It’s taken a long time for my parent’s north Chicago suburban friends and acquaintances to understand and accept that I actually live here. I’m not a student, and never have attended the local land grant institution. I own a house here, pay taxes here, vote here, gave birth to my child here (wow we actually have a real live hospital!).
Over the years I have heard plenty of interesting commentary on my adopted hometown, my favorite coming from people who haven’t stepped foot here since they graduated 40 years ago. But perhaps the most memorable comment uttered by one of these aforementioned people was this golden nugget : “How can you live in Champaign? There’s not even a children’s boutique there!”
It doesn’t know it, but the new Bella Bambini store in Champaign has come to my rescue. This bastion of upscale baby and maternity threads will open in grand fashion on Friday, giving deprived infants, children and pregnant mothers of Champaign-Urbana the relief they’ve been seeking. And all the while, it will finally make it OK for a north suburban girl to call C-U home.
13 responses so far ↓
Jenna // May 14, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I’m so glad CU will be legitimate now.
I always get “so you’re still in school?” or “when are you moving back home?” I’ve lived here for almost 9 years…this is my home!
Mate'man // May 14, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Look what you’ve done by publicizing Bella Bambini — !
C-U may soon be invaded by uppity, over-fed, North Shore or Lake Shore Drive folks who’ll crowd the golf courses, make reservations at the top restaurants, hog the best hotel rooms, and generally make life miserable for honest, hard-workin’ home folks.
And you thought it was nice to have the STUDENTS gone!
Mrs. Chicken // May 14, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Whoo hooo! Just what I needed - more places to spend money I don’t have. This baby in my belly is kicking with joy.
Mrs. Chicken // May 14, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Um, you forgot to mention the bagel shop. Bagels and baby clothes - I may NEVER leave Chambana now.
Amy // May 14, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Well shoot now we are all going to have to pave our lanes and stop eating with our hands. I’m fixing to go out yonder and see about indoor plumbin. Larkin’s been plum neked since she was born cause we aint had no where to shop for kids clothes.
I worked in Chicago for 10 years. Ask them how far and long it is to get to their baby boutiques. In the meantime I’ll meet you there and the girls can ignore each other and we can shop and eat lunch.
Anna // May 14, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I moved to Champaign 9 months ago. People assume that I’m a student. I’m not; I work for a start-up company here in town.
Frances // May 15, 2008 at 8:40 am
We moved here last year to be with our new grandson, and fell in love with the people and area. Believe me, this is heaven compared to the chaos around the Atlanta area!
Dana // May 15, 2008 at 12:37 pm
l announced to my mother that I was moving from Alexandria, Va., to Champaign in 2002. She had lived here while she and my father were in graduate school from 1968-1971.
Her immediate response, “Why would anyone want to live there? I hated it. It’s a terrible place to live.”
It was at that moment I knew I had made the exact right choice. Mostly we get funny looks because with my husband’s job he could live anywhere near an airport… but we chose Champaign. And most people give us really funny looks about that. But we enjoy it here, and we love raising X-man in an area that moves at a slower pace than what we could have provided him in the D.C. area.
Amy // May 16, 2008 at 7:08 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET FRIEND!!!
Lisa // May 17, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Hey, and we have a, you know, cupcake bar, too. I don’t think there’s any question of our uptown-ness.
khanada // May 17, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I had to fly Chicago to LA a few years ago, back when you could be met at the gate. Some man on the flight was met by his sig other who was happy to see him and asked how the trip to Chicago had been… “Awful,” said the man on my flight. “I don’t know *what* people who live in Chicago ever do for fun. It was horrible there.” To this day, I wish I was the type of person who could have asked them what it is they do in LA that people in Chicago don’t do. I still puzzle over that snippet of conversation.
Meanwhile, my neighbor gave us fresh asparagus and farm eggs today and I used them to make delightful omelettes. Fresh eggs are amazing… thick shells and the yolks are so orange! So hooray for life in CU!
BelleNoelle // May 19, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Booooo….
Just Kidding (kinda)
Clarissa // May 21, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I have to say that it drives me nuts when people talk about Champaign and they don’t live here! Drives me nuts. What makes me even more infuriated is when people move here from big cities and then complain about it. I am always like “Go home then.” If people cannot appreciate small town living then they haven’t really lived. I have to say I love leaving my house 5 minutes until I have to be there and still making it just in time. I cannot imagine sitting in traffic for 2 hours. No way, no how, I’ll take my 5 minute commute over it all!
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