Jacuzzis, saunas, pools—always a good time but not really anything extraordinary, right? But did you know there’s a place up in Queens that has taken these water elements to a whole other level. Meet Spa Castle. Not only will you be blown away with all of the cool things to do there, but you’ll also feel like you’ve been transported directly to Korea. Talk about an exciting family adventure! Here are some features of Spa Castle I found especially noteworthy:

Uniforms and Bracelet Charge Cards

After admission, men and women are sent to opposite locker rooms to change into uniforms; you'll be given a bracelet to wear that acts as a key to your locker and also your account for charging food, drinks and treatments. (It kind of made me feel like I was in a sci-fi movie like The Island, but it’s really nice not to have to carry around your wallet—or worry about your kids getting food on their clothes during lunch.) While they stored our stroller in the back employees-only room, keep in mind that children over 3 feet are required to go to their respective locker rooms, and no shoes are permitted past the locker room.

We’re NAKED!?

Yep, the hot baths on the first floor do not allow the use of bathing suits or towels. Buck naked, wash off, and in you go. Many Americans may not be quite up for this, but don’t worry, there’s plenty else to do if you decide to skip it!

Sauna Valley

There are seven themed saunas on the second floor—and they're all pretty darn amazing. You’ll find six hot ones (LED/Color Therapy, Gold, Jade, Far-infrared, Loess/Yellow Stone & Mud, and Mineral Salt) and one cold one (Ice Land). Each one conveniently lists the current temperature on the outside of the door—temps ranged from 48°F to 187°F when we visited. You'll probably want to avoid taking small children in to most of the saunas, with the exception of the Ice Room which my little guy loved. He got to touch snow… INSIDE! How fun is that!? I lasted all of five minutes in most of them (I'm a wimp when it comes to heat), but it was really cool to jump in and out and try them all. My favorite was the gold sauna—it really makes you feel like royalty—in a room surrounded by gold.

Outdoor Pools

Don't get confused—these are not swimming pools. The tubs are full of imported jets from Korea and Japan, combining the health benefits of hot water immersion with Asian acupressure. There are tons of spots to sit, stand, or lay down in and get various parts of your body massaged by jets of water, which range from firm to feeling like you’re getting hosed down by a fire fighter. (I kid you not!)

You shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding food to please every palette—they have everything from a huge salad bar and American staples (think chicken fingers and hamburgers) to Korean food. There's even a Starbucks and a frozen yogurt stand. There were no children's menus, but they did have high chairs.

Get Pampered

If you’re really looking to go all out, there are a bunch of extra treatments you can shell out for, such as body scrubs, massages, and facials. Click here for a full list of services.

Some Things to Consider If You Bring a Baby or Toddler

Children under 4.5 feet are not permitted in outdoor pools on the top deck (except for the small kiddy pool). This was hugely disappointing to me, but I understand. The pools aren't for swimming—they are filled with powerful massaging jets, currents, steps and built in chairs. It’s not the place for a small child, even if you’re carrying them (one small misstep and you’d both be underwater). That said, I definitely saw some smaller children in there, so I’m not sure how strict they are about it.

I’m not saying don’t take a baby or toddler to Spa Castle, I’m just saying it will restrict you a wee bit. My 18-monther certainly didn't have a lack of action. He had a blast in the kiddy pool and play room while my husband and I took turns watching him and visiting the other pools individually.

During my son's nap (they actually have a sleeping area, with heated flooring and mats, where he took an amazing one hour snooze), my husband and I took turns visiting all of the saunas. Imagine my surprise when I came back from my free time to find both of my boys snoozing away...

Spa Castle has changing tables and a play room (both great!), but I would have loved if they had some child care services. My husband and I will probably consider leaving our son with a sitter for our next visit, so we can experience the spa as a couple rather than tag teaming a majority of the time. Maybe next time we'll check out their newest Manhattan premier location, expected to open in September or October 2014. It'll be on the 8th-10th floors of 115 East 57th, and for ages 16+ only!

