Babies, Birthdays, Books, and Broadway Bound

Having received a clever invitation (devised by a teacher- let's hear it for our teachers!) in the form of an airline ticket to a baby shower, a trip to the bookstore was now a high priority on my to-do list (yes!).  In lieu of cards, picture books were requested for the baby.  Be still my heart . . .  a fellow author groupie in the making.  
In the same week, my eldest daughter received a "FREE Birthday Treat" coupon in the mail from Barnes and Noble, so it was a no-brainer which bookstore was in our near future.  
After school pick-up, my two squirts and I headed in great anticipation to our nearest store location in Fairview Heights, IL- me looking ahead to heady floating between rows of books, the oldest squirt discerning between the cupcake or the oversized cookie, and the youngest squirt racing towards the Thomas Train display, with all of us rounding out our visit with a lengthy stretch of time at the stage.  

This stage in question, located in the children's section, is where my squirts have observed many preschool storytimes, danced many jigs, and now conduct many performances for me and for one another.  Priceless!  Yes, I own a Kindle and use it, but I am still in awe of the written word on paper and the stores which house these books. Thrilled to know my squirts, too, love to turn the pages of a book, I am hopeful this future squirt whom we're celebrating at the baby shower will embrace the physical book also.

Create in the Central West End

While reading the April 2013 issue of Midwest Living, I came across an article about a boutique in the Central West End where you can concoct your own scents for perfumes, shower gels, and lotions.  Excited to see a local business featured in the magazine, I decided to give it a try with my two girls.  At five and six years of age, they, too, were excited at the prospect of creating their own perfumes.  Across the river we drove to Cassie's Fragrance Boutique and Scent Bar . . .

A slew of samples were available to sniff.

After much sampling, finally, they were sold on the "brownie" scent, and I was sold on the "almond" mixed with "french vanilla."  We didn't want to leave the big guy in our house out, so we opted to surprise him with the "Egyptian musk"  (yes, men's scents are available, too).

Scents for Mixing

At work on our roll-on perfumes . . .

After hard work on our personal aromas, we had created quite the appetite.  We stepped out of Cassie's Boutique and Scent Bar only to walk two doors down to the Sub Zero Vodka Bar on Euclid.  We chose not to pursue a vodka sampling (afraid the girls might be carded), and, instead drooled over their Signature Burger Menu.*  The girls split an order of sliders and fries while I prided myself on the healthier choice of the Fresh Pacific Salmon Burger cooked to specification complete with red onion, capers, and dill cream cheese.  Okay, I did choose the deep-fried zucchini- crisp and tender- as my side, but, hey, it still counts as a veggie.

Knowing our creative juices were still flowing, we rounded the corner and entered FroYo on Maryland.  As you can see above, our tastes ran the spectrum from sprinkles and chocolate chips atop low-fat chocolate/vanilla twist to oreos falling down the sides of low-fat cake batter.  Low-fat = eat more = full bellies.  Is my reasoning ideal, or what?  For a further creative outlet, FroYo is sponsoring a t-shirt contest.  See the link above for details if interested.

Above all else, though, I cherished the quality time I was able to spend with my squirts  while taking part in a new adventure. 

*A create-your-own burger option is also available which includes a lengthy list of unique toppings.  Yummo!

Night at the Museum

The Fam

Maybe you've seen the movie Night at the Museum, but have you had a chance to live it?  We did just that last night.  Hearing about this event from a fellow Girl Scout troop leader, Tonya Yanchunas, my family and I signed up for this adventure.  What's nice to know is that one need not be a Girl Scout to participate in this Night at the Museum.  The girls had never been to the Arch, so this was a perfect opportunity.  

This view makes my belly feel  oogey googey.

For $15/person, a ride to the top of the Arch, free parking, a meal (comprised of hot dog, chips, water, and cookie), nine activities, and a child's (3-15) ticket for a Gateway Arch Riverboat Sightseeing Cruise are included.  Shazam!  Who doesn't love a bargain?

