An Urban Girl

I have always loved words.  The way some people love shiny new objects.  As soon as I heard a new word, a word that captured my imagination, my energy, my hundreds of unnamed inner thoughts and feelings, I would latch on to it with fearceness, joy and curiosity.  I have also always been intrigued by how regular old words can be used in an unexpected context and evoke bursts of unexpected feelings in the listener, such as laughter, anticipation or tears.  I would search for those words coming out of the mouths of everyone around me, and mentally catalog them like a dutiful librarian, and await the opportunity to say the words with my own mouth out loud to an audience, or better yet use it in an essay where the teacher could grade it, get a kick out of it, or read it to the whole class.      As a child I always loved the Persian word Safa .   For one thing the word sounds so simple, yet sophisticated and beautiful, and for another, each of my memories of hearing this word is stored in th

The other morning at breakfast, my four year old looked, yet again somberly, at the breakfast before her.  Despite having enthusiastically selected a hodgepodge of liberally salted hard boiled egg whites on the side of toasted hamburger buns, strawberries and vanilla yogurt and a cup of milk, she still could not bring herself to enjoy her breakfast.  Her face was wrinkled, as was mine with exasperation from yet another failed attempt at assembling a palatable breakfast for my picky eater. This one, she is quite the philosopher.  And before I could ask her why she wasn't eating, she said: "Two Things!"  Holding up two tiny fingers.  "The smells of these foods I picked, don't go with each other! And I wish Donald Trump would magically become Hillary Clinton, and the word (world) would be GREAT again".     Despite our best efforts to protect our children from the anxiety of these times, they are alert and picking up on the mood (and the lingo) in the wor

Before we knew it, our summer came to an end and it was time for our annual Back-To-Schoo l celebration dinner. This year we celebrated not one, but two students, ready to embark on new adventures in their lives. The girls started the day with making lists of all that they had enjoyed and new learnings they had, during their summer vacation.  The lists were long and making it brought us so much joy and gratitude.  Later during dinner each urbangirl was proud to share with the family highlights from their list.  I had Trivia questions on our place mats, along with a Doodle Corner, which brought some laughs and a little healthy competition.  Everyone had a chance to win prizes like a super duper cool sharpener and an elegant Peppa Pig back pack... even Mr. Urban had a chance to win a True Gentlemen's Beef Jerky! We toasted the girls and wished them a fun and positive year ahead, learning as much as they can about this amazing world we live in and the people in it!

Some years ago when Mr. Urban and I were in Shanghai, we had the good fortune of having Muesli for breakfast, one smoggy morning at the breakfast bar of a swanky hotel.  Although the hotel had a smorgasbord of goodies laid out, we both reached for a bowl of cold-looking oatmeal gorgeously topped with fragrant stewed fruit compote and roasted nuts. One bite and the world became a better place.  Oats soaked in a creamy milk to a perfect ratio of bite vs mush, interspersed with soft green ribbons of grated apple and plump green raisins.  The mixture was sweet, but barely so.    It was a decadent treat you get served at a getaway health spa... In the years since, I have made it from online recipes, using Old Fashion Oats and regular milk with honey. But with all the talk of Steel Cut Oats being the way to go, and finding some quick-cook version at our Trader Joe's, Urban Toddler and I decided to whip up a batch this week, using Vanilla Almond Milk. Although my Urban youngs

I have always loved a great smelling home.  Whether its vanilla or cinnamon that wafts through the oven vents when baking, oil diffusers with bamboo sticks that make the home smell a little bit more like heaven, or (and my personal favorite) luxury candles of all sizes and scents for each and every occasion and ambiance and room in the house, I adore them all.   I love walking into my home smelling just so, and over the years I have invested a good chunk on luxury candles from Paris and London and New York.  It has been my thing! Until this past Winter, when quite serendipitously, a  google search led me down quite a dark path. Let me preface by saying that we, like many families we know, are rather religious about the quality of what our family, and especially our children, eat, breath, watch and learn...  we care deeply about what nourishes their body, brain, and soul.  We research new purchases ad nauseam,  fret about the quality of the paint we apply to our walls and the gl

When life throws you limes, savor them for the sake of all that is juicy and delicious! Through this, what seems like a life long search for an easy way to a slimmer derriere, I have found a few truths that are worth sharing with select good friends. I love finding healthy routines that are easy to adopt, yet high yielding.  One such routine that I have recently become fond of, is making a week's worth of low fat salad dressing with fresh lime juice.  This routine saves you hundreds of calories in fat, and the fresh lime juice gives your immune system an extra boost that is so necessary in these months of flu season (Flu Season: October through May). "The health benefits of lime include weight loss, improved skin, improved digestion, relief from constipation and eye health.  It is used in treatment of scurvy, piles, peptic ulcer, respiratory disorders, gout, gums, urinary disorders, etc..." Once you have it ready in the fridge, all you have to do is sw