Clearly, I’ve been pretty quiet around here. Sure, a big part of why I haven’t posted is because I’ve been busy. I’ve been juggling work and a hectic fall schedule and that leaves less time for blogging. But the biggest reason I haven’t come to this corner of the internet is because I am still very much grappling with the reality of the events in Israel/Palestine and their ripple effect. And that’s because it’s still very much happening. On October 7th, Hamas attacked Israel and committed the largest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The worst part is that Hamas – a terrorist organization – claims to be doing all this in the name of Palestinian freedom. Unfortunately, that’s simply untrue. Hamas does not actually care about liberating Palestinians. They are using that cause to cloud people’s judgement so they can carry out their true mission of eradicating the Jewish people from the face of the planet. Because the Israeli government has made some grave missteps in the past, the general public has been quick to support the Free Palestine movement and, in doing so, failing to truly condemn the actions of Hamas. There are a lot of “it was wrong, but…” comments as women are publicly raped and innocent people are kidnapped. People don’t trust reports that Hamas was beheading babies because only some of the 40 babies were beheaded while the rest were simply murdered and burned. As if that makes it better. The media is erroneously reporting that Israel is attacking civilians when, in fact, it was Hamas who bombed a hospital. People try to offer “context” by calling Israel colonizers…but by only discussing the last 75 years, they avoid much of the necessary context when it comes to indigineity. And all of this is flying about social media, something that simply wasn’t as prevalent or dangerous during previous wars or conflicts. And because it is all connected, it has directly built a steep rise in antisemitism. Across the globe – far from the Middle East – Jewish people are being attacked. Restaurants, subway stations, and frat houses are being vandalized, people are being stabbed, and vicious threats are being hurtled on the street. True colors are on full display and it’s both sad and terrifying. I could go on about the issue (because, honestly, it consumes the majority of space in my mind all day), but I need to also live my life. I need to thrive so they don’t win. For more thoughts, I’ve saved a hightlight on my Instagram (where, it should be noted, I’ve lost quite a few followers who didn’t want to see anything that contradicted their beliefs that Israel/Jews are evil).
The only person who could get me to hire a babysitter for an 8pm Tuesday dinner is Matt. I can’t tell you the last time I was out on a Tuesday but there’s no place I’d rather be than celebrating his birthday.
Over Sunday we went pumpkin picking and it was fun to enjoy some true fall vibes. Finn’s vocabulary has been steadily growing and he currently loves pointing out pumpkins so it was a thrilling activity for him.
Milano Market is one of the best places to get a sandwich. Period. I’ve never had a bad sandwich from that place. The Amore (prosciutto, burrata, and arugula) was my gateway drug, but everything I’ve tried since has been great (including a surprisingly tasty Cuban). Those in the know, however, always get the chicken caesar wrap. While I’d heard of it’s popularity (it might even be more popular than the Amore?!) that’s just not something I’d typically order when I have so many fresh Italian ingredients at my disposal. Plus, so often chicken caesar wraps are disappointing. The lettuce needs to be have the right mix of leaf/core, the chicken can’t be dry, there must be a balance between dressing and parm shreds, and croutons never seem to be “real” which always throws everything off. But they did it. Everything was absolutely perfect. No notes. It was as good as they say.
Peaches to Apples 