Vintage Schmintage

A few weeks ago, The Girl and I attended The Vintage Bazaar's pop-up in a Pilsen warehouse space. I had been following BackGarage with interest since it was posted a few years ago on Reddit Chicago. I really wanted to like the pop-up, but I found it "meh." My most interesting purchase was 6 vintage buttons from a 70s deadstock vendor. (My only other purchase was a vegan s'mores brownie from Bleeding Heart Bakery.)  Otherwise, the pop-up was a nice stroll through the visual reminders of my early years, but really, the early 1970s were pretty horrible design-wise: I'll leave the avocado green, mustard yellow and basic brown dishware sets to someone far removed from the era -- like the hipsterish couples who were waiting for the bus to take them back to Uki Village.

I think that for me, part of the thrill of vintage is the thrill of the hunt. And while some vendors at the pop-up had some gorgeous mid-century modern pieces, a lot of them just had a lot of junk. Old chairs covered in layers of peeling paint, Samsonite leatherette suitcases, an old Mason jar full of marbles, stained linen pillowcases and other pieces of crap. It was not unlike digging through the bins at the Salvation Army or an estate sale at an Indiana farmhouse. The difference being that the S.A. is cheaper and the Indiana farmhouse offers the opportunity to use my imagination about what that family might have hung on their handmade hat tree (which now, for a mere $5, graces my entryway).

There were a handful of tastefully and sparsely displayed booths featuring mid-century modern furnishings.  It's a look that is appealing to me--living in a 1400 SF Chicago foursquare has deepened the appeal of mid-century modern with its box-on-legs look and hide-the-electronics functionality. But, for all the appeal of artfully displayed 1960s glassware, I prefer my decorating touches to come in the form of Wii remotes and contemporary Matchbox cars. 

Flashback with a Twist

With the work-holiday, today was like a flashback to November 2008 -- plus two. After staying up way too late last night to work on my first Oliver + S project, I slept in a bit this morning. Then The Boy, The Girl, The Tot, and I headed out to Aurora to visit Cara and her ever-growing brood (the plus two since last year are Kenley and Tillie).

Cara and I had an an old-fashioned mom-visit, complete with tea and toys and kids running around all over the house. The Girl and Gracie, and The Boy and Johnny started back where they left off, playing Barbies and dolls, and battlefield-stars, respectively. The Tot eventually warmed up to the toys in the living room, and was quite upset when we left around 2:30 because Tillie had to go to the pediatrician's office. 

All three kids fell asleep in the car on the way home (w00t!). When we got home, The Boy and The Tot went on the L with The Dad, while I took The Girl to the Treasure Store. We picked up Aunt Sam, who is visiting from Texas this week for the holiday, along the way.  I love the Treasure Store: this cabinet (in white) for $20, plus the usual clothing deals. The Girl drove our departure from the store, but I want to go back for the mod cabinet and about half a dozen other pieces.

We had planned to go to CBA for dinner, but discovered after we parked and paid our LAX fee that it was closed for the holiday (or maybe it closes at 3 p.m.? I can't remember a time that I went there for anything other than lunch). I was quite surprised, but most of Lincoln Park-DuPaul seemed to be buttoned up for the day, actually.  With rumbling bellies, we trekked up Armitage to Halsted to see what sort of food we could procure that would be as suitable for me, Aunt Sam, and an adventurous-but-messily-attired 4-year-old

...and ended up at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba! I've been there only once before, in 2003, for a moms' night out with our playgroup. On that occasion, we waited for 20 minutes for our reservation. Tonight, we walked in and were seated immediately. Cafe Ba Ba Reeba is definitely tapas for an American (Chicago, Lincoln Park) palate, but it suited The Girl just fine. We ordered a few pintxos, potato salad, baked goat cheese with tomato sauce, artisanal cheese plate, chicken empanada, and fried green peppers. Plus mango sorbet and caramel-almond cake. The Girl is, and always has been, a fantastic dining companion, especially outside the negative influence of her brothers. She eats everything, is willing to try almost anything, and can be entertained with a pencil and paper or people-watching. We sat just opposite the main prep bar, so we had lots to see.

