Free for a Week Update

A few years ago, I created this schedule of things to do that were free or low-cost for each day of the week. Some things have changed, and I know my schedule certainly has, but if I ever get a week off, it might be good to take my children on outings that do not involve IKEA, Target, or playdates.

Monday - 10 a.m. Morning Glory Mondays @ Garfield Park Conservatory (scroll down)
Tuesday - Farmers Market @ Lincoln Square
Wednesday - 10 a.m. Storytime @ Women and Children First Bookstore
Thursday - Free Day @  Peggy Notebeart Museum
Friday - 11 a.m. Storytime with Nili @ The Book Cellar

Wedding, San Francisco, Mixed Emotions

I'm writing this from the United lounge at SFO, midway through the last leg of my trip here to witness and celebrate the marriage of one of my oldest friends, Emily. While the average age of brides is now something like 29, Emily is in her mid-30s, and I was 25 on my wedding day. It seems odd to me that Emily is now crazily, happily married, a wife, and everyone hopes, will one day sooner rather than later become a mother. Similarly, looking at my own life from the perspective of my college friends, most of whom are single, it seems crazy that I have been married nearly 11 years, with three kids. It is the life I want.
 
That's why I am surprised how much I enjoyed shedding my skin of wife, mother, writer, caretaker, laundress, and baker to resume a life that I'd be miserable in now: tooling around San Francisco with my single, college friends, drinking too much, telling and retelling stories of past nights of drinking, drama, relationships, work, and life, laughing racously. I've never lived the single life in San Francisco, but the City is irrevocably tied my childless former self. I've read M. Sasek's book This Is San Francisco to my children a million times and while part of me wants to take The Boy to see the sea lions on the rocks, the up the hills and down the hills, part of me also wants to keep San Francisco to myself: quiet corner cafes with outdoor seating and a glass of wine shared with friends, hauling butt up and down the hills, never really going to museums, and fresh flowers everywhere, all the time.

I re-explored the City yesterday, ending the day at the Buena Vista Cafe for Irish coffees at sunset. As the shadows fell against the Argonaut Hotel, drawing me closer to now, I was hit by melancholy. I spent my first ever night in San Francisco at the Buena Vista after moving to the Bay Area in 1998. I spent my last ever night as a SF resident at the Buena Vista before leaving in 2002. And plenty of nights in between, sitting at the bar watching delicate glass cups thick with creamy foam come out on trays, the plate glass windows facing the bay fogging up from the heat inside. It is so tied up with my memories of San Francisco that if you told me tomorrow that only tourists go there, I wouldn't care.

San Francisco: I'm glad I knew you when.

My plane is boarding now, so I'm going to say good-bye to SF, have a nap on the plane and wake up in Chicago, ready to see my babies, my husband, embrace the snow-rain-cold that is a Chicago spring. I'm ready to go home.

Mama-Boy Playdate

Yesterday, I enjoyed a rare treat: an afternoon out, one-on-one, with The Boy. We drove The Girl out to Oakbrook to meet Grandma-and-Grandpa Naperville for the weekend. And then spent a couple of hours bumming around together.

The Boy is just learning how to read and having some trouble with it. I love to read, and I really want The Boy to discover this joy as well. So I took him to Borders in Oakbrook. We started with a snack (cherry Italian soda and a marshmallow square for The Boy, hot tea and a snickerdoodle for me) and talked about school, Bakugan characters, and how he missed The Girl already.

Then we headed to the children's section, where we looked at picture books and easy readers. The Boy got a Henry and Mudge book as well as a more mature (but more appealing to my sensibilities) chapter book called The Magician's Boy, and a Star Wars Clone Wars comic book. It's funny, but having a challenged reader has changed my perspective on comic books completely. I refused to buy them when The Boy was younger, but I now think that anything that gets him to read is a good thing, even if the lead is "General Grievous," followed by lots of gobbledy-gook, complicated names.

I picked out a Little Golden Book for The Girl in the vintage style of which are both somewhat fond (Little Mommy), and another Max and Ruby book (Bunny Mail) for The Tot. Then we headed over to the literature section for about 5 minutes so that I could pick out books - the new Audrey Niffenegger and two novels by Alice Siddon and Ann Patchett.

The Boy declared that he was hungry and asked if we could go to McDonald's. Where better to go the golden arches than in their hometown? So we went to McDonald's flagship, where we both had chicken McNuggets and largely ignored each other while watching McDonald's TV on large flat screens mounted to the wall. We listened to music and talked a bit on the drive home.

A Day Off

I've just come home to a quiet house. The Dad has taken The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot to the AMC Theater on Western to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Like many white-collar companies, The Dad's company is observing the Independence Day holiday today, and has given everyone the day off. Since he has the day off, I thought I'd take the day off as well.

