Whenever I spend one-on-one time with The Girl, she calls it a Mama-Girl Playdate. Today, I had a Mama-Tot Playdate. It was nice. It wasn't fantastically exciting, but when you are 14-months-old, even mundane errands can be fun.
I took him to Nordstrom to buy (him) new shoes. The traffic on the Edens wasn't too bad, but I was starving when we got there, so we stopped into the cafe to have lunch first. He had had lunch at home with The Dad previously, but he happily ate some of my salad while sitting on my lap. I made the mistake of sitting outside, so there was a huge lag between ordering and getting my food. I finally asked the server when he brought my check before my salad. There were four chatty ladies having lunch next to us, and The Tot enjoyed flirting with them while we waited.
After lunch, we went next door to the kids' shoe department to get a matching (to The Boy) pair of green Keens for him. I also ordered a pair of baby Cons for him, since they didn't have his size in the color I wanted in-stock in the store. He also got a balloon, which I tucked into the back of his shorts so we wouldn't lose it.
I ran down to Gap to return some stuff for The Dad. The Tot rearranged the lotions bottles while I made my return. He was only 10 feet away from me, but I could see where he was going from the yellow balloon attached to his pants. We made our way back through the mall to Nordstrom. I got a snack for The Tot -- chocolate-covered graham crackers -- and an iced tea for me. He wanted to walk himself and had a mind of his own on the best way to go. He was so cute walking determinedly through Nordstrom with a chocolate-graham in hand and a balloon sticking up. When I held his hand to re-direct him, he'd stop and squat down -- his way of telling me that he wanted to do it himself.
Traffic on the Edens looked bad, so I took Route 50 home. I think it took about as much time as the Edens would have.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Walk, Walk, Walk
Camp days have become unofficial stay-at-home/neighborhood days for us. With the timing and location of both The Boy's and The Girl's camps and The Tot's naps (plus gas at $4+/gallon), it just makes sense to hang out around the neighborhood. The Girl did not have camp today, but The Boy did.
After camp, I invited Allison and her kids over to play, and O., who will attend Disney II with The Boy and Enver in the fall, came over as well. There were a few squabbles as Enver and The Boy tried to exclude O. on the basis of her gender or age (she's not quite 5 yet), but for the most part, they did really well. We played in the pool, ate a bunch of snacks, and just hung out.
After everyone left around 3, I put a movie on for The Boy and The Girl and put The Tot down for a nap. By the time I was finished, both The Boy and The Girl had passed out in front of the movie. They all slept until nearly 6. We had dinner, and since The Dad worked late and I needed to tire them out a bit, we walked up to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream.
It was a good day.
After camp, I invited Allison and her kids over to play, and O., who will attend Disney II with The Boy and Enver in the fall, came over as well. There were a few squabbles as Enver and The Boy tried to exclude O. on the basis of her gender or age (she's not quite 5 yet), but for the most part, they did really well. We played in the pool, ate a bunch of snacks, and just hung out.
After everyone left around 3, I put a movie on for The Boy and The Girl and put The Tot down for a nap. By the time I was finished, both The Boy and The Girl had passed out in front of the movie. They all slept until nearly 6. We had dinner, and since The Dad worked late and I needed to tire them out a bit, we walked up to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream.
It was a good day.
Otom
I promised more on Otom... and at last, here it is.
Otom was an interesting experience. I think it would be that way with or without kids, but going with The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot added an element of speed-eating to the experience. I really liked the space -- it had something like 14' ceilings and despite its long, narrow dining dimensions, the effect was airy and light. There were floor-to-ceiling curtains dividing the space into 3 sections - a small dining and lounge section, another one for the bar and bar seating, and a third dining section. We sat in the back dining section, which was mercifully filled with families with small children when we arrived for our 5:15 reservation.
Like its parent and next-door neighbor, Moto, the premise of Otom is to de-construct American dishes and reconstruct them in a new way. Moto specializes in true "foodie" food, but Otom reconstructs "comfort food." I would never think to isolate the flavors within blueberry pie a la mode, for example, and recreate it within another dish. It's basically what I do in my work, but with food. Intellectually, I think it's a pretty cool concept. But while I respect the art behind the work, I'm not sure that I am enough of a foodie to enjoy the end result.
