictive munchies. 

You know when there is a bag of cookies in front of you? For some reason, one cookie is never enough; all the cookies must be consumed. Because they are addictive. The initial taste is YUMMY! but then it wears off, and then one eats more and more seeking that elusive original taste. 

But if one eats the right foods, there is no longer an addictive relationship with snacks. One experiences the right kind of hunger, which can even be healthy in itself. 

Check out these videos from his recent appearance: 

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Reveals the Top 5 Diet Disasters, Pt 1

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Reveals the Top 5 Diet Disasters, 2

Stop Toxic Hunger for Good, 1

Stop Toxic Hunger for Good, 2

5 Foods that Fight Toxic Hunger, 1

5 Foods that Fight Toxic Hunger, 2

5 Foods that Fight Toxic Hunger, 3     

Calorie counting is NOT the way, Dr. Fuhrman says. Because most diets focus on calorie cutting, that is why human bodies freak out. The body needs calories, but first the right nutrients.

Mitzvah gorreres mitzvah, averia gorreres aveira. Eat more sugar, you want more sugar. Eat more veggies, you want more veggies. Sure, there is a transition time, but give it whirl. Can't hurt. Actually, it can help.

Shoot, I'm being annoying again.  

"Theirs not to reason why"

Hurricane Sandy had displaced my family to my brother's abode for a Shabbos. His father-in-law was there as well, and he was expressing his annoyance as reasons and meaning were being attached to the destructive storm, humans claiming to know Hashem's "thought process."

He chanted: 

כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם, וְלֹא דַרְכֵיכֶם דְּרָכָי — נְאֻם השם

(From Yishayahu, 55:8)

He continued: "Hashem says, 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, your ways not My ways,' and because He knows no one will believe Him, He says, 'N'um Hashem,' 'I promise you!' Hashem promises us that!" 

It became so clear to me, with that affirmation, that we are so susceptible at looking at events with a truly primitive eye. There is so much at stake beyond what our puny human minds can grasp. 

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. — Hamlet

We can't be expected to know what it all means. We aren't supposed to know. There is only one message we can be sure of: Being kind, welcoming, and considerate to all. As for everything else, we cannot possibly comprehend, and God is all to aware of that.

Looking back on history, there are such horrific tragedies, both natural and man-made, that have plagued humankind. The only way we could have held on to our religion to this day is if we understand that we don't understand. We aren't meant to understand.

As a child I had a book called "The Man Who Rode With Eliyahu HaNavi" by Leibel Estrin. In the Gemara, R' Yehoshua Ben Levi would converse with Eliyahu regularly. 

After R' Yehoshua sees much that he cannot comprehend, he finally insists on reasons from Eliyahu, who explains to him (without even factoring in gilgalim or Olam HaBa) how all of his actions, as God's emissary, were just. 

Focusing on the why does not help, or really matter. We should do as we always should, which is love our fellows. Which is much harder than it sounds, and needs constant, unending work. 

Expectations: How Low Can You Go

Last Man Standing, "The Passion of Mandy": 

"Mom," her 14-year-old daughter asks, teary-eyed and broken-hearted. "Will I ever like another boy again?" 

"I promise you: There will be many, many, boys. And they will all be equally disappointing."

The Practical Side of Lipstick

Hurricane Sandy left a large population homebound and powerless, and I was no exception. 

Huddled beneath layers, I certainly did not bother applying Face; I figured it was a good opportunity for my skin to have a vacation. Although the neglect was mostly from depression. 

By the second day, my lips were agonizingly chapped. I don't lick my lips (lipstick breaks that habit pretty quick), so I couldn't understand why they were in such bad shape. I repeatedly shmeared on various lip balms, petroleum- (blah) and beeswax-based. Instead of providing any relief, a painful and irritating crack formed midway on my lower lip.

I then recalled that a day when I don't don lipstick of some sort is a rarity. On a lark, I coated on an old red-pink lipstick that I needed to use up. 

