Woodloch Resort Travel Diary

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We had the pleasure of spending the first weekend in October at Woodloch Resort in the Pocono Mountains. We were so grateful to get away in nature for a few days as a family! This was our first time staying at a hotel since February and safety is very important to us. Woodloch took many special measures and put new operating procedures in place in order to ensure the health and safety of guests and staff, which gave me so much peace of mind. With everything going on in the world these past few months, I sometimes wish I could just escape it all. This trip was the perfect getaway that we didn’t know we needed! Keep reading to hear more about our experience!

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Home for the High Holidays with PJ Library

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It’s my favorite time of year! The seasons are changing and the girls + I had the sweetest picnic in the park on Sunday 🧺 We brought along all the essentials - snacks, blankets, and some of our favorite High Holiday books from PJ Library. Although this year feels different, we are still just as excited for Rosh Hashana as ever! I love finding new ways to celebrate and I’m grateful to have so many resources from PJ Library to help us along the way.

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Ariel Loves Guide to Jewish Jewelry

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There are many ways to show Jewish pride - practicing Jewish customs and rituals, cooking Jewish foods, and celebrating Jewish holidays to name a few. One way I love to proudly display my Judaism is by wearing Jewish jewelry. I especially love jewelry that has a meaning and tells a story. Over the years I have curated many Jewish pieces in my jewelry collection that I still wear on a daily basis. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings that don a Star of David, “chai”, Hebrew, hamsas and more. One of the most frequent questions people ask me is where I get my Jewish jewelry. So I finally rounded up my favorite picks in this blog post. Just click on the link under each image that corresponds with the number in the collage. Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to leave a comment with your favorite piece!

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Fire Island Summer 2020 Recap + Mini Travel Guide

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We recently spent a week at the beach in Fire Island and it was my family’s third time out there this summer. We usually go out during Memorial Day weekend, but this year, we waited until July 4th weekend for our first trip to the island. If you had asked me a few months ago, I wasn’t even sure if we’d go out at all this year due to Covid-19. But thankfully, the cases in NY have been improving so much and people are taking safety precautions very seriously on the island. When I think back to last year, Noa was just starting to sit up on her own and wasn’t even walking or talking yet and Adina was still a little toddler, who had just gotten potty trained. Now the girls are so independent and play together so much more! I can't wait to continue this tradition for years to come!

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Jewish Instagram Accounts You Should Follow

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As a proud Jew, I am outraged by the recent rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric across social media. This blatant anti-Semitism and the lack of a prompt response by the platforms themselves has people reacting in different ways. Some have chosen to “boycott” the platforms by going silent for 48 hours. I have chosen to take this as an opportunity to share resources that educate about anti-Semitism and how we can fight it (see the highlight in my Instagram profile) and to amplify Jewish voices. I specifically want to highlight Jewish content creators and voices by sharing some of my favorite Jewish accounts on Instagram. I tried to list them by category (but of course some don’t fit exactly into any one category.) I included their “handle” below - just search for their name in the Instagram app. Without further ado and in no particular order, here are some Jewish Instagram accounts you should follow:

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Moving Q & A

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I got such a positive response to my recent empty apartment home tour, which I filmed a couple of days before we moved in. You guys asked a lot of great questions about our move and I did my best to answer them in detail, so hopefully it can help you if you're also moving with kids soon. If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below! Without further ado, here’s the Moving Q&A!

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Girls' Shared Bedroom Reveal

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I am so excited to finally share photos and details of the girls’ shared room! This post has been a long time coming! After Noa started consistently sleeping through the night, we knew she was ready to move into the same room as her big sister. We hadn’t really made any changes to Adina’s room since she was a baby, so this was the perfect opportunity to give the space a makeover. Keep reading to see how we transformed our old nursery into the girls’ shared bedroom!

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Celebrating Passover while Social Distancing

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2020 is shaping up to be a year full of surprises... the biggest one of course being Covid-19 and how it has changed all of our lives, no matter where we live. Up until a few weeks ago, I was planning to celebrate the Passover seders with my family in NJ and my husband's family in MA and then the girls and I were going to spend the rest of the holiday in Florida. Now it's looking like we'll be staying home in Brooklyn as we're still in this time of social distancing. But that doesn't mean we have to sacrifice having beautiful seders and a meaningful holiday celebration.

With so many things happening in the world right now, I'm choosing to focus on the things I can control. And for me that means making the holidays extra special for my family, no matter where we're celebrating this year! Whether you plan to celebrate with your immediate family, hold a virtual seder, or even prepare a seder for one, your home and table can still look beautiful! The table is the center of that celebration and I am so excited to collaborate with Peace Love Light Shop to share inspiration for my seder table this year.

