Knodel?

Hi Mom,

Ever heard of a knodel? Me neither. But today I passed by a place in the Lower East Side that's making a business of selling them.

They're allegedly dumplings--somewhat like matzo balls, the guy working there said--filled with everything from liver to sweets. It's a Czech-Austrian place I may have to check out.

For today, I was just passing by (128 Rivington between Essex and Norfolk, in case we're looking for it sometime).

Love,
Karen

PS The "o" has two dots over it; authentic, but hard to reproduce in a blog post with limited symbol capabilities.

Bar baby

Hi Mom,

Went to a bar on a chilly November afternoon, grabbed a spot and found myself next to two young moms with 12-week-old kids strapped to their fronts in those cute little carriers.

A man at the bar saddled over and bought both grownups drinks, which they accepted graciously.

One woman started breastfeeding her kid as we sat there, in full view of the bartender and everyone else there.

I guess on one hand, why give up bar night, but on the other, does that mean this kid's first memory could be of hollering in his little hat next to a rum and coke? At least there's no smoking in bars in New York City.

Love,
Karen

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Mom,

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thinking of you, pumpkin pie, stuffing, and those mushrooms you make with the turkey (but mostly you, of course!).

Remember when we used to watch the parade on TV? And the year the marching band almost marched here? Way back when New York City seemed far away and my dreams of living here just a pipe dream...

Well here I am, watching it live from somewhere in the 70s on the Upper West Side. The floats are huge, the place is packed, and a bunch of small children have taken over a tow truck for a better view.

Love,

A very thankful
Karen

Lindsay

Hi Mom,

Lindsay and her DECA kids are back in town!

I love it when she comes through. We usually wind up at a Starbucks somewhere, like we did this morning. It was early; we were in Times Square, watching the crowds mill past.

I saw her pictures--in three days, she has managed to take the town by storm, from the M&M store to Jekyll and Hyde to running around the Financial District. She even found time to see West Side Story and get her kids backstage. No idea how she does it.

I'm trying to convince her to visit when she doesn't have to work, so we can actually hang out in longer than one-hour bursts. See our annual picture above.

Love,
Karen

Pinkberry

Hi Mom,

Pinkberry is invading. So is Red Mango. TCBY, my old Orchard Mall standby, is not apparently trendy enough for New York City. And so, we have five dollar fro-yo.

It's tasty. The stores are futuristic-looking. And topping-wise, I've traded frozen gummy bears for mochi bites. These places tout fresh fruit, throwback cereals (Capt'n Crunch and Fruity Pebbles) and fancy pomegranate seeds. But aside from the trendy, show-people-this-place factor, would I be better off at the Mister Softee truck?

Hard to say. But I'll tell you what, as they drizzled pomegranate juice on my mango/blueberry/raspberry covered concoction, I thought, this is some fancy ice cream.

Love,
Karen

One large ring

Hi Mom,

I was walking through the Port Authority on my way home today when I passed a woman in a wedding dress standing next to a giant ring. It was a very unusual sight, even for Port Authority. So I did what most people would do, and went to talk to her about it. Props to my friend who pointed me in her direction (thanks, yo).

Turns out she's a student and it's for a project she's working on about marriage. I told her I thought she should get the ring re-sized. I wrote down her email address somewhere and should have more information for you when I find it.

Love,
Karen

Fur Elise

Hi Mom,

The Atlanta airport is one classy place. Though some Nordstrom stores have discontinued their live piano playing, the tradition is still alive and well in the Atlanta airport's food court. So I plugged in my computer (the terminal has free internet, yay), charged up my cell phone, and listened to Michael B. play like I was at Carnegie Hall. If you're ever there, it's in Terminal E.

I spent a goodly four hours in that airport yesterday thanks to fog in Detroit. Delays in Detroit meant missing my connection, which meant waiting for the next connecting flight. Makes perfect sense, well, Detroit to New York via Atlanta being such an intuitive route to begin with...

I can't complain, really. It was super cheap. Thank you, Air Tran.

And after 12 hours in transit, New York City's bright lights were on the horizon.

I took a cab home.

Love,
Karen

No hands

Hi Mom,

This is a picture of Biz and her baby, Dean. She also has a little girl, Ani. They live in St. Louise but were in town visiting her in-laws, so after three years of phone updates, we finally got to catch up.

