Artwork by M

Mr. Clean

I have an illness in that I need to have things put away and in their place in order for me to function properly—gene courtesy of Granny Rose !! If things get messy, I’m anxious and at times (I admit) not the best person to hang around. Adding to the anxiousness is the fact that I'm a full-time out of the house working mom ---meaning, it’s hard to find time to give our house a good cleaning. Of course, I could make time but, frankly, I don’t want to spend my precious weekends cleaning. I’d rather hang out with the girls and Chris. I’ve been trying to talk Chris into getting a house cleaner for some time now. When it was just the two of us, cleaning was no big deal. After M was born it got a little more difficult to keep on top of but we managed. I think becoming a family of 4 convinced him of the need or was it the inch of dust on our furniture causing us to sneeze or dirty floors which he was now finding HIMSELF cleaning!! No matter the reason, he recently jumped on board.

Yesterday was the first day with a cleaning lady and it was awesome! I can’t explain how thrilled I was to go home. The entire house was clean-- sheets changed, beds made, clothes washed, toilets and tubs scrubbed, floors mopped, furniture dusted, cabinets and appliances wiped down.

I have happily handed over my cleaning gloves and will not look back. Yippee!

Mel's Surprise

Last night we celebrated Mel's 35th birthday with some friends. Mel's teenage daughter (yeah, I said TEENAGER....pretty cool huh) organized this surprise party last minute with some of her friends. This is the second surprise birthday in the last month that I've been asked to help with by getting the birthday girl out of the house. I'm not sure I like what that says about me (I swear I only lie for the good of man), but it sure was fun. I like to look at it like this.....I'm good at keeping a secret!!!

Happy Birthday, Mel.

Birthday Girl is in the middle.

The girls responsible for the party.

First Day

ARose's first day at daycare. She transitioned like a champ!!

Face Painting by M

Tick, Tock....and it's over

Tomorrow I start back to work full time (sniff, sniff) after 12 wonderful weeks off with ARose. This time really flew by and I enjoyed every single second of it! I tried to keep myself busy today so that I would not focus on work. I succeeded! Chris happened to be off from work. The girls were at daycare...so mommy and daddy played. We relaxed in the morning. Enjoyed some gelato at Paciugo Gelato in Forest Park and caught a movie in the afternoon. The gelato shop had the traditional flavors like pistachio, stracciatella, tiramisu and hazelnut and also some unique flavors liked chocolate jalapeno, violet chocolate chip and black pepper with olive oil. They were all yummy but my favorite was the violet chocolate chip. Give it a try!

Block Party

M's on a doughnut run---the breakfast of champions.

Arts & Crafts Table--always a hit!

Lunch time.

Face Painting.

Jumpy thingy...couldn't get rid of this thing fast enough :-))

Did you know that I have THREE kids?!!


Ooops!!

No introduction needed.

And, the nighttime movie as the grand finale which has become a tradition at our parties.

Coming to an End

Well, my time at home with ARose is coming to end:-(( Time passed by so quickly! In an effort to gradually get back into the workforce, I attended a luncheon yesterday sponsored by the Chicago Foundation for Women. Maya Angelou was suppose to speak (which I was really excited about) however she had a medical emergency. Instead, Gloria Steinem-- the feminist, political activist and journalist-- spoke. She was surprisingly pretty funny and had a lot of insightful things to say. It was just what I needed to get me jump started back to the workforce. One week to go....

A Potter's Inspiration

The Community Bowl

One of the things I loved about Door County was the farm stands and unique shops that peppered each little town we drove through. While in Egg Harbor we stumbled upon a pottery shop (called Off the Wheel Pottery) which is located in a barn to the back of the potters home. I had a good feeling as soon as we drove in the drive-way. Your first view is of a mature olive tree, some other local trees, two really neat barns and a swing set. Exactly the environment I envision an artist to use and thrive in. And, speaking of the artist, Renee--- she was fantastic. We had an instant connection. M played on the swing set, ARose had a meal there, we ate some homegrown peaches and talked with Renee. My favorite piece was entitled, The Community Bowl. I splurged and am as happy as a clam that I did. All of her work is handcrafted and functional and the top of this bowl was stunning.

Another piece that I took home was a garlic bowl. Again, I just loved it and since we use lots of garlic, it seemed practical :-))

Newlyweds and Nearly Deads

Homemade ginger ale

Chris and I live to travel and eat!! It's rare that we go a few months without some kind of trip whether it be a long excursion to another country or short excursion in the US. Having a new addition to our family has slightly limited our traveling outside of Chicago this summer. Needless to say, we have been itching to hit the road. ARose is now the ripe old age of 2 months so we thought it was time that she earn her travel wings. (M was just 4 months old when she took her first plane ride to Florida.) We have heard lots of good things about Door County, WI and as a last minute decision we packed the car without an inch to spare (man, I forgot how much "stuff" babies require) and headed on a road trip.

