Over the past 16 years, I have lived mainly in four neighborhoods: the Gold Coast when I was fresh out of college and didn’t know where I wanted to live (1), Bucktown/Wicker Park when it was an “up and coming” neighborhood with cool art galleries, great restaurants and inexpensive housing (2), the South Loop when it was also “up and coming” where I bought my first condo (3) and Lincoln Square/Andersonville when Sweets and I got married and were looking for more space than we could afford in our old ‘hood (4).

Each neighborhood has a very distinct personality; where I was at that particular time in my life (single, married, children) played a big role in  regards to which neighborhoods I (and then we) chose to live. Today, Sweets, Gavin, SoMi and I live halfway between two neighborhoods, Andersonville and Lincoln Square. Since we spend most of our time in Lincoln Square, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite things about this neighborhood.

(1) Winnemac Park is a beautiful, 40-acre park two blocks from our home. It is nestled between a high school, an elementary school and lots of residential homes. The park has athletic facilities (a small football stadium with a quarter mile track, five baseball/softball fields, practice soccer fields and two tennis courts), a great playground, and spaces devoted to growing prairie grass and other plants that are native to this part of the country. On any given beautiful day, you will find organized games, team practices, families walking/playing with their kids, dog owners, picnickers, kite flyers, sun bathers and more. It’s a really wonderful space to have so close to our home.

(2) The Old Town School of Folk Music is a fantastic resource and space for people of all ages. Starting from birth, they offer lullaby classes. We started Gavin in the Wiggleworms class when he turned 6 months. They offer music, visual art, dance and all sorts of classes for kids and adults. They offer private lessons for musical instruments. And they have great auditorium space for folk music concerts. Although the school has branches all over the city and even in a few suburbs, it’s headquarters are in Lincoln Square. And, they’ve done such a great job partnering with the community that they recently expanded by building a brand new facility across the street from the existing one.

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(3) While we’re on the subject of music, let’s talk about the 15 acres best known to Chicagoans as Welles Park. Similar to Winnemac, Welles Park has a number of athletic fields, tennis courts, a natatorium for all you inside pool folks and a playground. Though it’s not as geographically convenient to us, we spent a lot of summer nights there last year. They park has a beautiful gazebo and hosts free live music events every Tuesday night. We’d pick up Gavin from daycare, pull together a picnic basket and head over to the park with friends for great summer nights of music.

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(4) Now, you can’t visit Lincoln Square without eating a few meals in the neighborhood. If you’re of the experimental coffee drinking kind, might I suggest Julius Meinl, which (from what my friends tell me) offers a great alternative to Dunkin or Starbucks.

(5) Next, you’ll want to grab breakfast at Over Easy. Chicago has a lot of small breakfast spots like this one, serving maybe 15 tables or so. They each have delectable (though, pricey for breakfast) menus. Make sure to come early or be prepared to wait. Even in the middle of winter, you can see people waiting outside.

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(6) For lunch, I’m going to send you to Asia via Yes Thai. You haven’t tasted great Thai food until you try Yes Thai. After eating their super fresh and very tasty dishes, I feel like so many other Thai places have over-Americanized their fare (i.e., much too heavy sauces). Since this spot is just down the street from where we live, it’s our go-to when we want to get take-out for a quick meal at home.

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(7) One of our absolute favorite bar-restaurants in the ‘hood is Bad Apple. The food, burgers to be specific, is amazing. They fly in their meat from a New York wholesaler (who just landed himself a TV show on the Food Network). Their burger combinations are creative and tasty! Their beer selection is also excellent – in fact, their beer menu is just as big as their regular menu. Waitstaff are knowledgeable about the beers and happy to help guide you based on your own taste. Finally, their space is broken up into three main areas: a bar room and two dining rooms. What’s really fantastic is they seat families (particularly with young children) in one room and seat those without kids in another room. That way, kids can be kids and no one’s meal is ruined. Everyone wins.

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(8) Chicago has a pretty healthy microbrew scene. One of my favorite graduates from that program is Daisy Cutter by the Half Acre Beer Company. It just so happens that the Half Acre distribution and brewery center resides in our neighborhood. One of our favorite things to do is to bring our empty growler in for a refill on a Saturday night. Talk about drinking it straight from the source!

