No…..we aren’t having a baby but we did add a new car to our family. After a few months of back and forth debate and shopping around, Darren and I decided it was time to add another car. Over the last several months we visited a variety of dealerships and test drove a number of SUVs but on Tuesday, Darren surprised me by taking the official plunge and striking a deal for the new Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4×4 Hemi as an amazing Hanukkah present. In the past few months we test drove the Lexus, Acura MDX, BMW 3 series and 5 series but it was our experience with Jeep on the honeymoon as well as the incredible customer service we received from the dealership in White Plains that swayed Darren to Jeep to get our business. Tuesday night we picked out the color and took care of the paperwork and first thing Saturday morning I was behind the wheel of our new SUV. We are going to be spending a lot of time on the road driving upstate and to Vermont and we wanted the security of a vehicle that could get us there safely.

Jeep’s reputation as a mid-size SUV does have some mixed reviews by consumers but from all the people we know and what we are planning to use the vehicle for, we felt this was the SUV of choice for us. My first impression after 48 hours of driving it, is that I love it! Jeep’s Grand Cherokee Limited is designed to be used both on-road and off-road so its meant to be a bit rugged. It does have many of the features that other SUVs offer such as leather interior, a top-notch navigation system, a 6 CD changer, DVD player, laptop charger, USB hook-up, dual climate control, and my favorite feature – the automatic starter that lets you start up the vehicle without leaving the warmth of your home or office. The ride is smooth and surprisingly quiet. In a few weeks we will give it a real run and see what it can do on the open road as we head up to Vermont. I will report back and let you know what we think in a few weeks.

This evening at sundown begins the first night of Hanukkah, “the Festival of Lights”. For the next eight nights we will be lighting one candle a night until all eight are fully lit on the menorah. Hanukkah marks the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration. According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil. Hanukkah customs include eating potato latkes (potato pancakes) playing with the dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters) and the giving of Hanukkah gelt, gifts of money, to children.

Growing up, my brother and I looked forward to getting presents (we preferred opening them all the first night rather than spreading them out over the course of eight nights). We just couldn’t stand the suspense! The day Hanukkah arrived we would anxiously wait for our dad to come home from work so we could see what our parents bought for us that year. It was so much fun to unwrap toys, books, games, clothing, etc…. When I was younger I loved getting Barbie’s, doll houses, babies and carriages, kitchen sets – all the typical things little girls play with. I also loved getting board games: Chutes & Ladders, CandyLand then gradually growing into Monopoly, PayDay, Battleship, Go To The Head of The Class, Scrabble, Boggle, you name it. I loved games (and still do!) Today, as I watch my nieces unwrap their gifts with the same enthusiasm and excitement as we did, it brings back so many wonderful memories. Life was great being a kid….ah!

Hanukkah is such a joyous time of year and Darren and I are so excited to be celebrating our first Hanukkah as Mr. & Mrs. in our new home. Our menorah is out and ready to be lit. Let the traditions begin!

Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Since converting to the iMac, and the Leopard operating system (which by the way has crashed several times already!), I transitioned from my beloved Microsoft Money to this year’s version of Quicken.  Acting as the household CFO, as Darren likes to call me, I rely on our money management programs to help organize and budget our household finances.  I have been a Microsoft Money user for years and had been pleased with the software, its ability to automatically and categorically track expenses and compare them to our budget as well as the program’s ability to track investments and see all of our accounts in one place.   Needless to say, I went kicking and screaming into Quicken from Money as I have become a Mac user and Money is only Windows based. 

Last night, Darren loaded up the software and immediatelty the ’software critic’ as he affectionately refers to me when I’m in computer mode, came out.  I’m tough on applications – I like what I like and I know when something is efficient and smart and when it is a waste of time and completely unituitive.   We downloaded our statements from the bank so as not to have to repopulate all the data from scratch and then I got started.  I still had to assign categories to everything, correct some data that flowed in incorrectly and had to put in a phony adjustment just to get the numbers to be in synch with the actual balance in our account.  Several hours later I managed to get things in order but not free from a lot of frustration.  The application closed on me numerous times (maybe its a Leopard compatability blip, who knows) and I certainly don’t find it to be as ’smart’ as Money.  The categories are more simplistic and I had to add so many additional things to the detail sections that are already part of Microsoft Money.  I figured out how to connect to my credit card and download the transactions but after doing that it threw off all the figures in some case double recording things so our income vs. expenses was not an accurate picture at all.  I deleted it after getting all annoyed with it.  I’d like to find a way to categorize our expenses better than just labeling each credit card transaction as ‘credit charges’.  My goal it be able to fully analyze and categorize as much of our spending as we can.  I’m going to be back on my computer tonight to figure out how to set a budget and to read the user guide in depth.  I’m determined to learn how to get what I need out of this program if it kills me! 

