Wordless Wednesday; My Birthday

A Daddy, a Daughter & the brilliance of it all; The Emperor's New Clothes

As readers of this blog, you all know that I am not really a "reviews" blog. I do, however, love to bring wonderful, exciting opportunities to my readers if they are beneficial 1) to maintain Mommy's sanity 2)  for our children's health; because lets face it us Mommies can use all the quality recommendations we can get to help in our search for healthy green products, organic, nutritious snacks, and general opportunities and activities to keep our kids active and healthy 3) I am a HUGE proponent of educating our children in the arts, broadening their horizons, and anything that makes learning a fun activity and not a chore. Basically, I am trying to raise some very well-rounded, healthy happy, children..as I am sure you all are , as well. That being said, I have to share with you, my friends, an experience that my family and I enjoyed this past weekend , courtesy of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Saturday, we had the pleasure of seeing the CST production of The Emperor's New Clothes. We arrived at Navy Pier in Chicago, where the CST theater is so conveniently located. Convenient because CST, has designated parking at the Navy Pier garage ( so no worrying about "GARAGE IS EMPTY") and they validate parking at a 40% discount for patrons. BONUS! Anyone who has ever had to park in the city knows that the parking situation at CST alone, is AWESOME! I was excited already and I hadn't even entered the building yet.

We arrive and were ushered into this gloriously enchanting theater, set up very similar to what a traditional Elizabethan theater would have been set up.Basically, the stage juts out into the center of the theater and there is truly not a bad seat in the intimate theater. The colors of the set were vibrant and my children were immediately engaged by the bold color choices and props used. The lighting worked in tandem with the characters to create an illusion of boundless space and time. In a matter of seconds, we were transformed from the Emperors closet, to a forest, and then to a shop without ever leaving our seats. The color and props supplied quite the feast for our visual appetites..

Complimentary to the vibrant colors of the set were the spectacular colorfulness and depth of the characters. The characters were multifaceted and their personalities were appealing to both children and adults alike.My daughters were giggling, clapping and thoroughly engaged throughout the entire performance. I was happily surprised. We have taken our daughters to other shows, most of the children's channels variety and they have enjoyed them, I assume mostly because of the familiarity. This was the first time my girls have been to the "Theater" for a performance with an actual story line and not just singing and dancing performed by giant puppets or TV characters, other than the Nutcracker ( which they are obsessed with because of ballet).
The Emperor's New Clothes is about a larger than life emperor, his daughter and their relationship. As a side story, it also explores the relationship between a seamstress and her son and Lord Vince, the Emperor's right hand man who is actually trying to humiliate the Emperor and dethrone him so that he may become Emperor. At the core of the musical it is a love story of the most meaningful kind; the love and bond between a parent and a child. In addition to the main characters, the parents and children, there is a fantastic supporting ensemble cast consisting of the Emperor's 3 secretaries, and random peasants who to say are humorous is a grand understatement. My children were laughing belly laughs and my husband and I were almost in tears.The Hans Christian Anderson play was skillfully  and creatively adapted to be easily related to by its 21st century audience of all ages. When it was over, my girls didn't want to leave! As a bonus, some of the characters from the Emperor's New Clothes were available to sign programs after the show was over. My daughters loved that they got to meet the "Stars" of the show. They couldn't stop talking about it all day. Between the audacious costumes, the brilliant sets,  and the unforgettable antics of the cast; The Emperor's New Clothes is a must see for any parent who wants to find a extraordinary way to introduce their child to the wonderful world of the classics and the theater. My children, as well as my husband and myself, had a fabulous experience at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater .
The Emperor's New Clothes runs June 30, 2010 thru to August 29, 2010,with multiple performance times available. There are also many great activities and attractions going on at Navy Pier this summer so come for the show and make a day of it on the Pier! If you live in the Chicago land, Northwest Indiana area, I would highly recommend taking your child to see this performance while you still have the opportunity. For more information click the badge below

Disclosure: I was provided with tickets to see the Emperor's New Clothes by  The Chicago Shakespeare Theater in order to view the performance  and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were NOT influenced by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater..

