Chicagoans...help us plan our staycation!

This summer we are staying close to home and taking a staycation with our baby girl.

So far we have a few outdoor activities we plan to do:

• Head to the Green City Market on a Wednesday morning and then head over to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
• Go to Oak Park and do a Walking Tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District.
• Head north to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. (We have been there in the fall, but never spring/summer.)

What are some other off-the-beaten-path ideas to do in Chicago with a 2-month-old in tow?

Special Delivery

Today our baby girl received her first international package in the mail :-)

It was a gift from our friends, Christian & Verena, who live in Bremen, Germany.

It came in brightly colored gift wrap that even coordinates with her nursery...

With a sweet card which says: "Hurray, Hurray...our little sunshine is here!"

And the gift itself was a set of red & white baby towels: a hooded towel, bib and bath mitt adorned with gingham hearts, sent "with love" from abroad.

Thanks for the thoughtful gift and special delivery, C & V!

Vintage Bazaar & Letterpress Love

Despite the nasty, rainy weather in Chicago this weekend, my sisters and I headed to the Vintage Bazaar on Saturday in Pilsen to see what we could find.

One vendor had a bucket full of wooden letterpress blocks that was calling my name.

$5 later I walked away with inky hands and a unique way to display my baby girl's name on a nursery shelf:

Baby Blue Steel

What do you think?

I think she's on her way to perfecting "Magnum" soon!

Vintage Changing Table

Claire has a little piece of my childhood in her nursery... my 30 year-old changing table.

This is the before, circa 1981:

I was so excited that the print on the table actually coordinated with the bright, citrusy colors and jungle animals that pop up in our nursery.

My Dad was nice enough to paint the wicker white for us, to match our motif, and here are the results:

She is not a fan of diaper changes, but she sure likes hanging out on there once the diaper change is done, so I thinks it's a hit :-)

Mamma needs a new pair of espadrilles...

...and baby does, too!

On our first solo outing today, Baby Claire and I headed to Target and picked up these two adorable pairs of shoes.

For Mommy: Women's Mossimo Supply Co. Ownah Flower Espadrilles in Red -- $14.99

Word to the wise, believe the reviews, they run large and wide. So size down and skip them altogether if your foot is super-narrow, but otherwise these are a super-cute steal.

For Baby: JUST ONE YOU Made by Carter's ® Newborn Girls' Espadrille Shoe in White -- $7.99

I can't wait for these to make a debut, maybe with her Easter dress this weekend.

"Real Room Tour" @ buymodernbaby

Esther, of buymodernbaby.com, stumbled across my nursery photos on Flickr and asked to feature them as a "Real Room Tour" on her blog. Of course I obliged, and I feel humbled & delighted that someone enjoys the room as much as us. Hopefully it can provide some inspiration to others beginning to build their nursery.

Check out her post featuring our nursery today: Real Room Tour: Gray with Bright Citrus in Chicago

Thanks again for the feature, Esther!