My first memory of Biz is her teaching me to ride a bike, no hands, in front of our old house on Edinborough. I remember how easy she made it look, how my bike wobbled when I tried it. Oddly enough, her first memory of me is my insisting I wear my bike helmet even though it made me look dorky. I don't remember being an especially careful child, but there you have it.

So we're sitting in the living room, talking, her daughter coloring and her son trying to jam a tupperware tub in his mouth. "Mommmyy" comes the scream from the crayon-covered table. "Mommyyy." Biz looks at me with a grin. "That's me, I'm Mommy."

I must be getting old.

Love,
Karen

Pinball Pete's

Hi Mom,

Good pinball machines are hard to find these days. Luckily, there is still a whole row of them at Pinball Pete's. I was up in Ann Arbor and stopped by the arcade to play just one game. But they had my old favorites like Medieval Madness and some new ones I'd never tried, so I had to give it a go.

I changed a bunch more dollars and spent a few hours in the whirl of the lights and the ping of the flippers hitting the small metal ball. Then I had a Jimmy Johns sandwich (#4, Turkey Tom) and felt very nostalgic.

It was a great fall day for walking around town.

Love,
Karen

Gill's Wedding

Hi Mom,

Gillian got married yesterday! It was up in Milford--a nice service, a lovely luncheon, and then glow in the dark mini-golf at Fountain Walk. If you haven't tried it, it's great fun. Novi has decided to take on laser tag's former reign over black lighting at the Putting Edge, where for about ten bucks, you (wearing white), the ball and the scenery all light up.

It was awesome to see everyone again, both in fancy form (for the wedding) and glow-mode later on.

I stayed up until almost 4 a.m. in a hotel room where those of us from out of town had gathered to play a familiar hand or ten of Euchre. It was a very quality mini-reunion.

Love,
Karen

PS I stole this picture from Katie Weber. It was better than the one I took. Thanks, Katie!

Hanukkah come early

Hi Mom,

Though the Christmas display isn't up yet, the dreidel corner is already in full force (as full force as it will be) at Twelve Oaks. I sat on a couch nearby, remembering when Ealy Elementary's choir sang Frosty the Snowman and other seasonal specialties in the atrium.

It was a big deal: a bus trip, the mall, our outfits, the works. Someone was out sick one of those concerts and I got to be Frosty, if I recall correctly.

We sang Hanukkah songs back then, too. Though I'm not sure I remember there being a whole dreidel display. I remember trying to visit Santa, candy canes and gingerbread houses...the season may be upon us (in November).

Love,
Karen

Origins of a party

Hi Mom,

So according to the locals in Mobile, Alabama, they had Marti Gras first. Went on a tour of the Mobile Carnival Museum today. They fed us moon pies and told us all about the costumes and culture of one of the south's most historic celebrations.

The whole thing seems to work like a Homecoming court, where there are kings and queens and all kinds of amazing outfits. The picture you're looking at is one of the robes--apparently they get commissioned to be made out of all kinds of elaborate materials--worn during Marti Gras, and then donated to the museum.

Our tour guide was a lovely man who had met his wife at one of the related balls. He told us that she had been queen of the celebration and was now "queen of the kitchen." I hear she's a really good cook...

Love,
Karen

If the South had won

Hi Mom,

Hurricane Katrina is still on everybody's lips in the south. At Jefferson Davis's house, we stood where the buildings had been before the storm, and learned what would be there next. We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, and had the chance to buy every kind of souvenir to have ever had the Confederate flag plastered on it.

They do Civil War re-enactments once a year (maybe more, I forget) at Jefferson Davis's house as well, allegedly a large spectator sport in which the South sometimes even pulls a win.

Love,
Karen

Happy Halloween

Hi Mom,

I had stew in a pumpkin. Shabbat-o-ween lunch, what a great idea. Met a bunch of cool people, ate terrific stuff, and then walked through this very costumed town.

Halloween started about a week ago around here--when it became appropriate if not welcome to run around in costume. Ever since, the streets have been packed with little kids in bumblebee suits and women wearing not much.

They don't have houses here, really, so the kids trick-or-treat in apartment buildings. It's very strange. They don't have to pull a jacket over their costumes, and miss out on walking around in the crisp night air. On the bright side, they get candy every five feet.

Some people go all out with decorations. And all night long into the next morning you can watch people stagger home. I was headed to the airport this morning and people were STILL dressed up...

Love,
Karen