Downtown Oak Park Cookie Walk: It's like treat or treating for grown-ups

Downtown Oak Park has hosted a Winterfest cookie walk for a few years, but this was the first year we participated. It's actually kind of a genius idea--the merchants association sells shoppers a large, branded tin and then you get to stop into all the participating shops and get a single cookie from each one.

Many of the stores are places we regularly frequent (The Book Table, Sugar Fixe, Pumpkin Moon and Penzey's Spices), but there were a few new restaurants and some retail outlets I've never been to before, so experiencing them in a casual and friendly way let me get a glimpse around without feeling guilty about leaving fairly quickly. It seems like a good marketing strategy too--get a lot of shoppers milling around downtown Oak Park and popping into every shop on Lake Street and Marion. What surprised me was how few merchants included a shop sticker, coupon or flier with their cookie. Most handed out cookies from Bleeding Heart Bakery, Prairie Bread Kitchen and Cheryl's--all lovely local treats, but why not staple a 20% off store coupon to that baggie?

Even before they got their faces painted with Stars of David and dreidels at Potbelly's it was a lot of fun for the girls--particularly after they figured out a method of receiving treats that maximized both of their participation. The highlight of the day, aside from running into friends, was watching a sleight of hand magician use Zoe as his assistant.

Also, it was about 50 degrees out there. Where's winter? It's December!

On loaning my house to a stranger

On Thursday afternoon I gave a key to my house to someone I didn't know so that her extended family could enjoy a comfortable stay in Oak Park.

I felt good about it, knowing I was finally repaying the karmic universe for giving my extended family a house to stay 2 summers ago when I had them here for my bat mitzvah. For those who don't remember, an older couple who spend a month in Colorado every summer lent my family their house for 4 days in exchange for 2 weeks worth of garden-tending. I found them and last weekend's family found me through MomMail, a unique community email aggregator that Oak Park area families use to find babysitters, recommend doctors and contractors and buy and sell second hand furniture and baby gear. It lacks the anonymity and skeeze factor of Craigslist.

Our invisible house guests stripped the beds as requested and we came home to our house more or less as we'd left it. And while Oscar apparently didn't sleep inside the two nights we were gone, he was adequately fed and cared for (if missing his collar--again!).

Is a house swap next?

Oak Park Pride

Our idyllic inner suburb boasts more than good schools, a beautiful library and sky-high taxes; Oak Park is also home to a lot of really interesting people. Oak Park Temple's Friday night services included a talk by temple member David Ansell, physician and author of the acclaimed County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital. He spoke about how lack of access to quality health care has created a 20 year life expectancy gap in Chicago and urged us to advocate for single payer health care.

The very next night we headed to the Lake Theatre to see The Interrupters, a documentary about Cease Fire, a highly-effective organization that sends street-smart ex-felons into rough neighborhoods to diffuse violence. The filmmakers, Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, are also locals and the same guys behind Hoop Dreams and There Are No Children Here. It's been honored at multiple film festivals and for good reason. It's an incredibly powerful, moving documentary. After the screening, James, Kotlowitz, a leader of Cease Fire and one of the film's subjects appeared for a 30 minute audience Q&A.

But there's more to come. Another Oak Park Temple member, David Sokol, has written a book called Oak Park: The Evolution of a Village and our friend Kevin Schultz wrote Tri-Faith America: How Catholics and Jews Held Post-War America to Its Protestant Promise. Both of them will be making appearances at our synagogue in the near future.

And it wasn't just authors and filmmakers making our hometown an interesting destination this weekend. Happenings around town included Oaktoberfest, a Pagan Pride Festival, a party in Barrie Park and an arts festival along Harrison Street.

Doppleganger in the schoolyard

I walked Z to school again this morning (the weather is astonishingly beautiful) and noticed a middle-aged woman standing next to the school doors who looked exactly like my senior producer at work. Same hair. Same face. Same body. Same glasses. Even her posture was the same. I tried to catch her eye, but she looked right through me.

That's strange, I thought. I knew my production manager, Jean, lived in Oak Park, but this woman clearly was working at the school and Jean couldn't possibly hold down two simultaneous jobs. "Who's that lady in the black vest?" I asked Z.

"Ms. S-," she replied.

I was puzzled, but so intrigued I snapped a picture with my phone. Two hours later I was in a meeting with Jean and I asked her "Do you have an identical twin who works at Lincoln Elementary?"

And indeed she does. One of the dozen people on my team at work has an identical twin sister who teaches at my daughter's school, in the classroom right next to hers. I passed my phone around the conference room and everyone agreed it looked just like our colleague.

