Look for ChiIL Mama This Weekend.......And Think Globally-Play Locally

Featured Event:   Circesteem Shows 2pm Saturday & Sunday!

Join CircEsteem as we celebrate our 10th Annual Winter Circus on December 18th  & 19th at 2:00 p.m. at Alternatives Inc. 4730 N. Sheridan Rd. Chicago, IL 60640. Over 50 kids from our HomeWork & CircusWork, CircusTeam and Saturday Circus programs will take the stage and dazzle audiences with amazing circus acts including: trampoline, trapeze, tight wire, rolling globe, gym wheel and much more.   Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for kids under 13. Doors open at 1:00 p.m. with general admission seating. Self-parking is available on Lawrence Ave. just west of the Red Line stop. Street parking is available on Sheridan.   CircEsteem Inc. 4730 N. Sheridan Rd. Chicago, Illinois 60640 312 731 HAHA

Come celebrate winter Solstice 6-9pm at Northpark Nature Center--walk luminary lit trails at your own pace, enjoy crafts and live music, visit wild critters from Big Wolf Ranch, enjoy a bon fire and make treats for local birds.

Sunday:

Sunday, December 19th, 10:00am - 11:30am

Our Language Fairs are offered periodically as an opportunity for parents and kids (1-5) to come for a taste of our Spanish, Mandarin, and Italian language classes! Additionally, the Italian sample will focus on the Italian holiday celebration of "Le Befana". Kids rotate through all three language stations with their parents and play games, do crafts and sing songs - all the while laughing and having fun. Click here to see pictures from our spring fair!

Please register at info@mutlilingualchicago.com. This is a free event, but please register in advance! Be sure to include your child's name and age in the e-mail.

The Nutcracker must close December 26th! That's right! You've got less than 2 weeks left to see The House's new holiday hit! DON'T FORGET THAT WE ADDED SATURDAY AND SUNDAY MATINEES TO THE SHOW SCHEDULE! Tickets are moving fast, so make sure you don't miss our "warm, kind, moving, inclusive, affordable and wholly original version of The Nutcracker (Chicago Tribune).” THE MAGIC PARLOUR is STILL RUNNING! Every Friday night at 10:30 pm, the downstairs cabaret at The Chopin becomes The Magic Parlour. Join The House for an intimate evening of classic magic with Award-Winning entertainerDennis Watkins. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE! Tickets to ODRADEK go on sale next week! Stay tuned for more information on The House's first collaboration with celebrated playwright Brett Neveu. Part Midwestern Gothic Fairy tale, part Hitchcockian thriller, Odradek is the tale of a troubled young boy and his relationship with the monster under the stairs.

ABC Wednesday: Frank = Fabulous, Funky Fun!

Double click on slide show for full screen options.



We're pretty picky about who we publicize on ChiIL Mama,  but Paul Frank has impressed us at Kidzapalooza since 2005.   They're committed to eco-friendly practices and messages.   They're generous with the give aways.   And their characters are so silly and fun, they're hard not to like.

Du-Jay and Sagezilla hangin' out with a life sized Julius, Kidzapalooza 2010.

Paul Frank gave away FOUR of these awesome $350 cruisers to lucky kids.

Ever wonder whoooo is behind Paul Frank's fun designs?   This guy, Alex, designed the Owl Reuse It! that got silk screened onto a whole lotta free cotton bags at Kidzapalooza this year.   Those bags are now saving zillions of plastic bags from the landfill in thousands of Chicago homes.

Sagie and Sadie, the "s girls"--modeling Small Paul Tee Shirts.

Click on the link below for more F Fun at ABC Wednesday.

http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/

Kidzapalooza and Lollapalooza 2010: Saturday line up and Friday highlights

The biggest rock fest for the littles is happening NOW.
Come on out today and see

11:30–11:55 12:30–12:55 1:30–1:55 2:30–2:55 3:00–3:25 3:45–4:10 4:15–4:35

Tim and the Space Cadets The Candy Band Rocknoceros The Verve Pipe The Happiness Club Dan Zanes and The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys

Check the Kidzapalooza web site or find them on Facebook for late breaking info.


We'll have a full recap continuing this week, along with a fun interview with Seattle's Kindie Rock Kings, Recess Monkey.   For now, we'll give you a quick taste of the highlights.   Then put your space pants on, head on down to Grant Park and rock your Crocs off.

Double click on the slideshow for full screen options.


Friday Kidzapalooza Highlights:
Interview with Recess Monkey and a funky, fun set headlining the kids' stage.
 

Rockin' out with Tim and The Space Cadets

Getting creative with renowned pop artist, Romero Britto. 

According to his web site, Romero Britto today is represented in galleries and museums across five continents, from Singapore to Dubai, to London and New York. Opening in Paris at the Salle le Nôtre at the Louvre Museum in December 2008, Britto unveiled “Journey” to hundreds of guests. Other recent shows and projects are just as impressive, “…Matisse channeling Picasso,” wrote the New York Times® when Britto created a living canvas performed by the Cirque du Soleil in celebration of Super Bowl XLI.

Not only that, but he's a down to earth, nice guy who isn't above sitting down with a bunch of children at Kidzapalooza and painting outside on a hot, Chicago summer day.

Sagezilla and Du-Jay are both still at an age where they want to grow up to be both artists and vets.   They draw and design found object sculptures daily.

Romero said that he likes to encourage creativity in kids and thinks it's hugely important.   I did a retake without the glasses glare, but later it seemed fitting that he is reflecting back the art of the children and for the children.   His book is colorful and excellent, too.   Check out My Alphabet Playbook for all the pre-k kids in your life who still want to grow up to be artists. 

