Wandering in Wicker Park

The Girl went back to camp today. I had planned to take The Boy and The Tot to Des Plaines' Choo-Choo Cafe, but after reading several Yelp reviews that panned the restaurant, I abandoned the plan. I went in a different direction to achieve the same end: a train ride and lunch.

So we took the L to Wicker Park -- The Tot was both excited and mildly freaked out by the train -- and bummed around. I completely forgot that nothing in Wicker Park really opens before 11 a.m. and it started to rain just as we exited the Damen station, so going to the playground was out. We got coffee and pastry (and cupcakes, for The Boy and The Tot) at Red Hen Bread and had just started to wander aimlessly when The Boy and I remembered that Wicker Park is the site of The Boring Store. So we trekked down Milwaukee to go to the store, but discovered that it opened even later than the rest of Wicker Park.

Back down Milwaukee to kill more time, we stopped into Urban Outfitters, one of the only stores open at the normal retail hour of 10 a.m. I tried on skinny jeans and decided they look ridiculous on someone my age. The Tot wanted to walk upstairs, so we did and looked at the tchotckes there. Then we had lunch at Penny's Noodles at The Boy's request, and went back to The Boring Store.

Custard!

Thankfully for me, The Baby can now tolerate more milk-based products. So we all indulged in a little custard at Just Indulge. This is my standard reward for the kids for putting up with a trip to the Treasure Store. Fortunately, we can just indulge without breaking the bank. Three kiddie scoops of custard with sprinkles (chocolate for The Boy and The Girl, raspberry for The Baby/me) and a small bag of cheese popcorn ran me just over $7. Plus, they have a very nice restroom for washing our hands, a must after a trip to the Treasure Store.

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.

Dance, Baby, Dance

The Girl started ballet class this week. Apparently, dance class is all-the-rage among the under-5 girlie set. Perhaps because I had a boy first, or perhaps because I took a single 6-week session of ballet as a child (and hated it; what I really wanted was to wear a tutu!), ballet class was never on my mama radar until recently.

But an outpost of ARCC just opened on Irving Park Road in Old Irving Park. I love my neighborhood, but Lakeview (or even Lincoln Square), it is not. I'm thrilled to see something other than a megachurch, laundromat, or greasy spoon. And Allison has been sending her daughter to ARCC's Saturday morning class in Wicker Park for the past six months, so it came well-recommended.

When I asked The Girl if she wanted to take ballet with Allison's daughter, her answer was an enthusiastic yes. So I signed her up, and she started today. I have no idea what they did in class, and I don't think The Girl particularly cared -- she got to flit around in a uniform of pink tights, pink leotard, pink skirt, and pink ballet shoes with a gaggle of similarly dressed 3-year-old girls.

The Boy, The Baby, and I headed across the street to Starbuck's to snack on milkboxes and cookies. The Baby sat nicely in his own chair -- so cute! so big! -- and flirted with the usual Saturday morning crowd. When the girls were finished, Allison kindly brought The Girl and her daughter over to join us.