Welcome to Childhood Summers in Chicago, JULY 2013!

Hey World,

I'm so loving July in Chicago. It's humid but you can't beat the Chicago food and Chicago people. I'm still working on my book and taking a law school class at Chicago-Kent.

I grew up in a perfect suburb, about 30 minutes from Chicago.  This fairy tale land is called HINSDALE. 

I spent some of the greatest childhood memories playing soccer, softball, violin, and dancing in multiple dance companies in Hinsdale. God, I love Hinsdale. I hold a special place in my heart for my hometown. It was safe growing up and we could bike ride all day and night after school if we finished our homework.  My parents bought, knocked down and built a gorgeous Frank Lloyd Wright-style house in The Woodlands.  The Woodlands is such a great part of Hinsdale because of the spacious lots, numerous parks, tennis courts, and trees for miles.  My father planted these king-sized trees in front of our house that grew to such an absurd but magnificent stature by the time I was 18 and left for college.  Wow. Those trees created a secret path in the front yard, strewn with a wood chip trail, that my grandparents would obsess over combing through to destroy any and all weeds or unwanted plants. It was our own forest in the front yard.

Across the street from our home was The Park.  This park stretched on for almost four blocks. Our parents loved the privacy; while my brother and I loved the option to play "500" with our Nerf footballs, flashlight tag, water balloon fights, and Ghost in the Graveyard.  It was our private park...so much that we felt entitled to create our own treehouse there one young summer. That was when I learned the extent of my dad's handyman skills. He scooped up a few pieces of wood, hammered them into "our" tree across the street and my brother and I would climb up into our own little canopy of imagination.

We would create make-believe games with our friends in Hinsdale that only made sense to us.  Of course I was the Princess and my brother was Super Mario and we were flying because we had pixie dust that we found from the good fairies, the twins, our backyard neighbors, Christina & Erica.  The magic all made sense to us.  We created our own reality.

Wasn't childhood an epic era?  I love to look back fondly and remember how many times I rode my bike, fell out of a tree or rollerblading, and scraped my knee in the exact same spot one summer.  That scar is still on my right knee and I love it. It reminds me of how adventurous I am...how I never stop exploring.

Love,
Alex