Why I Oughta...

As the kids say:  #nofilter.  With the time change, I am seeing dusk more often from the office these days.  This is, quite the view, right?

It isn't a Cookie Puss or Fudgie the Whale , but there's some big news:  our local Jewel is carrying Carvel Ice Cream cakes in their freezer case.  Or...at least it is news to me.  And if you're faced with this decision, you go Carvel over Oreo, don't you?  Who knew that there are three Carvel locations in Illinois ?

Back at the end of October, I posted a photo of the 'coming soon' screens that Marshall Field's Macy's had put up on their State Street windows as part of their annual reveal of the Holiday window tradition.   Soon after the calendar turned over to November, they opened up the windows for public viewing and while the ones on State Street are traditional ones, they now have set up two different ones on the Randolph Street sides. First...when I say 'traditional ones', I mean...holiday stories of some sort.  This year, it isn't so much a linear story where the you can see kids racing from one window to the next to learn the different storylines, but rather just a set of different windows, each in a feeling/spirit. But, this is the 50th anniversary of doing animated figures in these windows, which is cool and that's why they've organized these two separate windows on Randolph - to kind of celebrate their history. And, much to my delight, look

I had this experience riding the monorail from the Polynesian earlier this fall.  We had just finished breakfast and I had to split to do something without the family, so I rolled into the monorail sans stroller, sans diaper bag, sans kids, sans wife.  And had the whole thing to myself.   Weird.  But quite delightful at the same time.  

New this year at Menard's is this animated Popcorn factory from Lemax.  You can see a lot of the movement in the image above, but there's also music.  If you want to see it, check out the video below at the bottom of the post.  This one, too, is from the Caddington Village collection. When he goes with his family to the Country House for burgers, the Mayor of Mantleburg is more of a peanuts in the shell guy, not a popcorn guy.  So...unless the developer is going to grease his palm, I'm guessing this one is going to be a tough sell for Mantleburg.  What...with its garishness and bright lights, it seems like it might be out of place amongst the other existing structures?

I didn't want to get too far away - calendar-wise - from Halloween before I got around to posting the pics of this pretty awesome vintage McCoy Pottery pumpkin Halloween mug.  Or...at least that's what I thought it was when I came across it the first time.  I saw it, picked it up and immediately turned it over to reveal this mark:  McCoy LTD USA.  Hmmm....McCoy?  But...McCoy LTD? I went to my phone to find out if it was, indeed, the McCoy that we have some pieces of (and my oldest sister Linda collects).  A quick turn to the McCoy Collectors Society page, reveals this subpage all about McCoy Limited .  And if you scroll down, you'll see a pumpkin.  Not this one, but a pumpkin.  And a close read of the copy tells us that this, is, indeed the real deal : Halloween is a favorite holiday of many and is well represented by various sizes of Jack-O-Lantern items. Among these are cups, napkin holder, salt and pepper set, and different shapes, such as different size gh

On my walk home from the train, I came across this stunner of a Maple tree near the corner of Fairmount and Maple in Downers Grove.  The photo, which....I will tell you has no filter/crank of the saturation/etc hardly does it justice, but you can get a sense for the power of how pink it looks in real life.  I snapped this photo and then hurried home to see what we had in our #newoldbackyard that could compare.  Unfortunately....we have lots of greens back there.  And some yellows.  And a few browns.  But no oranges or pinks or reds. For now. Nat brought it up and she's right:  Seems like something we need to add a tree or two to the backyard arboretum this coming Spring (in addition to the Frans Fontaine Hornbeams that I posted about yesterday along the northern border ) that puts on a nice show in the fall. A quick look on Web shows me that some prime targets might be Sugar Maples, Red Maples or maybe even a Bald Cyprus all of which give some great reds and pinks and oran

Image above via ThinkingOutsideTheBoxwood I've posted quite a bit about the various trees and plantings in our #newoldbackyard this past year, but I just looked back in the archives and discovered that I haven't posted about one of the most important (and highly anticipated) tree projects on the docket.  And...that tree project *is* a series of Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees along the northern fence line near where our screened porch is located.   The image above - which isn't mine - gives you a sense for what we're going for with this allee of hornbeams and also shows how some closely planted Frans Fontaine Hornbeams grow to form a nice privacy hedge.   This is part of the new - and mostly final - landscape plan that was delivered to us in September.  I first posted a look at it in early October with a look at some of the hydrangea beds along the south property line  and then a look at some of the foundation beds near the rear of the house a few days

Pets are big business, right?  Maybe Mantleburg should serve those families who have pups around the house?  Could be a good source of sales tax revenues, but are there enough dogs in town to support the annexation?   Just like the Vintage Grind Coffee Company from yesterday , the Dog House is part of the Caddington Village collection.  

