city of big shoulders and big strollers

a nice sentiment knowing no geography


illustrated books by Chris Raschka (also see the brilliant Touch exhibit)


divine carrot soup at Green Zebra, our favorite dinner date!


Porte Rouge Table and Home on Division


a chocolate dalmatian, who knew?


shrooms from the farmers market


inflatable tower and Sears Tower (a shift in priorities)


hugging a bear in Wicker Park

Just returned from a five day hiatus to the fabulous city of Chicago. A hop skip and a jump away, the windy city nourishes our energy and wraps us up with all walks of life. We stayed in the hip and crunchy neighborhood of Wicker Park in an historic Inn that rents a comfy apartment with full kitchen and plenty of room for a 2-year old to run. A lovely spot surrounded by an abundance of mouth-watering restaurants, thrift and haute shops, convenient 'L' stop, and green space galore with a playground to boot! (side note: Chicago has been 'greening' their city for the past several years, the City Hall Garden Project here). Feeling like a local again, we walked to our favorite haunts devouring heaping pancakes at Bongo Room, buying organic cotton toddler digs at Grow, hitting the farmer's market in Lincoln Park, hunting and gathering at Robin Richman's yard sale and touring the majestic and coveted Art Institute collection.

Keeping in mind this visit was all done with toddler in tow, we moved at the pace of a snail while the city shuffled by creating mini cyclones around our daily adventures. I met more dogs, collected more dandelions, said 'hello' to more people sleeping in parks, frequented more train station bathrooms, used more sunscreen, analyzed more smells, mocked more pigeons and gawked at more fancy flippy strollers than ever before. The City anew, what fun! And 'big' indeed, poetically framed by Carl Sandburg celebrating the perseverance of hard-working families that made the City's heart beat, I would propose the highlights of dedication, pride and reinvention still exist. And the families, no doubt sustain the pulse of the cozy neighborhoods that support the 'big shoulders'.