Score at the Treasure Store

Sometimes I wonder why anyone shops retail for kids' clothing. Sometimes I wonder why I shop retail for kids' clothing (although I did get The Boy a fabulous t-shirt at Beth T.'s Boden trunk show yesterday). After the trunk show, I met The Fam at the the park and spent a good hour chasing little kids up and down slides. Then I headed to our local Treasure Store to find something for us all to wear to my nephew's baptism in Seattle next weekend.

The purpose of the trip was not to find name-brands, but to find pieces for The Boy and The Girl that would coordinate with an existing outfit (a gift) for The Tot. And I got lucky. Found a dress for The Girl that both has pink in it and coordinates with the yellow and blue of The Tot's set, as well as a pair of khaki dress pants in The Boy's size and an Arc-en-Ciel (name brand) blue dress shirt for The Boy. Also got a pair of cleats for The Boy's new Monday afternoon soccer club and a pair of dress shoes for me to go with the $6 new-with-tags Ann Taylor dress I got last week during my other T.S. outing with Debra.

Update

I have been awful about updating this blog of late. The Tot and I have been having fun doing little stuff around the north side, and generally ignoring or skipping our classes. I have to get better about actually going to our Moms, Pops, & Tots interaction class at Independence Park, which is on hiatus this week between sessions. And I have not been great about going to Jam with Julie, which The Tot does enjoy, but is often in a time conflict with both the start of the school day and, an hour later, the start of the CFC day. I'm no longer involved with the co-op, thus eliminating daily runs to Midwest Bank and freeing up our schedule to enjoy our Wednesday morning class with Julie. But I have no great excuse for missing our IP class.

On tap this week? Lots of nonfat vanilla lattes at Starbucks. On Monday, we went to the Treasure Store. The Tot likes to run and hide under the racks, and doesn't respond when called, so I must keep him in the stroller or mei-tei in the store. On Monday, I was wearing him on my back in the Catbird Baby and a pregnant woman who was clearly shopping the baby bargains, asked me if I had ever seen slings in the TA and where could she find them. I don't recall noticing a sling in the TS, but told her that she could buy them used on The Baby Wearer. I always seem to find something at the TS -- on Monday, it was a new terrycloth bathrobe and NWT plain navy blue t-shirt for The Boy, and a cute Hawaiian print camp shirt and PsychoBaby Mack Daddy tee for The Tot. Afterwards, we stopped at Starbucks for--you guessed it--a nonfat vanilla latte.

On Thursday, we skipped the latte and went to Joann's ISO yellow fabric to make a t-shirt for The Boy. Another store that is a nightmare chase scene for Mama, Joann's displays tons of little things (spools of thread and ribbon, packages of elastic and so much else!) at a height of approximately 3' off the floor--just level with The Tot's line of vision. And I've noticed that fabric stores tend to employ women just below the age of retirement. Presumably, it's because they know a lot about fabric and sewing and can speak knowledgably to inquiring customers. This may be true, but they also tend to be crabby and have behavioral expectations of small children that are stuck in the 1960s, and they have no problem correcting my kid when they think he's doing something wrong -- like picking up a spool of plastic-wrapped serger thread and licking it. Which he should not do, but really?!?

Afterward, we walked down to Strack & Van Til, the signs in the windows of which read, somewhat incorrectly in my opinion, "thank you for shopping at your neighborhood market." There's a difference between a store that is in your neighborhood and one that is your neighborhood market. The parent company is based in Highland, Indiana. Still, there was a man giving a food tour to a group of school kids in the produce section, and one of the deli counter ladies gave The Tot a steak fry when I asked her if she had any plastic knives that I could use to cut open the avocado that The Tot was trying to gnaw his way through (they were sold "by the each") as he was hungry and crabby.

Amazingly enough, after two errands, we still had time to kill before we had to retrieve The Girl from preschool, so I headed over to Clybourn to do a quick cruise through Cost Plus World Market, a store in which I loved to browse when we lived in San Francisco, and which the non-IKEA furniture and decor in my house almost invariably comes from. Picked up a new glass canister to hold coffee beans and a fun new bath toy for The Tot. And then it was time to get The Girl from school.

Conscpicious Frugaltity

Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune ran a story on conspicuous frugality, in large part profiling one of my fellow mom bloggers, Carrie Kirby. Although I've been declaring my love for the Treasure Store unabashedly on this blog for over a year now, I had no idea that such statements are indicative of a larger socio-economic movement.