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(9) But, before you leave our little slice of Chicago, you must get dessert. In the original square sits Paciugo Gelato. And really, do you need to know anything more once you hear gelato? The flavors are yummy and we enjoy walking home while eating sweet treats from Paciugo.

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(10) Last, but not least, let’s not forget how you’re going to get to our neighborhood. One of the things I love about Lincoln Square is parking is never an issue. There are a few pay lots, plenty of metered street parking and even some free spots along residential streets. But, if you want to skip the car entirely, Chicago hosts a great public transit system. There are commuter trains to the suburbs, subways (mostly elevated) and buses within the city. If you want to visit us in Lincoln Square, take the CTA brown line to the Western stop. Hop off and enjoy the ‘hood!

These are just a few of our favorite spots in our neighborhood. You can certainly understand why we love living in this area and why it’s so family-friendly. Every Chicago neighborhood has some amazing qualities about it – you could spend a lifetime exploring every one of them!

Where do you live and what are some of your favorite things about your hometown?

By now, I think we’ve all heard about the recent murder of Trayvon Martin, a young black man, shot to death by a white man under the veil of self defense. A lot has been said about this case, which continues to garner national attention. Today is the one-month anniversary of Trayvon’s death. I don’t want to repeat what many of you have already heard about this case…

Instead, I want to touch on a related post I read last week. Acts of racism happen all the time. Every day. I even discussed my own experiences with race a few years ago.  Most of these uncalled for situations never reach the town papers, let alone the local or national TV news. It is a fact: In 2012, black men in the United States are guilty until proven innocent. 

As a white woman, I don’t have much ground to stand on. Other than to ask you to think about your thoughts, spoken and written words, actions, inactions, interactions with and within your community. We all have room to improve regarding how we treat others. It might take time, but small steps can lead to giant leaps. Oh, what a world this could be.

]]> http://somispeaks.com/2012/03/26/race/feed/ 9 http://somispeaks.com/2012/03/21/toxic/ http://somispeaks.com/2012/03/21/toxic/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:27:57 +0000 SoMi's Nilsa http://somispeaks.com/?p=5704 source

In recent years, how many of you have rid your house of something you consider toxic to the environment? Whether it’s choosing “fragrance and dye free” products or BPA-free water bottles or wood over plastic toys for your kids … my guess is we have all made decisions to “cleanse” our homes and our lives of products we believe are toxic to the environment and ourselves.

For the most part, I trash talk extremists of any kind. I’m more of an everything in moderation kind of gal. But, when I read this article the other week, I began to wonder whether I’m heading for extremes, too. Even though I’m a far cry from “establishing a shelf of environmental-health books and a regime of natural baby products,” I did start to take notice of the elements around me and we made quite a few changes after we found out I was pregnant with Gavin.

We started using a lot of fragrance and dye free cleaning products: clothes detergent, fabric softener, dish liquid. We moved to Method products for soap. We chose cleaning people who used eco-friendly products (vinegar is a pretty awesome cleaning product, by the way). We made (still make) our own wipes and use diapers with as few chemicals as possible. I have become snobby about plastic toys, preferring wood and natural products. We more closely monitor what kinds of foods we’re buying.

Making those decisions felt (and continues to feel) good, because I felt like I was protecting my child and bettering our lives. But, I also wonder, am I going too far? Where’s the proof that (some) chemicals will take years off our lives? Would exposing ourselves to some of these things help us build immunity and increase our tolerance levels to other things in the environment? Am I reacting to the crazy media (who jumps on these kinds of stories like bees on honey) or am I making sound decisions?

Furthermore, if I am behaving rationally, am I doing enough? I know that just because it says “All Natural” on the packaging doesn’t mean jack, but sometimes I fall for it. Should I really be scouring labels, researching online and becoming an expert in all house goods? Ha, I know that’s not going to happen, but it still makes me wonder. Also, what kind of parent cleanses their home of these toxins, but lets her child eat food that fell on the floor, doesn’t wipe down restaurant high chairs and doesn’t flip out when her son eats dirt???