According to Jean, she frequently gets stopped on the streets of Oak Park by parents who think she's her twin sister Joan.

It's a small, small world.

Oak Park voters, say it ain't so

I originally published this post at the collaborative website TheChicagoMoms.com.

As I prepared to vote in Tuesday election, I was shocked and dismayed to find this referendum at the end of the ballot:

Shall the Village of Oak Park require those who inject vaccines, in the Village of Oak Park, to give the vaccine recipients, their parents or guardians the vaccine manufacturer’s specific package inserts of the vaccines they will receive, and to inform them that, thimerosal/mercury-containing vaccines, including but not limited to, influenza (flu), meningococcal (meningitis) and tetanus vaccines, may contain 3 1/2 times the daily toxic dose of mercury exposure for an 148-pound adult?

This is what’s called a leading question. Responsible survey writers try to avoid questions like these because they don’t give recipients a fair share at expressing their true, informed opinion. But apparently you don’t need to write a responsibly-worded referendum to get it on the ballot in our village.You just need 15 signatures.

Oak Park Public Health Director Margaret Provost-Fyfe and other medical experts have spoken out against the ballot referendum, but the leading question appears to have swayed enough voters and the referendum is poised for victory.

It’s too bad, because regardless of the fact that study after study that have demonstrated there is no link between autism and vaccines and the fact that vaccines are safe for the vast majority of people, fear continues to grip parents and they continue to delay or skip vaccinations. If too many people are freaked out by the list of scary-sounding ingredients in vaccines, will they refuse the shots? Will we lose herd immunity, so important for babies under 2 months, the immunocompromised and those who are truly allergic to vaccine ingredients? Will we make the news for something scarier than a crackpot ballot initiative–a potentially deadly pertussis or measles outbreak?

I sure hope not.
Flickr photo by Paradem

Meet the bloggers of Oak Park

Sometimes I fantasize about starting a hyper-local blog about my adopted home town, I love Oak Park so much. But since we're blessed with two local newspapers, Chicago Parent's headquarters, Annette's amazing MomMail email newsletters and the community site Live Here Oak Park, there isn't exactly a gaping hole in the online version of our great community (or my schedule, for that matter).

So I've decided to do my part to promote my fellow Oak Park/River Forest bloggers. The most famous, of course, is the 14-year-old fashion phenom Tavi Gevinson of The Style Rookie, but Making It Lovely has an impressive following for her design blog and the beautifully-photographed food blog Lottie + Doof has received tons of accolades in the mainstream press.

I can count among my personal friends Carrie Kirby, the penny-pinching expert behind Frugalista and fellow synagogue members Emily (expert canner and author of West of the Loop) and Marta Block (aka The Wedding Maven). I'm also friendly with Angela, who writes about her family at P Four and her family dinners at Peas 4 Dinner and Molly, who writes about food, farming and family life at Virtual Farmgirl. Matt, the daddy blogger behind The Cote Boys, is a fellow parent at our Montessori school; and Vanessa Druckman, who writes the popular food blog Chefdruck Musings, recently moved from Columbus, Ohio to nearby River Forest and treated my family to the most delicious Rosh Hashanah dinner we've ever eaten.

Future Oak Park bloggers hang out on their home turf

And although I cut a mango for her at a PTO healthy eating event, I only feel like I know Chef Melissa Elsmo of Inspire Mel and Tales of the Elsmo Four.

Oak Park is also home to the home blog Four Thick Walls, which chronicles the renovation of an energy-efficient home, and Health at My Size, a blog that's only nominally faithful to its title. There are probably more local blogs I don't yet know about. If you can think of any, please drop me a line in the comments.

Retail design FAIL

A small portion of my professional life is dedicated to shopper-based design, and it has made me a particularly astute observer of store design, layout and lighting; shelf sets and in-store signage.

But you don't have to be a marketer to be appalled by the interior of Oak Park's Petersen's Pharmacy. This is a store owned by a dedicated pharmacist (the kind who will mix up compounds to order) who obviously doesn't give a damn about the presentation of the typically very profitable drugstore "front-of-store," the area dedicated to non-prescription items like healthy and beauty products, candy and incidentals.

This permanent Medela display is nearly toppling over. $300 breast pumps are stacked on top of VitaminWater and breastfeeding supplies are all jumbled together. Since there is a thriving midwife practice in the building, these high-profit items should be more artfully displayed.

Does choosing your pain reliever from a chaotic shelf inspire confidence? None of the medicine had expired, but most have undergone packaging updates since these boxes were printed.

And the piece de resistance, a 20 year old bottle of Perma Soft conditioner.

