OY to the World!

It's been a while, but I'm BACK!
We are entering the Jewish month of Adar II*. (This is a leap year in the Jewish calendar and there are two months of Adar.) The month of Adar marks a time of joy and happiness in Jewish history. The holiday of Purim falls on the 14th of Adar, corresponding this year to the secular date of March 20th. This is a holiday that truly has it all: a dramatic story, great food & beverages, costumes, big parties, and the gifting of food & treats to friends and family (called mishloach manot).
In more personal news, I am not falling short on joyful celebrations of my own lately. I just moved into a wonderful new apartment where I truly feel safe, comfortable and at Home. This has been a long time coming and I am immensely grateful to many dear friends and family--both local and long-distance, who helped out in so many ways to make this possible. I am enjoying the process of nesting and unpacking in a space that finally feels like my own. I am also excited to be welcoming my first guests (of many more, I hope!) for dinner tomorrow evening. My father and his fiance are visiting for a few days from Massachusetts and I am so thrilled to be preparing a meal in a fabulous new kitchen for such special guests!
I will be posting more in the days to follow about ways to invite happiness into this joyful month and my own plans for Purim. I've got plenty of ideas I look forward to sharing on creating budget-friendly mishloach manot for friends and family, Purim-themed craft projects to enjoy with children (or kids at heart), recipes, and more! I'm still debating costume ideas for myself...any suggestions? But for now, I'm off to do a bit more organizing and to bake my father's favorite chocolate chocolate-chip cake with (of course) chocolate frosting!