“Chique” Happenings in Hyde Park

This past Sunday was the perfect day to be wandering the streets. Not only was the weather sunny, warm & clear, but it was the 57th Street Art Fair, one of Chicago’s oldest juried art fairs in the historic Hyde Park neighborhood. There is nothing more inspiring than being surrounded by tons of creative people, eye catching art and familiar faces from the community. Better yet, it is free with tons of cool kids activities and unlimited playgrounds for the more rambunctious!

I love that leading up to the event the streets are filled with family lemonade stands, random yard sales and more. This year it took us an hour just to get from our car to the Art Fair, because we stopped for a latte at Cafe 57 and then got distracted in one of our favorite local shops,  O’Gara & Wilson, one of Chicago’s oldest used bookstores. Not only do they have an amazing collection of books, but PJ & I scored in their box of $1 thrifts. I bought a vintage pin and PJ found a skull necklace carved from a nut as well as an old cross on a cord!

As PJ was making a beeline to the face painting booth, he saw these enormous bubbles floating through the air from the middle of the street. Of course, he stopped to check it out. These students were doing the coolest bubble demonstration as a fundraiser for Casa Camp 2012. PJ donated his dollar and dipped the long wand into the special solution and out came the most gorgeous gigantic bubble. The day was a huge success and we hadn’t even entered the actual art fair yet!

One skeleton face paint, two ice cream bars and three huge lemonades later, we had covered some good ground, got our creative juices flowing and caught a few sun rays in between. An idyllic Sunday afternoon.

Casa Camp Bubble Mix

8 cups distilled water
3 cups Dawn dish soap
1 cup light corn syrup

Mix above ingredients in a large container. Take two long wooden dowels and screw in an eye hook to one end of each. Attach two loops of string (one long and one short) to the the dowels, but first add a washer to the longer string to weigh it down. Dip both strings into the bubble mixture and hold the dowels together. As you lift the dowels up separate them to release the bubble! Enjoy.