Practically immediately my lips began to flake off the dead, chapped skin. Unlike lip balms, lipstick has better staying power, so it was able to provide moisturization for longer. It seems I am not the only one with this theory.

Matte shades tend to suck moisture out, so I would say satin finishes provide better lip love.     

Battle of the Bulge: A New and Improved Pyramid

I didn't mean to become one of those annoying people advocating healthy eating. I didn't, really. It just kind of happened. 

I've always been a grains sort of gal. But I then noticed (about twenty years too late) that it is a lot of calories for too little food, even the whole wheat. So I began to restrict its intake, converting to vegetables, of which I could eat a lot more of. For instance, a regular meal for me is a sauteed onion, with all sorts of vegetables added in; mushrooms, broccoli, sweet potato, chickpeas, spinach, peas, parsnips, carrots, and so forth. The great thing about a meal like this is that I am stupendously stuffed and I feel fabulous, whereas a lunch of bread and butter can have me munching through an entire loaf. 

Since I started opting for more veggies over grains, I have noticed some distinct weight loss. 

I do watch Dr. Oz from time to time, and he featured Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who has rearranged the standard food pyramid. 

His position is that if we change the way we eat, not only will we lose weight, but we can stave off all sorts of disease. We can be medication-free. We can age yet keep our marbles intact. 

Vegetables, Fuhrman rhapsodizes, contain amazing components, which have ridiculous benefits, as well as being multi-taskers. For instance, the anti-cancer nutrients are also fat annihilators. 

Since I already eat somewhat (okay, just fractionally) what he recommends, I am heartily drinking the Kool-Aid (metaphorically. Please don't drink Kool-Aid.) 

As he presents in this video, we can take control of our health when we "Eat to Live," which is the name of his book (I have not read it).

Since he claims his plan will prevent the common cold, and I have been sneezing this past week, I am apparently not doing something right. But I am not one to practice extremes; small changes can have great benefits. 

To begin, utilize G-BOMBS, his acronym for certain superfoods. 

Greens: I'll be honest, I am not a salad person. But broccoli, cabbage, spinach, oh my! Frozen greenery is very versatile; it can be chucked into a soup or sauteed with a little garlic powder for some easy and low calorie yumminess. 

Beans: No problem, we eat chulent, right? Time for our Jewish stew to get a makeover. No kishkeh. Sorry. Instead of the fatty chulent meat, try turkey instead. Consider additions like sweet potato (that orange hue makes it a nutrient powerhouse) and lentils. Add more onions for more flavor, since onions are . . . 

Onions: . . . are aaaaaawesome. Besides for making everything delicious, they are disease-killers. Garlic is also included, and these two make a beautiful friendship. Press the garlic clove beneath the flat of a wide-bladed knife (like a Santoku) before mincing to squeeze out the most flavor. 

Mushrooms: Who knew a fungus could give us so much? Some claim that they are great replacements for meat. I could never believe the amount of exotic taste these provide to my lazy risotto: saute with onions and garlic, add water and brown rice, stir occasionally for an hour or so, season with black pepper.

Berries: My household can no longer function if there are no blueberries. These go on morning oat bran, or added to a yogurt. The trick is with beneficial produce is that the deeper the hue, the more magical the nutrients. Strawberries are horribly abused as chemical compounds masquerading as its natural taste; they deserve to be eaten whole, not as gelatinous syrup.

Seeds: My morning cereal is usually sprinkled with ground flax seed (ground as opposed to whole is easier for the body to absorb), or I will cook my oat bran with a spoonful of chia seeds. They don't have overpowering taste, and add protein to keep one fuller for longer. Just sprinkle a little in with a variety of cooked dishes; no one will notice. Really.

I am certainly not going to take on the full plan anytime soon, but one doesn't have to go that far to consume all sorts of nutritional benefits.  

I think have been annoying enough for one day, but the next time in the supermarket, give the produce section some deeper consideration.