Treasure Store

I went to the Treasure Store (this time the Unique in my neighborhood) twice this week. Once on Monday because it was 1/2 price day to look for accessories for The Boy's Halloween costume (score! a cream turtleneck for Luke Skywalker for 75 cents), and again today to look for a warmer jacket for The Tot (no dice; there isn't much in warm, stylish jackets for either boys or girls).

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

One is silver, the other gold. It's been 14 years since I've been a Girl Scout, and the GS credo is still branded in my brain. Today, I got to hang out with one of my oldest friends, Cara, and her daughter Grace. With her oldest two in school in Aurora, and The Boy in school in Chicago, we don't get to see each other as much these days. We did see each other a few weeks' ago, but parties are only good for catching up if you're not the host.

Grace and The Tot had fun eating Dunkin' Donuts munchkins and playing in the bathroom sink together for about an hour at our house before we all piled into The Great White Moose to pick The Girl up from preschool and go to lunch.

We had lunch at one of my favorite spots in the area: Curio Cafe. When we arrived, a group of (impossibly skinny for just having given birth!) moms and nursing newborns was just finishing up. It turns out that it was the monthly meeting of La Leche League of Lincoln Park. The Lincoln Park must be a misnomer, because Avondale is a long way from LP. They meet the second Friday of the month at 10 a.m. - noon at Curio Cafe. C'est tant pis pour moi; I'm long past the point of needing LLL, but perhaps it will help someone else.

Cara had the steak sandwich; I had the plato tipico and they were both very good. Both little girls had grilled cheese, sliced apples, and grape Honest Juice pouches. The Tot had the alphabet noodles with cheese, which (while good) wasn't up to par, and finished the rest of the girls' sandwiches.

After lunch, we headed southeast to hit the Treasure Store, where we both flipped the racks for cute kids' clothes. I spent far too much money and made Cara late to pick up her kids from school. She did better, scoring a pair of MiniBoden pants in size 7/8 for $2.50. The Tot, The Girl, and Grace drove us nuts by playing in the racks.

Around the Neighborhood

I miss going to museums. These days, we've been sticking close to home. Between The Girl's preschool day and The Tot's nap time, there just isn't a lot of time to go anywhere. In the mornings, while The Girl is in preschool and The Boy is at school, The Tot and I go to thrift stores (last week, I got a fantastic, solid wood credenza [to use as a media stand] for $35), run errands, putter around the house, go to the park, drink coffee at Starbucks, and jam with Julie.

Errands and other things

Oof-da! What a day! We spent nearly the whole day in Lincoln Park, although not continuously.

In the morning, The Boy and The Girl had back-to-school haircut appointments at Snippets. The Boy got a buzz, The Girl got a gorgeous bob. And The Tot watched intently. The receptionist commented that the kids were really well-behaved. As much as I'd like to believe that's good parenting, I think it's more likely because it was 9:30 a.m. and they were fresh for the day. But, I'll take whatever I can get.

Afterwards, because we were right there, we took a gander through the Treasure Store. The Boy really dislikes the Treasure Store, but after awhile, he stopped complaining and resigned himself to the inevitability of the trip. Today's finds: Charlie Rocket shorts for The Tot, a cute jean skirt for The Girl, and two purses for me.

Then we went to lunch at the hot dog factory (Vienna Beef Factory & Cafe on Fullerton, Damen, and Elston). Although The Tot and I have been a number of times, it was The Girl's and The Boy's first time. They were really excited about it. It seems to be a popular lunch spot for area workers, they don't seem to get a lot of kids in there. Everyone regarded The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot with amusement as they enthusiastically ate their hot dogs, pickles, and fries (and squabbled over whose turn it was to drink the cream soda).

We returned home to let The Tot nap. The Girl, The Boy, and I played a few rounds of Memory while he napped.

When he woke up, we headed back to Lincoln Park to visit the cardiology department of Children's Memorial Hospital so that The Tot could get some tests (ped found a murmur). It was a long visit, but The Girl and The Boy were amused by three consecutive episodes of (the forbidden in our house) Spongebob Squarepants, plus the tech brought them each of the same little toys that he brought to distract The Tot from the ultrasound microphone. We did a quick cruise around The White Elephant on the way back to the car, and then headed home.

