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Last week, my daughter became a bat mitzvah with her cousin - my brother’s son, Michael. They have spent every minute and milestone of their lives together, so watching them standing in front of everyone, having practiced this enormous thing together, giving each other high fives between the blessings, was just perfect. A whole lifetime of these two (who really do look like twins), arriving at this one moment they got to share.

The logistics of putting on a B’nai Mitzvah is madness. Basically, four weddings stacked on top of each other. The most amount of outfits (which somehow have to be color-coordinated), details, vendors, wars about nails, and how you find a MC that isn’t the cheesiest human on earth to make the kids dance is so overwhelming.

And then you get there, and it’s just magic. It was truly one of the best weekends of my life.

I can’t stop thinking of this one moment: while people were giving their speeches, I reached over and grabbed Peter’s hand and made him look around at everyone who came. And then we looked at everyone looking at our kids.

God, we’re so fucking lucky. Look how much these people love our children. Look at this village we built for them. I think the most beautiful gift your friends can ever give you isn’t anything they do for you. It’s how they love your kids, and how they show up for them.

The moments that made the weekend.SATURDAY
The girls and I started glam together at 5:30 am and raced over to the temple to meet my brother’s family for photos before the B’nai Mitzvah. By 10 am, we were surrounded by so many people we love. Andy and Michael crushed their prayers and both my parents made it to the Bima. Once I snapped out of producer mode and realized what this moment was, I was floored. Everyone tells you how fast they grow up, and I don’t think I had processed it until that moment. I always felt like I had two Andys: the super-sassy, hilarious 2-year-old in her princess dresses, and then this badass Brandy Melville-obsessed pre-teen. And then it all clicked. She is my whole world. It’s wild.

After the service, we had our “light lunch and refreshments.” My sister, Lila Dayani, doesn’t know how to do “light” so we just threw our dream lunch. The food was incredible! We had amazing music, drinks, gelato carts, and my favorite Gone Bananas Bread. By 1pm we were all taking tequila shots (mostly in honor of Debra Messing and my Bencohen cousins). By 4pm, I don’t think I could finish a sentence coherently. It was perfect.

SUNDAY
Sunday at noon, we started glam for the party. This one came together last-minute - we'd originally planned a big family trip with my brother's family to celebrate Andy and Michael and had to cancel — so we gathered our closest family and all the kids' friends at a really fun Israeli restaurant, took the place over, and hosted a perfect night.

The food was unreal. Games for the kids. We danced all night. The speeches were all given by the kids closest to Andy and Michael, and the video montage captured exactly how much they love each other. Still not sure how I ended up in something this formal - but also, I’m never going to change.

The night ended with endless dancing and Taco Bell.

So grateful for Francesca Grossman and Samantha Samsel for all their help making this all come to life xx.

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THE OUTFITS

Maticevski Prosper Asymmetrical Draped Midi Dress

Oscar de la Renta Strapless Sequined Scallop Column Gown

I spent months searching for dresses for the weekend, so it felt wrong not to share the ones I loved but never got to wear. Consider this my bat mitzvah dress roundup.