On the way to and from Door County we dropped in Sheboygan, WI to visit our friends---Ed, Ti and their girls. Of course, us being foodies, we had to check out the local farmers market while in Sheboygan. It was small, but had the biggest napa cabbage I've ever seen. Also, Sheboygan apparently has a large Mong population (go figure) so there were several noodle/rice/egg roll vendors---DELICIOUS. Seriously, the best egg roll I've ever had!!!

I have to admit Chris and I were not overly excited about the trip because we weren't really sure what we would be able to do with the baby (without the baby there would be lots of water stuff that we would certainly enjoy) and we set our food expectations really low--don't know why, I guess because we didn't know much about the area. I'm happy to say that the area and food exceeded our expectations. Even with a 4 year old and infant, we had a nice, relaxing family vacation. Something we all desperately needed. The state park was fantastic. We had some of the best pizza we've had in years (in my opinion, this pizza was better than what you can get in Chicago), awesome pesto burger, pork sandwich and clam chowder in red sauce. The state park is fantastic. We all climbed a 75 tower to get a panoramic view of the lake then went for a bike ride. M handled the climb just fine, however, surprisingly, Chris was a little nervous and had to take it slow---albeit he was carrying ARose.

M is usually the youngest one in her circle of friends. On this trip she had her own room and bathroom (which she immediately filled with her clothes and toys and put her toiletry items away WITHOUT us asking). I think she felt like a BIG girl. She also discovered that on vacations you get to do things that you normally would not be allowed to do. Like, have pancakes with nutella, peanut butter and "smarshmellows" (as M calls them) melted on top for breakfast, smarshmellows any time of the day, smores, cranberry juice and root beer, homemade caramels watch movies in her bedroom. According to M, the pools were her favorite part of the trip.

If you are into outdoor activities like biking, hiking, camping, kayaking, sailing, fishing, etc., I would recommend this area. In fact, we would love to come back when the kids are a little older and with a few other families to camp. TRAVEL TIP: We learned from the locals that September is affectionately referred to as the "newlyweds and nearly dead" month so if you want the younger crowd don't plan for September :-))

We truly have the most amazing girls. I am especially proud of M who helped out tremendously every day by picking out clothes for her and her sister, helping get her sister dressed, entertaining herself when needed, suffering through stuffy art galleries and pottery shops. A nice way to end our event-filled, awesome summer!

Remembering 9.11

As is the case for all Americans, I will never forget where I was on 9.11.01. I was in the middle of Prof. Convisor's Remedies class at Chicago-Kent. Being that my school is associated with a technology institute it is only natural that it was one of the first law schools that equipped its classrooms with wi-fi. Of course, students aren't suppose to be surfing the Internet while in class, but ...... That morning the students who were surfing got the news and could not hold back the chatter and gasps. It was so loud that Prof. Convisor interrupted his class thinking that he had a bunch of dopes for students. We were all in shock. Then everyone started talking at once about the situation...the world trade center was on fire, perhaps hit by an airplane, perhaps pilot error, already talk of a possible terrorist attack but no one was sure of anything at that point. Then the other tower was hit. The entire room was silent. Then the towers collapsed and people started sobbing. During that time, there were rumors about the Sears Tower being a target. Our school is only a block away from the Sears Tower. We were told to go home. I had to walk passed the Sears Tower and was never so scared.

Those attacks touched me in a way that I have never felt before and hope never to feel again. I was literally glued to the TV for days afterwards watching the news, in a somber mood, crying. When learning of the attacks, one of my first thoughts was of my sisters-in-law (Cat and Lisa)who lived in NYC. Chris and I tried desperately to reach them both but we were unsuccessful. We finally got through later that day and learned that they were OK. Lisa, a medical student at that time, went to ground zero to help out. She was recently interviewed by local news---here's her account of that day.

Angie turns 40!!!

Angie turned 40 today and Brian planned a surprise birthday party for her. I was tasked with making sure that she was out of the house on Saturday for a few hours. No problem ---we simply pampered ourselves with a spa day. Fun!! However, the best part was the surprise....Angie had no idea! It was nice to see her reaction, hang out with some old and new friends and eat Mel's food (she catered the party).

Happy 40 Angie. I aspire to be as young as you at 40 :-)) Thanks for being such a wonderful person and friend. We are truly the lucky ones!

Want a pork sandwich?

We checked out Cermitas Puebla last week based primarily on the recommendation of a friend but also because it was highlighted on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Their specialty is cermitas....a Mexican sandwich. It was yummy. While we were there, M (as usual) made a new friend--Tony, the owner.

He even gave her a t-shirt that she will grow into in about 30 years. Very sweet!

Yep, we're THAT neighbor.....