Cermak Family Aquatic Center: An undiscovered gem

Just 15 minutes southwest of Oak Park, nestled in a quiet park along the Des Plaines river is a lovely little public water park for young children. Until a few weeks ago, I'd never heard of the place and, if my friends and the lack of crowds are any indication, few others have either.

The Cermak Family Aquatic Center in Lyons, IL features a lazy river, a large pool with a tunnel slide, sprays and dunking buckets and a splash pad with a toddler slide and assorted water works. The water ranges from zero depth to 2 1/2 feet, making it perfect for toddlers, preschoolers and young children. In fact, kids over 12 aren't allowed. There are lifeguards stationed throughout the park, locker rooms with private showers and a snack bar that offers pretty typical pool food fare, albeit at very low prices (e.g. $2 hot dogs)

I took the girls there yesterday and met up with a friend of mine, her 5 year old and her mother and aunt. All of us were impressed by how immaculately clean the facility was and how nice it was to relax in the lazy river and the pool without a gaggle of preteens cannonballing in off the side.

Details

Address: 7600 W Ogden Avenue, on the south side of Ogden, just west of the Des Plaines river

Hours: 11-7

Admission: $5 adults, $3 for children 4 and over, free for kids 0-3

Free parking

A budget-friendly birthday party in Berwyn

Ice cream parlor birthday parties are pretty commonplace among families in our Oak Park community, but not one of the 5 families we invited to A's 3rd birthday party had ever heard of--much less been to--Over the Rainbow. Located 2 blocks west of Oak Park Avenue along the train tracks in Berwyn, Oak Park's blue-collar sibling suburb to the south, Over the Rainbow is a charming old fashioned Hershey's ice cream shop decorated with memorabilia from the owner's favorite childhood story, The Wizard of Oz.

For an unbelievably affordable $70 fee (good for up to 10 kids), we had the run of the place for 2 hours. The owner organized games, read to the kids from a pop-up The Wizard of Oz storybook, and served hot dogs, chips, juice and enough ice cream cake to feed all the kids, all the parents and bring home leftovers. Everything was included except for the balloons and Tony was enthusiastic and animated, keeping the kids entertained the whole time. They tried on ice cream cone hats, played musical chairs, a ring-toss game and hot potato, and ended with a modified version of BINGO that everyone won simultaneously. Tony even handed all the kiddies a small goodie-bag of candy.

A had been looking forward to her birthday party for over a month, and she seemed a little overwhelmed by the excitement at first, but by the time the hot dogs were passed out, she was fully warmed-up and having a blast.

We had a fabulous time, and I highly recommend Over the Rainbow for an outsourced birthday party that doesn't break the bank.

Doing a disclosure statement when there is nothing to disclose is a little weird, but I want to make it plain that I received no compensation or consideration for this post.

Family pictures: done

I've always wanted some really nice pictures of my kids and a portrait of my whole family, and now I have them. Photographer Paul Goyette met us in Oak Park's Austin Gardens early Saturday morning (before the downpour) and we fought against the awkwardness of posing to get some really great shots. My only regret is that we didn't get any good ones of just Josh and me (we were too self-conscious). But my kids--dang they're photogenic. For $200 I got 2 hours of Paul's time and a CD with all 71 high-res images. You can see all of the images from our shoot here.

Fantasizing about family in town

My mother is messing with me. She asked me to check out a couple of vintage condos here in Oak Park and reignited my hope that she and her husband will move here--at least part time. (I say reignited because she had me looking at condos at the height of the housing bubble and nothing came of it.)

One of the properties was a winner, a well-priced 3 bedroom unit in the historic Decker building that boasted all the original tile, bathroom fixtures and kitchen cabinets. Plus some squishy carpeting and hideous old lady furnishings.

Hello, look at the sink faucet handles? Have you ever seen these outside of the movies?

Honestly, I don't know how serious my mom is about moving close by, but I spent all weekend fantasizing about weekly family dinners and kid-Grandma sleepovers. I dreamed of meeting up with Mom at the Farmers Market and taking in concerts in the park. I imagined her joining us at Z's preschool graduation picnic, meeting us at Temple and picking Z up from swim camp. And yes, I fantasized about that holy grail of family in town: free babysitting.

Oak Park kids eat free deals

This post has been updated. Click here to read updated post.