I was in Japan for the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. Despite being a couple hundred miles away from the epicenter, it was certainly the most terrifying day and subsequent weeks of my life. The aftershocks were relentless, you never knew what was just a rumble or what could be the next big one. People worried one even bigger than the original could occur in Tokyo or Yokohama (where I was), or even that Mt. Fuji might be triggered to erupt. We had a "go-bag" in the entry way, learned how to take super speedy showers (can you imagine not only being trapped inside a collapsed apartment building but being trapped NAKED? HA! 

One thing I wasn't too concerned about was the radiation. I thought we were far enough away, and I believed reports that things were under control. And I have to say that after moving back to the States that following summer (now 3 years ago), I rarely think back about that time or how the recovery efforts are going. Out of site, out of mind, ya know? But after just viewing this video about the situation in Fukushima, I am nauseated. I'm just sick thinking about those poor families, what they've been through and what they've yet to go through. Please take a moment (OK, actually 13 moments, it's quite a long documentary) for this:

The butterfly experiment at around 6 minutes in the video is what struck me the most. How the 2nd generation after radiation exposure or contaminated food consumption is in bad shape, but the 3rd generation is even worse. Like, WHAT? Epigenetics folks, this stuff is crazy! I remember at the time of the melt down, my husband mentioned something about people discriminating against those from Hiroshima, even in our generation, and this will likely happen to those from Fukushima. I couldn't understand this before, but now I kind of do. Even if you weren't yourself contaminated, your DNA (and your yet to be conceived child's) might still be effected, gravely. This is terrifying! And even worse is the government's cover up of it. Ugh. Japan... SERIOUSLY?? >_<

No, a public Japanese-English bilingual school doesn't exist in New York City... yet... but could be in the works!! Just saw this posted in one of my Facebook groups:

We are in the process of gathering a list of families that are interested in being a part of the first ever Japanese dual-language program in a New York City public school. If the idea of your child learning and speaking both Japanese and English from K-5 is appealing to you, please fill out the information below for our list. This list will help us in getting support from the Dept. of Education and other organizations that we are looking to partner with in making the program a reality.

We have been very lucky to have found two possible partnership schools in District 14. At this point, it is paramount that we show them in person just how much interest there is in starting a new dual-language program in Brooklyn! This vision is not just to benefit families interested in studying Japanese; dual-language programs have been known to transform school communities. Our efforts to bring more dual-language programs is part of a larger effort to improve and provide for more high quality choices in our very own public schools. Our decision to move forward with Japanese in D14 is because 1) Williamsburg and Greenpoint has the 2nd largest Japanese population in Brooklyn and 2) how is it possible that Japanese dual-language programs do not exist in all of DOE?

If you have time to come (with or without your wee ones) either tomorrow / Friday of this week to PS 147, we urge you to please come! We would love to have your support in droves! If you can also come next Wednesday to PS 196, they have invited Councilman Antonio Reynoso to address our wishes for schools in our district. What an opportunity to let decision-making folks know now what we want for our kids in the near future!

OPEN HOUSES (General, not just for the J-E Program):

Thursday and Friday, 3/20 & 3/21 at 9am PS 147 325 BUSHWICK AVENUE
BROOKLYN NY 11206 Map Phone: (718) 497-0326

Wednesday, 3/26 at 9am PS 196 207 BUSHWICK AVENUE
BROOKLYN NY 11206 Map Phone: (718) 497-0139

Finally, fill out this Google Docs form if you'd like to be kept in the loop by the movement's organizer, Lanny Cheuk! If you're like me and have no idea what school district you're in, you can find out here!

I can't say I'm not terribly bummed they're pushing for District 14. I mean, Williamsburg/Greenpoint is like another state when you're way down in Bay Ridge!!

