My Kind of Town, Chicago

I am obsessed with the idea of living an urban life in a big city. I would live in a high-rise, preferably one that is a converted loft or something equally cool. And each night Paul and I would walk down the crowded streets (notice I didn't mention the kids) and stop at our favorite cafe and dine al fresco. This is why I love Chicago. We returned from the Windy City last Saturday after spending a great week with Paul's parents.

We traveled down to Springfield to go to the FABULOUS Lincoln Museum. This was the highlight for me--I found myself wiping my eyes after each of the magnificent documentary movies, grateful for the sacrifices President Lincoln made to preserve our country.

We walked down Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago, seeing American capitalism at its best as we wandered stores like American Girl, The Lego Store, Tiffany jewelers, etc.

We had a great time at the Field Museum seeing mumified cats and dinosaur bones.

And who could forget all the gorgeous fall leaves to be enjoyed in a state that actually has trees growing naturally?

Sing it Frank, "And each time I leave, Chicago is tuggin my sleeve, Chicago is the wrigley building, Chicago is the union stockyard, Chicago is one town that wont let you down. Its my kind of town."

Green with Envy

Alright, so I don't have to be green with envy because this buffet is all MINE. I bought it from Four Chairs Furniture in Lindon. Go look in this store--it's a real treat. I'm too embarrassed to list here how much of my furniture has come from this store, so I won't. All I will say is, they are the best. I have a more modern/vintage taste, so I tend to pick shaker style furniture and avoid all the country (albeit adorable) looking stuff in their store. I am particularly pleased with how my green cabinet turned out because I had to go to a paint store and have it matched. I was trying to acheive this look from Pottery Barn and I think I hit it dead on. I am beaming I am just so happy with my new piece of furniture. If I were a character in Fiddler On The Roof I might ask the Rabbi if there is a blessing for my green cabinet. He would hopefully respond, "May it hold your gratin and french onion soup dishes and cookbooks for many years to come."

A GOOD Mom

Ok, I haven't blogged in a while about motherhood. I've been thinking about what kind of a mom I am. I am not the kind of mom that slurps kisses on my kids and just beams when they come into the room. In other words, I am not too sentimental. I value my independence and strive to teach my children to be good and decent members of society. I never miss my kids on the rare occaion that I get a break (albeit 1 day or 7 days) from them. But I do think I am a good mom nonetheless. And here's how I realized it today.

I know I am a GOOD mom because...

1. I take extra long showers until my skin turns red just to avoid stepping out of the bathroom into the Twilight Zone.

2. I love being home alone and never get tired of it. Ever. If such an event occurs during the day (while all the kids are at school/pre-school) I simply enjoy the silence--no TV, no music, nothing. If such a blessed event occurs at night (if Paul takes the kids out to a sporting event (*yawn*)) then I watch long BBC movies.

3. Driving in silence. Kind of the same as #2 only I take this to two different extremes. I either drive in complete silence and inhale deep breaths to cleanse my normally noise-filled life or I listen to music VERY loudly. This works particularly well in our new car with a Bose audio system. Even better if listening to U2's Vertigo. I feel naughtly because I listen to it so loudly that I have to keep checking my rear-view mirror lest I see an ambulance trying to blow around me because I can't hear a thing and should've pulled over.

4. I sneakily eat chocolate sometimes. (Is this what closet alcoholics do?) I hide in my pantry and eat the delicious European chocolate or else I'd have to share. Heck, the kids are happy with dum dum lollipops, why share money?

5. My kids say I'm mean. Enough said.

So why are you a good mom?