Five Things That Made Me Happy This Week (And One Confession)

Guys, this has been A Week. You know it's not a good sign when your Monday blog post starts off with you complaining about how tired you are. I spent the whole week stressed at work and didn't go to sleep early enough on a single night (shame on me). Throw in some dreary weather and car repairs, and I am 250% over it. All of it. Come to me, weekend.

Needless to say, I didn't feel inspired (or energized) enough to write what was on my editorial calendar for this week. So in what's become sort of a tradition on these "blah" sort of weeks, I've decided to dust off this old post idea and chat about some things that made me happy!

Five Things That Made Me Happy This Week (And One Confession)

1. My car repairs weren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be! Last week on a rainy day, I went to turn my lights on and nothing happened. I'd had this exact problem almost exactly a year ago, and my mechanic had to replace the whole switch in there. It took several days and several hundred dollars and so much stress, I can't even tell you. So to have no headlights again within a year had me on the verge of crying, I was so frustrated. But lo and behold, the problem ended up being dead lightbulbs. That's it. First of all, how the heck do both headlights die simultaneously? And second of all, this is the first time in the two-year history of my ownership of Buzz that I took him to the mechanic expecting the worst and escaping with something minor. Usually it's the complete opposite; I go in for an oil change and find out he needs new brakes. But this time I had Buzz back later that same morning, saving me hours (and potentially days) of stressing about it. [praise hands emoji]

2. Last Saturday I hosted a (very belated) Passover Seder for a few of my (non-Jewish) friends. I hadn't been planning on celebrating this year, but they requested a Seder. And this same group of people celebrated Chanukah with me back in December. I have non-Jewish friends who go out of their way to celebrate my holidays with me. That is the most amazing thing. (I also cooked everything myself, did so successfully and had everything ready with 10 minutes to spare. Whaaaaat.)

3. Also last Saturday, a TV special on the Miracle on Ice reunion aired. I've been basically dying for footage of the reunion since the moment it ended (over two months ago, omg), and now we FINALLY have some! I also scrounged up a radio show that did a broadcast about the reunion, which has some great audio from the ceremony. So I'm no longer left to reminisce with just my memories, and I can share the joy of what actually happened with whoever wants to experience it! (I may or may not have watched the special and listened to the radio show like three or four times apiece. Don't judge me.)

4. My boss has a lot of faith in me. Which is sometimes kind of terrifying, because sometimes she thinks I'm capable of doing things that I'm not so sure I'm capable of. But it's pretty cool to work for someone who tells me that I'm smart and capable... even if that comes after throwing me into a task that I have no real idea how to tackle.

5. THE METS. Guys. I've been a lifelong fan of this historically terrible team. But right now they have the best record in the entire MLB. They swept a 10-game homestand for the first time in franchise history. They tied the 1986 World Series-winning team with the best start in franchise history. They won 11 games in a row for the first time since 1990. And they've done all of this despite a laundry list of injured players (David Wright included). Holy. What is going on? Who are these people? What has happened to this team that used to roll over and die? Where have all these haters come from? Are there going to be bandwagon fans?

I haven't been this excited about the Mets since 2012, when we had Dickey Day instead of Harvey Day.

And my confession: I literally don't know how to handle rooting for a team that's good. LOL. I got more and more emotional the longer the winning streak went on. I've been tweeting and posting on Tumblr about the Mets nonstop because suddenly it's exciting to be a fan! I can finally be proud of my team! And I'm sorry but I cannot shut up about it! I'm finally excited about watching games because losing isn't all but guaranteed! And even if the Mets are down a few runs, they actually fight back! WOW. All of this is unprecedented. I kid you not. I'm used to being utterly embarrassed by this franchise. I need to get used to this whole "winning" thing. In the meantime I might be really annoying. My apologies. (But of course, I miss all games in the 11-game winning streak, but as soon as I can watch a game, they lose 6-1 to the Yankees. Of course. Of course.)

