American Girl Author Valerie Tripp and #PricelessChicago With #Mastercard #greatgifts

American Girl tops ChiIL Mama's Great Gifts List.   American Girl has an impressive commitment to literacy and philanthropy.   They publish an exciting array of books that get girls interested in reading and engaged with history.   And of course the dolls and accessories are adorable, well made, and so much fun to collect.

Look Ma!   No lines!

We were given an amazing opportunity with Mastercard's Priceless Chicago perks.   The last weekend of October, we got to meet and interview author Valerie Tripp, shop at American Girl Place Chicago an hour before the store opened to the public, and have a fabulous brunch at the American Girl Cafe!   It was a priceless experience to share with my 9 year old daughter.   



Author, Valerie Tripp, was personable and wonderful.


Mastercard is offering another special early access/brunch for purchase by the public in December.   We'll have all the details as soon as they're available.   This one will be exclusively for Citibank Mastercard holders, so get your plastic ready, or apply today.   Highly recommended!

It was truly a treat to meet Valerie Tripp, one of the original American Girl book authors and personal, long time friend of company founder, Pleasant.   Valerie is a prolific writer whose American Girl books about Felicity, Kit, Josefina, Molly, and Samantha are well loved and read around the world.

Samantha, Sage, Caroline & Kanani share brunch at the famous & fabulous American Girl Cafe

Something Old/Something New:

We enjoyed a fabulous brunch in the American Girl Cafe with many press and blogger friends, their daughters and lucky members of the Mastercard holding public.   Before we went, my daughter Sage had trouble narrowing down just which American Girl dolls would get to come along on our adventure.



That morning she was elated to open her brand new historical character doll, Caroline, so of course she decided to bring her.   We had saved Caroline for the day of our Mastercard Priceless Chicago brunch and let the excitement and anticipation build. 



Then, of course, Sage also wanted to bring her Samantha doll and books for Valerie to sign.   So, we had one of the oldest, original Pleasant Company American Girl Dolls and the very newest of the collection on board.   Finally, Sage wanted Kanani--the Hawaiian girl of the year from 2011 along for a trip to the salon.   Her long, lovely hair does tend to tangle when the doll is well loved and played with often.   So she joined our special shopping day, too!   

Kanani's wearing a vintage American Girl Olympic Suit with a medal (from gymnast McKenna's 2012 collection) from our recent meeting with real Olympic Medalist, Aly Raisman, also at American Girl Place, Chicago, a few weeks before.   We also have McKenna, they gymnast doll of the year 2012, but Kanani resembles Sage more closely, so she chose to dress her as a gymnast instead.

Click here for our photo filled feature on our recent meeting with real life Olympic Gold Medalist, Aly Raisman

Before:



Although her messy buns were cute and matched Sagezilla's own gymnast buns, the doll was in need of some pro hair styling help!   We'd never been to the Doll Salon before and left quite impressed.  For $20, Kanani left with a super cool lattice style, two long fishbone braids, and patriotic ribbons to match her Olympic suit!

After:

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We will be publishing our original video interview with Valerie Tripp along with some footage of her brunch talk in the very near future.   We'll also have a big American Girl book give away up this month, an American Girl Cafe Birthday Party feature, and more.

If you've got a young, American girl in your life, this opportunity truly is a priceless day out together!

*Thanks again to Mastercard for brunch with Valerie Tripp, a $50 gift card to use during our fun day, and early access to the store.   Thanks to American Girl/Mattel for providing us with books, dolls & magazines to review and great giveaways for our readers over the years.   All opinions are our own.

Welcome American Girl Caroline Abbott: Book Review, Signings, Events & Give Aways

Here at ChiIL Mama, we were super stoked for September, because we got to welcome the newest American Girl historical Doll, Caroline.   But the fun doesn't stop there!   October brings Caroline book signings, cute Halloween doll costumes, Caroline's celebration dinners, a meet n greet with the author of the historical Molly books, a Caroline hero video contest, and so much more!

**We're very excited that the author of the Caroline books, Kathleen Ernst, will signing at the Chicago store October 13th from 1:00pm-3:00pm.**

We were lucky to catch an early sneak peek at her Meet Caroline book and eagerly raced through it.  This cliff hanger of a mystery drew us all in and left us wanting more.   We naturally had to pay a visit to our local, Chi-Town American Girl Place at Watertower and buy the sequel which we're enjoying now!