I guess it all goes to intuition. Each of us makes decisions that feel right for our homes, ourselves and our lives. Sometimes those decisions change depending on where we are in our life journey (kids are a great reason to re-evaluate a lot of things in your life!). So long as we’re acting soundly and behaving rationally, I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. I might chuckle at people who bring grocery cart seat covers for their children, but at the end of the day, it’s their prerogative, it’s what makes them feel comfortable.

Do you try to live in a toxin-free world or do you belly laugh at people who do?

IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU!

Let’s get moving with today’s non-profit. So far this week, even though I haven’t required it, many of your suggestions had an international flair to the charities, which is totally great. But, you also jumped the gun, because today I’d like to focus on the International community. Never fear, though, you can re-nominate a previous entry if you’d like or you can suggest a new one. Your non-profit could be a domestic organization with an international focus. Or it could be a non-profit located in another country. The only thing I request is that if it’s a non-profit located in another country, that they take credit card donations via a secure server (and I will be looking into it before declaring a winner).

Make sure to tell me about your non-profit of choice by leaving a comment with a link to their website and a few words why you think it’s an important charity to you. Then, spread the good word through your social media outlets! As a reminder, the rules are below.

Rules:

1. You may enter a non-profit organization only once per post; it must be accompanied by a link and reason why you think it’s a worthy charity.
2. You may earn up to two bonus entries for posting about this giveaway on your own blog and posting about it to another social media outlet (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). For each additional entry, please post a comment here with a link to your blog, Twitter post, etc.
3. I will donate 25¢ for every entry on any given day, with a minimum donation of $25 per day.
4. All entries must be accompanied by a valid email address.
5. The person who suggests the winning charity will win the prize for that day (it is up to my discretion which charity I choose on any given day).
6. If multiple people suggest the same charity, the winner will be determined from the selected sub-group (who all suggested the same charity – including bonus entries) by random.org
7. Each person may win only one prize during this blogoversary celebration. However, to encourage entries everyday, if a person who has previously won a prize is chosen as the winning entry of another charity on another day, that person may choose which prize to take home. For the prize they didn’t choose, a different winner (on the day whose prize was not chosen) will be chosen from every entry (including bonus entries) by random.org
8. Entries for today’s contest opened at 5am central time and will close at 4:59am central time tomorrow.
9. Winners will be announced at the end of the week after the daily contests have officially closed.

So, what do you need to do to win this adorable card set? Well, you need to put on your thinking caps, maybe do some research and most definitely be resourceful. Becausee, today’s theme is the Arts! Could be visual arts, dance, music, theater. What great non-profit organizations deserve a donation? Tell me by leaving a comment with a link to their website and a few words why you think it’s an important charity to you. Then, spread the good word through your social media outlets! As a reminder, the rules are below.

Rules:

1. You may enter a non-profit organization only once per post; it must be accompanied by a link and reason why you think it’s a worthy charity.
2. You may earn up to two bonus entries for posting about this giveaway on your own blog and posting about it to another social media outlet (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). For each additional entry, please post a comment here with a link to your blog, Twitter post, etc.
3. I will donate 25¢ for every entry on any given day, with a minimum donation of $25 per day.
4. All entries must be accompanied by a valid email address.
5. The person who suggests the winning charity will win the prize for that day (it is up to my discretion which charity I choose on any given day).
6. If multiple people suggest the same charity, the winner will be determined from the selected sub-group (who all suggested the same charity – including bonus entries) by random.org
7. Each person may win only one prize during this blogoversary celebration. However, to encourage entries everyday, if a person who has previously won a prize is chosen as the winning entry of another charity on another day, that person may choose which prize to take home. For the prize they didn’t choose, a different winner (on the day whose prize was not chosen) will be chosen from every entry (including bonus entries) by random.org
8. Entries for today’s contest opened at 5am central time and will close at 4:59am central time tomorrow, when the next contest will open.
9. Winners will be announced at the end of the week after the daily contests have officially closed.

The opinions in this blog post are solely my own, based on my own experiences with the vendors. I have not been compensated to say nice things about any vendor or organization and the vendor has not provided me any products for this contest. All prizes have been purchased at the expense of the blogger.