Otom offered a 3-course prix-fixe menu for KRW, but the selection was extremely limited. There was basically 1 adult menu (salad and pork belly) and 1 kid menu (mac & cheese and corn dogs & fries). I liked the salad, wasn't fond of the pork belly (it came in a little square, with "beans" that were actually ground pork and another square of smoked bread). The pepperoni pizza mac & cheese was good, but I thought it needed salt. The fries were teeny, tiny shoestring potatoes and the kids thought they were fun. The corn dogs were good. I also ordered one of the 3 "mocktails" on the menu: the rhubarb "gimlet," a mix of lime juice, crushed raspberries, rhubarb, and pomegranate juice. Everyone liked that.
Service was extremely attentive and everyone from the bread guy to the waitress was accommodating of the little-kid crowd (and their parents -- I must have dropped my fork through the slat on the side of my chair 4 or 5 times). The bread guy offered us slices of bread whenever we ran out, and they quickly replaced the little ramekins of sweet-herbed butter whenever we ran out of those, too. The Tot ate the butter straight-up, and The Girl very kindly spread butter on slices of bread for me (on her own initiative).
Dessert was kind of odd. It was called milk & cookies, but it wasn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was expecting: a flat, hard crepe (like a pizzelle, but flat) with baked chocolate-dough dots on it. The Tot was quite confused as to why these things didn't peel off or taste like chocolate chips. The crepe was accompanied by a scoop of ice cream, a dollop of mascarpone, and a few banana slices drenched in caramel.
Our meal total came to $43.19 with my mocktail and 2 Sprites. I left a $20 tip, which probably is not much when you consider that everything would probably have been $100 outside of KRW. As we were leaving, there were 3 or 4 metrosexual business guys at the front, looking doubtfully at the crowd -- they obviously didn't realize it was KRW when they made the reservation.
Otom was an interesting experience. I think it would be that way with or without kids, but going with The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot added an element of speed-eating to the experience. I really liked the space -- it had something like 14' ceilings and despite its long, narrow dining dimensions, the effect was airy and light. There were floor-to-ceiling curtains dividing the space into 3 sections - a small dining and lounge section, another one for the bar and bar seating, and a third dining section. We sat in the back dining section, which was mercifully filled with families with small children when we arrived for our 5:15 reservation.
Like its parent and next-door neighbor, Moto, the premise of Otom is to de-construct American dishes and reconstruct them in a new way. Moto specializes in true "foodie" food, but Otom reconstructs "comfort food." I would never think to isolate the flavors within blueberry pie a la mode, for example, and recreate it within another dish. It's basically what I do in my work, but with food. Intellectually, I think it's a pretty cool concept. But while I respect the art behind the work, I'm not sure that I am enough of a foodie to enjoy the end result.
Otom offered a 3-course prix-fixe menu for KRW, but the selection was extremely limited. There was basically 1 adult menu (salad and pork belly) and 1 kid menu (mac & cheese and corn dogs & fries). I liked the salad, wasn't fond of the pork belly (it came in a little square, with "beans" that were actually ground pork and another square of smoked bread). The pepperoni pizza mac & cheese was good, but I thought it needed salt. The fries were teeny, tiny shoestring potatoes and the kids thought they were fun. The corn dogs were good. I also ordered one of the 3 "mocktails" on the menu: the rhubarb "gimlet," a mix of lime juice, crushed raspberries, rhubarb, and pomegranate juice. Everyone liked that.
Service was extremely attentive and everyone from the bread guy to the waitress was accommodating of the little-kid crowd (and their parents -- I must have dropped my fork through the slat on the side of my chair 4 or 5 times). The bread guy offered us slices of bread whenever we ran out, and they quickly replaced the little ramekins of sweet-herbed butter whenever we ran out of those, too. The Tot ate the butter straight-up, and The Girl very kindly spread butter on slices of bread for me (on her own initiative).
Dessert was kind of odd. It was called milk & cookies, but it wasn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was expecting: a flat, hard crepe (like a pizzelle, but flat) with baked chocolate-dough dots on it. The Tot was quite confused as to why these things didn't peel off or taste like chocolate chips. The crepe was accompanied by a scoop of ice cream, a dollop of mascarpone, and a few banana slices drenched in caramel.