The Mommy Drive-by

If you are a mother (and even if you aren't), you've probably heard of the concept of the "mommy drive-by" -- enduring the criticism of one's parenting skills or techniques (usually) from a complete stranger while out in public with one's children. While I suppose it's possible that these happen to men, I think the guy code generally forbids it.

Today, I experienced a mommy drive-by of sorts. I brought The Tot and The Girl to the Discount Village Outlet down the block from our pediatrician's office. His mother was on her cell phone the whole time. The Tot, The Girl, and I were all in the same aisle. The Tot was hanging out *in* the rack and another little boy about The Tot's age/size came over and wanted to play with him. This was not a big deal, except the mom was on the phone (and swearing) in the next aisle over, and the kid grabbed The Tot by the neck. They were both in the rack, with the little boy hanging off his neck. The mom came over and told him no, then started to extricate him from the rack (with one hand holding the phone to her ear the whole time), but it was difficult. I silently came over and pulled The Tot out, but to do so I had to remove the other child's arm from around his neck. I didn't say anything to the mom or the other little boy while I did it, I just pulled him out of the rack. The mom immediately chastised me for touching her kid, with expletives and everything. She said something about how she didn't have to touch my child to get her child off of him (I don't see how she could avoid it.) Then she returned to the other aisle and started swearing about me on the phone ("I'm going to kick some bleeping bleep!") to her friend.

I have a terrible head cold, so shortly after this incident, I bailed on my treasure hunt and went home.

9 to 5, and then some

The Boy, The Girl, The Tot, and I left the house this morning at 9 a.m., headed for playgroup. We rolled back onto our street just before 7 p.m., after dinner out. It was a full day. If it were in an 80s film, it'd be shown as a musical montage.

My favorite part of the day was not dining at Otom (more on that later), or doing a mad dash through the Treasure Store (ditto), but the 1/2 hour I spent picking ripe mulberries out of the trees in Lincoln Park with The Boy and The Girl in view of North Pond.

Stopped at the new Mobil to fill up The Great White Moose, and buy coffee (for me) and donuts (for the kids) at the new, hotly anticipated Dunkin Donuts. Then we were on our way to meet Cheryl and Sarah at the Nature Museum.


We managed to find a decent parking spot on northbound Stockton Drive. It was a tight spot, but I squeezed The Great White Moose in there. I let The Tot and The Girl out to run around while I pulled out the stroller and got our stuff. There was a boy of about 10 or 12 walking down the path, and he came up to me to tell me that The Girl had gone up to the two homeless men sleeping on the benches in the gazebo. I don't think she had -- it is unlike her to go up to any stranger, although she had been sitting on the benches just outside the gazebo -- so I just said, "OK." I suppose I should have thanked him, because he made a face and muttered something about "...disgusting." Oh well. I get that homeless people can be dangerous, but I don't know that something is going to happen to my kids in broad daylight while I am standing 10 yards away.

We made our way around the pond to the Nature Museum and met our friends in the Hands-On Habitat. From there, we went to the green house, Lawn Nation, and to do an activity in the activity/resource area. By then, Cheryl's kids were ready for a snack (as was I), so we headed downstairs to eat something, with the intent of going back to the exhibits. Unfortunately, Cheryl's daughter started to melt down at the end of lunch, so they went home. We attempted to do the same, but got waylaid along the way. I changed The Tot's diaper, and I think I must have left the cloth diaper and cover on the top of the changing table, because I don't have it now. The museum was very crowded with camp groups, so between that and the 7 kids (with 7 different interests!) among the 3 moms, I felt very frazzled. Although I'm happy that they offer a free/donation day, I try generally not to go to the museum on Thursday mornings because it's so crazy.

The Tot, who protested going into the jumpseat of the e3, fell asleep in it five minutes later, on the way to the car. So The Girl, The Boy, and I picked mulberries while he slept in the stroller, parked underneath the shade of the mulberry tree. The breeze blew, and it was quite pleasant to be under the shade of the tree, picking off the fruit in the heart of Lincoln Park. We filled up a half a sandwich-size baggie full of the berries, then walked over to the playground, where The Boy and The Girl played for a bit.

