Why I Oughta...

Here I am sitting in the line on drop the King of the Ball Tossers off at pre-school one morning recently when I see in front of me this Dad dropping off his toddlers LIKE A BOSS in his Tesla Model X with Falcon Wings.  Talk about winning the whole drop-off line, amirite?  No fancy grocery wagon from Volvo or Infinity can shake a stick at this guy.  Sorry to my kids...I have good news/bad news.  The good news: for the older girls....you're taking the bus.  The bad news?  When we drive you, you're rolling out of the Swagger Wagon .

A few blocks over, the neighbors on Fairmount Street host an annual block party in September that features a Soapbox Derby.  This was our first time attending.  And it was great fun.  You can see the Bird riding along with one of the girls from the block in the video above to get a sense for the setup.  The neighbors on the block come together and put together quite an event starting with the starting gate/ramp.  There's a DJ and they had a food truck come out along with a keg, a snow cone maker and a lot of food.   Nat and I know just some people from our block, but we didn't know many folks from the neighboring streets - but we took the time to get to know a few new people and they couldn't have been more inviting.  This is a real, authentic family event.  It was really enjoyable.  The kids - and I am assuming - their fathers really showed a lot of creativity in designing the various cars involved.  There must have be...

Tonight, the Village Board of Downers Grove is meeting to discuss the future of Downtown Downers Grove.  According to the agenda, they're actually doing this : Discussion of the proposed downtown development regulatory framework developed by the Comprehensive Planning Ad Hoc Committee and the Plan Commission in accordance with Village Council direction. But, a closer look at the documents attached to the agenda show that the dry description actually reveals quite a bit more interesting ideas and what appears to be a big deal.  There are 115 pages of documents attached to tonight's meeting, but buried in there are some interesting nuggets, charts and drawings.  If approved, the plan laid out - appears to me at least - to provide the blueprint to continue the reinvention and reinvestment of downtown Downers Grove.  The plan lays out specific locations and recommendations for improvement and calls out 12 specific 'Downtown Catalyst Sites" that you can see above....

Back in 2011, we discovered the 'original' Pequod's Pizza up in Morton Grove.   I posted about it here on the blog . Nothing has changed at the place. But, plenty has changed on our side.  We went from a family of three to a family of five.  And we arrived in style in our minivan.  Yeah...that's right.  A van. I went with the usual sausage and pepperoni combo and it was delicious.  I have no idea what Nat and the kids ate because I was so focused on my part of the order and shoveling this tasty stuff into my piehole. Those of you who have been to the Pequod's in the city wouldn't be surprised by the pies dished out in Morton Grove.  They're basically the same.  But...for those of you who like to make pizza pilgrimages (like me!), the OG Pequod's is worth the trip.  Just to say you've been to the place where it all began. Look at that beautifully caramelized crust.  Burnt?  Not one bit. It wouldn't be a pizza pos...

Who would have thought that we might end up with a van?!? We went looking at vans over the weekend and we've narrowed it down to between the Sienna and the Odyssey.  I'm leaning towards the Swagger Wagon.  We'll see if we can make a deal!

We live in the suburbs. No denying it. Hence the subtitle of this new blog. In fact, I've always lived in the suburbs. Sure, I lived in Champaign for four years and spent a bit of time after college on the northside with some friends, but I moonlighted @ home with my folks the whole time. (Ask my roomies...they'll vouch for that!) I ran for office in the suburbs and really enjoyed creating a community amongst our neighbors and friends. Guess I'm just a suburban-type of guy. In 2008, we moved. To. Another. Suburb. Much to Nat's chagrin. We picked Elmhurst for a variety of reasons - the right house, the right street, and the location of the town relative to work, family, and more. When people ask where we live - which happens all the time - I never shy away from telling them we live in Elmhurst. I love the town. I love our street. I love how accessible Elmhurst is to just about everywhere. Nat, on the other hand is a late comer. She has come to (I believe) l...