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 Listening to Iris Apfel describe her high school days in Astoria, Queens, ditching class to go shopping instead, reminded me of my senior year at Bais Yaakov High School of Queens (now Shevach). I was voted “most likely to shop” in my yearbook, because I thought Thursday and Friday afternoons were meant for exploring department stores on 34th Street in Manhattan such as B. Altman’s and Ohrbach’s.

According to the JTA, an Israeli fashion model said that she was denied a job offer from a Lebanon-born French designer because of her nationality.

When you walk into her studio in Long Island City, you are transported back to your childhood. Bursting in color and sparkling in glitter, it’s a world of joy, hope and love. Elizabeth Sutton is a self-taught artistic machine. Her comfort zone lies between butterfly dreams and the end of a rainbow. Elizabeth Sutton Designs is a brand and a movement of survival through art, creativity, and design. Her personality immeasurably draws you into her world of expertly executed linear murals, strong message panels, color coded landscapes, brand logo products, and ambitious collaborations.

I wanted to do something different this winter vacation other than Miami. Yes, Bal Harbour has a street lined with various kosher restaurants and two huge synagogues, but I wanted a new adventure. Panama has been popping up in my Instagram and Facebook feeds as the newest destination for the kosher traveler. I asked some friends who frequent the area and received rave reviews. Since my husband is Argentinean, I knew the language and culture would be familiar to him and translatable to me.

I must admit that I can be a bit overzealous with my Shabbos tablescape, insisting that each week the table is perfectly coordinated in color scheme, complete with dishes, flowers, silverware, and sometimes parshah-related extras. Seeing the finished product, my husband’s son often declares that I should become a professional party planner specializing in tablescape. This whole idea started when I was in my early 20s and thought that my table would certainly overshadow the fact that I had no idea how to cook! My logical equation was: horrible chicken soup + Wedgwood china = Shabbos! So during my early years in Kew Gardens Hills, the Shabbos and Yom Tov table was specially set.

You can’t escape the daily news surrounding anti-Semitic attacks in our very own backyards. Monsey, Boro Park, Crown Heights, and even midtown Manhattan have become hostile territories for Jews. The American Jewish Congress has approached this issue by declaring the day of January 6 as a Jewish Awareness Day. The link I received had instructions on how to participate: