Happy Halloween!

Here's my little ladybug: Chiara in her Halloween costume - I thought she wouldn't like wearing the antennae headband but it turns out I have to hide it from her or she'll want to wear it everywhere we go. Grandma is still working on Daniel's costume...he's going to be a mummy. On Sunday, we're celebrating Halloween at my our annual Halloween party: I'll be making the usual mummy dogs with a side of spooky tater tots, then we're headed to the 13 Terrors on the Lake haunted house. Happy Halloween!



Have you ordered your holiday cards yet?

I almost hate mentioning it - because I am simply one of those people that doesn't want to contemplate Christmas trees and holly when I've got pumpkins and haunted houses on my mind. That said, holiday cards are one of those things that you've got to get done early, especially if you have overseas relatives like we do (The Italian postal system tends to be very Che sera' sera' when it comes to timeliness).

As usual, I'll be using tinyprints for my photo cards this year. I like the thicker stock, the photo print quality, and style selection. I'll likely go with something simple, like the card to the right, which was designed by Zoe Saldana and will benefit the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation. You can find the entire selection of tinyprints holiday cards here. tinyprints also offers adorable holiday address labels as well as fabulous holiday party invitations.

**Special thanks to tinyprints.com for sponsoring this post



Bilingual Baby: Update

Chiara also loves "writing"

Background Recap: We are trying our best to introduce our baby girl to her heritage language, Italian. I have been keeping up with speaking to her mainly in Italian (90%). Her father speaks to her solely in Italian. Her home daycare provider speaks to her in Spanish. Her brother speaks to her in English peppered with Italian.

Chiara turned two in late September. A week earlier, her grandparents - Nonno and Nonna - flew in from Italy to stay a over a month with our family. Chiara has been staying at our home with Nonno and Nonna since then instead of going to daycare, and, fully immersed in Italian, she has picked up so many words and phrases in such a short amount of time. The ease with which Chiara picks up not one but two languages amazes me. Italian seems to be her language of choice, but she also fully understands English. Oddly enough, she knows to speak English to those that don't speak Italian.
She's having a blast with her Nonno and Nonna, who have indulged her to the max with love and care. Happily, she never watches tv save for the odd Italian kids music video or Barbapapa here and there, and she is turning into a huge book lover. She absolutely needs a book or two in her bed each night or she'll throw a tantrum: she needs to know that reading material is readily available or she'll go nuts. Like mother, like daughter - who knew that these traits were passed down from mother to child?!
I read most of her books to her in Italian - interpreting on the spot - but I'm realizing that I'll need to bring a big haul of Italian kids books back home with us on our next trip to Italy, so when she does start to read, she has a good selection of Italian books, too.

Her big brother, Daniel, age 10, is also benefiting from having the Nonni around. Once again, if you ask Daniel if he speaks Italian, he'll say no. And then you'll find him having a conversation in Italian. He also speaks Italian along with his sister, so it's as if they are almost at the same level of the language, learning together.

My Top Five: Nashville

I just spent a wonderful long weekend in Nashville - my first time ever visiting music city USA. It was a quick   (just over an hour via direct flight on United), fun escape from Chicago. I'll be writing some articles for travel-based publications which I'll eventually link to, but for now, here are my top five Nashville picks:

Fun Shops in East Nashville

 

Live Music on Broadway

Vintage concert posters: Hatch Prints



Popsicles at Las Paletas

Singing my heart out at the Ryland Auditorium, after the backstage tour

The Great Fire: Now Playing at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre

**This article originally appeared on ChicagoParent.com. Since I wrote this story, I've discovered an awesome app on the Chicago Fire (a co-production by Northwestern University and The Chicago History Museum) that details key events and highlights key points of interest. Search your iphone apps for The Chicago Fire and you'll find the burning Chicago flag. For more info on the app, visit: http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/campus/northwestern-chicago-history-museum-create-multiplatform-exhibit-in-new-app-1.2650261

Around this time of year, more than one hundred years ago, the destructive, merciless Great Fire swept through our city's streets. Legend says that on October 8, 1871, Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern and started the blaze but we now know that the fire's origins are unclear and that an intrepid report made up the O'Leary story, thinking it made his report more colorful (Poor Mrs. O'Leary!). However it began, over 300 people are reported to have died, and more than 100,000 Chicagoans were left homeless.

