• Family Fun,  Food,  Fun in Chicago

    Rock and Rainbows

    Our family has always had the most fun on our official “Fab Five” outings and events. (If you’re new here, the Fab Five is made up of me, Jim, our sons, and my sister Julesie.) One of our best-known adventures here on the Scrawl was the time when (two years ago) we got together to make international burgers–including a German burger with mustard and sauerkraut on it, which my German twin Kat was disgusted by–in honor of the premiere of “The Amazing Race”, one of our favorite shows. This past weekend, the older boy came home from college for a special Fab Five event: attending a live performance of the…

  • Jew Stuff,  Music

    Happy 5771!

    I wanted to take a second to wish my Jewish readers a great big L’shanah Tovah Tikatevu: may you be inscribed for a good year! (For my 2008 informational post about Rosh Hashanah, click here.) We’re off to services at our temple in a bit, but don’t think I’m taking off without leaving you some entertainment! I’m over at The Music Mamas today, recapping some of the crazy stuff that’s happened over the years at the MTV Video Music Awards. Click here to check it out! ©2010 Suburban Scrawl

  • Music

    Chris Blake Has NOT Been To Germany.

    Chris Blake is a alternative pop/rock singer and songwriter, based in Los Angeles. He is a friend of The Music Mamas (dare I say “the adopted son”? Maybe brother. Whatev.), and his new EP just dropped. Before I tell you about all the fun and games associated with that, I wanted to share a conversation that Chris and I had when we sat down together the other day, over coffee and croissants*. I told Chris that I’m in the middle of a posting blitz about my trip to Germany, and thought it would be nice to put a little bit of German content in this post, you know, so it…

  • Music,  Travels

    Bursting At The Seams, I Had To Put One Elsewhere.

    Because I have a very intimidating number of posts in the hopper, so to speak, I figured that putting my post about music in Germany over at The Music Mamas would be prudent. I included some great links you should definitely click on, and a short playlist (thanks for the assist, Ri!) as well. Click here to check it out…and then stop back in here later this evening for more German-themed fun! ©2010 Suburban Scrawl

  • Food,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  Music,  Spreading the Bloggie Love

    Tin Roof! Rusted.

    I had the pleasure of revisiting the 80’s personally last week when I went to see the B-52s play at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, a northern suburb of Chicago. My “date”? None other than my friend and virtual training partner for the BlogHer 5K, Michelle from Honest and Truly. Ravinia is a Chicago-area tradition. All summer long, a wide variety of musical and dance groups perform there, from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (every year!) to acts like (this year!) Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Four Tops, The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo Yo Ma, Counting Crows, Crosby Stills & Nash, The Beach Boys, Nelly Furtado, Vince Gill, Jethro Tull, Sheryl…

  • Music

    3…2…1…Liftoff!

    This month has been explosive for me as far as new projects suddenly coming together and being ready to launch; I’ve got yet another one to share with you. Do you remember when, last summer, I did a Guest DJ shuffle for Music Savvy Mom? And then, do you remember, back in March, when I gave you my musical resume? Well, I’ve been in cahoots (I LOVE that phrase!) with Ri, Music Savvy Mom herself, along with a bunch of other super-cool chicks, working on a project that is finally ready to share with the public: it’s a new, collaborative blog called The Music Mamas! We’re a group of music-loving…