Friday night, Darren and I traveled to Westport, CT to join some of his family for shabbat dinner.  Both of us are family oriented so its important to find time in our busy schedules to spend some quality time with our relatives.  Darren’s Aunt Janet was in town from La Jolla, and it was cousin LeeAnn’s birthday so these were two perfect reasons for us all to get together.  Cousins Kim & Niv hosted the evening and we had a great night of conversation and delicious South African cuisine.  As many of you know, Darren’s Dad is from South Africa and Darren is the first American born member of the Herman family.  This was the first time I had a South African dish and it was absolutely delicious.  I always think it is important to embrace one’s roots and to pass down traditions and customs from one generation to another.  I will definitely be asking for some recipes at the next get together so one day when we have a family we can share a little bit of Darren’s heritage with our children.  Thanks Kim & Niv – it was a great night!

Darren and I are celebrating Thanksgiving together this year for the first time.  Last year, we each spent the day with our respective families but since our wedding we are now one big family and will be celebrating the holiday all together.  We are very excited to be hosting and are looking forward to having everyone join us.  Of course, the pressure is on to impress everyone with our dazzling kitchen skills so I have a feeling we will be feeling more than just the heat of the oven tomorrow as we prepare. 

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  First because it is about spending time with family and friends and second because it is a time of reflection.  Looking back on the year that is drawing to a close, it is abundantly clear to us how blessed we are to have each other to journey through life together.  We have achieved many milestones in the past year and have a lifetime of wonderful things that lie ahead of us. 

Since it is Thanksgiving, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has touched our lives over the past 12 months and we want you all to know we are unbelievably grateful for everything everyone has done for us.  It is with much love and gratitude that we thank you.  To all our friends and family, near and far……Happy Thanksgiving!!!! 

Over the weekend, Darren and I were out running errands when we stopped at Scarsdale Gallery to frame a picture we had gotten on our honeymoon.  While at the gallery, we had a look around and some very interesting pieces caught our eye.  This relatively low key gallery/framing shop on Central Avenue has many wonderful gems hanging on their walls and in their collection.  We were particularly drawn to the collection of art by Jane Wooster Scott.  We knew very little about her and her work prior to walking into the gallery but ever since our visit, we’ve done some research and really like her collection.

Jane Wooster Scott is a world famous artist who’s collection includes original oil paintings as well as many limited edition hand signed/numbered lithographs, serigraphs and remarques.   Her work generally centers around the American Family celebrating family traditions, holidays and customs during the turn of the century and the early 20th century.  We were particularly drawn to a piece called “Special Delivery” which we thought would be perfect over our bar area and the gallery owner was kind enough to let us take it home to see if we liked it.   Our style is generally more contemporary/modern but this piece works perfectly over the bar which is more ‘old school’ and traditional.  We have it up on the wall and will most likely decide to keep it as it really brings the bar area and the den together.  This was a very unexpected and pleasant find!   With every passing day, our house becomes more and more of a home and we absolutely love it! 

This morning we woke up to the beautiful site of falling snowflakes.  The first taste of winter is arriving and it was so peaceful and serene to see the snow gently fall on the trees in our backyard.  While the forecast is for a few light flurries, changing to rain, it was a wonderful way to wake up in the morning.  The falling flakes are definitely getting us in the mood for our ski weekends.  Hard to believe though that it will be 60 degrees for Thanksgiving!  

Friday night I officially became the owner of the new iMac computer. Four plus years and two hard drives later, my Dell Dimension finally gave out and died, much to my dismay. On the bright side, though, I did backup my files about 1-2 weeks ago so I don’t think I lost anything, except my comfort with my old PC. Backing up is essential and I learned that lesson two years ago when the first hard drive went and I lost everything. Needless to say after that incident I went out and bought an external hard drive to so at least this time around I avoided that heartache again.

Darren, a lifelong Mac user, is completely infatuated with Apple and all their products so naturally after 18 months of being together his marketing of the brand has worn me down. I have been using an iBook around the house and when I travel so I have basic knowledge of how to navigate around but now that I have the iMac with the new Leopard operating system as my main computer, I really have a lot to learn. Scary and exciting all at the same time I am keeping an open mind and hoping that my official transition to a Mac is a smooth one. I will be installing Windows as there are some things I just can’t do without. I guess I’m a creature of habit in some ways.

The computer itself is absolutely beautiful and unbelievably compact. With the hard drive as part of my 24″ monitor, this ‘all in one’ design is a huge space saver (and avoids that octopus of wires). The built in wireless capability had me on line in minutes. And right now Apple is giving a free HP Photosmart scanner/copier/printer with the purchase of the iMac (after you submit the rebate) so that is an added bonus. I am too new to render a fair review of the operating system or the ease of the features so check back soon for an honest review of what I think of everything. Wish me luck as I make my transition!

If you are like me, you are receiving tons of unwanted catalogs this holiday season.  Every day we come home and our mailbox is jam packed with tons of holiday catalogs.  Some are from stores I like and want their catalogs but most of the time it is just a bunch of junk.  It’s a total waste of money to send these catalogs to people who don’t want them.  All they do is create more work for the mail man, more work for the garbage man and more work for us as we have to keep making trips to the garage to dump them in our recycle bin. 

At last, I found a solution: Catalog Choice .  This site allows you to opt out of receiving catalogs.  Thank goodness!  I am going to sign up for this free service and start doing away with our unwanted catalogs.   If you are like me, it will be worth the few minutes to input the info required and soon we will be catalog light!   Great way to ‘think green’!