The Lookingglass Theater's latest production - "The Great Fire" - offers the perfect chance for families to explore the tragedy that led to the rebirth of our city. Hugely entertaining, it explores the myths surrounding the fire, following several Chicagoans as they struggle to survive both before and as the fire enflames their city. Writer and Director (and ensemble member) John Musial has weaved together and reinterpreted actual accounts, one of them from Charles Anthony (the inspiration for the characters Arthur and Frenchy), the son of a Chicago Judge who recalled his memories of the fire that he survived when he was just 15-year-old in a 1919 publication. Anyone living in the city will appreciate the antics of 7th and 8th ward (today's Pilsen) alderman James Henry Hidreth, brought to life by the brilliantly versatile Cheryl Lynn Bruce. Julia Lemus, played by Stephanie Diaz, recalls what this disaster meant to the hundreds of working-class immigrants trying to make a decent living in Chicago at the time.

The fire itself is portrayed by Lindsey Noel Whiting: she's a nasty, backstabbing, heartless redhead in a white petticoat.

The Chicago Fire is appropriate for kids over age 8. Before you go, familiarize your kids with the basic facts and story behind the fire. I recommend The Great Chicago Fire, by Kay Olsen (available on amazon.com), an engaging interpretation in comic book format. After the show, be sure to visit the Great Chicago Fire exhibit at the Chicago History Museum, where you can even find Julia Lemus' painting of the fire. The Great Fire, now playing at Chicago's Lookingglass Theater. For tickets, call 312-337-0665 or visit lookingglasstheatre.org

#makesmesmilemondays at the Pumpkin Patch

Chiara at the pumpkin patch...she is simply basking in all things Halloween, especially pumpkins and "OOOOoooooo Sccccarrrwwweeeyyy Guys" (a.k.a. skeletons).

Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking at the Bank of America Theatre, Chicago

I have been admiring Carrie Fisher for a long time: Star Wars was one of the very first movies I ever saw at the movie theater, and I can still remember forcing my classmate, Jason, at Triton College preschool, to play Luke to my Leia in the loft area. I have a massive Star Wars card collection that I passed on to my son, Daniel, who shares my passion for all things Star Wars. Later, I admired Carrie Fisher as an actress in scores of movies and eventually, as a writer: I thoroughly enjoyed her semi-autobiographical Postcards from the Edge, and her autobiography, Wishful Drinking. I appreciate her for being brave enough to stand up and share her struggles with her weight, bipolar disorder and alcoholism.

So I was thrilled to be able to catch Ms. Fisher in her award-winning play, Wishful Drinking, last evening at the Bank of American Theatre in Chicago. Similar to her eponymous book, Wishful Drinking is more of a confessional than anything else. You'll feel as if you're having a night out with an older, wiser, wittier friend who really has been there/done that and approaches life and all her faults and foibles with refreshing frankness and honesty. Having grown up amidst the craziness of Hollywood, Ms. Fisher shared that she's finally reached the point where she can look back on her life (which includes overdoses, struggles with mental illness, divorce, remarriage to a man who eventually admitted to being homosexual, having a good friend overdose and die at her home) -- and laugh. It seems that by embracing the painful facets of her life, Ms. Fisher has been able to heal, help others, and have a laugh, too. She really is a bright, honest force in this world, and she made my evening complete by kindly autographing one of my precious Star Wars cards for my son.

Don't miss Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking. Now playing at the Bank of America Theatre until October 16th. For tickets, head over to broadwayinchicago.com



Disclosure: Special thanks to Broadway in Chicago for treating me to tickets to this show. 



Review: Urban Mom Salon

Yesterday, I was more than happy to check out a new salon that just recently opened up in my neighborhood: Urban Mom Salon. Billing itself as the answer to every mom's usual complaint - "I don't have time to get my nails/hair done!" - Urban Mom Salon offers salon services AND on-site babysitting.

I must admit, I thought it all sounded too good to be true. Weekly manicures and pedicures are my "me" time, but it's always hard for me to squeeze them in and/or find a babysitter.

Urban Mom Salon offers an alternative: it has a wonderful, supervised playroom where your kids can wait onsite while you pamper yourself. At 2 years old, my daughter is a tad (majorly) clingy - let's just say she doesn't always warm up to strangers, so I envisioned a pedicure interrupted by mommy guilt over hearing her whimpers. Instead, Chiara was so happy to see the bubble machine and the play tunnel that she didn't even realize that I'd stepped away for my pedicure.The playroom is clean, filled with an enticing selection of toys, including, yes, a Bubble Machine (a.k.a. Mommy is going to sneak a way for a moment distractor), and is staffed by two expert babysitters from Chicago Nannies.  I was able to relax know that she was having fun just steps away. The playroom is connected but soundproof enough so that not a peep is heard in the main salon area. A mirrored window allowed me to check in on Chiara, and she was having a blast.