Right before entering the egg-shaped elevator to the top.

We're on the way to the top of the Arch and not sure what to think.

"I can see the Cardinals from here!"

Working on one of the nine activities . . .

A completed Night at the Museum log.

A visit to the gift shop will result in fun patches . . .

or a book to remember this adventure.

To discover more adventures, click The Arch Adventures

Amy Hatvany's Heart Like Mine Book Club

Amy Hatvany's Heart Like Mine is a complex tale of the lasting effects suppression of emotions can have on not only an individual, but also an extended family.  Through her writing, Hatvany methodically unfolds essential elements of the story to further peak the reader's interest and keep the pages turning.  Told from the perspectives of three characteristically different women, the reader is allowed to weave together these differing viewpoints in order to form the truth of the situation.
For the purposes of book club, Hatvany generously offers open-ended questions and topics for discussion at the end of the novel.  In addition, a section titled Enhance Your Book Club allows book clubs to delve deeper into the novel by experiencing it either through the rewriting of a scene or creating one's own recipe which has significance behind it much like the first recipe Grace and Ava attempted together.  To borrow from Heart Like Mine, book club members may want to channel Grace and Victor's first meeting by sharing a meal of "creamy lemon butter sauce . . . served over grilled chipotle-spiced halibut" (52) or the trials and tribulations of Ava's adolescence with a meal much like Whitney's consisting of "organic chicken slices, mixed greens, and some kind of cookie made with agave nectar" (29).  For dessert, though, a pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake is a must in order to encourage conversation about Ava's mother, Kelli.

Amy Hatvany

Solitude

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."  (Mark 1:35)

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)

Having just read Anna Quindlen's memoir, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, I was thrilled to turn the page (or tap my Kindle rather) and see Quindlen devoted an entire chapter to the topic of solitude.  Intrigued, I was anxious to read on . . .  In this portion of her writing, Quindlen describes her living arrangements with her husband during the summer months:  he spends the week in the city while she flies solo out in the country;  they reunite on the weekends.  She writes: 

There are two different responses to this kind of arrangement.  The first is pity, the notion that being alone is synonymous with loneliness and must be remedied with company at all costs.  The second is the minority reaction:   that solitude sounds wonderful.  (Loc 1034)

At this point of my life, I would be considered according to Quindlen in the minority although there was a season in my life where I would have been in the former camp.  While a grad student living in Chicago, I can remember attending the movie theater with a friend or love interest and see many young sailors (i.e. the nearby Great Lakes Training Center) sitting in what I thought of as isolated islands, people in theater seats minus an adjacent breathing being.  Literally, my heart wrenched for these young people (yes, I was young and dramatic and in love with the classics), and if I didn't have that shy streak, I would have asked if he or she would like to have joined us in our row and inevitably passed the popcorn.  In my heart, I knew they had to have been lonely and wanting of companionship of any kind.  Now, I realize he or she was probably relishing the solitude after being packed in with others dressed identically morning, noon, and night.

As my thoughts about solitude matured along with the years in my life, I enjoyed living alone in my early 30s.  I could read when I wanted, watch television when I wanted, sleep when I wanted, and interact with others when I wanted.  As fate would have it, the man of my dreams followed this same theory.  In fact, he tells me he knew he was in love with me on our drive from Springfield, IL, to New Salem, IL.  It was my 31st birthday, and we were on our way to see the outdoor production of Quilters at this historic locale.  During the roughly forty-minute drive, we drove in silence: no radio, no cd, no conversation, no uncomfortable silence.  We simply enjoyed being together without having to fill the space between us with words.  The reality of the situation never dawned on me until he brought it to my attention years later, and I dug that he dug the contented hush.  You dig?

