Plan to visit Chicago's 29th Annual Chinatown Summer Fair on Sunday, July 20, 2008.  This event will take place on Wentworth from Cermak to 24th Place from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

This Neighborhood Festival will be featuring:

A Lion Dance procession at 12:30 p.m.

Welcome at 1 p.m. at the Main Stage (23rd St. & Wentworth Ave.) with Asian cultural entertainment and live music.

A taste of Chinatown’s many restaurants.

Local unique gift shops.

A Chinese arts and crafts exhibit.

Street vendors with an array of merchandise.

A Children’s area (24th Place & Wentworth).

Come and join the fun!  For more information, please visit http://www.chicagochinatown.com/ .

The book Baby Bargains by Denise & Alan Fields was a lifesaver for me when I was pregnant with my first.  As a first-time parent, I was completely overwhelmed with all of the amazing and confusing baby products out there.  I didn't even know what a onesie was!  This book tells you which items you'll need, which items you won't need, and how much you can plan to spend.  I loved it so much that I bought it for all of my newly pregnant friends.

My favorite baby product recommendation of all time?  The Tiny Love Gymini--it kept my little one entertained for months!

*Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.

JO was a Senior Network Engineer for a cable company in Atlanta when she became a mommy.  She and her husband liked to eat out, go to movies, golf, and travel.  After her first daughter was born, she hired a live-in nanny and went back to work.  Even though the nanny was very nice and caring with the baby, there were still a lot of things the nanny did that JO didn't agree with.  JO also felt like she had missed out a lot on the precious baby years, so she decided to stay at home when her second daughter was born.

JO & her husband now live in Seattle, WA with their 4 ½ and 2-year-old daughters.  In the mornings, the kids are fed and dressed by 9 am, and then the older one goes to Montessori school while JO and the younger one go to a playdate or the park.  If the little one naps, JO can get some chores done, relax a bit, and maybe even catch a 20-minute cat nap before picking up the older one.  Her husband has recently started traveling to CA weekly for a contract job, so night time is a bit hectic for her, trying to get the girls fed, bathed, and to bed by 9pm.

JO’s husband works as a contractor, which allows him to make more money and be the sole bread winner of their household.  They also try to make extra income by selling stuff on Ebay, although that has gotten harder as more people start to sell the same things.  Last year, they made some good money selling unlocked iPhones on Ebay

To teach the kids about their culture, JO tries to speak Chinese to them at home, but they both gravitate towards English, especially after having started school.  She sent her older child to Chinese school last summer and will do the same again this year.   Hopefully she will learn to speak more Chinese.

For fun, JO’s family likes going to parks, children's museums, and the beach during summer.  They also go to Las Vegas and Disney World/Land once a year or so.

To find some time for herself, JO has started sending her 2-year-old to a daycare nearby two mornings a week.  That gives her some much needed free time to do her own things.  JO has also recently started working out again.  The gym she goes to has a daycare so she gets an hour of work out time all to herself 4-5 days a week.  The mommy group she’s in also organizes mom's night outs, so she tries to go once a month to just have some fun without the kids. 

Super Sushi:  an adorable sushi play set for little ones by Small World Toys.  This 14-piece sushi set includes:  chopsticks, chopsticks rest, soy sauce bottle, soy sauce plate, tea cup, rice bowl, sushi tray, hand roll, shrimp tempura, tuna roll, shrimp sashimi, salmon sushi, and a wasabi leaf.  Yum!  What could be more fun?