This weekend marks the second year anniversary of the revival of the Taste of Joliet after a 10 year lapse in planning. 23 food vendors will crowd the Memorial Stadium at 3000 W. Jefferson St. in Joliet.

This year the band popular from the late 90’s, Everclear, will perform! (Checkout their myspace page via the link!) Everclear will perform on Saturday night (6-30-07) from 9 to 11 pm. I met these guys twice over the last 10 years. They’re really funny charachters, if you get the chance to meet them this weekend! I still have my autographed Everclear t-shirt signed on tour bus. I can only imagine why the tour bus driver invited on the bus to “meet the band” but unfortunately for him, it didn’t work out like that! Actually all of the guys from the band are quite the gentlemen. Art Alexakis is pretty funny too!

The will also be a competitive eating contest sponsored by Milano Bakery at 2 pm on Sunday. Contestants will need to pre-register prior to this event.

A mud volleyball tournament it scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Local area food vendors include:

Baby Back Blues
Bella Cucina Catering
Cemeno’s
Chesdan’s Pizzeria & Grill
Drag ‘N It Concessions
Harold’s Chicken
Home Plate
Hometown Sausage
Joliet Firefighter’s Corn
Joliet Park Foundation Ice Cream
La Mex
Louisana BBQ
Maurie’s Table
Minor’s Pizza
Pogliana Pork Wagon
Precious Reception Services
S & L Catering
S & S BBQ
Shanghai Bistro
Silver Spoon
Sweet Home Kettle Corn
Taste of Polonia

In addition to the food vendors, the stadium will also be filled with fine art. Over 200 artists are taking part in the Fine Arts Festival. Admission to the displays will be free and artwork will be available for purchase!

The Taste of Joliet will be open:

Friday: 5 p.m. to midnight
Saturday: noon to midnight
Sunday: 1:00 to 10 p.m.

If you get a chance to go to the Taste, send me the pictures of you and your family having fun, and I’ll post them on this page!

Plainfield Real Estate
630-673-6233

Don’t be like me (and my husband…) and wait almost a year and a half before you make it to the DMV to record your change of address! My husband found out the hard way by getting pulled over for speeding!!!

The 2 closest Driver’s License Facilities to Plainfield are located in Joliet and Naperville.

Secretary of State | Joliet Facility
Jefferson Square Mall (no, this isn’t really a mall anymore!)
201 S. Joyce Rd.
Joliet, IL 60435
(312) 793-1010

Secretary of State | Naperville Facility
Hobson Shopping Center
931 W. 75th St. Suite 161
Naperville, IL 60565
(312) 793-1010

You can click on the links above to get the exact hours of operation. You can also pay for your vehicle license renewal at these facilities as well as at any Currency Exchange, and now… on-line!

Don’t forget, you can also register to become an organ donor when you update your information.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

It’s the middle of June and school has been out for about 2 weeks already. Are you sick of hearing, “I’m SOOOOO bored!” too?

I know I am, which is why I’ve decided to add The DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville IL to my list of fun things to do around Plainfield.

Every year we become members of The Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, IL as well as the DuPage Children’s Museum. Believe me, when you have more than 3 kids, and plan on visiting more than twice in one year, it’s always more money savvy to enjoy the benefits of a yearly membership! The annual family membership of the museum is only $88 for a family membership and also includes a 10% discount at the museum store. It also entitles you to admission on Monday mornings which are members only days. There are several different membership packages available and all of them are tax deductible!

Today I bargained with my kids. (yes, Dr. Spock… I know it’s wrong!) I told them if they behaved in the office while I had root canal, that I’d take them to do something fun. Since we were already halfway there, the DuPage Children’s Museum made the most amount of sense.

Believe it or not, I had 4 kids behaving like angels for a complete hour! My endodontist, Dr. Michael Elasaad was relieved… and I was amazed! I still wonder how they pulled it off?

The Museum is located at:

301 N. Washington St.
Naperville IL 60540
(630) 637-8000

The Museum hours and Explorer Store Hours are:

Monday 9:00 to 1:00 pm (members only)
Tuesday 9:00 to 5:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 to 5:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 to 8:00 pm
Friday 9:00 to 5:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 to 5:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 to 12:00 pm

They have a cafeteria area located in the lower level which includes a microwave and vending machines. We usually pack a sack lunch and snacks, and head down there mid day. There are so many fun things to do at the museum. Some of my kids favorites are the tool shop, the bubble center, and the lights exhibit. Everything is tangible and interactive.

It’s also a great place to host a birthday party!

If you looking for a place to take the kids this summer when it’s too hot to go outside, be sure to make time to head on down to Naperville’s Riverwalk district to spend some time with the kids at the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville IL.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

When my husband and I walk into a restaurant with 4 young children, the wait staff undoubtedly cringe. I can just picture them in the back room drawing straws to see who gets stuck with the big family.

Part of the reason it’s fun for us to go out to eat once in a while is because we all actually get to eat all at once! I’m not rushing back and forth from the kitchen to the table to refill drinks, retrieve forks from the floor, clean up spills, or fetch napkins.

For the longest time, it seemed we were just plain targets for bad service every time we entered a dining facility.

All of that changed this weekend when we decided to drop in for dinner at the Chili’s Restaurant in Shorewood, just south of Plainfield.

Our waiter, Carlos, wasn’t just good… he was awesome!

I’m used to: flagging the staff down, reminding them of things that we’d asked for, and having them correct the check because it wasn’t right.

Carlos was funny, precise, prompt, and polite, and way more than anything I expected that night! When I realized that this was going to be a better than average dining experience, I started to take notice as to how Carlos interacted with all of the patrons. He was consistent. Consistently nice!

The next time I’m off the hook, and don’t have to cook for a party of 6, we’re heading back over to Chili’s to one of Carlo’s tables! If I’m going to spend $40-50 dollars for sandwiches and fries… I at least want my service to come with a smile!!!

Plainfield Real Estate