The Tot woke up, and The Girl declared that she had to go potty. Her pediatrician had called earlier in the week to request another urine sample, so we walked over to their office in St. Joseph to give the sample. It was the most frustrating and longest part of the day, as The Girl had performance anxiety about peeing in the cup. We spent 90 minutes in the doctor's office, alternately in the waiting room and in the bathroom before she went. At one point, I had promised ice cream if she went, so when she finally did go, we went off in search of ice cream.

It was hot and sunny and we were all pretty tired, so we walked as far as Pot Belly on Diversey before stopping for ice cream. The Girl had chocolate, The Boy had a vanilla cone, and The Tot had a vanilla frozen yogurt. I sprinkled mulberries in both The Tot's and The Girl's cups. The Tot did a fantastic job of eating his yogurt with a spoon held in his right hand.

This time on the way back to the car, The Girl fell asleep in the stroller. So we stopped to pick more mulberries from a tree on Stockton Drive. The Tot was covered in purple mulberry juice; he repeatedly sat down on the slope under the tree. The berries from the tree on the west side of the park were more ripe, juicier, and bigger than those we had picked earlier.

By then, it was 3: 30 p.m. and I realized that we didn't have much time to go home and change before dinner. Instead, we got into the car and I drove over to the Treasure Store. We did a mad dash through the store to get re-outfitted in clean clothes before dinner. I broke my own rule of washing everything bought at the TS before wearing it, but it seemed necessary. I'm somewhat proud of my resourcefulness in this situation. I could have gone to Gap and spent $100 to re-outfit us all; instead spent $15 that included a skirt (Express) + top for me, polo romper (Polo) for tot, shorts (gymboree) + polo shirt for boy, and dress for girl. We used water and a few cloths in the car to clean up, and changed in car in parking lot.

Then we headed down Clybourn to Halsted and down to Fulton Market, to Otom. The timing was perfect. Our reservation was at 5:15 and I pulled on to Fulton Market at 5:05 p.m.

Camp!

Today was a crazy day. Both The Boy and The Girl started camp (at different parks), so I spent half my day dropping someone off or picking him/her up. A preview to next year, when I will have two kids at Disney II and one down the street at CFC. But back to today: despite all the running around, I saw lots of people I knew, but hadn't seen since the school year's close. The Boy has a ton of mates at camp, and The Girl shares the 2.5-hour playcamp with at least three friends.

The Boy went home with Enver after camp, so I took The Baby to the Treasure Store. He is just done with TS runs.* While there, I ran into Ms. Sarah, The Boy's pre-K teacher from St. Bart's. I found a pair of shorts and some cool red patent leather flats for me, a toy camera for The Baby (what was I just saying about not buying toys?), and some cute kid clothing.


* He also seems to be going through a growth spurt and losing a layer of baby fat. He looks taller and thinner, and seems to have lost that compact new-walker look. His size-21 sandals, the ones that the sales guy at Alamo Shoes assured me would "last through the summer" are already too small, less than a month later. I think it's time to change his blog name to The Tot.

Just Another Manic Monday

I got The Girl to school this morning, and took The Baby with me to run errands. First, we went to the bank, and then over to the new Disney II to register The Girl for pre-K. The Baby was very interested in the junior high kids currently there (and they, at least the girls, were pretty interested in him as well).

We had lunch at our usual pre-Treasure Store spot: the Vienna Beef Cafe and each had a hot dog and fries. Then we hit the Treasure Store, which was kind of a bust. We went back to pick The Girl and her friend from school, dropped off the friend at her house, and got on the road for the long haul to Naperville, to fetch The Boy from Grandma-and-Grandpa's house.

And that's where the problems started. I'm sure everyone knows the saying about Chicago: There are two seasons in Chicago: Winter and Construction. If there was construction along our route, The Great White Moose and I managed to find it. We got stuck in the construction along the Oakbrook toll plaza, the 3-lanes-down-to-1 problems along 22nd Street in Oakbrook, and the repaving right by the I-355 on-ramp. We also had to take a detour getting to Grandma's house when I realized that the Bailey Road bridge was out. And throughout all this, The Baby screamed bloody murder. My nerves were fried by the time we arrived at Grandma's house.