Are you raising your child bilingually in languages native to you and your partner? Did you study a language and want your child to learn it as well? Do you only speak English but want your little one to have an additional language under his or her belt? Do you want to have fun learning a language together with your child? If you answered YES to any or all of the above, I have a totally awesome company to introduce you to... Little Pim!!

Founded by Julia Pimsleur Levine (daughter of Dr. Paul Pimsleur - created the Pimsleur Method), Little Pim is a language learning system geared toward children ages 0-6 (the prime time for language acquisition). It's a complete at-home program (DVDs, books, flashcards, and CDs) that helps children acquire a new vocabulary and a near-native accent!

You can choose from the following languages: Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian, German, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian,English, Portuguese.

My husband is Japanese, but works a LOT so we worry that my son doesn't get enough Japanese exposure. My Japanese is conversational at best, but I don't want to use it with him much because I don't want to pass along my bad grammar and accent. Suffice it to say I was SUPER excited to try out Little Pim's Japanese pak.

I know I know, the AAP recommends no screen time before 2 years old. And for the most part I adhere to that. But I have 2 exceptions: 1) when mama is REALLY sick (i.e. flu, mastitis, etc), and 2) when it's for the purpose of having foreign language exposure! So, Little Pim certainly falls into this 2nd category! We've been watching it together, as it's done in a way that gives you time to repeat the words and phrases and engage your child. It's really fun! But for the sake of taking pictures, he was on his own for a while and look how into it he is!! I promise you, it's not just because it's TV. He couldn't give a rats you know what about Baby Einstein or the nightly news! haha!

Now that you have fallen in love with Little Pim as much as I have, enter to win a 3-pak dvd set below (language of your choice)!!

If you can't wait, or if you don't win (boo-hoo!), you can get 20% off all products on the Little Pim website with the promo code "LPHOLIDAY" (hooray!!!). You can also find Chinese, French, and Spanish Discovery Sets in Toys R Us nationwide.

Oh yeah, did I mention what an AWESOME Christmas (or Hanukkah) gift this would be!?!?

Follow Little Pim for news and promotions (FYI, these are included for extra entry points in giveaway)!
Little Pim Website
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram

Without further ado, the GIVEAWAY!! (Enter in the Rafflecopter box below, US Residents over 18 only please)

**Disclaimer: Although I did receive this product free of charge, I was not compensated in any other way to do this product review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and completely unbiased.

Child modeling or acting is a bit of a controversial topic. Some say it's exploitation, others say it's college tuition! How I see it is that if the child enjoys it and it's not harming them in anyway, (I guess this last part is debatable...) why not?!

My little guy has been plastered all over Facebook and Twitter since he was a mere bump in my belly, so when I saw a casting call by Donna Grossman Casting for Pampers packaging last week, I didn't hesitate! Apparently, they're doing new packages in their various international markets (Japan, Philippines, India, etc) so were looking for moms and babies of all ethnicities. The one I specifically responded to was the one for Asian moms and babies. I know I know, I'm not Asian, but I went ahead and sent our pictures in by email and wouldn't you know in about 5 minutes they had responded with an "audition" date and time!

They were very specific about the wardrobe for the audition - mom in a sleeveless white tank top (not low cut) and baby in pampers diapers only. Done and done!

We got there around 4pm for our 4:20pm call. The waiting room had about 5 other babies with their moms in there. All of them lounging around in their diapers - it was so freaking cute!! The receptionist kept making announcements about keeping hold of your baby since the floors were cement and their were metal benches. But, one mom didn't listen and her little guy (maybe 1.5 years?) ended up with a busted lip! Yikes!!! He cried so hard, there was lots of blood, I don't even know them and I was traumatized!! Luckily the drama didn't effect Kenzo. We played with some toys we brought and I tried to keep him in a good mood, despite being overdue for his afternoon nap.

