It’s Royal Wedding Day! Woot! I slept on the couch last night so that I wouldn’t be getting out of bed before 3:00 a.m. and waking up Jim, who wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep from the disturbance. Naturally I woke up early, in anticipation no doubt. My eyes sprung open at 2:37 a.m. This day, much like my hair after sleeping on the couch for the last 4.5 hours, will not be pretty. Let the live blogging begin… 3:01 a.m. I’m watching the coverage on NBC. I’m a Today Show junkie. Just learned that the titles bestowed on the newlyweds by the Queen will be the Duke…
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Live Blogging The Royal Wedding: It’s A Dirty Job, But Somebody’s Gotta Do It.
That’s right, I’m doing it. When the engagement was announced, I giddily recorded a video exposing my terrible “secret” and excitedly spoke about how I would make “big plans” for the wedding. I had intended to have some friends come and spend the night, or get a hotel suite in the city (seriously). Unfortunately but also very fortunately, my life’s bigger plans got in the way of making those big plans, and now here it is, less than twelve hours before Catherine becomes the newest Royal, and I’ve got nada. I had to plan SOMETHING. So I did. Due to the fact that I have a feeling Twitter is going…
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Should I Get A Dog For My Kids, Even Though I Don’t Want One?
No, not me: I already have a dog. See? A friend of mine, however, does not. She recently posed that question on Facebook. It happens to be a subject about which I am extremely passionate. The short answer? NO, you shouldn’t. The longer answer? Ugh, where shall I begin? This friend listed two main reasons for not wanting a dog: her child’s allergies (which can be overcome by getting a hypo-allergenic dog) and her knowing that she would be the one cleaning up the messes (which cannot be overcome for a while, if the kids are younger, and sometimes not at all). In my opinion, her second concern is the…
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The Early (Book) Birds Catch The Chance To Win A Gift Card…
So, I wrote this book, a Chicago-area travel guide for families with tweens and teens. Have you heard? Yesterday, I got the best email from my publisher. The subject line said “It is done!” (I mean seriously, I bet even YOU were beginning to wonder if this book would ever be done. Am I right?) What that means is, the final edits have been made on the typesetter’s end, and the book has been uploaded to the printer. By the beginning of next week, I should have an actual sample copy in my hands. Once that happens, I will look at the book, make sure the cover isn’t on upside-down…
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Here’s Where I’m At.
I’ve said it many times over the past few months: I never imagined I could ever be this busy, ever. That’s a pretty amazing statement, considering everyone I know claims that they don’t know anyone who runs at full-tilt like I do. Just when I think I have more than enough on my plate, something else shows up. My to-do lists are starting to regenerate themselves without my assistance. (And if that makes sense to you? Wow, you need some rest just like I do!) The good news is, as each day goes by, I’m starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I see a time…
- Best Thing Ever, I've Got Mad Skillz, My Friends Have Mad Skillz, My Kid Has Mad Skillz, Proud Moments
Welcome To My New Home!
EXCITING, right? I am in so in love with my new digs! I hope you feel comfortable too. Pull up a chair…can I get you a drink or anything? I want to thank my son D for taking my design and recreating it in Photoshop with sharper colors than I could get while just using the program I was using, and for making my funky little social media icon stars. I also owe a HUGE thanks to my friend Ri–who rocks–and is a total genius. She helped me immensely with all of the back-end web craziness and I couldn’t have done this without her. I have a few minor kinks…
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Hey! ANOTHER New Book About Chicago That Will Rock Your World!
As humans, we naturally seek out people who have things in common with us. Though differences make things interesting and I definitely wouldn’t want to spend much time with someone who is identical to me in every way, I enjoy discovering qualities in others that align with mine. Egotistical? Maybe. But you do it too, so don’t judge. (You DO, right?) It’s a warm and fuzzy thing to find that someone else shares my love of, say, the British royals. Or someone who understands my need to make to-do lists because they also make them. Or someone who also gets annoyed at parents who are afraid to say “no” to…
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The Day Burt Reynolds Kissed Me
Okay, so it was an air kiss, but I was right next to him at the time and not only was it meant just for me, but there was full eye contact. Let me tell you about it. There are two theaters in my area (one in my town, and one in my sister’s town, right next door to mine!) that are the kind where you sit in comfy chairs and order from menus (real food, if you want, like burgers and pizza and chicken, but they also–of course–serve popcorn and other movie treats), and servers bring stuff to you. These theaters also host events at least one or two…
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Shedd Aquarium Opens “Jellies” Exhibit (Or, “Jellies Are Our Friends”)
For the past month or so, I’ve been seeing gorgeous (yes, gorgeous) and mesmerizing commercials for the newest exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium, “Jellies”. Check it out for yourself. I dare you to not be fascinated. When my family was personally invited to check out the exhibit, I was thrilled! Disclosure #1: I was not asked to write about this exhibit: I chose to. Also, all words and opinions are mine, as usual. My family was given a free pass to check out the exhibit and the rest of the aquarium, along with coffee and JELLY doughnuts, a detail which was not lost on my sixteen-year-old son. If your marketing…
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Forced Slow Down
Unless this is your first day reading Suburban Scrawl (*waving to newbies* “Hi, and welcome!”), you know that I tend to keep myself fairly busy (and apparently enjoy understatements). It’s something I’ve grown accustomed to over time. I get up in the morning and go from zero to eighty in about ten seconds. And thinking? Yikes. I think all the time. My brain keeps me awake at night quite often, even though I have a pad of paper near my bed so I can jot things down and “get them out of my head”. It’s abnormal for sure, but it’s in my personality to be like this, so it’s my…