We played for about 45 minutes at Grandma-and-Grandpa's house, and then they took us to dinner at The Patio. The Girl and I each had 1/3-lb. cheeseburgers (and The Girl ate most of hers!), while The Boy had a hotdog and fries and The Baby sort of had a grilled cheese and fries. Then we got back on the road to come home. I took I-55 to the Kennedy on the way back, and it was a good choice because we made fantastic time coming home. We got back within 45 minutes. The Baby was crying again towards the end, but it was only the last 3 minutes or so of the trip.

Je suis fou

I've never met little Remy Lichtenstein, but whoever he is, he's well-dressed. Yesterday, I picked up a few more of his castoffs at the Treasure Store -- most of it is European-made Oilily or Petit Bateau in excellent condition (save the name labels stuck onto the waist/neckbands). And the Treasure Store guy put the "children's clothing reduced to 50 cents/piece" sign up right before I checked out, so I got a huge bag of stuff for less than $16. My neighbor calls the Treasure Store "retail therapy." I know I talk about the Treasure Store a lot, but it combines three of my favorite elements: shopping, adventure (especially when accompanied by 3 kids), and fantastic bargains.

Speaking of adventure... as if shopping the Treasure Store in late afternoon with 3 small kids wasn't adventurous enough, I took them all to Wicker Park's Piece pizza afterward. I've said before that I often find myself in situations where I'm the only person with small children in a given establishment. Maybe the problem is not my children, but my taste/proximity. I often go to Wicker Park because it's easy to get to. But it just isn't a kid-friendly or kids' neighborhood the way Lincoln Square is. Still, I was there yesterday and while our destination was actually Penny's Noodles, with the chilly weather, no stroller, and three tired kids, we stopped at Piece instead because it was 4 blocks closer than Penny's and a friend in our MDO co-op had recommended it.

As soon as I walked in the door, I realized my mistake, but we were already inside and I was tired. I even said to the host, "Oh, I we are so not in your target demographic." They were pretty nice about it and lead us back to a table above the main floor. Along the way, we passed another baby and a stack of highchairs, both of which were somewhat reassuring. Still, last night, The Boy and The Girl were the only kids in the place (the couple with the baby had only one and she was definitely a baby, about 6-months-old or so). The upper-level banquettes were set up to look out over the main floor through "windows" in the wall at the end of each booth. This amused both The Boy and The Girl. The Baby couldn't seem to get an edge in.

Our server was pretty nice; he showed The Boy where the bathroom was when he had to go. Piece serves New Haven-style pizza. I am not a pizza connoisseur (I didn't eat it at all for about 10 years straight), so I don't understand the differences between it and Chicago thin crust, but everyone, including The Girl (who also doesn't like pizza) ate it. I ordered a small, with fresh basil and goat cheese on one half, and plain cheese on the other. Between the four of us (and three trips to the bathroom!), we managed to finish it all. Since I had to drive home, I didn't sample any of Piece's microbrews. The pizza, tax, and tip came to just over $20.

Pink polka dot pajamas

This morning, after I dropped The Boy off at school, I took The Baby and The Girl with me to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, a bagel and a couple of donuts, and then to Home Depot. All while wearing my pink polka dot pajama bottoms (and The Dad's polarfleece). I was styling. My fashion standards have slipped so far that this is actually not the worst combination that the counter clerks at Dunkin Donuts have seen me wear.

At Home Depot, The Baby and The Girl rode in one of the racecar carts. The Baby loves sitting up like a big kid and steering the wheel like his big sister (or brother). I dislike pushing those giant things, especially for errands like today's where I needed a single thing that I could have easily carried without a cart if I had been there on my own. But the kids enjoy it and it makes shopping with small children much nicer.

The Girl went to MDO today. The Baby took a nap, had lunch, and accompanied me to on our weekly Treasure Store trip. We ran into my Treasure Store stalkers. It's funny, because I don't always go on the same day each time, but I always see the same people there over and over. Half of them are from the co-op.

The Girl and The Boy went over to their friends' house after school, while I took The Baby to Target for such exciting things as dishwasher cubes and deodorant for The Dad. When we got home, The Dad took The Baby, The Girl, and The Boy outside to play with the neighbors while I made dinner.

