Food Family Finds | Illinois Mom Blogger and Foodie
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In less than one week our family will be packing up for a summer road trip as one of ten Twizzlers Traveling Families. We will be hitting the highway north to one of the most landmark filled destinations in Illinois to not only create an affordable vacation for our kids but share the news of the Twizzlers Landmark Summer Promotion. Looking at the landmarks below, can you take a guess where we'll be heading for our road trip? If you said … [Read more...]
For most of my life I've lived in the city of Springfield, IL, a town I consider to be small compared to bustling cities like Chicago and St. Louis. The only two buildings in our skyline is the State Capitol building and the Hilton Hotel (also known as the "prick of the prairie", classy huh?). Spending so little time in big cities makes me feel five years old and completely mesmerized each and every time we visit Chicago. So here are a few of my … [Read more...]
After missing the Wilton Moms ReTreat the first week of June, I decided I still wanted to have a little Wilton fun with my family and we piled into the car for a spur of them moment road trip to visit Chicago for a day. Every year in June, shoppers flock to Woodridge IL to gobble up savings on their favorite baking supplies at the Wilton Tent Sale and we just had to be there. After all, I'm slightly addicted to Wilton products and cake decorating … [Read more...]
On Tuesday, May 17th, 2011, my husband and I were able to attend and be part of Oprah's most star-studded event in history, the Oprah's Surprise Spectacular at the United Center. Not only were we guests for this double episode taping to be aired on May 23rd and 24th but we attended as guests of Dove brand, a proud sponsor of the show. Just as Oprah has inspired millions of women across the globe, The Dove Movement for Self-Esteem is working to … [Read more...]
Ever since the announcement of the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms conference dates last week, it has been non-stop chatter in this house about Mickey Mouse and Disney World. Still sore over missing it last year, we're more determined than ever not to miss this opportunity. The kids are all a year older, we have more time to save money for the trip and after seeing this little video from Emmaleigh, how could we not go? For now it's just a … [Read more...]
Last year when our family was driving between Chatham, IL and Auburn, IL on the way back from a visit to my sister's house, we happened up a sign for a historic site ... a very old covered bridge. I wish I could share the actual name of it or even exactly where it's located, but truth be told, I don't really know. We just followed the sign until we ran right into it. Well this year we went back to it to snap a few photos, hike the trails a bit … [Read more...]
Last weekend we visited the St. Louis Zoo with the kids ... fun! While I took plenty of pictures of the kids, I couldn't help but play with my new camera to get some close ups of animals I usually have to squint to see. Oh and these sting rays ... I touched them ... with my bare hands. It was so freaky but amazing. {Evidently he had an itch to scratch} … [Read more...]
Friday and Saturday our family took a quick trip down to St. Louis (our former home for 3 years) and took in all the sights we could manage to pack in during our short visit. It was amazing how many things have changed (in a good way) and how many things were just as I remembered them. We even cruised by the house we rented while living in the city ... one of those things that haven't changed. The wretched old lady that lived next door to us with … [Read more...]
The battle has been raging on for decades, should pizza be thin and flimsy or thick and hearty? For me, the answer is simple. Thick baby! As deep and packed with cheese and veggies as you can make it. That's why, when we visit Chicago, the one place we must visit is our favorite pizza restaurant. Actually, there are two we like the pizza from but Gino's had such a long wait we moved onto our next favorite, Giordano's. And to be perfectly … [Read more...]
I honestly have so much to say about our vacation that I thought it would be easier to break it up over the week with a different part of our vacation each day. Today, the focus is on the wildlife. I have over 300 pictures from our trip but I really need to narrow them down so I don't bore you. Let's start with the alligators... We all know about Alligator Alley (a long stretch of highway in southern Florida). Unfortunately, it's nothing … [Read more...]