Finally we were called in and they had the white floor and backdrop with about 4 staff set up at the front, with lights, camera, computer, etc. The one lady was really helpful with giving explicit directions about what I should do. First we took some photos standing with Kenzo on my hip. Then sat down with him in front of me, then let him crawl toward the lady. She was AMAZING with him!! I've never seen him warm up to someone and be in hysterical giggles so fast!! He's usually frozen when we're out and about, not one to give smiles away to strangers. We did some shots with me laying on my side and him in front, then me laying down on my tummy and him sitting and looking at me. They wanted me to get him to swat at me and be silly. Not an easy task! She was like "Sneeze! Blow on his face!" haha!

I know we must have gotten some fantastic shots, I wish I could get copies but I'm sure it's not possible. On our way out I asked when we would hear anything. Apparently they'll only call if we book the shoot, which would be shot at the end of November, so we wouldn't hear for quite some time (mid-November?). This shocked me - they're dealing with babies here - in 2 months they will change so much!! But whatever, I guess we wait! If we get booked, it's $500 just for doing the shoot, and $6,000 if they actually use us on a package - HELLO!!! YES PLEASE!!!

It all brought be back to the wee bit of modeling I did in Japan a few years ago for Yamaha and Bosendorfer. I have to say playing with your baby is a whole lot easier than playing the piano for the camera and crew! Still, there was much sweating!

I love food, don't get me wrong, but what is up with these crazy food fads that have people lining up for hours in the wee hours of the morning??

Did you know in Japan they actually pay people to stand in line to add hype to something? Because if people are in line, it must be ah-mayyyyyyyy-zing, or that's the idea anyway. When Cold Stone and Krispy Kreme first came to Japan - forget about it - lines around the block!! I actually did wait in a long line at Krispy Kreme in Yokohama when they first opened, I was THAT desperate for a taste of home. What's funny is that they actually gave you a free donut while you waited! I ate my freebie, re-evaluated the need to wait any longer, and ended up going home - HA!! Crazy foreigner. I guess most customers were there to buy the big ol' box to bring to their co-workers or families.

OK, so let's talk about some food fads going in in New York at the moment...

First, we have the Ramen Burger.

A burger, some sauce, and a bun made of noodles. Created by Keizo Shimamoto it has become THE THING at Smorgasburg on Saturdays in Williamsburg. Seriously, people wait in line over 2 hours to grab one of these $8 burgers. They only make about 400, once a week, and then they're gone by around noon. So is it the low supply causing the high demand or are these things really that fabulous?

Survey says... yeah, they're pretty good! Personally, I'm not a huge ramen fan, nor am I a huge fan of red meat (I eat it about twice a year), so I'm not the best judge here. But, the bun was really interesting - the noodles (freshly made - not the horrid $.99 ones you downed in college!), despite being fried on the teppanyaki grill, were soft and stayed congealed together in bun form through every bite. My favorite part was the sauce which was tasty with a capital T!!

My advice, if you're intrigued, go for it! But do it on a nice day when you won't be standing in line for two hours feeling miserable! Go with some friends, brown bag it and play some games in line :) There are port-a-potties nearby so no worries there! After you're done, check out the other bazillion food vendors - tons of amazing things to try! Then, take the ferry down to Governor's Island!

OK, next up we have the oh so famous CRONUT!!
Half croissant, half donut, this thing looks de-freaking-licious!!!

Launched in May of this year, these $5 pastries are only sold at Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York's SoHo. Apparently your best chance of getting a cronut is by lining up by 6am on a weekday morning, facing up to 5 hours in line. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??? Also, there's a 2 cronut limit per person, so don't think you're all smart by sending a friend to buy for all of you lazy sleeper-inners! Another option is calling on Monday at 11am and trying to get on their pre-order list - you can order up to 6 but apparently it's hard to get on the list. The final option is doing a bulk order (at least 50) one month ahead. If you're planning some kind of party, this could be a good idea - your guests would luv luv luv you and forever remember your bash as "the one with the cronuts" haha!

So... have you tried the ramen burger or cronut? Do you have another crazy food fad to tell us about?? Please leave a comment below!!

