An Urban Girl

Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm And your cheeks so soft, There is nothing for me but to love you, And the way you look tonight.                                          Frank Sinatra October 2009 Halloween 2009 November 2009 With each word your tenderness grows, Tearing my fear apart... And that laugh that wrinkles your nose, It touches my foolish heart.  Christmas 2009 Mr. Urban's Bday,  January 1, 2010 Valentine's Day 2010 Persian New Year - March 21, 2010 Easter 2010 Mother's Day 2010 Lovely ... Never, ever change. Keep that breathless charm. Won't you please arrange it ? 'Cause I love you ... Just the way you look tonight. June 2010 July 2010 September 2010 Happy Birthday Little Lovey.  

Two big items on the news this morning caught my attention. One was the news conference by Meg Whitman's illegal immigrant housekeeper and her attorney Gloria Allred.   And the other was the news that the California heatwave has subsided. Meg Whitman has spent 120 million dollars of her own money [so far] to run for the position of governor of California.  I can not understand what possessed her to spend this much of her own money on a race to become a civil servant.  A thankless job that will subject her to a lot stress, hard work, ridicule, criticism...  Actually Mr. Urban and I had this very discussion over coffee a month or so ago.  He seemed to have some ideas as to why, which  respectfully I did not agree with.  I think that some people are just not that good at spending money.  Had Ms. Whitman, spent her money on shoes, yachts, dental work, mole removal, a good hairdresser, and giveaways (Ala Oprah), she would become a much more appreciated and beloved character in histor

There are days that motherhood for me is literally just a walk in the park... its all one hundred percent  fun and games.  Listening to French music with my girl.  Sculpting Play do.  Running around the kitchen playing tag.  Enjoying a civilized sit down meal.  Day trips.  Shopping for ballerina pj's.  Adventures.   On these days I can not remember for the life of me why we don't have more children and what would I possibly have to ever complain about as a mom to a Toddler.  This morning was a case in point.  I woke up at 5:20 a.m., well rested and ready to visit the gym (a rare treat).  By 7:00 a.m. I was sipping a mug of coffee and surfing the net, my girl still asleep.  Bliss. By 9:00 am the UrbanToddler and I were headed towards the beaches of Half Moon Bay, to escape the hundred degree heatwave we are having and also to take in the coming of Fall in that area, where all the farms along the way are adorned with the most beautiful pumpkins you have ever seen. The morni

I wanted to write about this a few months back, but the topic just didn't seem too exciting in the scheme of things, until it was slowly forgotten. But then the following chain of events suddenly pushed it up in my queue of thoughts...  Last week, as we were packing our luggage into the car for our trip to Vancouver, this pile of leftover office-memorabilia which had been quietly residing in my trunk since I cleared out my office in June, suddenly seemed to take up too much space...   Mr. Urban couldn't easily fit three suitcases and a slew of other Toddler stuff into the trunk and was puzzled as to why there were picture frames and a stack of loose business cards roaming around my trunk... And then when I was in Vancouver visiting with friends, I found that my decision to become a full-time UrbanMom to my girl, surprised and puzzled almost all my friends and relatives. So, the story goes something like this.... after my one year maternity leave from work was over, I start

I could hardly sleep the night before.  It's no small thing the anticipation of the wedding day of your little brother...  all the hopes I had carried for him in my heart over all these years, played in my head one by beautiful one.  But the morning came soon enough and it was time to get ready.   The wedding was held in Whistler, British Columbia, at the Four Seasons Hotel.  And at three in the afternoon, on Saturday the eighteenth of September, five handsome groomsmen walked five pretty bridesmaids in raspberry dresses down an aisle, under a tent, on the balcony of the hotel.  The smell of fresh rain in the air, the sight of tall pine trees outside and the chandeliers hanging from the tent's ceiling made this an especially romantic afternoon. And then, a lovely looking man, a groom, looking intently at his beautiful bride to be, walked hand in hand into the tent. The candle lit aisle was too narrow to accommodate the bride's exquisite champagne colored Vera Wang d

Last Tuesday morning, the UrbanToddler and I boarded a plane to Vancouver to prepare for my brother's wedding on Saturday.  Mr. Urban, who also had a ticket to join us on the same flight, boarded another plane that morning for D.C., promising to meet us in time for the wedding on or before Saturday. By early evening we were sitting down at my parent's kitchen table, to a lovely Persian meal of Barley Soup and Kotlets, catching up with my parents, the Princess, and my mother's second cousin, Mrs. E, who had come from Iran for the happy occasion. The last few meals before a big wedding always seem the most delicious, as everyone is excited and gitty.  Long after the UrbanToddler had gone to bed, I was still siting at the kitchen table with a cup of hot tea, falling in love with Mrs. E, an eloquent story teller, retired academic and artist, feeling thankful that I am finally getting to know a dear family member, after all these years, and half way around the world... By