So I took the bus to Lincoln Square to meet my friend Jen, have lunch at Oparte Thai House, buy a couple birthday gifts at Timeless Toys (it is kind of fun to look at toys without the kids), and stop in at a treasure store on the way home. I overheard way too much Michael Jackson blasting from everyone's stereos on round trip. Now I'm off to read my book, The Billionaire's Vinegar, and take a nap.

Mama and The Dad Do Madison

This past weekend, The Dad and I had the wonderful opportunity (thanks Grandma Texas!) to get away for a weekend without The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot. The occasion was our 10th wedding anniversary, which actually falls over Father's Day each year, but I'm willing to slip the date a bit if it means a weekend with my husband without the kids. We had originally planned to celebrate the occasion in early June, with a combined business/anniversary trip to San Francisco for Java One. Unfortunately for all of us (me, The Dad, and Grandma Texas, who had already booked our flights), The Dad's company, with its acquisition by Oracle pending, canceled his trip.

So we set our sights closer to home: Madison, Wisconsin. A town (technically a small city, but after Chicago and San Francisco, it feels like a town) where neither of us had ever been, despite our combined 52 years' Illinois residency. The Dad's been to Milwaukee many times, however; the only place I'd ever really been in Wisconsin was Kenosha, just over the Illinois border.

It turns out, Madison is pretty cute. The New York Times covered Madison recently in its Travel section, although its reporter was much more interested in the varied pursuits of the town's residents. The Dad and I, on the other hand, were not that ambitious. We didn't bother with the university, Frank Lloyd Wright (although having recently read Loving Frank, I was mildly interested in checking out Taliesin -- until I found out a visit would require reservations and getting in the car), or Lake Mendota.

Our interests were much more basic: eating, drinking, walking, and light entertainment. Like the NYT reporter, we dined at both Harvest (a localvore foodie's dream) and the Old-Fashioned, the latter of which really is a microcosm of Wisconsin (The Dad got a shot of beer to go with his bloody Mary). We also ate at a less-than-stellar Ethopian restaurant on State Street (although it passed the people test with flying colors), grabbed coffee at Espresso Royale (which brought me back to my own college days, where I went to Espresso Royale in Urbana on a daily basis [except on Saturdays; then I went to Gypsy in Champaign for beer]), and shared a communal table in the crowded, but excellent (and on-par with its Yelp reviews) Sophia's Bakery Cafe. I bought myself a pile of books to read from A Room of One's Own bookstore (The Dad had a stash from home). We also saw Star Trek at a theater with horrible sound on State Street. And slept at our hotel, the Doubletree (a quick walk to both the university and the central shopping/Capitol area). And read. And walked lazily around the Capitol Square on Saturday morning, buying (and eating) loads of fresh pastry and freshly shelled peas and strawberries and maple syrup from the vendors at the Dane County Farmer's Market.

On our last day, we took the long way home - via the Elkhorn Flea Market, one of the Midwest's biggest and well-known flea and antiques markets. We got there late and weren't charged the $4 pp entrance fee. I did manage to find a sweet occasional chair for our living room, which just fit in our Toyota Corolla rental car.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful

This morning, it was just cold and icy -- no snow -- so I headed up to Bed, Bath & Beyond in Niles to buy a slipcover for my ultimate bargain occasional chair. It was the easiest location for me to get to, but I needed help and the manager was S.L.O.W. The Tot was getting pretty bitey-grabby by the time we left and I couldn't really blame him for his restlessness.

Afterwards, because The Tot needed a snack and I still had a Barnes & Noble gift card in my purse left over from The Tot's birthday, so we headed over to the B&N in the same shopping center to use (part) of it. He enthusiastically ate half a chocolate cupcake and drank some juice, sitting up so nicely in a chair and closely observing the two other patrons in the cafe. I drank half my marshmallow latte, and then we headed over B&N Jr. to check out the books. Not surprisingly, The Tot made a beeline for the Thomas the Tank Engine section. We have many of these books already, including the complete book of Thomas stories by Rev. Audry; we ended up with Barton's Trains book instead. I let The Tot putter around the book section for about 1/2 an hour before we left to pick The Girl up from preschool.

I really need to make a book wishlist for the kids; while we were browsing the kids' section, there were several books that I was tempted to get for The Boy or The Girl, but don't have the budget for it right now.

Nickels

The Dad took The Boy and The Girl to Nickel City this afternoon, leaving me and The Tot at home for some much-needed rest. I took a long nap. The Dad balanced the video games with a trip to Barnes & Noble to read, browse, and buy books. He also took them to Chili's for dinner.

