Why I Oughta...

These two cheeses were side-by-side at the Jewel this weekend.  Being after the 'sharpest' cheddar I could get my hands out, I was confused by which would be better.  There wasn't a key on the packages, so I had to guess.  I went with 'extra sharp' this time and it worked perfectly for what I was using it for this time. But, why offer both? If I took the time to go look on the Cabot site, turns out this is one of their frequently asked questions . What is the difference between Vermont Sharp, Extra Sharp, and Seriously Sharp Cheddar?   Good question. The main difference between the three products is the amount of time they are aged. Cabot Vermont Sharp has a flavor that is reliable and consistent from batch to batch and is a customer favorite. Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar has a strong cheddar flavor that many cheddar fans specifically look for. Just like its younger sibling, Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar, it is consistent from batch to batch. You know what you

Photo from the Elmhurst History Museum's Facebook page Yesterday's post about the Elmhurst History Museum's archives being used for economic development purposes by the City of Elmhurst got me to poke around the Elmhurst History Museum's site and Facebook page.  I ended up coming across this piece in the Chicago Tribune by Steve Johnson that covers his Top 10 picks for Fall Museum Trips . Included in there at $6 was the Elmhurst History Museum and their new Beer exhibit.   From the story : 6. "Beer Chicago: The Refreshing History": Lots of institutions these days do beer-themed events. This is all well and very good. But the Elmhurst Historical Museum had the bright idea to make an actual exhibition based on the sudsy stuff. The show's menu includes a beer-making station and the history of the city's beers, beermakers and taverns. There's also a tie-in with the Sept. 19 Elmhurst Craft Beer Fest, on the grounds of the museum. Sept. 18 to F

Last week, I wrote about how there's a new rendering of a new construction building on the old Plass Appliance store in the Elmhurst City Centre that portends a new four-story terraced structure with retail and street-level and condos on the upper floors. But that isn't the only thing that has been plastered on the windows of the old Plass store.  This new "Picture Yourself In Elmhurst" three-panel photo went up and is pretty cute.  It is a bunch of laborers who are installing street lights for the first time in town.  It evokes the same feeling of the lunch on top of skyscraper iconic photo for me. Here's a closer look at the white box on the right side that shows the reason for the billboard: Some of the #hashtags are interesting at the bottom.  #walkable #downtown #citycentre. Based on the email addresses, it plainly looks like the city's Economic Development group had the idea, but if look closely, it appears to be a nice little bit of inter

Earlier this week, Google announced the expansion of Google Express to include delivery in the suburbs of Chicago via this blog post .  Being a 'root-for-the-home-team-kinda-guy', I *had* to give it a shot, right? Google Express allows for overnight delivery of goods from a network of retailers including Walgreens, Costco, Toys R Us and others.  Much like Amazon Prime, you can pay an annual subscription charge and receive free shipping. On this maiden order, I decided to skip the subscription and just pay the $4 it cost to get the stuff to my house.  To make things easy, I picked just one store:  Walgreens.  And after filling my cart with a few things, I got the hang of it.  I quickly realized that I had to hit $15 in stuff to get to the delivery threshold. So...I went around and plucked a few things from the various departments and nosed ahead of $15.  This was on Wednesday.  I also looked at the offerings from a few other stores.  Costco, in particular was of interest.

These two pins - that are sitting on my desk - are part of the 2013 Hidden Mickey Patriotic Characters Pin set and I think have been sorted by The Babe into the 'keepers' pile of sorts. Since we're out of our house, we haven't quite figured out what to do with the pins that the girls have come home with on trips.  I'm also sitting on a big bag of scrappers from our previous trip that we didn't circulate that we need to do something with soon. But...back to Jessica Rabbit here on the left.  She's the sultry human wife of Roger Rabbit.  If you do a search for [Jessica+Rabbit] on the PinPics site, y ou get 1040 different Jessica Rabbit pins .  More than 1000!  From a movie released in 1988?!? They've really squeezed a lot of juice from that fruit, eh?  There's just way too many nerdy, desperate dudes like me who gobble up the Jessica Rabbit pins to make Disney shut off the faucet?  Gasp!  Did I just write that I have more than one Jessica Rabb

While I'll quarrel with the name (Ahem....'Moms'), I really like the idea of parents helping other parents figure out all there is to know about planning and pulling off a trip to Walt Disney World.   That's why, I submitted an application to become a member of the Disney Parks Moms Panel this am.  That's a screenshot of the confirmation screen you get after you apply above.  The application process opened yesterday and runs for a week. In my application, I had to share a bit about my Disney family.  And...thanks to this blog and our family blog, I had a few places we could send people that include stories, photos and videos of our trips. The little bit I know about the process is that it is SUPER selective and there's lots of disappointment involved as just a handful (like 20 for WDW, I think?) of folks make the cut.  Good luck to everyone who is applying!

While we were wandering around town on Sunday, we came across the 'Explore Elmhurst Express' Trolley down on South York Street.  It is a nice addition that has run all summer.  It is winding down and will run it's last route on September 13th with stops around the City Centre and down near Spring/Vallette. I'm thinking that they're likely tracking usage so they can optimize the run times/routes if they decide to extend the service to the fall or next summer. From the City of Elmhurst's site : The City of Elmhurst is pleased to announce the Explore Elmhurst Express, a free trolley service connecting Elmhurst City Centre with the Spring Road and York and Vallette business districts. Take a stroll or hop on your bike and head for one of the nearest trolley stops. Convenient parking is also located near each stop.   It's a great way to shop and dine locally and enjoy the City's numerous cultural opportunities, while saving some gas and bringing sa

I've been hearing - virtually - ALL summer from The Babe that she desperately, desperately wants to run a Lemonade Stand.  Over the weekend, we finally caved and helped her fulfill her vision.  We only had a few stipulations: 1.  She had to give the lemonade away for free but ask for donations to a charity of her choice. 2.  When we were out of lemonade, that was it.  No whining about wanting more. Well...I'm happy to report that The Babe picked " Give Kids The World " as her charity of choice and we set up on the corner of 3rd and Indiana where there was a bit more traffic than out front of our house.  We listen to a lot of Disney podcasts in the car and the guys on The Dis UnPlugged talk a lot about "Give Kids the World" and after asking Nat and me about it, that's the one she picked.  We wrote up a little sign on the money jug that said 'Donations for Give Kids The World Accepted'.   For those of you who don't know, Give Ki

The Babe says...it isn't over until she says so.  And there's still plenty of watermelon and corn on the cob to eat before we move on to pumpkin spice this and pumpkin spice that.  Labor Day may be here, but we're still in shorts and t-shirts (at least most of us are....the Babe...for some reason is going all long-sleeves-all-the-time) so just hold on for a second, Fall.  I'll take your college football, but let's just hold tight on those leaves falling and cold mornings.  Sound like a deal?

When packing up last month, I found a few of these 'campaign buttons' from our rehearsal dinner today - September 5th - back in 2008.  Still kinda love these and the spirit in which they were made. Here's a post about the invites and other wedding stuff from back in 2008 . A simple blog post can't express my feelings on this 7th anniversary about my wife.  The tradition of anniversary gifts calls for a blog post for #7, right? Nat continues to wow me every day as she demonstrates her smarts, kindness and ability to roll with the punches.  She's the strongest, most caring person I know.  But...importantly, she is an incredible mom to our three kids, a really great sister and daughter, and the best damn partner a guy could ask for in life.  Thanks for putting up with me. Here's to many more years, Pud!    Love you more.