An Urban Girl

I marvel at Technology. It makes me feel happy, because I know with Technology everything is going to be OK. I know that it will fix our problems with Global Warming. It will one day not too far away, resolve global issues like poverty and famine. Technology will once and for all resolve our world’s dependence on Oil, as soon as Larry or Sergey figure out the code to those Escalades than run on nothing but LOVE… I mean, Technology has made stalking OK. (The Urban Dictionary even has a lovely definition for Facebook Stalking : A Covert Method of investigation using Facebook). Technology has made it OK for us to announce ( Tweet ) our most mundane activities every second of every day to a delighted troop of followers… Technology has made it OK to collectively iphone surf during a dinner party with dear old friends. (Since I don’t have an iphone can I bring a book to the next dinner party? God knows I don’t have any time for reading these days…) OH, and let's not even go where Paris H

Today was the first day of spring and the Persian New Year. Persian New Year, which has been celebrated for over 3000 years, is plain and simple the celebration of the arrival of Spring… celebration of a New Day, No-Ruz . No-Ruz encompasses the essence of a culture that has survived a history marked by severe political and religious turmoil, preserved and passed down by each and every proud Persian regardless of their creed, religion, or political views. No matter how rich or poor… Whether you meet a Full-Blooded, Half-Blooded, Hyphenated, or Few- Generations Removed Persian, in Iran or in any other corner of this world, there is an essence that you will quickly recognize as their Persian-ness. It is tangible and visible… there is no escaping it… no amount of bleach or wax can remove it… And thank got for that. I love that Persian essence. And I love that the tradition of No-Ruz celebrates everything that is good and wonderful about this ancient survivor culture. The festivit

Here are a few things that are keeping me amused and indulged these days… Parachuting UrbanBaby and I love going to our Gymboree class. We look forward all week to Teacher Leah, our tiny friends, and of course Gymbo the clown. We just love ALL the balls and the bubbles… But most of all we loooove Parachute time. This week in anticipation of parachute time, my darling spent almost the whole class hiding under it. I went through my entire repertoire of my motherly encouragements to get her to come out from under the parachute and find the Circles in the room as Teacher Leah had instructed. But I finally had to give in to other plans, once a parachuted face was unveiled long enough to instruct me firmly but kindly, No! Mommy, No! Oh the giggles …. Cocktail hour for the whole family I ask you, what is more perfect than a gorgeous, family-friendly winery just minutes from your home? I know, Nothing! Picchetti Winery (pronounced Pi-ckety) has been a dear find for us. Imagine a lovely picnic

We returned from our stay in Beautiful British Columbia, just in time for an emotional end to being a full-time mommy. My year long maternity leave came to end, surprisingly abruptly… never mind that I had known the specific date for 12 months. And never mind that all the other woking mommies in California get on average somewhere between 6 weeks to 3 months of maternity leave, depending on how much personal time they have banked or how generous their employer is. I knew that I was lucky to have had a year to stay home with my child. I knew that I was lucky to have a job to go back to in this terrible economy, not to mention a great job, one that I actually liked. I knew that the prospect of having time to myself to think, to be creative, to have adult conversations, to take lunch breaks and coffee breaks would be really nice. But I was overwhelmed with grief. And guilt. And confusion. And there was a little lump of breath left over in my chest… which took weeks to exhale. I saw mommie

So let’s continue to bring you up to speed on the past eight or so months... As soon as you surrender to a given situation, good things, even great things start to happen fast. When I met my Beloved almost eight years ago, it very soon became apparent to me that the idea of a long and carefree vacation, will for the most part of our life together, stay an idea. The UrbanMan is fun loving, don't get me wrong, but he is above all else committed to changing the world. And changing the world I have come to learn, is not a nine to five job with three weeks of vacation. This is a job that lurks around the back of your mind and behind your eyelids ALL The Time... Before I met my man, I knew a few things for sure about our world. One, that most useful things have by now been discovered, and two, if a solution to a given problem does not readily present itself to a bright person such as myself, that problem can not be solved. Better use the time shopping! Imagine my predicament, when my hus

I have been absent for a long while, but every day I have thought of coming back. So, where have I been? I am sure, that unlike me, you were actually paying attention to all the hustle and bustle going on in our world over the past year and half. The sub-prime mortgage crisis. Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac. Gas prices rising and rising. Slow, daily sinking of the financial markets, followed each hour and each day by the media (and the sidewalk board owned by the pub down the street from us.) I personally thought not to waste my time with this kind of "STUFF". But, sometime around a year ago, somewhere in my new- mommy-sleep-deprived mental fog, I had to take note of all that was happening, when friends, neighbors and acquaintances, started calling and emailing, first to let us know of their upcoming layoff, and then a few months later, a more panicked call to check if we know of any jobs they could apply for. Talking as a true optimist and from the safety of my year-long maternity