A few weeks ago Paola and I emailed about a beach outing to mark the end of summer...  but due to busy schedules, our beach outing fell on the other side of labor day and became an "unofficial" ringing in of Autumn.  And appropriately enough, Paola, a New Englander and a planner extraordinaire of mom and tot outings, suggested meeting at Sam's Chowder House - an authentic New England seafood restaurant, on the beaches of Half Moon Bay. So after nap time, with towels, and shovels, and buckets, and jackets, and sunscreen, and Toddler, and water in tow, Mr. Urban and I headed towards Half Moon Bay to meet our friends. Half Moon Bay, is a coastal town just a short half hour drive from our home.   Until today, my favourite part of visiting Half Moon Bay has been the drive through a thin meandering road that cuts through hills lined with Cypress and Eucalyptus trees, with Pacific Ocean waiting on the other end...  Throughout the way, there are fruit stands, small winerie

Probably like you, I awoke to the news of a devastating fire in San Bruno, CA this morning.  And although there is never a shortage of sad news these days, I was especially hit by this one.  Maybe because San Bruno is only half an hour away from us.  And maybe because I heard that due to the magnitude of flames near the epicentre of the fire, help could not reach the people that were in homes being burnt.  The fire was caused by a main gas valve rupture, which for hours kept fueling the massive flames until they found the cause and shut the gas.  They won't even know of the extent of devastation until later today when they can go near what used to be neighborhoods and homes and families that lived inside them...  Since we never know in this life what could happen next, we should hug our loved ones tight and enjoy a nice weekend... right now is what we have for sure, and if love it, well that's pretty great I suppose. Love to All and A Safe and Wonderful Weekend too...

Just nine days away from my brother's wedding, and to my mother's great horror, I still do not have a dress...  Months ago my mom made a special trip to the Bay Area, under the guise of visiting with the UrbanToddler, but really to give me some gentle shoves towards the dress shops... I understand her sentiments as I bought my girl's dress for the occasion in April! But I told my mother then that I was not ready yet to commit to a dress.   I was and sadly still am trying to lose my pregnancy weight.  And let me say this (if to at least make myself feel better) that I have many legitimate reasons why I am not yet at my ideal shape.  OK, one of those reasons, as you can tell by reading this blog, is my love of good food...   But believe me there are others... Like for instance, I have found that even when I am close to my pre-pregnancy weight, due to loss of muscle tonage in certain mid-region areas, I am still far away from a body I can tolerate in the privacy of my own

Over a conversation we were having some time last week, after the UrbanToddler had fallen asleep and we had just finished binging on two delicious episodes of Arrested Development, we suddenly realized that we had not yet visited Healdsburg.  We couldn’t believe it.   I mean we love wine and we live in Northern California , why the oversight?   So that night, Mr. Urban arranged for us a quick getaway for the long weekend to Sonoma .   Early Sunday morning, we quickly packed and headed north.  Before long we were in Healdsburg, where we congratulated ourselves on our timing, for completely avoiding the long weekend traffic.  The plan was to get some food and have a picnic lunch at one the many wineries we had read or heard about.  But as we arrived at the very charming town square, and was greeted by the sweltering 100 degree heat, which was especially shocking coming out of an air conditioned car, we thought it best to eat in town under an umbrella and hit the wineries after…    

This is my brother.   He was a gift to me for my tenth birthday, as I really really wanted a brother.  Or perhaps, my parents really wanted him… who knows the true story of his beginnings.  The important thing is that he arrived some 27 years ago… He has many names.  Like Yogi Bear – because he is sweet and bear like.  And Yellow Master – because he loves the color yellow (most of his clothing and the walls of his posh bachelor pad are were bright yellow). He’s blessed with many gifts, best of all a happy, warm and sweet soul.  He is very smart.  And has a photographic memory, which he uses to memorize statistics about almost anything and everything.  Like ask him about a city that no one has heard of, and he’ll tell you their population.  He loves playing games.  Any kind of games.  Like, jumping from behind you to scare you, while you are two months pregnant, and trying to keep it a secret for another month, so you get startled and yell out “DON’T SCARE ME, I’M PREGNANT!”