Our meal total came to $43.19 with my mocktail and 2 Sprites. I left a $20 tip, which probably is not much when you consider that everything would probably have been $100 outside of KRW. As we were leaving, there were 3 or 4 metrosexual business guys at the front, looking doubtfully at the crowd -- they obviously didn't realize it was KRW when they made the reservation.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Coco Pazzo Cafe
Tonight was our first Kids' Restaurant Week dinner. We went to Coco Pazzo Cafe, which is on St. Clair, about a block away from Northwestern Memorial Hospital (which detracted from the ambiance as an ambulance or fire truck went screaming by every 10 minutes or so). I knew going in that it might be tricky, as The Boy woke up before 6 a.m., The Girl woke up from a snooze-on-the-couch just before we left for the restaurant, and The Tot had had a short nap.
We were the first family to arrive at the restaurant -- the valet expressed surprise that I was taking not one, but three children out of the car. I imagine that the folks who came up with restaurant week were envisioning newly minted parents with their 8-month-olds in tow. And that was pretty much the profile of other KRW diners. Oh well. Readers of this blog know that my departure from the expected is nothing new.
They had a special, 3-course menu for KRW patrons. There were 3 options for starter, 4 for the main, and 2 for dessert. We ordered bruschetta (good) for The Boy, The Girl, and The Dad, while I had the vegetalli chopped salad (needed salt). The Tot shared with everyone, although he doesn't actually like the taste of tomatoes. I ordered the fish of the day (Alaskan halibut with olive tapenade over grilled fennel); The Dad had pork chops, and The Girl and The Boy both had, shockingly enough, pasta (with tomatoes and basil -- The Boy ate his on the side). The Girl is either a seafood lover or just an adventurous eater because she asked to try my fish and then spent the rest of the meal demanding bites. The Dad and I also each ordered a glass of Italian rose, which I was expecting to be like Provencial rose -- light, refreshing, the perfect summer drink for dining al fresco -- but it was darker and heavier. The Tot kept asking for sips, and once he had sampled it, could not be distracted by water.
There was a huge gap of time between our main course and dessert. There was another couple with a 1-year-old seated just after we were, and they had finished dessert, paid, and departed by the time we received our 3 fresh strawberry tarts with whipped cream, and 1 sorbet and melon. By then, the restaurant was quite busy, not only with other KRW families, but also with their usual crowd. It seemed we never really saw the same waiter twice, but I ended up in a corner, so I may have missed something. We paid our bill ($69 with drinks) and skedaddled in short order after dessert.
All in all, we thought Coco Pazzo Cafe was OK. We probably would not go back again without children, outside of KRW. The Girl said her favorite part of the meal was my sorbet. The Tot seemed to enjoy the foccacia, and The Boy liked the strawberries (which he scraped off the tart) and whipped cream the best.
We were the first family to arrive at the restaurant -- the valet expressed surprise that I was taking not one, but three children out of the car. I imagine that the folks who came up with restaurant week were envisioning newly minted parents with their 8-month-olds in tow. And that was pretty much the profile of other KRW diners. Oh well. Readers of this blog know that my departure from the expected is nothing new.
They had a special, 3-course menu for KRW patrons. There were 3 options for starter, 4 for the main, and 2 for dessert. We ordered bruschetta (good) for The Boy, The Girl, and The Dad, while I had the vegetalli chopped salad (needed salt). The Tot shared with everyone, although he doesn't actually like the taste of tomatoes. I ordered the fish of the day (Alaskan halibut with olive tapenade over grilled fennel); The Dad had pork chops, and The Girl and The Boy both had, shockingly enough, pasta (with tomatoes and basil -- The Boy ate his on the side). The Girl is either a seafood lover or just an adventurous eater because she asked to try my fish and then spent the rest of the meal demanding bites. The Dad and I also each ordered a glass of Italian rose, which I was expecting to be like Provencial rose -- light, refreshing, the perfect summer drink for dining al fresco -- but it was darker and heavier. The Tot kept asking for sips, and once he had sampled it, could not be distracted by water.
There was a huge gap of time between our main course and dessert. There was another couple with a 1-year-old seated just after we were, and they had finished dessert, paid, and departed by the time we received our 3 fresh strawberry tarts with whipped cream, and 1 sorbet and melon. By then, the restaurant was quite busy, not only with other KRW families, but also with their usual crowd. It seemed we never really saw the same waiter twice, but I ended up in a corner, so I may have missed something. We paid our bill ($69 with drinks) and skedaddled in short order after dessert.
All in all, we thought Coco Pazzo Cafe was OK. We probably would not go back again without children, outside of KRW. The Girl said her favorite part of the meal was my sorbet. The Tot seemed to enjoy the foccacia, and The Boy liked the strawberries (which he scraped off the tart) and whipped cream the best.
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