One on One

Today was a lovely day. I started out the day by taking The Boy to his STEP UP literacy assessment at Disney 2. I chatted with some other moms, including Ms. Sandra from CFC, as we waited for our almost-Kindergarteners to be assessed. Afterwards, I extended our one-on-one time by taking The Boy to our neighborhood Starbucks for a lemonade and seasonal cookie (him) and latte and seasonal cookie (me). There was a kid with his tutor at the next table over, and The Boy was more interested in what was happening over there than in talking much to me, but it was a nice day and we were sitting outside, so it was cool to just spend easy time together. Then, Mario Greco, our old Realtor happened by. I hadn't seen him since 2002. He and his wife left Lincoln Park to build a place in Old Irving Park. It was nice to see him and catch up a bit. I feel like the fact that Mario is moving to my neighborhood is a sign that it's no longer up and coming, it is there.

We bummed around at home for a bit. The Tot got a nap. We all had lunch. And then I took The Tot, The Boy, and The Girl to run a bunch of errands, including a trip to Costco for ice cream, to Office Max for school supplies, and to Gymboree to exchange The Girl's first-day-of-school dress.

After errands, I dropped The Boy and The Tot back off at home. And The Girl and I went on a Mommy-The Girl playdate. It wasn't much -- just dinner and a bit of shopping at Target. But it was fun to go out with The Girl alone. She is very chatty, and also enjoys helping me (thank you Eloise Wilkin's We Help Mommy). Plus, when left as the director of an outing, she's much more likely to listen to what her body is telling her; at 7:30, she told me that she was ready to go home and go to bed. So we did.

Things'll be great when we're downtown

I was told that I was an adventurous soul by at least 3 people during our day's adventure. The Boy, The Girl, The Tot, and I took the Metra downtown, walked 1/2 a block, took the Wendella Water Taxi down the Chicago River, and disembarked at the last stop, which was Michigan Avenue. I've since learned that the Wendella Water Taxi (black and yellow boats) makes 3 stops along the river during the week (Ogilvie Transportation Center, Clark/Lake, and Michigan Avenue by the Wrigley Building), and goes to Chinatown on weekends only. Its competitor, Shoreline Sightseeing, drives blue boats and goes to Navy Pier and the Shedd as well as to the Mag Mile and Union Station. Still, at $4 for a day pass, the Wendella was a better deal (compare it to the $34 it would cost our party of 4 to travel on Shoreline). Our big goals for the day were to take the Metra and the Water Taxi, so I was at a loss for an activity once the traveling part was over. If I were going to shop the Mag Mile (which I haven't done since about 1997; I'll leave 10.25% sales tax to the tourists), I certainly wouldn't do it with 3 kids in tow.

I took the elevator to the Shops at North Bridge, intending to use the mall to cross up to Michigan Avenue and wander from there (the MCA? Seneca Playlot?), but The Boy started complaining as soon as we got into the mall part. I suggested to him that there was a Lego store and his mood brightened considerably. Along the way to Lego, we passed a Sanrio store, which immediately attracted The Girl with its various walls of miniature knick-knacks with Japanese anime in pale colors.

At Lego, The Tot was happy to move Lego from one play table bin to another, while The Boy marveled at all of the Star Wars, Speed Racer, and other licensed Lego sets. The Girl, meanwhile, repeated, "I want to go to the Hello Kitty store" ad nauseum. The Boy "needed" another set of Duplo (we are holding off on Lego until The Tot no longer wants to eat them). After Lego, we headed straight to Sanrio, where The Tot immediately found the plastic console filled with candy in the middle of the store. I was able to steer The Girl into a Hello Kitty lunch/bento box, and The Tot got a package of gum that he chewed his way through while we were in the store.

With that, we headed to lunch. I had asked The Boy whether he wanted to try a new place for lunch, or go with something familiar. Not surprisingly, he chose the old. We ate at Nordstrom Cafe and all had "the usual" (Cilantro-Lime Chicken Salad for me, chicken strips for The Boy, mac & cheese for The Girl, and The Tot shared with all). We headed back toward the Water Taxi entrance, but then veered off on a series of side trips.

We hopped the free trolley to Navy Pier. The Tot nursed and fell asleep, so we rode the trolley for awhile, switching to another line after doing the whole loop. The second trolley was headed, as we were, toward the train station. But when it passed the Howard Washington Library, we got off at the next stop and walked back. I have always wanted to go to the Howard Washington Library Center; whenever I search the catalog, it is the library branch that seems to have everything. It was gorgeous. It's one of those places I'd like to explore more sometime when I am kid-free. As it was, we visited the Children's Library on the 2nd floor, which was nearly empty at 2 p.m. on a random August Tuesday. The kids and I had a good time picking out and reading books in the S-Z section. I even found a book that seemed to be written for The Boy: Beatrice Doesn't Want To...

