Posts by Maureen

About Maureen


Summer Strolls

Oh, sweet Ben. The wee fella doesn’t get much of a routine. I have to wake him from almost every nap so we can fetch an older sibling from ballet or school or a playdate. At six and a half months of age, he isn’t close to sleeping through the night. While I am mind-numbingly […]


Carton Recycling in the Windy City

Good news! I just received word that the city of Chicago is now encouraging residents to recycle cartons, including those half gallon containers of milk, soup, juice and cream. The fiber in cartons is actually in very high demand and is used to create other paper products like tissues and paper towels. Recycling cartons is […]


Dining with My Great Great Grandma

Patricia and her grandmother Elsie   Now that we are no longer renting our home – but the proud owners! – we finally unpacked some boxes that had gone untouched since we moved in more than two years ago. Two dusty boxes in the back of our garage held a sort of time capsule: vintage […]


Sauteed Swiss Chard

Summer might be winding down, but the offerings at our neighborhood farmers market remain plentiful. We go early most Saturday mornings. Chris and I look forward to starting the day with a nice walk, and the kids look forward to smiley face cookies and a stop at the park. I wish summer never ended! When […]


Love

We aren’t halfway into September, but it feels like winter is moving in to Chicago. While we haven’t turned the heat on (yet), we’ve been tempted. Three of the six of us have runny noses, and all of us want tea to drink every morning. Winter is coming. Sigh. This morning was particularly chilly, so […]


Keeping Busy in the City

It has been a long month. Earlier this summer, our landlord let us know that she needed to sell the home we were renting.  We didn’t want to move, so we scraped and scrambled to purchase our modest city home.  Many people wouldn’t think it is big enough for a family with four kids, but […]


Homemade Raspberry Sauce

Oh how I love our neighborhood produce market.  I never know what I’m going to find there, but I go at least once a week to check out the deals and stock up on organic produce for half the price of conventional stuff at the regular grocery store.  Last weekend I found 6 oz packages […]


Zucchini Pie on a Summer Day

Ahhhhhhh! This summer has gone by waaaaaay too fast.  After the terribly brutal winter we endured, I hoped for a hot, steamy, slow summer…but what we got turned out to be kinda cool and super fast.  I could use another three months of lazy days and sunshine. Perhaps one of my most favorite days this […]


Happy Hello Kitty Birthday!

Sweet Vivian. The little lamb is obsessed – obsessed, I tell you! – with Hello Kitty.  She doesn’t really know what it is (what is it anyway?!), but with all that pink and the bow and the white kitty…what about it would a girly 2 year old not love??  I think her obsession is cute […]


Sink or Swim

I haven’t written much lately. I am exhausted and so so tired.  I stay up late worrying about how I will get everything done every day.  To say that I’m stressed would be an extreme understatement; I feel like I am being pulled in many directions without any clear instruction.  I am doing my best […]