Happy St. Patrick's Day! Photos from our Family Vacation to Ireland

Thanks to my brother Ethan for letting me lift these photos from his blog, American Vernacular Landscapes.

All photos taken 12 years ago next month, which seems like a very long time ago but also sorta like it was just yesterday.

If these pictures look familiar, it's because I also posted them last year.

For more St. Patrick's Day posts from the Random Handprints archives, click here.

Old Photo Friday: The Yellow Bikini

I keep forgetting about Old Photo Friday! Which I think means it's time to give it a rest for awhile, but first (or should it be last?) these now and then pics:

Me, in a yellow bikini, 1970-something.

My daughter, in a yellow bikini, 2012:

My milestone birthday has come and gone, so I'm ending the old photo thing for now. Instead, Fridays will now be a new feature I'm going to call "Giving the People What They Want." I'll let you know what that is this Friday.

A big thanks to everyone who followed along in my extended trip down memory lane.

Old Photo Friday: Blog Conference Past

I'll be heading to the Big Apple for my first time at the Big Dance of bloggers, BlogHer '12.

I cannot wait.

All the talking, planning and excitemtn for next week's event reminded me of the fabulous time I had at the only other Blog Conference I've ever attended, Bloggy Boot Camp in Boston.

I'm happy to say I'm still chatty with lots of the folks I met there last year, including these two aweseome gangstas ladies

Kim, Me and Liz.

who I get to (squee!!) see again next week.

I cannot wait.

For lots of advice about what to do, not do, see and not see check out the advice of some seasoned BlogHer bloggers here.

Happy Old Photo Friday to Me

It's my birthday today, and it was the reflective/nostalgic mood this particular "milestone" birthday put me in that got me started on Old Photo Friday in the first place.

So of course for today, I'm got old photos from my birthdays. I'm still finding more, so next week I will probably be back with Part II of the birthday collection.

Here, in order, my birthdays from ages zero to eight.

I also love this photo of my brother, who I believed was forced to pose as a party decoration one year.

And from the same year, there's also this photo of me admiring my 1970s loot of a jump rope, hula hoop and my second dog (I got the first one for my birthday the year before) that barked when you clapped, which was the greatest technology ever... in 1978.

So I'm off to enjoy another year ahead, convincing myself that growing older is fine, and trying to embrace another Anna's outlook that it's all good with lots of candles, plenty of cake.

And the kids and I did in fact have plenty of cake, Jacques Torres Chocolate Cake made by my mother, for breakfast this morning. A perfect way to start my birthday. *

* I am going to maintain this lovely memory, and not mention that one of the children may (or may not) have immediately vomited all over me after we finished our perfect cake breakfast.

Old Photo Friday: Driving Miss Anna

Life in semi-rural Virgina, mid-1970s.

Idyllic, no?

I know this Old Photo Friday is late again. I blame summer.

Note: I still have the Creative Playthings cart shown above. My kids used to give each other fast-paced rides in it, zooming up and down the hallway in our NYC apartment house. Out here in the suburbs, it gets less use. I should totally move it back into the rotation.

Oops! I Forgot to Post an Old Photo Friday!

It's true, Friday came and went and I forgot it was old photo day on my blog.

In my defense, I was on vacation. And everyone knows on any good vacation you forget what day it is.

So here on a back-to-reality Monday, a retroactive Old Photo Friday of our family beach vacation in 1970-something:

And our family beach vacation last week. More or less the same location and same people, though our generational position has shifted:

And yes, that is my six-year-old so engrossed in reading her first issue ever of Us Weekly that she can't be bothered to put it down for family photos.

Old Photo Friday: Down the Shore on July Fourth

Every year for July Fourth, we head to our family house down the shore as I call it since moving to Jersey. I think prior to moving to New Jersey I just said we were going to the beach.

I went through the photos from three and four years ago, and here are a few favorites from summer's past.

And here's are photos from last year, so Ziggy isn't left out of any old photo fun.



There are some photos I think we must recreate this year, assuming I can get willing participation.

I would so love a re-do of the pillow on Magpie's head, the Uncle and Kelly leg lift, and Ziggy and his tie-wearing, stroller pushing walk on the boardwalk.

And of course, we'll be taking old timey photos like this one of Ziggy from last year.

Happy July Fourth!!

If you're looking for craft and cooking ideas for celebrating the Fourth of July, or random photos of my family celebrating the holiday, check out the July Fourth archive.

This is my weekly installment of Old Photo Friday. If you have an old photo of your own to share, leave a comment below and I'll come by and visit!

Old Photo Friday: Summer, Late 1970s

Here I am, enjoying a summer day back in the 1970s.

When central A/C wasn't something my little mind could even imagine.

I was more than happy to huddle beside the one wall unit in the study of our house and trade Oliver Wendell Holmes stamps with my older brother and eat frozen lemon pudding.