It's this view below that makes me wanna move in and live at American Girl Place!   I've been a book lover since I was a child, and seriously wish my real house looked like this, with a cool, two story, "book tree house".



Sure, the collector dolls and all their adorable accessories and sets are fun.   But, the American Girl books make me happy as a mom.   I trust them to get the details right, and provide entertaining, educational, quality stories that encourage the qualities I encourage in my own young girl.





The historical girl books are well researched, in fact, Kathleen Ernst, author of the Caroline books worked as a curator for Old World Wisconsin so she's got a rich store of knowledge of the past!   She's even written an adult mystery series set there.   For loads of cool history and background info about the Caroline books and the year 1812, we highly recommend checking out author Kathleen's blog right here.



My American Girl at Old World Wisconsin with 3 generations of our family.

We paid a visit to Kathleen Ernst's former workplace this summer, and we'll have a photo and video filled adventure feature right here at ChiIL Mama in the near future.   Old World Wisconsin was quite impressive and highly recommended.

Sagezilla wrote her first book report of the school year on Meet Caroline, complete with a cool, slick presentation on Prezi.    Here's her take on the book, as a nine year old girl.



Sage Words:

caroline on Prezi

ChiIL Mama's take:

My daughter and I read Meet Caroline within days of each other and I was as engrossed in the story as she was.   It was fun to discuss the story together and speculate on how the tale continues.   Caroline's a smart, caring, brave little girl. She's got spunk and isn't afraid to speak up when she feels an injustice is going on.   When Caroline's father is captured by the British before they even got word that war had begun, the young girl finds herself at home with 3 generations of women.   She's relentless in her quest to bring her dad back home, and at the end of the first book she performs a selfless act and gives up something special and valuable to save her town.

At first I was a bit leery about the 1812 date, as choices and roles for women and girls were so much more restrictive then.   However, author Kathleen Ernst does a fabulous job of empowering her women and girls while still staying true to history.  After her father is taken prisoner, her mother steps up to run the shipyard and Caroline helps, despite some initial disbelief from locals that they could handle it.   Grandma, who lives with them, is wise and amazing, too, with valuable nuggets of insight for Caroline.

I was also a little concerned about the backdrop of war, but this series doesn't glamorize the conflict.   The focus is on the village and on worried people on both sides who fervently want peace.

We can't wait to read the rest of the series.   We just bought Caroline's Secret Message, the 2nd book.   As a mom, I'm thrilled my daughter's excited about reading and has found a strong role model in Caroline she can empathize with.   The historical American Girl books are a true gift, as they bring history alive, spark imagination, and personalize the past in a way that dry accounts and facts just don't do.   After reading Meet Caroline, my daughter is also now  jazzed to go to museums and historical sites to learn more about the early 1800's.   Works for me!

Click here for all the details

Have you ever had to be brave? Enter our contest by creating a video clip (up to 60 seconds) about a time you felt like an everyday hero. You can tell a story, re-create a moment, or even act out the scene with your doll. Ask your parent to upload your video here by October 31 for your chance to win.*

Then come back November 5 to vote for one of our six finalists and help choose the winner of our grand prize, which includes a trip for four to Washington, D.C.; an extra-special day at the American Girl store; a Caroline doll, books, and accessories set; plus a VIP tour of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to learn more about life in Caroline's day.

SAVE THE DATES:

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We have a special meet n greet with author Valerie Tripp through Priceless Chicago and Mastercard on 10/23.    She wrote all the books in the Felicity, Josefina, Kit, and Molly series and three of the books in the Samantha series!   She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland and will be coming to town to have brunch with a lucky group of Chi-Town moms and daughters.   Check out more about Valerie Tripp here.     We'll have a photo filled feature for you after our brunch on 10/23.

We're extra excited to meet Valerie, since we just bought 4 American Girl DVDs and Sage has been using her own "helpful works money" to buy them.   We were pretty jazzed they were temporarily on sale for just $5 each instead of $15.    It worked out perfectly since $5 is exactly what she earns each week.   She just watched Kit, Samantha & Molly's movies and is now eagerly reading three Molly books, though Kit is her favorite.   Her grandparents still live in Cincinnati, where Kit is from, and her grandma grew up there during the late 1930's and 40's, not too long after the time Kit's books and movie take place.