Hope everyone had a lovely week! :)

Olympic Bat Mitzvah

Guess what today is!

If you said it's the one year anniversary of the opening of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, you would be correct. However, it's also the 11th anniversary of my Bat Mitzvah.

For those that may not know much about Judaism, kids have their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs when they turn 13 to symbolize their entrance into adulthood. (So the anniversary of my Bat Mitzvah is almost old enough to have a Bat Mitzvah. How terrifying is that? I'm old. Let's not talk about it.) I got up in front of my temple's congregation and my entire family and all of my friends to read (i.e. sing) from the Torah. And then everyone threw candy at me, and suddenly I was technically a grown-up. Looking back, 13 is an absurdly early age to consider someone an "adult," but nonetheless.

But everyone knows that the most important part of a Bat Mitzvah is the party. Every kid (or, uh, adult?) picks a theme for his or her party, and mine was the Olympics. I mean, obviously. Were you expecting else of me? So today I thought we'd take a stroll down memory lane and revisit this Olympic-themed shindig... and cringe at what I looked like in middle school. (Though I'm very thankful for whoever did my makeup that day. A few days prior, I'd developed a stye on one of my lower eyelids and in pictures it looked like I'd been punched in the face. But on the day of my Bat Mitzvah, you couldn't even tell!)

My favors were these string backpacks, featuring each Games since I was born, leading up to Darci 2004 (for obvious reasons). This led to several years of jokes that my name is an Olympic city. I didn't hate it. 

Each table was a different country (and the kids' area was the Olympic village). And why just give out cards for seating arrangements when you can wrap it around a Hershey bar? Exactly. We did things right. 

How 'bout those centerpieces? Completely homemade by my awesome (and thrifty) parents. 

Did I mention that my party was on a boat? Because my part was on a boat. 

More homemade decorations. :) 

How pretty is this?! I still have a bunch of these flags, actually. 

I spy an American flag bandana. 

Why is my caricature holding the flag upside down? Riddle me that!

My dad was in charge of deciding what to write on the cake. #flawless

Now... you didn't think I'd end this post without some hilarious and/or embarrassing pictures, did you? 

Just clutching an American flag, as you do. 

Stylin' and profilin'. 

These centerpieces were the best idea ever. 

 Honestly.

We had the whole world in our hands! (Hah.)

Why did nobody tell me how awkward I was?!?! OH MY GOSH. But hey, notice that sweatshirt?

Eleven years later, I'm still awkward and still wearing the same sweatshirt.

I also still have the Olympic flag I got for the occasion!

It's crazy to look back and think about how much things have changed since 2004. I mean, now I actually am an adult, by all religious and legal definitions. But I still love the Olympics to the same degree, and have my own cubicle inside United States Olympic Committee headquarters. So if anyone ever tells you you're too obsessed with something, don't listen to them. A little obsession is a good thing. ;)

8 Reasons You Should Want to Celebrate Chanukah

Can I be honest for a second? If I see one more "Christmas gift guide for him/her/your dog/your mom/your hipster friend/your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate," I'm going to vomit.

I'm not trying to insult anyone who's written one (or five. Does anyone ever write just one?). But honestly, talk about overload. Is it a requirement for every single blogger out there to put together gift guides for Christmas? Did everyone sign some contract when they created their blogs that set some sort of Christmas gift guide quota? Because I must've missed that memo.

Really, I'm not a Grinch or a Scrooge, I promise. I'm just Jewish (so, same thing?). And of all the blogs I follow -- which is a pretty decent amount -- I have not seen a single solitary post about Chanukah. Are there any other Jewish bloggers out there? Anyone? ...Bueller?

*crickets*

Okay, so, if I'm the only blogger that's been Bat Mitzvah'd, I think it's my duty to diversity the holiday posts, and maybe equalize the representation a little bit. Because as much as everyone loves Christmas, everyone is also stressed out of their mind about Christmas. Meanwhile, us Jews over here are eating donuts and chillin'. In other words: you should want to celebrate Chanukah.

