Entries from April 2008
It’s an annual rite of passage. Every year around this time I get a letter from my Greek past, imploring me to allow it to become part of my present.
Yes, I was a sorority girl. Of course at my alma mater, we liked to believe that our Greek system was better than those at other schools. It was somehow more refined. We had friends outside of the system, we were involved with other activities, blah blah blah. We cemented this thought system by going and visiting our “sisters” here at the University of Illinois. Wow, they were sure different from us, wink wink.
I dodged the sorority stuff as soon as I could move out of the house. Given that, it would take a hurricane in Central Illinois before I would volunteer my time to be an “adviser” to the chapter here. I’m really not sure why anyone, other than their peer group, would want to hang out with sorority girls. If I could go back in time, I don’t think I would care to hang out with myself back then.
The letters will keep piling up in a heap. At least they’re recyclable, even if I am not.
Categories: University of Illinois
The Killer Cockapoo did her job this spring. She chased away most of the rabbits that normally make my garden their own private buffet, and for the first time since I planted them four years ago, we finally had more than one tulip bloom in the backyard.
Here’s the evidence:
So maybe there’s hope for my tomatoes.
Categories: Champaign · Dogs · In the Neighborhood
In case you didn’t notice this news item last week, Arcola — gateway to Amish Country — is getting its own resort.
Yes, I said resort.
The 125-room “Green Mill Village”, being built by Indianapolis developers with land contributed by the city, will have a “conference center, a spa and wellness center, retail shops, a gas station, convenience store and an upscale chain restaurant, all surrounding a pond,” according to the News-Gazette. It is going to be marketed as a family-friendly destination, complete with a swimming pool.
Well, the “swimming pool” is where I think these guys are missing the boat. If I was to build a “family-friendly” resort in the middle of nowhere these days, it would have to include an indoor water park. It doesn’t really seem like there would be much to do at Green Mill Village during the cold winter months.
This winter, we went up to the Wisconsin Dells, the indoor water park resort mecca. There was two feet of snow on the ground, but we were running around in our swimsuits more than happy on the slides and in the pools — no sunscreen required. The closest indoor water park resort to C-U is the one located near Starved Rock.
Selfishly I think this would be grand, since many of the indoor water park resorts sell day passes as well.
Nothing says “Amish country” more than water slides and wave pools.
Categories: Babies and Kids · Road trip · The Business Section
… that the new cupcake bar in downtown Champaign *finally* would open the week of Passover.
When us Jews can’t eat leaven.
*sigh*
Categories: Champaign · Eating Out · The Business Section
When I first heard the term Mommy Mixer, I thought it was just that — a social outlet for new (or old) mothers to meet one another. Perhaps there would even be chocolate bon bons. But reading the fine print it became apparent that this “mommy mixer” is another addition to what I call the Babysitter Industrial Complex (or BIC).
Here’s the 411: Mommy Mixer, a company out of Texas that especially targets college towns, is coming here next week to Paris’ Boutique in Champaign. It puts on events that are a reincarnation of the speed dating that was a popular in the 90s, only instead of looking for tall, dark and handsome, moms hope to find dependable, trustworthy and caring co-eds to care for Jack and Jill.
Here’s the catch: For the privilege of meeting “an exclusive network of great sitter candidates,” families pay $100.
Well, that’s about $100 more than I paid to find to our occasional babysitter. She’s a lovely gal I picked up on the Chambana craigslist. I know I’m not the only mom in town who has had success there.
I’m not so sure what’s so “exclusive” about this network, considering that it costs nothing — bubkes — for the sitters to participate. And Mommy Mixer doesn’t screen the candidates, either.
While the cost is one obstacle, I also have to question the timing — the University of Illinois spring semester ends the first week of May. So I think I’ll pass on Mommy Mixer this time. Their Champaign contact is planning six to eight of these events a year, so maybe I can have another chance to score an “exclusive.”
Categories: Babies and Kids · Champaign · Shopping · The Business Section · University of Illinois
Ever wonder what your house would cost in northern California? Well, last night I happened to catch a snippet of a real estate show called “Sleep On It” that airs on HGTV. (The premise of the show is that potential home buyers stay the night in the houses they are looking at. I didn’t make it that long to see the sleepover.)
They were showing a family that lives in San Jose that wants to move up from a 2 bedroom, 1 bath townhouse to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath single family home. Their budget? Maxing out at $800K.
So the first house they show is 1040 square feet with 3 Bed, 2 Bath, priced at $709,950. To illustrate how inflated the NoCal market is, they compare the home to a similar one in — of all places — Champaign, Illinois (the tenor-voiced announcer says) for only $159,000.
If you truly wanted to get a ballpark figure of what your home would cost in another city, you can plug in the numbers on Coldwell Banker’s Home Price Comparison Index calculator to approximate what your house might cost in 340 markets nationwide. It’s a little outdated, but still fun. For instance, it says that it would cost me almost $300K more to afford my same home in the north Chicago suburb where I grew up.
That’s a chunk of change.
Categories: Champaign · Media · Real Estate