My husband is Japanese and I'm your standard run of the mill white American. As soon as we got pregnant, everyone was all "You are gonna have the cutest baby EVER!!!" which was fun to hear (a million times!) but how do you respond to that? "Thanks"? "I hope so"?

We were riddled with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety over what our lil' munchkin would look like. Would he get my husband's teeny tiny eyes and my huge nose? Would he look albino with my pasty complexion and my husband's Asian features? Other than the obvious fears of the child being born with a major physical or mental disability, my biggest 100% superficial and selfish worry was that our baby would look 100% Asian and people would think he was adopted.

Well, I definitely think he looks mixed, a perfect mix if you ask me, but my previous fear came to fruition a couple of days ago for the first time. I was with Kenzo at the local bagel shop and a lady (she was Asian, not sure from where) is looking between him and me quizzically, then says to me out of the blue and all matter of factly "He looks Asian". So many creative and fun ways I could have responded. But she caught me completely off guard!! I replied, "Ah, haha, yes, well his father is Japanese". OK, not so unusual... I've had several strangers ask me if his daddy was Asian - mostly people who have a child or grandchild who is half white half Asian - I guess there is a certain happa / haafu / half / mixed / whatever you wanna call it "look". But the kicker is how she responded... "Oh, I thought you adopted him from China". Agh. There it is. Why this offended me so much I do not know. I see nothing wrong with adopting, and nothing wrong with Chinese people, and nothing wrong with adopting a child from China... but the fact is I did NOT adopt a child from China, nor does my child have anything to do with China. He is half JAPANESE and half ME and didn't yo mama teach you if you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all??? Telling someone their child looks adopted is not especially nice. Grrrr...

On a lighter note, have you ever taken the All Looks Same exam? They show you various Asian faces and you guess if they're Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. You will fail. I promise! It's crazy when you don't have fashion or accent to take into account... even Asians fail this exam!

I'm so excited to start posting birth stories I've received from mamas from around the world who were lovely enough to share some of their most personal moments with us! I had a wonderful (but looooooooooong and painful) natural unmedicated vaginal birth (you can read my shortened birth story here, longer one here) and love to hear the good the bad and ugly of all the different births out there!

Just a warning about the birth stories in this series - some will be wonderful and inspirational, others will be all of your birthing fears wrapped up into one horrific account... If you are currently pregnant, you should consider whether or not reading these stories will benefit you. For me, I liked to know all of the possibilities - you know, prepare for the worst, hope for the best! Others find it makes them have irrational worries and anxiety. If the latter is you, I will put a little warning on the "negative" stories and you should consider bookmarking these and come back after your little one has arrived safe and sound ^_^

Without further ado, let's kick off the series!

Here is our first birth story guest post from Aussie mom of 2, Gaye in Gifu, Japan.

**Forewarning - this could be an anxiety triggering story for currently pregnant women. Consider bookmarking for after your delivery!

Well, when I was pregnant with Emily I was told by the doc, that I was "big" yeah well, surprise, surprise. I am not anorexic-size like most women in Japan! I must admit that I am big. And a lot heavier that people think I am, thanks to muscle...

Anyways, getting to when I was in labour with Emily, I was taken to the General Hospital, where i was due to give birth. I was in labour for 36 hours, and in Japan they dont believe in any pain killers! I was having contractions less than 2 mins apart, and after being induced twice, there was still no luck. I had remembered that my SIL (my brother's wife) had a still birth when she had been in labour for 36 hours. Unfortunately for her the blood clotted in the umbilical chord, and the baby didnt make it... I could not see myself going through that, so I demanded my doc give me a C-section. He wanted me to have a natural birth, and I asked if I did, how much longer would it take... "Oh, 2 more days or so!" WITH NO PAIN KILLERS??? NO FKUCING WAY!!!!" Anyways, we finally all decided it was better to have C-Section. So, they took me into surgery and got me prepped with an Epidural. Actually 3 of them!! It was so strong, that I couldnt even get a big enough breath to say that I couldnt breathe!
Emily was born with no probs what so ever!!