Fast forward to today, and my family can't even make it through a night of hot temps.

That's right, because our A/C is broken we headed to the local Hilton last night rather then stay in our (honestly, not that) hot house.

For the record, I went under protest, but I did still go.

On Fridays, I post old photos. Join the fun and leave a link in the comments below to an old photo of YOU.

My Toddler Learned to Text! {Old Photo Friday: Ziggy Grows Up}

This photo of Ziggy is only a year old, which is technically breaking the rules of Old Photo Friday.

And yet, it's not. Mostly because there are no rules about Old Photo Friday.

But also because this last 12 months in the life of Ziggy has been so much more than a year. There is more than a year of difference between an almost-two-year-old and an almost-three-year-old.

For example, let's start with this morning, when Ziggy showed incredible maturity.

He and I were trying to talk, and he kept being distracted by his mobile phone (which looks exactly like a mini calculator from Staples), because his six-year-old sister Kay was calling him over and over again.

He tried screaming into the phone, “Stop calling!”but she just kept calling anyway.

So you know what he did? He said, “hold on, mom. I’m gonna turn off my phone. So Kay can’t distract us.”

See, that’s the maturity of a three year old. He knows when to just turn off the phone ringer, and be present in the now with his mom.

A two-year-old would have never found his way out of that situation with such ease.

How else do I know he’s growing up? Well, sometimes at bedtime I’ll be in the middle of reading a book and notice he’s distractedly pushing some buttons (admittedly on an old TV remote, but that's beside the point).

"What’s up, kid?" I’ll ask.

Ziggy will reply, "Just a minute, I'm sending a text.”

I long for the simpler two-year-old days when there was no text that couldn’t wait until we had finished reading Corduroy for the third, or possibly fourth, time.

Now, at almost three, this kid has some urgent texts that can't wait.

And those are the kinds of changes that happen in kids just like that.

It's Friday, so I'm posting about my old photos. I'd love to have you join me. Leave a link to a post about one of your old photos - I'd love to visit!

And if you'd be more likely to share if I had a linky, leave a comment and let me know that and voila! next Friday there will be an Old Photo Friday linky.

Linking-up to Finding the Funny, which you should go visit at Kelley's Break Room and My Life and Kids because that's where you'll find a lot of hilarity.

Old Photo Friday: Last Day of School

Here are my daughters on their last day of pre-school in Manhattan, just about four years ago today. In a few months we would move to the suburbs, but when this photo was taken we didn't know that yet.

It was an odd day - there was a big storm the night before and trees were down everywhere, though you can't see them here.

Next week, I'll have a rising fourth grader and a rising second grader, not to mention an almost-three-year-old.

And the stuffed animal on the left? Yeah, Lodo is still around - though not every single moment of every single day like he used to be, but around just the same.

I post old photos on Fridays, in anticipation of a milestone birthday this summer. Once it passes, I'm on to something new.

Old Photo Friday: Goin' Fishin'

When I was a kid, we had a pond stocked with fish. There was a rickety dock, too as you can see in today's Old Photo Friday.

I have lots of memories of hanging out by the pond - the honeysuckle, the poison berries, the peach tree - but mostly I remember my mom fishing. Out of all of us, she was the real fisherman.

And there was one summer that I remember more than all the others put together.

It was the summer my mother waged a Moby Dick-esque battle against the biggest (and smartest) fish in the pond. This was the kinda fish that fish stories are about. The kinda fish you remember a quarter-century later, and write blog posts about. If fish were celebrities, this one was at least on the D-list.

This fish could not be caught no matter what my mom did.

Fishing poles - and more and better fishing poles - were bought.

Bait was finessed.

Times of day were analyzed, considered, debated.

Friends, like Barbara in the photo above, were invited over to give their advice.

But alas, this clever fish could not be caught.

Finally, at the very, very end of the summer my mother was victorious.

She had won the epic battle, and there lay the fish hooked and helpless.

I remember feeling so much elation on her behalf - she had done it! The fish was caught! Sweet victory!

But in the end, my mom couldn't bring herself to keep the fish.

Grown now, I get it.

But then, my child-self could not fathom how you could toss your adversary right back into the pond.

I post stories and photos from the past every Friday. See them all here.

Old Photo Friday: The Memorial Day Beach Special

I will admit: I do love digging around the old photos on Fridays.

Tonight, I found this gem.

Me, around age 6, wearing a red, white and blue bathing suit.  How perfect for Memorial Day weekend!

This awesome, arty photo was taken by my brother who was all of about eight at the time.

And here we are, enjoying a nice summer day at the beach.

Nice visor, bro.

__________________________

I post old photos on Fridays. I'm not quite sure why. Happy Weekend everyone!