It's been nearly 3 years since I wrote my post on kid-friendly dining destinations in (or near) Oak Park. We're still frequenting a lot of those places, getting pizza, seafood salad and gelato at Freddy's, diner fare at the Depot and big bowls of pasta with free salads and cheap wine at Jimmy's Place. Since then, Pompei closed and Bar Louie went downhill fast. We gained a Five Guys (woo-hoo!) and Sushi Sen, a great spot for Japanese food, opened just a block from our house. But this post isn't about my favorite restaurants. It's about finding those kids eat free deals that make dining with young children worthwhile. As of today, all of these deals appear to be current. But that doesn't mean a restaurant can't cancel the offer whenever they wish. And yes, I included Denny's. Never been there, but I'll give the place props for offering free food to families two times a week.

Monday

Flat Top Grill

726 Lake Street, Oak Park

Francesca's Fiore

7407 W Madison Street, Forest Park

Fuego Loco

722 Lake Street, Oak Park

Healy's Westside

7321 Madison, Forest Park

Tuesday

Denny's (4-10pm)

711 North Harlem, Oak Park

Wednesday

Avenue Ale House

825 S Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park

Thursday

Trattoria 225, 225 Harrison Street, Oak Park

Saturday

Denny's (4-10pm)

711 North Harlem, Oak Park

1/15/10: I just learned that Blue Max (26 Lathrop Ave., Forest Park) offers $3 kids meals ($1 drink) every day--no adult purchase necessary.

Hand-Picked Pumpkin is having a sample sale

A fellow preschool mom, Allison Case, picks up Z every Thursday afternoon and drives her home, saving Josh the insanity of waking A up from her nap, dragging her to the potty and buckling her cranky butt into her car seat for a 15 minute round trip.

I owe Allison, big time.

So I am delighted--ecstatic even--to help spread the word about her sample sale, which is happened tomorrow at her design studio in South Oak Park. Allison created a line of baby and children's clothes called Hand Picked Pumpkin, and while her beautiful, soft knit wares are typically out of my price range, she's discounting sample items 60%. Get a head start on your holiday shopping, feel good about supporting a local business, and a little vicarious thrill from knowing your kids are wearing the same thing as those hip celebrity offspring.

Sample Sale Details

Thursday, November 12th

9am-noon and 5pm-8pm

Sizes 3-6M up to 4T

Cash only

Email me or info@handpickedpumpkin.com for the address.

Photo courtesy of Hand Picked Pumpkin

Our last trip to Kiddieland

Since the amusement park is closing in early October, my in-laws were in town and the weather was damn near perfect, we went to Kiddieland on Sunday afternoon. Along with every other family in the greater Chicagoland area. It took Josh half an hour to park, and that was on grass, in an auxiliary parking lot we didn't know existed. We paid full price (well, Josh's parents did) and our tickets didn't even benefit our preschool!

But even with the capacity crowd, we never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get in a car, swing, boat or flying saucer (or enjoy an ice cold free Pepsi). And, at 2 years old, A was finally big enough to enjoy quite a few attractions herself, picking out the car or boat she wanted to ride in by color as she waited to board.

And, like previous trips to Kiddieland, this one was not without great tattoo signings.

She must have been some Grammy
But there's more! Over and over, we ended up with a family composed of a morbidly obese mother, a balding dad in a dark suit and two girls, probably 9 and 10 years old, who were wearing old-fashioned one-piece toddler outfits, complete with matching hats, socks and white gloves. I couldn't stop wondering about them. Did they come straight from church? Are the kids homeschooled and unaware of how out-of-place their too-small clothes are? How does a woman of that size take care of her--ahem--toileting and personal care needs?

Do sweaty gloves help you steer?

Restoring my faith in humanity

Remember back in March, when my neighbor's junk truck took a chunk out of my house? I decided to trust the truck driver, whom I'd never met in person, when he said he was very sorry and he'd take care of fixing the damage.

A loyal reader who is now a lawyer (hi David!) emailed me lots of helpful advice about estimates and estates and probate and claims and--after a moment of heartburn--I decided I'd throw caution to the wind and put my faith in this guy on the phone.

Well, it took a while, but the house has been repaired. Thanks to a few years of grime and sunshine, the paint isn't an exact match any more, but the difference is subtle and it's certainly not unusual to see patch jobs on old stucco houses in Oak Park.

Preschool Block Party

In celebration of Z's Montessori school's 20th anniversary, this weekend was jam-packed with festivities. Friday night there was a cocktail party in the school gym. Typically parties in the gym involve dozens of hyper kids running around, screaming. This one was parents-only, catered and had an open bar.

Saturday afternoon the school hosted a killer block party. Two bounce houses, a stage with live music and a bubble machine, a visit from the local fire department--it was kid heaven. Oh yeah, and for refreshments we had an espresso cart, an ice cream novelties cart and a popcorn stand. I manned the ice cream stand for an hour and discovered all the kids want is the phallic-yet-patriotic "Mega Missile." They don't give a rat's ass about the ice cream bar or sandwich.