Meanwhile, I had a signature pedicure and transformed my toes happily with pretty a pretty fall plum polish.

This working, urban mom gives Urban Mom Salon 4 stars. I'll be back soon!

Urban Mom Salon offers hair cuts, color and restorative treatments, nail and waxing services. Prices are very reasonable; on par with most city salons. Childcare is a steal: just $7 per kid no matter how many services you indulge in/how long you stay (extra kids $4 extra).

Urban Mom Salon
2143 N. Damen Ave,

Chicago IL 60647
773.687.8346

Disclosure: Urban Mom Salon offered me a free trial of a salon service including childcare. I was not asked to write a review; all opinions are my own.

Pomp and Circumstance VS. The Wedding March

This article originally appeared on The Chicago Moms

This morning, it happened again: hoping to get the students at the high school where I teach excited about working hard towards graduation, the teacher/presenters at an assembly blasted Pomp and Circumstances. Tears welled up in my eyes. Pomp and Circumstance always manages to make me emotional.

Every other year or so, on graduation day, I have to announce the names of the students in my homeroom. As I proudly and carefully read their full names and watch them walk up to receive their diplomas, I always have to try my best to gulp down those happy tears. I have to completely avoid looking out into the audience, at their hopeful, happy parents if I plan on reading all the names clearly and distinctly.

So if graduation day for my students makes me emotional – what am I going to do when it comes down to the graduation days of my own kids?!?!

Some moms dream of the day that their daughter marries. They dream of the day when she’ll be dressed up as a princess in her white wedding dress, when she walks down the aisle to the wedding march, a bouquet of flowers in hand.

I dream of the day when my daughter walks down the aisle to Pomp and Circumstance at her college graduation. I will be the bawling mom in the audience. We will have the biggest party ever or I will take her on a trip to the destination of her dreams – maybe even both. When and if she is conferred her PhD? I will spend more on her outfit that day than on a wedding dress. I will be delighted to save up every penny, nickel and dime, enough to take my daughter to Chanel for the most beautiful dress or suit ever. (The same goes for my son, too. And he’s already chosen his dream destination, Australia, so I’d better start saving!).

Don’t get me wrong: I love fancy weddings! And should my daughter choose to have one, I’ll help her plan a day to remember down to the very last detail. Just as well, should she forgoe college to choose a career path that meets her dreams and doesn’t require extensive education – we’ll find a way to celebrate that, too.

Just take a look at latest cover of any celebrity magazine: Our country celebrates over-the-top weddings and glamourizes women who have done little more than meet a guy and make some arrangments. We need to tone done the celebrating women for their manufactured wedding days, and focus more on celebrating women for their achievements.

On her wedding day, I will be over-the-moon happy for my daughter. On her graduation day, I will be over-the-moon proud of her. She’s still my baby girl so I’ve got lots of time before either big date, but for now, I want her to always know that I value her education and her dreams more than anything.

Chicago Kicks



Image Credits: Akin x Nike LunarGlide+ 3 “Chicago Marathon”
image via akin



At age 10, my son is already wearing men's size 7 shoes. When he was just born, his doctor in England told me that he'd be Tall - as in 6 ft. 3" or taller. Since that day, March 27th, 2001, it seems like he's been on a neverending, beanstalk-fast growth spurt. He grows out of shoes and clothing every four to six months or so. And at age 10, he's already entered into that territory that all moms dread: he has actually started to care about what he wears.



As a treat this weekend, we rode our bikes over to Akin Chicago, where a celebration was held for the release of the Nike LunarGlide+ 3 exclusive Chicago colorway running shoe. We had fun checking out the latest shoes, Chicago marathon-inspired clothes and other unique sportswear. The ride there and back - from our home at Western/Fullerton to Fullerton/Clark, was challenging, but it was a beautiful, crisp fall day, perfect for bike riding.

The shoe's artist, Tara D., was inspired by the lakeshore and old Chicago signage. If you've got a tween/teen already caring about what he wears, Akin is a good place to catch the latest shoes - and this one-of-a-kind Chicago shoe is now available at Akin and the Nike Sportswear store only.





Daniel at Akin on Clark/Fulleron

Disclosure: In exchange for sharing the invitation and blogging about the event, I will be getting a pair of these Chicago running shoes.

#makesmesmilemondays Apple Picking with my Kids