Here's Sagezilla and Romero, both in shirts bearing their own art work.

  

Meet him in person again Saturday.

 

Friday Lollapalooza Highlights:


Helping green the earth--We collected 3 trash bags full of recyclables and traded them in for tree shirts with the full Lollapalooza line up on the back.




Seeing Bleeding Heart Bakery--our favorite punk and hard core pastry shop (and their sweet new t-shirt designs)

CHICAGO'S KIDZAPALOOZA!  this Friday through Sunday. ALSO! Just announced! Check  out The Happiness Club,  Recess Monkey, The Verve Pipe  and Dan Zanes at the  ultra fun V.I.R. event at the  James Hotel, Sunday morning  at 9am! First come, first served  admission is open to the  public. The James is at the  corner of Rush and Ontario!

8 Days a Week We ♥ Paul Frank

Sagezilla and Du-Jay's love for the Small Paul characters began with the first Kidzapalooza, years ago.   Since then, I've gone thrift store treasure hunting and found upwards of 25 Small Paul tees & PJs for the kids.   They're so well made they really hold up.   And the characters are classic, funky fun, even if they're from years past.


When we were packing for a week out of town, Sagezilla (all on her own) decided on an all Paul theme and brought 8 Small Paul t-shirts.  




We were still outta town, and 4 days through the all Paul wardrobe, when we came across the Paul Frank Favorite Flashback Contest.   So we just have to spread the word.  



We still love our comfy old favorites.  

8 days a week, she luu...uh...uh...uh...uvs Julius and Skurvy and all their friends.   Now Sagezilla's been checkin' out the sweet Skurvy bike to match her wardrobe.   Even with my awesome thrift karma, I doubt I can pull that one out of a hat.

  
Vote for chiIL Mama so we can win some sweet sunglasses and other Paul Frank goodies, or send in your own entry.   Why should the kids have all the fun?!   

Mama wants some sweet sunglasses.

Vintage is cool.   However... there's nothin' like a wardrobe upgrade, and new designs rock! 



Click on Favorite Flashbacks below to link to

Paul Frank Optometrics on Facebook.
Then click LIKE on your favorite 
 pixs to vote.

Kidzapalooza 08

Slash and Perry Farrell rock Kidzapalooza

Big lottery winners Du-Jay (7) and Sagezilla (5)

My children's school has an annual Pastapalooza. King's Island amusement park has a gift shop called Lots a Palooza and variations on the theme have come to generically signify any kind of fest or sale a palooza out there.

I had a nightmare the night before Lollapalooza 08 that everything had been paloozafied and I was forced to pump at gas-a-palooza and shop at Costcoapalooza. I've been increasingly annoyed by the overuse of palooza, but the original namesake is anything but a looza. It has become bigger and better with age, with a record 225,000 rock fans attending the fest this year. That was a capacity crowd of 75,000 a day.

Du-Jay had the extreme good fortune to win the grand prize $400 electric guitar donated by Daisy Rock. http://www.daisyrock.com. It has the delicious name, Rock Candy Classic Diamond Sparkle. We had a blast wheeling it around in the baby jogger and getting compliments on the new arrival.

The kids loved silkscreening tee shirts with an old timey villan rendition of Paul Frank's infamous monkey, Julius. We also screened unbleached tote bags with a rockin' bird design.

Paul Frank flies in art department pros from California to help the kids silkscreen and to temp tattoo all the spawn of the inked parental masses. These amazingly tireless artists totalled 400 t's, 800 totes and a whopping 1,020 tattoos!! Our favorite artist says she intentionally makes wacky faces so people will wonder about her in their family albums.

Du-Jay is gettin' inked by the designer of the Kidzapalooza tee shirts that Miss Sagezilla is modeling. The tees feature a fabulous characature of Lolla founder and Jane's Addiction frontman, Perry Farrell, cavorting with a host of beloved Small Paul characters.

Swag-a-palooza (sorry I couldn't resist):
Paul Frank--3 bird tote bags, 1 Julius and 2 bird tee shirts, 2 pocket mirrors, 4 posters, and a hand full of Small Paul stickers and buttons, 1 all natural lip balm and the ever useful, Paul Frank earplugs

Scavenger hunt, race car track winnings and free handouts-- 1 wooden snake, 1 large super ball with frog, 1 plastic parachuting man, 2 squirt guns

Edibles--4 glutin free giant cookies and daily Probug Kefer all around

Misc--3 photos of the kids as future rock stars on a stage complete with cheering masses backdrop, hip hop CD of MC Sagezilla and MC Du-Jay rocking out on the mic., 2 covers for said CD, bubble art, 4 dayglo orange, battery opp. fans on lanyards, 1 black and 1 white bandanna from myspace and 3 dog tag ankle bells crafts

Raffle--2 Kidzapalooza harmonicas, 1 $400 electric guitar

Of course, it's ultimately all about the music. Fans under 10 and their grateful parents get rock star seating in a special gated section up front. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Bill Belzer of Uncle Tupelo, Peter DiStefano and Tor, Perry Farrell and Slash all rocked the kids stage. Homemade Jamz' may be less famous, but we thoroughly enjoyed their kickin' blues on instruments made from mufflers.

Kidzapalooza closed at 4:30 daily, to give parents plenty of time to see great mainstage acts. Friday, the whole family enjoyed Cat Power, The Raconteurs, and Radiohead. Saturday we caught mainstage acts Lupe Fiasco, Toadies and Rage Against The Machine. Sunday we rocked out to Love and Rockets, The National, and Nine Inch Nails.