I know so many amazing women.
In time, I wish to be able to write about all of them. But in this post, I want to focus on two of my closest friends in Israel. Both women are brilliant, smart, motivated, multi-lingual and artistic. Both women are immigrants to Israel. Both women are independent and brave. Both women are mothers, both have triplets (all together now: Oy vey! Keinehora!)! Both women are artists, who began to create art after they had created new lives. They are recreating themselves in a way. I am so inspired by these women and I want to share their art with you.

Hilary is my honorary second mom/sista-from-anotha-mista from Kibbutz Saad. As well as playing several instruments and being instrumental in introducing me to her band, who allowed me to share a wonderful and musical year with them, Hilary is an acclaimed artist, as of the last few years. Several years ago, she took a class and that class turned into beautiful flower paintings and landscapes. Then came her abstracts- her use of color is amazing and the first 3 of that installment hang proudly in my living room. They lend color, depth and personality to the otherwise white blank slate room. They make me think of Hilary and her strength.
Hilary has 5 sons and a husband. That’s right, the woman has 6 kids in her house! I mean her oldest son helps a lot and her husband is a champ, but then she had
triplets and God Bless Her, she then had one more just for fun. She is a nurse full time and over time, so she cares for people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Her outlets, her music and her art are so expressive of her fun-loving personality, her kindness, her creativity, her open, adventurous side and her sensitive, feminine side.
Her latest installment of work is based on images of bamboo- the original piece was on request from a friend but as soon as friends and neighbors saw it, and the others- variations in size, color, negatives, neons, black and white- they began selling and going up in homes all over Israel, the US and Europe! Now, painting for fun is one thing, and it’s great- but on top of all of the other things to do in your life, to dream and act on a business concept, now that’s just fierce. But I understand her- I mean these pieces are good and they should be sold. I think that in the right markets, they could have serious mass appeal, which implies that her future work could have the same effect. I really believe in Hilary’s art and I love it. If you want to see more or get in touch with Hilary, contact me!
Marcia is a Brazilian queen, independent, strong, honest and kick-ass. Recently, she began designing clothes and, having been one of her first models I can tell you, this girl has vision, style and a serious understanding of how to make women look good. Her first two designs just hit stores all over Israel and I personally wear her wrap-meets-cardigan almost everyday. Marcia took this huge step- a new career, a new artform- within a year of just having triplets and building a new home. I don’t know anyone who would have the strength to do that. But she did. The first time I saw Marcia’s clothes, I already wanted one of each- they are flattering to all body-types and super sexy- dresses, tops, sleeves, oh my!