As a first-time mother, I found my solitude in sleep.  If a willing anyone volunteered to watch over my squirt, I headed for a pallet of any sort to lose myself in slumber, the ultimate solo activity.  As a second-time mother, I was more adventurous in terms of seeking solitude.  Reading through the MOBOT newsletter, I knew a day and night with strangers in a log cabin was calling my name, so I registered.  Now, I did ask friends to join me, but they either laughed or tried desperately to find care for their children to no avail.  During my 24-hour span, I learned to felt wool, realized fleece sweats were not a good choice when walking through woods riddled with burrs (yes, I'm a dork and never seem to dress appropriately), and read to my heart's content on my lower bunk in the cabin all while listening to unfamiliar stories and unfamiliar snores.

As I am now middle-aged woman, it's a relief to be surrounded by people who understand my quirks when it comes to solitude.  While hospitalized last year for the second time for an infection, I decided to embrace the solitude a solo room on the oncology floor can bring.  My best friend and hub assured me they wouldn't announce this hospitalization to others because I truly wanted to reflect on the here and now and read without interruption. This nearly week-long stay was loooooooooooong, but I attempted to glean the good from this opportunity which I knew I may not have again.

My friends who know me well, I believe, respect my love of solitude and join in right along with me.  This past weekend, a dear friend I hadn't seen in over a year stayed at my house for the night.  We talked and laughed, but when the witching hour of 10:00 p.m rolled around, we knew our reading awaited us, and we lovingly said our good nights.  

Anna Quindlen's Blessings Book Club

After a few starts and stops, I finally gave my full attention to Anna Quindlen's Blessings and was determined to finish.  Although the beginning failed to hook me, once I reached the meat of the story, there was no turning back.  A story of an elderly woman, a convicted felon, and an aspiring young doctor whose lives all come together as a result of the unexpected appearance of a child.
The setting of the novel, Blessings, a rural family retreat, is not only idyllic in location, but also a domicile of familial dysfunction, both past and present.  Through careful unveiling, Quindlen highlights the tragedy associated with truths withheld over generations.  
What was refreshing was the life, revitalization, and perspective of the female protagonist, Lydia.  While philosophizing about life itself, she explains the tragedy of young death, the shock of middle-age death, and the inevitability of elderly death, how herstory, in essence, revolves around the loss of others.  In addition, kudos to Quindlen for allowing the younger male and female in the novel to have meaningful interaction without the presence of romance.
For the purposes of book club, a picnic lunch near a creek much like Lydia shared with Benny and Sunny as adolescents complete with bacon sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, and a big Ball jar of lemonade may be the perfect conversation starter.

Anna Quindlen 

Susanna Sonnenberg's She Matters: A Life in Friendships Book Club

After having read Susanna Sonnenberg's Her Last Death, I knew She Matters: A Life in Friendships, Sonnenberg's latest memoir, would be next on the list.  Compiled of friendship vignettes which span Sonnenberg's herstory, the beginning of each chapter urges the reader on in order to determine if the friendship in question has stood the test of time or reached its conclusion.  Sonnenberg's brute honesty and vivid descriptions brings forth a sense of relational empathy in the reader.  These detailed realities, I hope, beg the question of readers, "Why must female relationships oftentimes be so complicated?"  What I like to refer to as the cauliflower story, Sonnenberg expertly creates the ambiance and effort put into a meal meant to please another person.  The female friend arrives and merely pushes the penne pasta with cauliflower around on her plate.  Years later, Sonnenberg discovers by chance while at the farmer's market with said woman that her friend despises cauliflower, thus mystery solved.  For me, the absurdity of the elephant in the room, i.e the vegetable which resembles, of all body parts, a brain, reaffirms the ideal how us chicks need to be more like the guys when dealing with one another, less defensive and more open.  Thus, a fine penne with cauliflower is a must to accompany discussion of Sonnenberg's She Matters:  A Life in Friendships, but also, perhaps, a qualifier of a genuine friendship. 

Susanna Sonnenberg