Old Photo Friday: At the Zoo

Here's a photo from three years ago, when Kay was almost four and Magpie was six.

I remember the day fondly. I had made sure the kids looked their super-cute best because we were meeting friends at the zoo, and we didn't see them very often.

Don't the kids look super-cute?

Now, look a little closer.

Kay is wearing tights, just tights - we had completely forgotten to put a skirt on her.

I decided there was something sort-of edgy and punk rock about her outfit.

But of course I also knew she was a toddler wearing tights, just tights.

I like to dig around my old photos on Fridays. If you have an old photo post, please share in the comments. Old Photo Friday loves company!

I linked-up this old post to this week's Nov. 28 Finding the Funny. Check it out at Kelley's Breakroom and My Life and Kids for lots o'funny!

Old Photo Friday: Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom.

Not my favorite holiday, but definitely my favorite mom.

On Friday's I post old photos, usually of my family. You can see them all here.

Old Photo Friday: Biz School Graduation

Graduation.

More than a decade ago, but not *that* much more...

Old Photo Friday: Ziggy and the Plaid Pajamas

My mom buys the kids lots of great clothes - but often a little on the big size. I understand why - kids grow, and usually, they grow quickly.

And of course, the buying-large strategy means the clothes will last for awhile.

Like in the case of Ziggy and the plaid pajamas which my mom bought him when he was a baby. For reasons she outlined in this email I received from her:

"Bought Ziggy some plaid PJ's since U like 2 dress him in old men clothes and he's in bed a lot."

Here he is wearing his "old man pajamas" as a wee baby:

And here he is still happily wearing his "old man pajamas" just last month:

What about you? When it comes to kids clothes, are you a "buy a size bigger" shopper, or more of a "buy the stuff I like in multiple sizes" kind of shopper?

This is my usual installment of Old Photo Friday, even though (yes, I know) the photos aren't that old.

Linking-up to the always funny, Finding the Funny at My Life and Kids and Kelley's Breakroom.

Old Photo Friday: My Big Brother's Birthday

Tomorrow is my big brother Ethan's birthday.

What better way to celebrate than with photos of his birthday's past on this Old Photo Friday?

The original birthday:

Third birthday?

A great present on the fifth birthday?

Sixth birthday?

Eighth birthday?

And right when I was starting to feel nostalgic for those simpler, "olden" times, I realized that my big brother's car-themed birthday cake:

Looked an awful lot like his nephew Ziggy's cake just last August:

It should be noted both cakes had the same stylist.

Happy Birthday, Big E!

Old Photo Friday: One Kid as a Bunny and One Kid with Bunnies

Once upon a time, not so long ago in Old Photo Friday terms, it seemed the kids got their faces painted every.single.weekend. Now? Not so much. (Not that I'm complaining.)

So as I was compiling a nice little gallery of their adorable painted faces, I was happy to come across a bunny face perfect for some Easter posting, Jewish kid style.

Kay, as bunny rabbit, April 2009

And once upon a time, it seemed like every urban weekend was spent visiting a makeshift petting zoo of some kind. And now? Not so much. Again, I'm not complaining. Just noticing.

Magpie, with bunny rabbits on the Upper West Side, 2006

I still remember how much you loved petting those rabbits.

You can see more Old Photo Friday posts here, and more Easter posts here. Including one about when my daughters plotted to dress-up their baby brother as - you guessed it - a bunny.

And yes, I realize I'm posting this on Saturday. In my defense, yesterday totally did not feel like a Friday.

I'm linking-up to Finding the Funny with Kelley's Break Room and My Life and Kids because, well... that's what I do. You should too!

Old Photo Friday: Life in Larchmont

When we first moved away from Manhattan, we lived in Larchmont - a suburb in Westchester, NY, about 15 miles from our old apartment on the Upper West Side.

Because I found the idea of living in the suburbs so abhorrent, I referred to it as us "moving to the Country," and I made our best go at enjoying the fun it was for City kids to have a garden, and a yard.

Now we live in suburban New Jersey, with soil so poor we can't grow anything, although I keep trying.

And as another unremarkable gardening season begins here, I'm reminded of our very nice little Larchmont garden that first suburban summer. Our garden that with very little effort required grew vegetables and bloomed flowers, and I miss it.

And I remember my daughters delighted faces when our weekly Farm Share would show-up on the front porch  - somehow not knowing what would be there make it exciting even for kids who were almost guaranteed not to eat any of it.

So this year, I am hoping to get around to signing-up for a Farm Share before it's too late. Because there certainly isn't going to be much coming up out of the ground here. I'm willing to accept that.

If you're in New Jersey, here's a list of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.

Old Photo Friday: Family Resemblance

My dad, around 1938:

My son, around 2010:

I dig around in my old photos every Friday. You can see the rest of the Old Photo Fridays here.