Huzzah, huzzah!  The new Lemax Christmas Village structures are up at Menards.  And that means that the fine folks running the government at Mantleburg are on the prowl for some fresh, new annexations.  With the local residents not happy about their property taxes, the Mayor is on the lookout for some new businesses that can both add and diversify its tax base.   This place - the Vintage Grind Coffee Company - seems to fit the bill.  With what appears to be a small retail operation out front and clearly a significant wholesale business, this place would offer both the benefits of sales tax and also some employment opportunities for Mantleburg's residents.  That is, unless all that fancy-schmancy automation you see in the image above has eliminated all the jobs?   I'm certain that the Village Board and the Mayor will decide soon enough if there's room in Mantleburg for an outfit like this.   If you find yourself in Menards, you can find the Vintage Grind Coffee

This is the 19th piece added to the official Coaster Collection here on the blog.  Is 'added' the right term?  Curated?  Included?  I'm not sure, but as the official head of curation, I'm just going to go with 'added'.  The coaster you see above comes from a place called The Dutch downtown in SoHo, NYC.  We went there for a few after work beers and a giant seafood tower.  Full coaster collection posts can be found here . 

I guess this is more after/before than before/after based on how Google Photos organized the two photos in this collage.  Thus...On the bottom of this photo collage above, you can see a pile of wood that I harvested out of our backyard in it's mostly raw state.  When the guys came to clear out some trees before we built in 2016, I think they left behind a bunch of these cut up chunks of trunk/branches in the yard.  They're mostly Walnut trees with a few Maple pieces.  I picked up this metal log holder from Menards and decided - because we now have a wood-burning fireplace - to pile the stuff up close to the screened porch.  And, I'm glad I did.  Because as I was collecting the pieces of wood from around the yard, one thing that was consistent:  they were all wet.  And by laying on the ground, they weren't able to dry out at all.  But, a few weeks of laying in this rack, which is underneath the eave of our roof, and they've mostly dried out completely. So, th

I almost got to half a million.  Pretty sure that's the most points I've ever scored on the ride.  That puts me at Level 5: Ranger First Class .  But that's not the best part.  The Bird broke 10K for the first time.  She's getting better aiming and scoring points on Space Ranger Spin.   To infinity...and beyond!

Via Can I Listen to Christmas Music? Yesterday, I flipped the annual switch from "No" to "Yes" on the Can I listen to Christmas music? project .  I've been saying for the past few years that Thanksgiving "needs a better PR agency" because we go straight from October 31st --> zoom --> Christmas.  Billboards, ads, in store displays.  All holidays.  And not Thanksgiving.  The last bastion of Thanksgiving buzz seems to be the grocery store and endcaps.  There are plenty of folks that aren't turkey producers who drive a lot of volume at Thanksgiving. I've chronicled [ Christmas Creep ] here on the blog over the years where I've posted photos of stores and others inching Christmas up in the calendar year.  And, I've consistently said that I'm totally fine with it.  I, for one, welcome our Christmas season overlords.  Bring on the Elf on the Shelf .  Bring on the Advent calendars .  Bring on the Lionel O Gauge Christmas train

What a difference!  Last year, we had 302 kids/others come to our door.  Last night?  77.  And that's not even super accurate as The Babe and friends did the bulk of the counting/handing out candy.  Oh...and we put out a bowl and went trick-or-treating with our kids for a while, too.  So, the numbers can't be verified by Price Waterhouse Coopers this year, unfortunately. We're in a different neighborhood with different size lots and setbacks.  We walked a few blocks over and the place was hopping with kids and felt a lot like Elmhurst did the past few years. So, here's the breakdown: 2017:  77 kids. 2016: 302 kids /total. In 2015, we had 346 total . In 2014, we had 308 total . In 2013, we had 326 total . In 2012, we had 327 total. In 2011, we had 269 total . In 2010, we had 236 total . In 2009, we had 184 total . Lowest candy year on record.  Good thing the savages in our house and neighborhood destroyed the candy bowl in our front hall during our little Ha

We might not live in Elmhurst any longer, but that doesn't mean we can't keep *some* of our Halloween traditions alive, right?  We didn't find time to get to Sonny Acres this year, but we DID get to Canyon Trail Cemetery in Carol Stream .  I posted about our visit to this house in 2016 , in 2015 , and in 2014 here on the blog.  If you have time, head there before the place disappears for the season tonight!

