My parents recently called my siblings and me to their house for help with a rather daunting task: pick up all our crap.  Bins full of grade school art projects and high school year books. File folders with report cards and college acceptance letters.  Tiny shoes and faded photos and personal journals filled with the [...]

Nearly 5 years after bringing our first baby home, we recently got around to one of the more important things on our baby-proofing check-list: secure furniture to the wall.  We had many excuses for the delay: we weren’t sure when/if we were moving, we didn’t have the time, we didn’t have the right equipment. But, [...]

I can’t believe my sweet little Vivian is now 6 months old.  How time flies!!  I still so clearly remember the morning of her birthday – I had no idea that she was about to be born!  And now she is grabbing everything and smiling with friends and strangers.  Her newest trick is sitting up, [...]

A fellow Homemade Mother recently asked me how I keep my recipes organized.  Aside from this blog – where I post mostly original recipes – I’ve found a few other ways to maintain records of my family’s favorite dishes. 1.Recipes I clip out of magazines or print off the internet are placed in one in [...]

Chicago can’t seem to make up its mind.  Earlier this week it was sunny and in the 90s, but this weekend its cloudy and high 60s. Weather changes like this make it hard to know how to dress the kids in the morning!! Fortunately, I’ve got our stroller packed for summer just in case the [...]

We are very fortunate to live in a generously sized downtown Chicago apartment.  When we first moved in two years ago we thought two bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a dining room and in-unit laundry all spaced on two floors would be more than enough room for our young family. Oh, how foolish we were… Christmas [...]

One of the saddest parts about this gray time of the year is the lack of fresh local produce. We visit our neighborhood farmer’s market every week during the summer, so adjusting to imported vegetables can be a subtle shock to the palate. However, my entire family finds great delight in the adorable little clementine [...]

I’ve been feeling really stressed lately. With two little ones, a part-time job, and a husband who works late every night, I often wish I had three extra hours every day just to get things done around the house (oh, and it would be lovely if I had even 30 minutes for myself!). Life can [...]

As I’ve written about countless times before, I really hate plastic. And I especially hate storing food in plastic. All those questionable chemicals leeching into lovely leftovers? No thanks! I have a nice collection of glass storage containers – my favorite are Frigoverre ones that come in plenty of shapes and sizes. I also hang [...]

I’m feeling overwhelmed. With stuff. With a wedding four years ago…and two babies in two years…and thirty years of LIFE…we now have more than enough stuff. Do I really need all of this? Do I really want most of it?! A couple years ago we lived in corporate housing in New York City while my [...]