By then, we were all tired and the kids were rambunctious -- not a good combination with a quiet library -- so we left. We walked up State Street, stopping at Garrett's along the way for an afternoon snack of caramel and cheese popcorn, which we ate on the walk back to Ogilvie Transportation Center. Our fingers were stained yellow-brown and greasy from the popcorn. We arrived at the train station 15 minutes before the 4:05 train and were back home by 4:30.

Add a few more to the pile

The pile of "To Read" books on my nightstand grew by two books this evening -- Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu and Gregory Frost's Shadow Bridge -- after I attended an author event featuring both (and Jennifer Stevenson) at The Book Cellar. All the authors did readings and then they opened it up to an audience Q&A. I couldn't help myself: I asked a million questions (well, three -- out of the four asked by audience members in sum). It was like being in college again! My cobwebby brain was so happy.

On the way back to The Great White Moose, I stopped at Cafe Neo for a yummy goat cheese-fresh spinach crepe and an iced tea. Although there was a stack of high chairs in the back, a changing table in the bathroom, and a "babyccino" on the menu, that place is so not kid-friendly.

Best Line Ever

I'm currently reading Ted McClelland's The Third Coast: Sailors, Strippers, Fishermen, Folksingers, Long-Haired Ojibway Painters, and God-Save-the-Queen Monarchists of the Great Lakes. As a near-native Midwesterner, I've found it an interesting read thus far. I particularly enjoyed this quip:

"If Florida is God's Waiting Room, Lake View is suburbia's."

Admittedly, I've never lived in Lakeview, although I really wanted to when I was 23-24. The Dad spent 4-5 months in the spare room of Uncle Bad's Boystown flat when he was 23-24, but I was there only on the weekend and never as a resident. And another admission: our neighborhood is suburban-like. To me, it combines great suburban attributes: green space, wide leafy streets, single family houses, clean lawns, easy street parking with great city ones: proximity to public transportation, walkable shopping, close neighbors, and easy access to culture and education.

Blast from the Past

This evening, I took The Baby, The Boy, and The Girl with me to Lincoln Square to get dinner and a birthday present for The Dad (he turns 35 tomorrow!). On our playdate last week, The Boy and I had spotted a cool Star Wars pop-up book that we thought would be perfect for The Dad and went back today to get it. Of course, both The Boy and The Girl asked me to buy various books for them, so I suggested that next time we make a family outing "to the bookstore," we'd go to that bookstore. The clerk ringing us up agreed, and gave me a list of store events. As I scanned the list, I found a name I recognized: Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. A long, long time ago, Nnedi and I were friends. I'll have to add her novels to my list of books to read. I currently have a huge stack on my nightstand and am in a book-buying moratorium.

We dropped a fair bit of money in Lincoln Square this evening. I stopped at City Mouse and bought The Baby a cute Tea Collection outfit, and found a baseball t-shirt for The Boy. We had dinner at Costello's, and in addition to the bookstore run, I spent a small fortune on an ice cream cake at Stone Cold Creamery. The Boy and The Girl each got a kid's ice cream, although The Boy decided he did not like the mint ice cream with white chocolate chips on top that he had to have, and threw it out. Which annoyed me, because The Baby would have happily ate it.

Mommy Playdates

Grandma Naperville came to visit and babysit today. She got some quality time with The Baby, and I got to do a series of playdates with my own children.

First up, I went on a Mommy-The Girl playdate. We didn't have enough time to go to the Butterfly Museum, but we did engage in the 3-year-old version of the "spa day" and went for mani-pedis together at Lee Nails in Six Corners. The Girl often asks me to paint her fingernails, so I thought she'd be into getting her nails done professionally. She liked to pick out the nail polish color, and she likes the end result, but the process was rather lackluster an adventure for her. She sat in the chair by herself -- did not want to sit on my lap, held her hands out to be buffed, and patiently allowed the gal to paint her nails (and then to paint cute white-and-silver-glittery daisies on each nail), but she was not terribly interested in or excited by the prospect. She did conceded to sit on my lap for part of my pedicure.

Afterwards, we picked up The Boy and all went to lunch at McDonald's. Then I had a playdate with The Boy. Like his sister, his ideal destination (Nickel City) was too far away to reasonably get to in the span of time we had, so we had to come up with a Plan B. With the weather (cold, windy), and my health (head cold), it was hard to come up with something. So I defaulted to the cool mom standby -- a trip to the toy store, capped off with a trip to the book store. I think he had a good time; he kept picking out toys for The Baby and The Girl, although we just got a small train for him and some party favors for The Girl's upcoming birthday party.

When I got home, The Baby greeted me by not crying -- a departure from the usual. Instead, he toddled around the house, sat at his little table, and brought Grandma books to read.