1. It lasts eight nights. We may not have the Christmas morning experience, but isn't Christmas all about traditions anyway? Well, Chanukah gives you eight nights of gifts (delayed gratification for the win!) and eight opportunities to create traditions!

2. Candles. It seems that most people are absolutely head-over-heels for candles (again, was this in that blogger contract I missed?). When you celebrate Chanukah, the only required part of the "celebration" is lighting candles. Only two on the first night, but by the time the eighth night rolls around, you're lighting nine! I don't even have that candle obsession, but even I love it when the menorah's lit. There's something strangely calming about it.

3. It's an excuse to eat fried food. Quick basic religion lesson: Chanukah celebrates the miracle of oil that was only supposed to burn for one night ending up burning for eight. So as much as we're celebrating light, we're also celebrating oil. Nowadays we don't light it on fire (though I guess you could do that if you want?), but we do fry things in it. Donuts? Totally Chanukah-appropriate!

4. Latkes. The ultimate fried food, latkes are totally worthy of their own place on this list, because holy delicious, Batman! I literally look forward to Chanukah every year for the sole reason of my grandma's latkes. They're a game-changer. The last few years I've gotten to make them with her, and this year I made my first solo attempt! Pretty bomb for a first try, I must say! They're super time consuming and the process is incredibly messy and you'll smell like fry for the rest of your life, but for so much deliciousness? WORTH IT.

Sorry they're not prettier. And sorry the photo sucks. But listen, I'd just been peeling/grating/frying for two hours, so...

5. It's really not about the gifts. Maybe this is just my own wrong perception, but when I was younger it sounded like all my friends got every material object in their wildest dreams for Christmas and ended the morning drowning in crumpled wrapping paper. I've definitely gotten some great Chanukah presents over the years, and I was definitely always excited to open presents, but it was never this massive gift-fest like Christmas sounded like. On Chanukah, you get excited about getting one gift on each night, not a thousand things in one go. And maybe it's just my family, but we don't buy gifts for every single person we know, so the idea that people are so stressed out of their minds about Christmas shopping is a completely foreign concept to me.

6. It's an excuse to watch Miracle. Chanukah is literally celebrating a miracle. So "do you believe in miracles?" is actually a pretty flawless Chanukah reference! Would you believe me if I said I hadn't put that together until this week? I know, clearly I've been slacking.

My mom found this on Pinterest and it changed my life. There's a whole DIY tutorial at the source!

7. It's a way to celebrate religion without having to go to services. On Christmas, is there any religious aspect anymore unless you go to Mass? I guess you could say grace before eating, or pray, or whatever else goes on that I'm just not privy too. But when you celebrate Chanukah, you light the menorah while reciting a specific prayer (and in Hebrew, no less). I'm not even a religious person -- like, at all -- but I like that I can be Jewish in such an easy, low-key way. One Hebrew sentence, a handful of candles, and I'm good to go.

8. It teaches you to go with the flow. Chanukah's date corresponds to the Jewish calendar, so for those of us who use the Gregorian calendar, it falls on a different date every year. Last year the first night was on Thanksgiving. This year, the last day is Christmas Eve. Sometimes it's earlier, sometimes it runs until after Christmas. And there's nothing you can do about it! Sorry, type-A planners, but you'll just have to deal with a month less of gift prep time! And you always, always have to go to school or work during Chanukah. If you're lucky it'll overlap with Thanksgiving weekend or Christmas Eve/Day, but if not? Bummer. Schedule your family get-together on the first night or the last night or some random night that falls over the weekend. There's no sense in getting uptight about it.

BONUS: there is absolutely no reason to put together a Chanukah gift guide post!

Tonight I'll be watching Miracle and eating latkes. I'm pretty excited about it. :) Happy Chanukah, friends!