Vienna Beef

Yesterday, I took The Baby to the Vienna Beef Factory Store & Cafe for lunch. It's one of our new favorite destinations because it's on the way to the Treasure Store, it's fast, and we can split an order of 2 Chicago-style dogs and fries for $4.25. The Baby loves hot dogs. Perhaps because it's at the factory, the dogs often have unsealed-at-the-ends casing, which actually works out well for me, because that is the part that The Baby has the most trouble eating, and I can just peel it off.

He sat in a regular chair pulled up to the table, although two people offered to get me a highchair for him. I assured them that he'd be fine in a chair, and he was. He looked so little and so grown-up at the same time, sitting there in his rockstar guitar t-shirt, baggy Boden jeans, and baby Cons.

We brought the paper boat of fries with us, and he ate them happily while sitting in his stroller at the Treasure Store as I looked through the racks for jeans and pants for me. I ended up with a pair of Buffalo by David Bitton jeans, bright green J. Crew pants (that I plan to cut down into Bermuda shorts), and pale green Limited dress pants (with nobody inside 'em!*). All for a mere $13. By the time we got upstairs, however, The Baby was done with the Treasure Store. He was only slightly impressed with the original Fisher-Price, made in the U.S.A., plastic horses ball I found in the housewares aisle.

The rest of my day was fairly busy as well: I volunteered to prep art projects for hanging for St. Bart's art fair on Friday, so I spent the morning stringing fishing line into different fish art pieces for hanging. I took all three kids to Target after school to buy new Big Girl Underwear for The Girl. I did laundry. And I went to book club at Elephant Thai (my entree was great, but I didn't really like the chive dumplings) and the Chocolate Shoppe (weird service, good ice cream -- I tried about 4 different kinds before settling on maraschino cherry) in Edgebrook (cute neighborhood, seemed more like Evanston than the city).



* Does anyone else recite snippets of Dr. Suess books in their head at odd moments? The reference above is to his story, "What Was I Scared Of?)

There I go again...

This happens to me every couple of months: I take the kids somewhere and realize that I am the only mother-of-(three)-small-children in tow there. It happened again today, when I took The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby to Just Indulge on North Avenue for ice cream (custard) after an impromptu late-afternoon visit to the Treasure Store. I was feeling pretty cool mommyish today. Not because I looked great or because I was in Bucktown, but because I was letting my children eat frozen custard and cheese popcorn essentially for dinner. The kids loved it and were surprisingly good while sitting in the car, in traffic, in the pouring rain, on the way home afterward. Mommy scored some points with the progeny.

In fact, even before he finished his vanilla custard with rainbow sprinkles, The Boy asked if we could come back again sometime. The Girl had chocolate custard with rainbow sprinkles. They both shared with The Baby, who begged mercilessly for spoonfuls of the cold, creamy stuff. I skipped today's flavor of the day (mocha) and went straight for a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. The custard wasn't as fantastic as Custard Cup, but it was good, simple, and surprisingly for that neighborhood, cheap. I actually thought they undercharged me at first because it didn't seem possible to get what we got for under $8 (with nearly 10% sales tax!) in the city these days. Heck, even taking the kids to Starbuck's for a milkbox and cookie each (and a coffee for me) is a $13 outing. But Just Indulge was a bit more reasonable. I hope it's still around for next time.

So how did we end up eating ice cream at 6 p.m. on a Thursday, anyway?

I once offered to take The Girl out for ice cream if she did not complain during a trip to the Treasure Store. In the mind of a nearly 3-year-old, apparently, this created a permanent link. When I say, "Do you want to go to the Treasure Store?" She responds, "Ice cream!" This afternoon, we spent a couple of hours digging through the racks, which is how we ended up eating frozen custard for dinner.

I picked up The Boy from school before lunch today, and we all headed southeast to the Nature Museum, to meet our friend Becky & her three kids, have our packed lunches together, and play. We did all that and after three hours of chasing, Becky and I were beat. Not surprisingly, The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby all fell asleep in the car before I could even get to Clybourn and Fullerton. I parked the car and let them sleep, while I did some work.

When they woke up, we went shopping. The Boy complained nearly the whole time, although he changed his mind when he found a treasure of his own -- the Plan Toys airport, for a mere $5. I think I'll make a convert out of him yet.