Marcia is the friend who met me at the airport when I made aliyah and helped me through the some of the hardest times of the past 5 years- and helped me celebrate some of the best times! Marcia has had quite an intense and amazing few years, she married a great man and gave birth to triplets! Yes, another set of triplets I am proud to know and love. With a big move and a broken leg, this woman has had her share of challenges this year.But she’s a champ and with her amazing family by her side, she’s kicking ass with her new clothing line!
Despite it all and with it all in her pocket, she still has the strength to start her own clothing design line, mass produce and market her women’s fashions. Her style is awesome, very feminine, very free-flowing, sexy, comfy but not shlumpadinka, curve-loving, beautiful fabrics and colors. Go here to see more and find a list a of stores, or contact me to get in touch with Marcia!
There are things we can all do everyday to support creative women like Marcia and Hilary- we can wear their designs and hang their art in our homes. We can talk them up, forward this post and other PR around to our friends and make sure we do our part to support these fierce women and their creations.
Go ahead, girls! Keep those creative juices flowing, we’re with you!
can never seem to catch up with that rascal-y rabbit. I listen to my gut now, which is a form of undressing my subconscious, but the best part is that my dreams are becoming so much more obvious!
I used to have obscure repeating dreams about scary Sesame Street, dreams which could mean many things, and came back several times a year to haunt me, taunting me as if to say, “You just don’t get it, do you?”
court preceeding and my ex has a team of young, sexy sleek lawyers like on some TV show and the judge allows them to screen a 15 minute promotional video of how my ex is a saint. Not even remotely hiding my greatest, deepest fears.
angry- all with a subtext of longing and yearning for us all to be together again, knowing that it means taking the good with the bad.
since, I booked my ticket. So now, my subconscious has begun with its first of what will probably be many dreams of my getting lost, and sleeping in someones living room with strangers, in an uncomfortable box. I am afraid that in traveling alone I will get myself so lost or stranded that I will have to sleep in a box with strangers- nice self-confidence, self!
tomorrow I meet Doc with the Delorean and he offers me a trip
My sense of perspective has been altered forever, and maybe when we have these vivid dreams- some scary, some awesome- it’s because uncle subconscious knows we can take it and it’s the stuff we need to know we feel, even if we can only feel it in dreams.
Recently, Tom Gunn from
that under no circumstances should I leave the house looking like this, but I can’t help it.
Crocs are like walking on clouds. So soft, so happy.
compensating for not having heals and simultaneously ruining the bottom hem of your nice pants.
I love Crocs because they don’t ask anything of me- no upkeep, no conditions, no standards and no matching needed. But I do also wear their variation-on-the-Croc. I have the Mary Janes- they aren’t as comfy as they look unfortunately and ever since I fell in them and popped an ankle, we’ve been having issues. But I also have the boots. Yes, Crocs made boots and I don’t mind saying that I did not take them off all winter- and I want them this year in every color.
fashion advice- but if I ever find myself wearing a size 1 and strutting down the runway, (read, never) I’ll be sure to do so. Not all of us can be lucky enough to be married to Seal and weighing 100 lbs at
the age of 40 after 3 kids. Some of us are every-woman. And we work hard, we play hard, we exercise in order to justify the tiniest rice cake snack. So, don’t shame us out of wearing our Crocs to the supermarket on Sundays. Popular culture and the need to be skinny have taken away our comfort food- don’t let it take away our comfort shoes, too!
Walking outside (cause you know my ass is not running alongside traffic in daisy dukes like some soccer star) is just wrong. I walk from work in the city center of Jerusalem to my home- a nice 30-40 minute walk, depending how fast I take it. I take the dog, who sits faithfully by my side at work anyway and we walk home. At least it’s downhill. On my walk home I pass my bagel stores, burger joints,
name and the skinny French immigrants and their chocolate stores, taunting me. Fat American Jewish girls ordering ice cream, as I can barely squeeze past their chubby cheeks on the sidewalk. If I could walk in a plain blank world with no delicious smells and no
change. I will not sign up or wait for an elliptical machine when I bought one a few years ago for less than the cost of 4 months gym membership. I will not be looked at while I sweat and drip and scowl. I will not watch my language or try not to look miserable just so that the gym yentas won’t mark me as the angry girl. I don’t want to go to silly classes and have some skinny bitch tell me what to do for an hour. I certainly won’t find myself at a unisex gym, too intimidated to use the machines, oggled to death and watching grown men grunt, get red-faced and check themselves out in the mirror while they do so- If that’s what I wanted, I would have stayed married.
could be doing this right. I will eventually hurt myself if I haven’t already.
Worst of all are the crunches and sit-ups. Fuck crunches and sit-ups. My belly is too fat to crunch right now and my back is too weak to help it get there. So the result is something between a flounder and a jelly fish beached on the shore at sunset. Helpless, hopeless, not pretty and very stinky.


olives like in Israel- or my newest recent topping-love: onion! The stinkier the pizza and the more fattening, the better.
chubby and lazy.
I got on the scale a few days ago. Here’s how it all went down…
think. When did I gain all this weight? I mean I remember the delicious french fries, ice cream, mashed potatoe, white bread, 
I don’t want to exercise. I don’t want to work out, sweat and kick my own ass. I DO NOT WANT TO DO CARDIO. I DO NOT WANT TO RUN, WALK, CRUNCH, LIFT, CURL, SQUAT or any of the sort. But I must. I know I must. I started with the walking. Check. But it turns out that I’m no longer 18 years old. Walking lightly for 40 minutes no longer helps me shrink
tomorrow.
at least the second I open my big mouth, there is always a fair chance that I will say something stupid. In my family, we call this Foot In Mouth Syndrome, FIMS for short.
My usual FIMS flub is an unintended indirect insult in the form of

I have a confession to make. In every math class I ever took, from Kindergarten to college, I uttered the bitter words, “I will never use this in real life!” and “I won’t need to know this in my future career as a Broadway star (I was a gay man even at 12)!” and the ever famous, “When will I ever use this crap when I’m grown up!?”

Teaching math skills and confidence manipulating numbers to young women should be just as important to feminism as promoting positive body image, self-defense and leadership skills. The 
donations and expenses. Numbers. My friend and boss came in to my office while I slaved over the numbers. I was literally in the middle of a wrestling match- it was me or the math and only one of us was coming out on top. There I was, all sweating and struggling with the numbers- she listened to my frustration and fear- she pushed me to keep on working on it, probably knowing how important it would be for me in the future. Thank you, if you’re reading.
feeling of a women’s march against violence and rape. But we can’t always be lucky enough to be surrounded by hundreds of dykes while walking home from work (we should only be so lucky!). So I have taken two steps towards feeling stronger and more confident on the streets at night:

Jersey and takes a step near me in the dark, invading my personal space and asking me if I live in this building. I can’t see the man’s face and I am feeling vulnerable to this potential threat. So I start yelling at him, like a crazy person. Using my IMPACT skills of telling the person violating my space that I want them to stop and walk away… but a bit loonier that they taught is in class. It’s my personal spin on the defense tactic.
Moral of the story: the roles are reversed now. I am the creepy neighborhood stalker now. I am the one who is freaking out the boys on the streets, late at night, skulking in the shadows. I love it.