Life is GOOD

I sit here on this gorgeous Sunday summer morning, on my deck lounging as my girls play in their splash pool. I am surrounded by giggles as hues of bright white, sky blue and the warmth of the bright yellow sun dance all around me and to make it even more special my beautiful husband is in the same zip code with us.  As I am writing this post down, I think to myself "MY LIFE IS GOOD!"
Today is such a relaxing day. It is quite a contrast to yesterday that was spent in a mad dash rushing from one place to the next. We sped around Navy Pier trying to take in ..everything. It was the first trip to the Pier for my girls and I wanted to make every moment count. The girls oohed and aahed at the boats in the lake, the stared in awe at the giant Ferris wheel and the hot air balloon looming overhead the crowd, as they chomped on their rock candy suckers that Daddy had purchased them. I do,however, think they were sufficiently terrified by the Chicago seagulls that were dive bomb attacking us in the sweltering heat. Nothing like 100 degree weather and the fear of bird shit to get your kids moving in a hasty manner. Our trip to the Pier was cut short by the heat but as always sometimes life's most expected happiness comes when you are least expecting it.

We decided to head to my sister's home to spend the day with her and her beautiful family. My girls were ecstatic to spend the day with their little cousin, my adorable Godson. Gabs especially loves it because she feels like she gets to be the "big sister" when he's around. Its so adorable how she coddles and guides him, ever the protective maternal force:) (thank God he doesn't mind..for now).

I was looking forward to spending some quality time chatting with my own "little " sister. These moments seem to be so few and far between these days with us living in different areas and having families of our own. The big guy, he looks forward to spending "man" time with my Brother in law; sampling exotic beers, driving fast cars and swapping tall tales..(yeah, just like Pecos BILL:) And all of us look forward to eating the glorious Serbian/Romanian feast my sister's Mother in law prepares for us with love and enthusiasm (seriously, that woman has a gift when it comes to cooking and baking).
What started out as a day full of sights to see turned into a day of making wonderful family memories. It was wonderful sitting around the splash pool at my sister's house, enjoying one another's company and the, seldom had these days, face to face conversation while our children embraced their time together.

My sister and I shared memories of our own childhood and acted as our childrens very own paparazzi. There is something magical about being able to speak to someone who has known you your whole entire life and knows every single thought and word you may have before you even open your mouth. It may have not seemed like anything special to the general onlooker but the day with my little sister was priceless. We are no longer little girls, we will always be sisters but we choose to be friends; and my sisters' friendships mean more to me than they will ever know.

But as all good things must, our day had to come to an end. There were overtired tears from the children who absolutely did not want to part. The dull feeling of melancholy that accompanies every goodbye between loved ones began to slowly creep into the room. As we kissed and hugged and kissed and hugged once more, we made our usual tentative plans to see each other again soon ( this happens so often between  family members and friends living out of town) and we believe with all of our hearts that this time will be different. The drive wasn't that bad, the day was so great,and  so on and so forth.
All the way home, I assured myself that "this" time our promise and plans were different, this time things will be different (reminiscent of every diet I have ever failed).Unfortunately, more than likely, life will get in the way of our plans and more time will end up passing than either of us had intended. But yesterday, life was good! Love you lil Sis!

If nobody has any objections, I believe I might be of service.

