If it hasn’t been readily apparent in my blogs, winter is my dark season. I’m telling you – the bears called this one right. Why NOT sleep through the nastiest time of the year and wake up to the scent of fresh grass and warm breezes? Yeah, yeah, there’s that skiing thing. And hockey thing. And busting out that new North Face thing. But me? Yeah, I’m a summer girl.

So when I can finally peel off my coat and walk around comfortably outdoors, I make time to get to Old Orchard before the kids get out of school. It really is one of my favorite spring rituals. It’s fairly close to home, so I can get quality time in before the bus drops off the kids, and it’s…outdoors. I loooooove feeling the sun beating down on my back between shops, not having to spend an hour watching my kids terrorize the toddlers on the dragon, and the people watching is to die for. I like parking it on the bench outside of Bebe just to see if anyone really does by some of the outrageous outfits in their storefront windows.

During that stretch of warm weather last week, I made it over and discovered that…
* famed Chicago area chef Rick Bayliss has opened Frontera Frescco inside Macy’s,
* GapKids underwent a wicked remodel and looks great, and…
* my beloved Bruschetta mix is still in stock at Oil & Vinegar (this stuff is to.die.for. Really.) Also, you MUST try the “Wrath” - it’s a grinder containing chili and chocolate, and delivers the perfect punch to zest up that bowl of chocolate ice cream!

Technorati Tags: Westfield Old Orchard, Skokie shopping, North Shore Chicago malls

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 3:30 pm and is filed under Skokie(t) , Thoughts(t) , Shopping(t) , Check this out!(t) . You can leave a response.