You can't roll a stroller into a Disney World hotel and not have someone hand you a Mickey the Mouse sticker.  But a Minnie sticker?  Hmmm....think this was the first and only time one of the kids scored these.  She's the same size as the normal Mickey ones, but has a yellow background instead of the standard white.  You can add this to the list of 'free' things that you can score at Walt Disney World.  The most recent one that I posted about was this Honorary Custodian sticker that one of the kids received for picking up some garbage. These things aren't HUGE (or Yuuuuge...if you'd prefer), but they do make for nice little moments for families that don't cost any money down at Disney.  Here's my list that I've chronicled on the blog. This "honorary custodian" sticker from the Cast member who takes out the trash A Friendship Boat Transportation card The Babe was an Honorary Jungle Cruise Skipper and got a badge, but I don't

Some of the best fireworks at Walt Disney World are clearly New Year's Eve.  And  we've seen those from our room at the Polynesian Village Resort .  I posted about that experience  here  and  here .   That show has ruined me for just about any other fireworks show .   The second best?  Might be Hallowishes that they put on during  Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party .   We went to the party one night, but we also were staying at the Grand Floridian during another night that they hosted the party and we did not attend.  We did, however, head down to the pier to catch the show from near the water and it was pretty great.  Perimeter fireworks were still great - not quite as great as being dead-on from the Polynesian - and light up the waterfront.  There was a small crowd down on the end of the pier, but we stayed next to Narcoossee's and were able to enjoy them all by ourselves.   We've experienced the various fireworks shows from Bay Lake Tower, but

The window you see above is on the Randolph Street side.  The one below is on the State Street side.  Both of them are currently dark with the message:  Pardon our appearance.  Something magical is in store.  And...being good Chicagoans, we all know what that is:  the big reveal of the Marshall Field's Christmas windows.  The one below shows the 'Santa' theme that they've used in year's past and...unfortunately, doesn't include Uncle Mistletoe.  I posted photos of the windows being prepped last year - just in early November 2016.  Here's the photos .  And here's a photo from the morning of November 9th, 2015 - the very day they opened for public viewing .  Here's photos of the 'coming soon' windows in 2014 .  Let's all hope they don't make the mistake they made back in 2015 when we got NYC's 'sloppy seconds' where they re-used Macy's NYC window display .  Shame .  What else is a shame?  That they don't r

It's - beginning - to - look - a - lot - like - Christmas....  At least if you walk down Randolph Street outside of the Daley Center.  I took this photo on a recent walk and you can see the guys in the bucket trucks stringing little white twinkle lights on the Ginko trees that are perched in the raised beds right along Randolph.  I covered this same thing the past few years. In 2016, the lights went up in early October . And in 2015, the lights went up in September . So, the trend continues to creep back towards Halloween.    And, I for one, don't consider this Christmas creep.  They don't keep them on once the installation is done.  Let's just count this as flat out good weather planning, right?

Back in July, we added a Crimson King Maple tree to one of the far back corners of our #newoldbackyard after finding it on sale at Menards.  It was the ninth tree we planted this season and the final one added to the arboretum before the summer heat hit.  I planted this one pretty late - in mid-July - and then we were hit with a pretty severe drought through most of August and September.  The Crimson King is a purple-leafed Maple tree with shallow roots that doesn't give much of a show in the fall, but in exchange, gives a nice contrasting color most of the summer.  Nat's folks have a big one up on Twin Lakes that I've admired and that's part of the reason why we planted this one back here. I'm posting this photo so I can revisit this tree in the Spring when it *hopefully* comes back to life with some new leaf buds.  This is now located kind of behind the big trampoline that Nat bought for the kids, so it has been somewhat out of sight, out of mind.  But,

We walked from the Grand Floridian to the Polynesian one morning recently for breakfast at Kona Cafe and on that walk, we came across this large Tiki.  He is outside one of the Longhouses, just a bit west of the Grand Ceremonial House.  In what is seemingly a random location.  But, he is big.  And angry looking.  And something that makes your stay at the Poly just a little.bit.more special.  I've written about the Tiki Room at DLR here .  And I've posted photos of some of the other art at the Polynesian including this painting  and this print that we picked up in Boutiki .  

And...belly laughs all around.  Hot pockets, too.