My oldest had an appointment with a talent agency in Chicago yesterday. The whole "modeling" ball got rolling because my sweet little girl had seen Eloise goes to Hollywood  and promptly proclaimed,"Mommy, I want to be a Movie Star!" I sorta giggled to myself, because it just sounded funny to hear a 3 year old say those words. I've always been one to encourage my children to follow their dreams, so if that's what she wants to be, who am I to tell her no? I am just a vehicle for her to use to achieve her goals and realize her potential, isn't that what us Mommies do? We tell our kids that they can do and be anything, so if they actually decide to follow our advice..well, its time to put up or shut up. I never back down from a challenge, no matter how impossible the task may seem. I'd say becoming a professional actor is about as likely as becoming a paid published writer. I figured you gotta start somewhere and she's cute, so let's try modeling. She loves having her picture taken and I thought, an easy way to slowly move into that industry.  In Virginia, a nationally affiliated agency wanted her almost immediately and we were so excited. My daughter only appeared in 1 commercial but, hey that's 1 more commercial then most of us,right? So,we relocate back to the Midwest and our agency in Richmond gave us a local contact in Chicago. The day of the interview, we drive downtown, both of us a little nervous. I was nervous because it was a new agency and I am hypersensitive to the fact that I can't control what comes out of their mouth..for example; at the meeting in Virginia, I told the agent, "Look, if you are going to have any criticisms of her ...those are for my ears only! Those can not, under any circumstances, be stated in front of her. You can't unring a bell and I don't want my 4 year old having her self esteem demolished!" There were no criticisms but my obligation is to my baby and I had to put that out there. Here we are 7 months later , right back where we started. I went in there a little anxious, to say the least. My daughter was a little overwhelmed from being in a new environment. We walk in, assess the situation ( its all very downtown). Our enthusiastically chipper  agent comes out to greet us. He escorts us back to the glass office (it felt like a fishbowl). The first question out of his mouth was, "Do you want to be a model?" "Why?" OK, wow, rapid fire for a 5 year old. She answers ,"I don't know" (She was in full on bashful 5 year old mode..brilliant) "Do you like having your picture taken?" "Yes, I do!" and she flashes him a giant grin. Then he says, "Let's go meet some other people,without Mommy. Mommy will stay here" In my head a plethora of questions flooded my mind , " Why no Mommy? What's wrong with Mommy? Where are you taking my baby? I don't know you!" I got the feeling he didn't like me. Then I realized he was trying to gauge whether or not I was a crazy stage Mom forcing her baby to live out Mommy's dream. I felt slightly insulted.  When he returned, he was all smiles and giggles and announced that they would love to represent my little girl. I am assuming the jaunt away from me also served as a second opinion by another agent and also to see whether or not my daughter would freak out with me out of her sight. I was excited that they wanted to represent her but at the same time annoyed that they would think I could be a stage Mom:( I understand his concern, after all who wants a kid who is being forced to do this? I am sure there are lots of Mommies who come in there and force their kids to be in modeling/ show business (Lohans, Spears, Simpsons all come to mind) but not me! This was her idea. I am only trying to be supportive but yet, I was getting analyzed like I was a potential monster and my child was a victim of Munchhausen by proxy syndrome. I felt dirty and it took away some of the joy of the occasion. For the record, I am no crazy stage Mom...just a Mom, trying to give my children all of their little hearts desires. Maybe a crazy Mommy but I could care less if she is a model, an artist, a doctor,a  teacher, a librarian..as long as she's happy and loves what she is doing.

Things I could have learned from my Id

Wow! There is nothing like our children to put the entire world into perspective. As I am running around like a chicken with my head chopped off, trying to find shoes and coats, finish the laundry (the never ending laundry), pay bills online, make phone calls /return phone calls, return emails and texts, make sure my kids are fed and clean and everywhere they are suppose to be on time and a laundry list of other daily chores (just like all the rest of you Mommies) it hits me, Stop! Take a breath! I am spending so much of my time lately trying to organize and plan life, that I am afraid that I am missing out on and not enjoying life. I find myself filling my days with things that I have to do and very little , if any, of what I want to do. This is making me uptight and grouchy, and defeating the purpose of all of the planning. After all, the planning is to maximize the quality of my daughters' childhoods not to make them remember their childhoods as " Remember how uptight and crazy Mom was?" What brought about this revelation, you ask? My brilliant little 2 year old. I ask in complete desperation, " Gabs, please help Mommy clean up your room, honey." Her response, "No Mommy! Me no want to!!!!"" Please?" "NO.ME NO WANT TO!!!!!!" (Basically, look woman I told you once..I don't want to). Then it dawned on me..Me no want to either!! So, why not let the laundry wait a few hours and go have some fun with my girls. They are only this age now..NEVER again. I can't rewind time like a video cassette. I'm hitting the reset button (oh yeah, once again. Apparently, in my life, it is a button I will be hitting quite frequently. Now, if I could only find that damn EASY button they keep talking about!)

This week we had an impromptu meeting downtown Chicago. Normally, I am in and out of downtown. The traffic frustrates me, the kids get bored and scream and cry; it really becomes an enormous headache.This time I said, hey we're going to make it an adventure and have some effin fun. After our appointment, we cranked up the volume on the Yo Gabba Gabba CD, started cruising around downtown until we saw some place that we wanted to stop. To the bean we went! I've been wanting to hit Millennium park for some time now and an opportunity to put my money where my mouth is presented itself. The girls, me and my lovely "NManny" for the week ( my 19 year old brother, who my daughters absolutely adore & so do I , for him coming out to help me while Daddy is on business)  explored all the facets of any art and design that the park had to offer. It was a spontaneous, lovely day in the park...which are always the best. Cheers to many more days of living life while smelling the lilacs versus only planting while multitasking 20 other things, and never truly having the opportunity to be happy or let those around you be happy. I need to start relinquishing some control and going with the flow, because the flow is where I live and no matter what I do...the flow is going to keep on flowing!