Then it came to number 2!

When I found out I was pregnant with number 2, I also got in biiig trouble from the doc and was given a very serious warning about my blood pressure, which was over 210 at the time! This pregnancy became a very high risk and I was on medication and had to visit my doc on a weekly basis. Usually when you see a doc when finding out that you are expecting, they usually say "Congratulations!" etc. I was told "If you don't consider terminating this pregnancy, it could cost you and your and baby's lives."

I guess I can say thank you to my extremely stubborn husband for not wanting to give up the pregnancy, and wanting to fight for us. One night I had been feeling really sick from an ongoing headache I had for a few days, and I asked hubby to take me to the hospital. (I had grown up having migraines, but this was different to usual.) We went to the hospital where they checked me out, checked my BP, and told me that they have to send me to another hospital to give birth straight away, if not we could both lose our lives in a matter of hours. It turned out that my BP rose to 250/160!! (I eventually found out that high BP was in my DNA, and that was the cause of it!)

I was rushed to another hospital via ambulance, that deals with high risk pregnancies and also has an NICU.
They prepped me for an emergency C-section and I was given about 7 or so epidurals? None of them worked, and I could feel about everything!! They didn't use the old time scalpel, they used a laser scalpel, and I could feel it all!! It burnt like hell!!!! Apparently, the doc who stitched me up when Emily was born did a crappy job, and the scar tissue was really bad, and it took them over 45 mins to get Natalie out!! That 45 mins I was going through the agony of the laser scalpel. Man, that is hotter than getting a tattoo!!!

During this time, my hubby was snapping away, taking pics on my mobile phone! I had no idea he was doing that until I saw the "detailed" pics on my phone lol.

So my tiny little girl was born at 30 weeks, weighing 1127g (2.5 lbs)  and 35cm (13.8 in) long. She has 2 tiny holes in her heart, and was in the NICU from Sep-Dec. At almost "9" months, she is still as tiny as ever, at 60.5cm (23.8 in) and just over 5kg (11 lb). But I am so very proud of her and what she has overcome!

The creative juices are definitely not flowing today... I'm tired. But I can't blame it on baby! I joined Pinterest yesterday and now have that to add to the time sucking abyss that is social media!! Kenzo usually goes to bed around 10pm and wakes up around 6-7am. So, I know if I go to bed by 10pm (11pm at the latest) I'll be good to go. But recently, man, I really get sucked into Twitter and now Pinterest, ughhhhhh have got to get to bed sooner. Unfortunately they really are necessary for building a business. In just 2 months, Miny Moe has gotten over 600 followers on Twitter and almost 300 "likes" on Facebook. Of course that doesn't directly effect how many sales you'll get, but the more your name is out there the better! Natalie, the owner of Baby List, pinned us on Pinterest the other day and it got over 300 hits, and we got four sales that day!! Used the right way, social media can really help a sister out. So, I'm trying! And, I'm tired...

My sister is coming into town tonight from Montreal for the weekend!!! So today I've been a busy bee. Short of mopping the floors (though I did some spot cleaning of random spit-up stains on our wooden floors), I cleaned up nice and good - dusted, swiffered the floors, cleaned the fridge, reorganized our kitchen cabinets and Kenzo's closet, did laundry - even the sheets and duvet cover!! WHOA!! Hubby is out of town for 2 weeks, and after my sister leaves on Monday, Kenzo and I will fly down to my parents' home in NC. Hubby will return to the apartment several days before us, and so help me god, if this place is a mess when we return.... >_< I'll never forget when we were living together in Japan, the first time I was coming back from a trip home he said that he cleaned up the apartment for me. Wow, I thought, what a catch!! I got to the apartment and it was a TOTAL MESS!!! When he got home from work I was all "WTF is this???" and he was like, "It's clean!!" Turns out we have different definition of clean... his does not include organized and tidied up. Well, it didn't before that incident anyway... we shall find out in a few weeks if he's learned o_o

