Got a call yesss!!! A boutique museum rep. was letting me know they are doing an exhibit and including Judith Leiber. A blog I had written several years ago was brought to their attention. They asked if they had my permission to include it in the display. Fun and then some. Reposting!

Notorious for her handcrafted, crystal clutches, bag designer Judith Leiber died over the weekend at the age of 97. The accessories designer whose work was favored by multiple First Ladies, was known for her tongue-in-cheek approach to bag design.

Her husband of 72 years Gerson Leiber died a few hours later. She was a holocaust survivor, married Gerson, an American soldier during World War II and moved to New York. She lived a “jeweled” life and entertained our eye through the fanciest of the fanciest hand bags. The cafe society ladies could be seen sporting them on the tables of Grenouille and Cote Basque during the Jackie O year’s. In random episodes of Sex in the City they were highlighted as arm candy to exemplify deliberate signs of wealth and wonder. Our take away was “wondering” how they came up with the thousands of spare change dollars to purchase one, or more. What a life, from the outside in. What a blessing head on. A Survivor who was blessed with an amazing eye for detail displayed through her artistry and  a 72 year marriage that lasted till the last day they both passed away. Cut to…

There are some locations that never make it. The corner of 1st and 79th Street has housed one restaurant after another. Every time we think the new sign that went up, looked promising we pass again and the lights are dimmed, sign down.

And then the Jim McMullen (no credit cards taken) on to Atlantic Grill spot on 3rd Avenue flourished until now as the building is being torn down to build condos.

So the take away question of the day—is the success of the Judith Lieber cocktail a mixture of overcoming the fallout of devastating-beginnings, hard work and extreme talent with Lady Luck poured on top or is it that she made the very best of her “location” whether it was in the ghetto basement with 60 other holocaust survivors or the front room at La Grenouille, where her hand bags are perched on tables in statue-like fashion? If you find yourself in a paper bag today, make your way out, put up a new sign and put a cherry on top!

We walked into our building the other day and one of our doormen, whose name happens to be David, called us over to let us know he has been meaning to tell us something. We listened as he proudly shared the wonderful news that his son had recently become a Bar Mitzvah. He told us we could watch the service on You Tube and the theme for the party was all Baseball. We stopped in our tracks, wished him a big Mazel Tov and went upstairs to our apt.
We were thrilled for him and confused as we didn’t know he had children or much else about him. He always greeted us with a smile and we exchanged pleasantries as he handed us our Amazon packages.
A few days have gone by, the covid related numbers for the known variants have dropped significantly and the President’s State of the Union Address opened with what his plans are for the Russian large scale military invasion on Ukraine.
Fast forward to yesterday at days end when David called up to let us know our dinner, that we ordered was here. Ah, the Bar Mitzvah. So we ate dinner and sat down to watch David’s son Eric become a Bar Mitzvah. Can’t make the names up for those in the know. We kvelled as Eric read from the Torah, sang along, silently prayed and sent a shout out upon request from the Rabbi to Hashem to help our dear friend who lingers on in poor health. We listened as David’s wife spoke about their son and we cried for their pride in him.
Moral of stories, bottom lines, grab moments of pleasure, now more than ever come in droves, especially in these precarious days with so much uncertainty.
So we got some paper, wrote a mazel message, put some gelt into an envelope for Eric and went downstairs to have a “Minchin by you Moment.”This time the blessing in disguise came with a shout out in the lobby from a very familiar face, albeit in concept a stranger. Make it a schepp nachas for no longer a stranger kind of day. We are all a community and hashtag stronger together. Now more than ever. Bh

Hamantaschen, Hamantaschen,
Where art the best?
We are on an adventure,
Through a taste test.
The flavors and textures,
In one bite or two.
The crust and the filling baked like our Bubby would do.
Seeking the memories, we are hitting the ground.
We’ll go store to store,
The streets we will pound.
Add the sugar, the butter, the vanilla extract?
Measure the amounts don’t mix them in blind.
The hammantaschen we knew,
Was one of a kind.
We’ll tap into Amy Rosen,
We are thinking she’ll know.
Her cooking and baking- a win, place and show.
We favor the prune, but appreciate the rest.
Hey, we will taste it all,
In our search for the best.