The highlight of the day was watching my friend Nancy's 12 year old son front a very capable rock band. Z and A were rapt, although I cringed to hear Z say "There aren't any girl rock bands...Why?"

And the perfect way to end a perfect day? Freddy's.

I'm so lucky we ended up at WSMS. Not only is Z learning all kids of interesting stuff from her amazingly capable directress (reading, math, geography, practical life, etc.), Josh and I have meet the nicest, most interesting parents--people I'll want to stay friends with long after our kids need us to arrange playdates.

Fox Park is open!

Fox Park (aka the playground around the corner) just reopened after nearly one year of remodeling work. It's a beautiful space now, and while it was nearly empty at 8:30 a.m., when I took these pictures, there were probably 50 kids frolicking there yesterday afternoon.

And you know what else just reopened? The Oak Park Farmers Market! We headed straight from the park to the doughnut line and spent an hour visiting with friends and listening to the bluegrass circle.


The doughnut line.

Z with Ruhi and Vilas.

Bronzed, but beautiful?

I went to this Women Who Wine event at HouseRed (a wine store) last night, a kind of face-to-face cocktail party for moms from the Oak Park area who subscribe to MomMail. Turns out I knew 3 women there in addition to the 3 friends I'd encouraged to come.

And aside from sampling wines, nibbling on appetizers and meeting a lot of fun, outgoing people, I got spray-tanned.

No, I didn't take it all off, but I did strip down to my bra before stepping into local esthetician Kristie's personal spray tan tent (imported from Australia!) and getting misted with tanning solution. Hey, it was free! I was curious!

Anyway, I now look about as gold as I've ever been in my life. I'm a slave to the SPF, so I don't think I've been this brown since I was a teenager. It's a little disconcerting, but I do think it disguises all my skin imperfections pretty well.

Five Guys is coming to Oak Park

Wiping the drool from my chin...

Northern Virginia's very best burger chain isn't just coming to Chicago, they're coming to Oak Park! Five Guys Burgers and Fries is opening a location on Lake Street early next month. No longer will I have to meet my craving for greasy/gourmet burgers, supremely delicious french fries and free shelled peanuts during our once-yearly pilgrimage to Arlington.

And on that note, it's off to the gym for me!

Just for my Oak Park readers: my favorite new places

I'm keeping my dollars in the neighborhood with these great businesses that I've been dying to plug.

Shoplifting with Permission beat me to the punch with her review of Oh Joy!, the new kids' consignment shop on Oak Park Avenue, just north of the expressway. A couple of months ago I hauled three wagonloads of clothes, toys and baby gear to the former cigar store (and yes, it still smells a little stale). With my store credit now over $60, I finally spent a little of it on two adorable long-sleeve knit dresses for Z. I'd asked her during Old Navy's $7 denim sale last weekend if she'd wear jeans this year and she said "no, only soft pants and dresses." So dresses from the consignment shop (and grandparents) it shall be.

Sushi's an expensive option for a family dinner (since we all know how taking kids to restaurants is no fun), but I've enjoyed the sushi, sashimi and maki at Sushi House, which opened on Lake Street this spring. Z still asks when we can go back and get the "sushi chicken" (actually teriyaki chicken) in the kids' bento box.

The Marion Street Cheese Market moved one block south from its original location on the Marion Street Court to a much larger space. Now, in addition to fancy cheeses, the market boasts locally grown fruits and vegetables, a meats counter, a wine bar and a full cafe. I've sampled the expensive cheeses and treated myself to some gourmet peanut butter, but I'm waiting for a date night to eat in the cafe. Again, so not worth it with kids.

Fine dining fans of the shuttered La Piazza will find a lot to like on the menu at Chef Gaetano's new eatery, Gaetano's. It's a little farther west on Madison Avenue in Forest Park, and the location is smaller and louder than the first, but the food is still amazing.

We're regulars at Hole in the Wall and the expanded Brown Cow ice cream parlor in Forest Park, but we've introduced gelato and Italian ice into our frozen treat repertoire with handscooped pints from Freddy's in Cicero and the brand-new gelateria Paciugo in Forest Park. A small seems a little pricey at over $3, but you get up to three flavors and unlimited tastes before you decide. I had sea salt caramel and dark chocolate, but the tantalizing olive oil and black pepper almost made it into my bowl.

Finally, we'll be first in line at Trader Joe's when their new location opens at Harlem & Ontario this fall. All the doubters can relax now; I saw Oak Park listed under "coming soon" on my latest email from Trader Joe's.