I consider myself a pretty open-minded adventurous worldly gal. Traveled outside the States for the first time at 12, sans family at 17, did a year abroad in college, and 5 years abroad after graduating. I love learning about other cultures, studying languages and accents, trying crazy food (blow fish, raw horse, whale & sting-ray jerky, frog, snails, whale sperm sack - tried them all!!), you name it! That said, I am slightly on the shy side of the spectrum, and until now have often relied on alcohol to bridge the gap in meeting new people and to get the courage to see and do everything the world has to offer!

When I studied abroad in Germany, making friends seemed so effortless. We had a 1 month language program before the semester started, and boom, day one, tons of international friends to party and explore with! When I moved to Japan to teach English after college, same deal. I was on the JET Programme and as soon as I landed in Tokyo for training and again after arriving in my city of Ryugasaki, bam, an intimate group of gaijin (foreign) friends you are suddenly besties with no matter how different the lives you previously led were. Both of these easy-friend-making situations arose because everyone was so far out of their comfort zones that you had this automatic bonding experience over the new and scary local and life you were living.

When I moved to New York the first time as a singleton, and again when I moved here with my hubby, it was quite a different situation. Everyone here had their set group of friends, and meeting people was soooooooooo tough! I really felt pathetic, like, "Hey, I have no friends, will you be my friend?? I'm cool, or at least I think I'm cool..." hmph. Even if you made some friends, it felt like such an effort to get invited to hang out. Sad, but true, at least in my case anyway.

But now, with a baby, the world is open and friendly and exciting again! Everyone loves babies. Everyone looks and talks to your baby, sure it's not going to turn into a life-long friendship with the lady cooing at your little one in the elevator, but still, it feels nice (unless they randomly touch your little one without asking, which is NOT cool!!!). And reaching out to make friends through meetup.com or Facebook or whatever doesn't feel so pathetic, cuz, hey - I'm a good mom looking for friends FOR MY BABY *wink wink*. Sure he doesn't know his his hand from his a$$, but you know, he needs play dates right? So does mommy! I never thought it could be so easy to make friends, and AWESOME ones at that, in New York. But we did it!

*Disclaimer: I did not in fact have a baby in order to make friends, but rather making friends was merely an unanticipated added side benefit of having said baby. ^_^

One other thing I'd like to mention on this topic happened just yesterday. Let me start by explaining that since moving to NY I've become somewhat fascinated with the Hasidic Jewish culture that is quite prevalent here in Brooklyn. The way they dress and act and talk, the various things you hear about them but aren't quite sure which are true or merely rumors. I'm just fascinated with it, much like I am with the Amish. I'm currently reading the biography of an ex-Hasidic Jew, called "Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of my Hasidic Roots" which gives an amazing insight into the culture (though, I don't know what is exaggerated or specific to her sect). For instance, it says they believe God sent Hitler as their punishment for assimilation, which is why they are so careful now to dress so traditionally and piously. They believe having as many kids as possible is the ultimate revenge against Hitler, so that is basically the women's job. Once married, they cannot show their real hair to any man other than their husband, and some sects mandate keeping their hair shaved under their wig or scarf. One would be correct in assuming they go out of their way not to interact with people outside of their group, and until yesterday I only had one (very negative) interaction with one - he was a realtor who showed us an apartment, and gave it away to someone else despite him promising he'd give me a warning if anyone showed interest before I could get our contract to him. A-hole. I tried not to generalize him to the entire population. But yesterday, while at H&M with baby and hubby, I briefly chatted with a Hasidic women in the elevator about our babies, and then while shopping another one asked me where I got the baby hat I was holding. Nothing major, I know, but still, imagine my elation, to have crossed such an extreme cultural division! Hoorah!!

So there you have it folks. Alcohol and babies, the ultimate tools for breaking ice, bridging gaps, and crossing the cultural divide!