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20 Places to Shop for Matching Kids Holiday Pajamas

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When I was a little girl, my mom used to dress my sister (who is 19 months younger than me) and me in matching outfits all the time! While I didn’t mind that much, as I got older I definitely wanted to express my individuality and dress myself uniquely. Fast forward 20 years and 2 kids of my own later, and I can totally understand why my own mom loved dressing her daughters in matching clothes with each other (and sometimes even with her own outfit!) I have so much fun putting my girls in matching or coordinating looks and to be honest, it makes my life a lot easier when I can just buy two of the same item. I know the girls won’t want to dress alike or match with me forever, so I’m going to do it for as long as I can while they’re still little! It’s especially fun for me to find matching pajamas for the girls to wear during the holidays. It’s such a great way to get them excited and into the festivities. Keep reading to learn my about my 20 Favorite Places to Shop for Matching Holiday Pajamas:

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Chanukah Pajama Party! 3 Fun Holiday Activities for Kids

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With the holidays in full swing, I thought it would be a great time to share 3 fun ways to make the them special for your kids, no matter what you celebrate! And these ideas are not just limited to the winter holidays, but things you can do all year round! I’m planning to do some of these activities in the coming weeks and months with my daughters for New Years and Valentine’s Day. The girls and I changed into our most festive pajamas (a new tradition that I hope we continue to do every year going forward) and got into the holiday spirit. Keep reading for my top 3 easy holiday activities for kids!

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Our Favorite Chanukah Toys + Books for Kids

It’s safe to say that the holidays have become even more special to me now that I’m a mom. There is nothing like seeing the world through your child’s eyes and the festival of lights is especially magical! It has been so much fun to decorate with my daughters and get into the Chanukah spirit together! Keep reading to see how we are getting ready for Chanukah this year with our favorite children’s toys and books!

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Decorating for Chanukah 2019

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Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays of the year! Since it usually falls around the same time as Christmas, there is a holiday spirit in the air wherever you go! Although we don’t have a Christmas tree or an Elf on the Shelf, I love to go all out when it comes to decorating my home for Chanukah. That said, finding stylish Chanukah decor that I actually like is not always easy. That’s why I am so excited to partner with Peace Love Light Shop to decorate for Chanukah this year! Their shop has the best selection of contemporary Jewish decor!

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Halloween 2019: DIY Very Hungry Caterpillar + Butterfly Costume

This year is Noa’s first Halloween and Adina is still young enough to go along with a coordinating costume, so I knew the girls would be matching for the holiday…I just didn’t know what their costumes would be! Adina has been talking about being a rainbow butterfly for Halloween for months so that was my starting point. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of our family’s favorite books so one night when we were reading it before bedtime, the costume idea just clicked! Noa is the perfect size and actually reminds me of the Very Hungry Caterpillar ;) and Adina would get to be her beloved rainbow butterfly! Keep reading to see how I the girls’ matching caterpillar and butterfly costumes came to life:

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Jewish High Holiday Must-Haves for Kids

With Rosh Hashana behind us, the Jewish high holidays are in full swing! Yom Kippur is around the corner, followed closely by Sukkot and Simchat Torah. For many of us, that means taking time off of work (and time off of school for our kids) to celebrate. This time of year is definitely a marathon, not a sprint! The high holidays look a little bit different since having kids, and I want to make them even more special now that I have a toddler and an infant. I put together some of the books, toys, and activities that I’m using with my children this holiday season. 

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Easy Back-To-School Lunch Ideas

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Adina is officially back to school and that means I am officially back to preparing her lunches everyday. We got this new lunchbox for her in May (it only took me nearly 9 months of her going to preschool to get a real lunchbox) and used it for the last month of school and during the summer when Adina was at camp and it was a huge hit! Not only did she love her colorful bento-style lunchbox, but it actually made making her lunch a lot easier for me! Keep reading to get 6 easy and healthy meal ideas that your toddler will love!

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Potty Training Tips + Must Haves

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Adina’s been diaper-free for the past few months and we’re so proud of her! After having a few months of two kids in diapers, it has been so nice to just have one baby to change (and much more affordable too!) There are so many different approaches and methods to potty training out there. In this post I’m not going to tell you how to actually potty train your child, but I will share what we did and what products helped us have a smooth and successful experience. 

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Tips for Traveling with a Toddler and Baby

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When we traveled to Mexico for 5 days earlier this year, it was our first trip as a family of four. To be quite honest, I was a bit nervous about traveling with a four-month-old and a two-year-old. It had been a year since my toddler’s last flight and it was our infant’s first flight ever. The flight was direct from New York to Cancun and was just under four hours. I worried and wondered - would Adina throw a tantrum on the plane? Would Noa cry the whole flight? In this post, I’m sharing what we did to prepare for the trip as well as tips we learned along the way that helped us travel smoothly with a toddler and a baby. 

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