fingers crossed

Mom and Producing duties have taken over this week, all while fighting a cold. Back to regularly scheduled posting next week.  Fingers crossed. Wait, speaking of fingers crossed, I've been using this term a lot lately.  And I've seen "fingers crossed" use as a closing to several emails.  I've been curious about the origin and found that it stems back from the days of the early Christian church and that it is a direct reference to the sign of the cross.  Apparently, Christians used this also to identify each other, but when they didn't want to admit that they were Christians for fear of being prosecuted.  This is where the fingers crossed behind the back while lying comes into play.  I much prefer the fingers crossed used as a sign of hope.  Of course, a glass of prosecco can also trigger signs of hope.

Fingers crossed for a productive, healthy and caffeine induced weekend!

Fingers, although not crossed, sporting Just Spotted the Lizard from the OPI Spiderman collection

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A festive shade for the holidays to get your spidey senses tingling, or maybe it's the prosecco.

Green City Market Winter Love

The Green City Market has returned to its winter locale at the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum and what a wonderful site it is.  While we are still in welly and not Sorel weather, the market remains half indoors and half out, lining the sidewalk entrance and setting up shop in the back courtyard.  The smell of hot apple cider and tamales fill the air and the abundance of colorful vegetables can be seen from all directions.  It was a wonderful opportunity to try some of these flavorful radishes with the watermelon variety (white ones) being our favorite.

Listen up Chicago parents!  The best kept secret is the "Market Membership" at the Nature Museum. For a mere $25, you and your family can enter the museum during market hours.  This means snowy Saturday mornings can be filled with market perusing + museum playing all in one morning.  I'd say that's a parent/kid win win weekend day. 

polka dots and peanuts

Nothing like unwinding from a long day with some childhood animated favorites.

After watching, I realized that I've been channeling my inner Sally lately, with the cobalt blue and black polka dot look.  My four year old pointed out that she too used to have this same shirt when she was two.  Funny that they are both from the Gap, hers from "Baby Gap Made with Love" respectively.  Because polka dots and peanuts never go out of style.

Gap Fluid Printed Pocket Top

luf

my 4yr old is learning how to spell.  this is the card she made for a friend's new baby. 

 i luf her to pieces.

granola is the new flour

finely ground granola can be used as flour in cookie recipes. did you know this?  i tried it with peanut butter cookies the other day and it worked - the peanut butter helped with the binding, i'm sure, but can't wait to try this for other recipes.  here is my homemade granola recipe that is tried and true.i'll report back on more granola as flour replacement recipes!

heritage bicylces general store

Bike shop in the back; cafe in the front - heritage is everything you'd imagine to see in a quaint little shop walking down the streets of Portland, Maine.  But, it's on busy booming Lincoln Ave in the middle of Chicago.  Lucky me! This little gem of a general store cannot be overlooked.

 

My kids had a ball typing old school - like how "mommy used to"

the apple doesn't fall far

Nothing says real food like picking an apple straight from the tree. We spent a Sunday morning in a row all to ourselves at Garwood Orchards several weeks ago.  The skies were gray, the ground wet, but the kids were all smiles.

And no better place than an orchard - with tractors and all - to break out the wellies and quilted barn jacket.  I'm going to break down my daughter's outfit - because I think she nailed it.

hello kitty wellies:  target, quilted barn jacket: ralph lauren, super soft double layer leggings:  oshkosh target

stars and stripes

I'm off to vote - star hat and all!  Are you?

And while we are on the subject of stars and stripes....

Tuleste Market Star Pendent

Skinny Skinny Ankle Cords - Madewell & Thermal Sweater in Heartnote Stripe

Tai Star Charm - Shop Bop

producer by day, tooth fairy by night

I believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny until pretty late in the game.   And just as I started to question the fantasy, my parents pulled some great trick and we awoke to huge bunny tracks in the snow one Easter morning.  My four and six year old question why the Easter Bunny has a zipper up his back.  "Real Easter Bunnies don't have zippers, mom.  It's a costume."  At four or six, I wasn't noticing zippers.  But, because I believed in these fantasy heroes for a quarter of my life, I find much joy in my recent moonlighting as the Tooth Fairy.  The tiptoeing, the much needed dexterity, and the sheer amazement in my son's face the next morning.  "How did we not hear the Tooth Fairy last night?"  We don't say "her" because we haven't decided if it's a boy or girl.

The joys of parenting that I never thought I would really find this joyful.

my childhood tooth fairy pillow

My fairy dust accessories:

MINERAL FUSION polish in SHIMMERING SHALE
(free of all the bad stuff; found at whole foods)

Gold glitter headband by J. Crew - currently in the sale section

trick or trick

Halloween has carried over into another day in my hood.  It started with an eerie quiet intersection which is otherwise booming with traffic at 8:40am.  This also included a scary lack of cabs, actually no cabs, not one even with someone already happily in it.  Not one cab in sight for 20 minutes.  Perhaps they were all hexed last night from this neighborhood witch.  Prior to my discovery that the boogie man snatched every cab from the city, I walked into my dry cleaners, the one I've been going to for 8 years, the one where they know me by name.  I go into my frantic, "can I just grab that jacket and I'll get the rest later" and the woman is looking at me like she's never seen me before.  For a moment I thought I forgot to remove my skelly mask from last night.  Inquisitively,  "Oh, Amy, is that you?"  "Ahhh I didn't recognize you - you look so nice and pretty today"  Translation:  For the last 8 years I have walked into this small business looking like a frazzled mess.

the monster witch who put a hex on all taxicabs; please remove your spell and bring them back