We have lots of exciting American Girl features coming including book reviews, author interviews, a photo filled Cafe Birthday party feature, monster cake fun from the fall American Girl magazine, and much more. 

**Thanks to American Girl for sending us books, magazines and dolls to review and give away to our readers.    All opinions expressed are our own and we are not financially compensated.

Cubs Priceless Adventure-Mastercard #photo & video filled recap

 

When people ask me Cubs or Sox, I always say Blackhawks. 
  

So, even though hockey's on ice (or rather off ice) for the season, my heart still belongs to The Blackhawks.   I was surprised and happy to hear the old school Hawks theme song and see their iconic indian head represented on the screens between innings, when I went to see The Cubs play on 5/29 and 6/13.

    

  I even saw Hawks fans proudly showing their true colors among all the Cubbies red white & blue.   Maybe these hybrid Hawks/Cubs fans are "hubs", eh?  Better than the alternate.   Hee hee.
 

 

That said, when we were invited to a special Cubs day ON Wrigley Field with other members of the press, bloggers and Mastercard Priceless Cubs Pledge winners, we said an emphatic, YES! 

     

We were invited to:
 

*bat and catch with the coaches

 

 
*take a few swings in the batting cage behind the ivy, then keep a ball and get it signed by the coaches
 

    

*dine in style at the Stadium Club
 

*AND catch a free night game--Cubs V. Tigers

 

My kids tease me for saying WOO HOO and awesomely awesome......but even as a writer, I can't think of anything else that better sums up our day ON Wrigley Field.    It was indeed awesomely awesome!   Woo Hoo!!

 
Check out Du-Jay tossing a few balls and getting some great pointers from the pros!!

   
Then see him passing along his new found wisdom to little sister...priceless!

 

My Dad was born and raised in Rogers Park and has remained a life long Cubs fan since 1938.   

            

Here's my dad, Richard Rosene, as a child in the 40's Even though he lives two states away now, he still fervently follows The Cubs.  He also fondly tells stories of taking the el down to games as a child in the 40's.  He remembers sitting in the bleacher seats and his dad buying the kids lemonade, but he never saw a game from anywhere but the cheap seats.   
 

 His art work from April 1947--entitled "Ballgame" 

 
So, it was especially thrilling for him to see his grandson and granddaughter have a rockin' opportunity like this! 

    
The kids dug being on the flipside of the infamous ivy....

       
And walking in the footsteps of the pros... 

   

They also enjoyed getting to keep a ball and get it signed by the coaches!

 

 

It was a highlight getting photographs in "the circle" and hanging out with old and new blogger and press friends. 

    
  Dinner was a huge hit....especially the carry out cups full of gummy bears and M & M's for the game.


     

 
Sagezilla even got a chef's hat from the writer of "Reading Between the  Vines".

    

You too can enter to win a priceless experience by submitting your own Cubs pledge & then proof, by clicking the link right here, but do it now.   The contest closes on June 24th!!   

 

It can be silly, embarrassing, humanitarian or hard to do.  
   

Be creative.

 I pledged to donate 1 bag of kids clothes and toys to a womens' shelter or soup kitchen for every Cubs win to date as of 6/13 (21).  We're filling 'em up and sharing our stuff.   I figure that good karma's a win win situation.   My husband's just thrilled we're clearing the clutter.

My kids are more likely to juggle a ball than hit one with a bat.    They're becoming accomplished circus performers with CircEsteem, Chicago's premier youth circus.  They offer sliding scale classes in circus arts to kids from all income levels and neighborhoods across Chicago.  The team kids have even done circus exchange programs with kids in Africa and Germany, trading off hosting and traveling abroad! 
 

When I asked Sagezilla (9) and Du-Jay (11) what they would pledge to do in support of The Cubs, they eagerly and excitedly planned a few circus tricks to do ON Wrigley Field.    That way their kid energy and enthusiasm will infuse the field and linger there, boosting the Cubs players' stamina, flexibility, and enthusiasm!!

 

Du-Jay (11) pledged to juggle 3 balls 20 times while Sagezilla (9) did back walkovers ON Wrigley Field.  See ChiIL Mama's kids fulfill their pledge right here!

*Disclosure:   Thanks a million to Mastercard for providing this opportunity for us.   The memories we made and the photos and video we shot that day are truly priceless!