JakeParrillo.com

Field Trip App from Google + Cronut Craze

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:16:00 PDT

Sometimes, just sometimes, technology is amazing. Well...I guess A LOT of the time, technology is amazing, but on rare occasions, I find myself blown away by the computing power that we carry with us everyday.

This story is a case in point. I carry an Android device in my pocket and I have Google's FieldTrip App on it. It works on both Android and iPhone, so if you don't have it on your phone, you should go grab it now. I'll wait. Seriously...Go here and click the link for your app store.

Field Trip is this neat little pocket assistant that alerts you to interesting things in the world around you. You can set your preferences (I lean heavily on movie scenes - like alerting me when I'm near a location that was used in a movie, architecture, history, and food.) and the app will buzz in your pocket to give you a little bit of knowledge that is contextually/geo-aware of your location. It is pretty neat.

If you walk through the Loop everyday, the notifications can get a bit much, but there is some tuning you can do in the app.

Anyway, last week, I was walking to the train when my phone buzzed and gave me this Eater story about Cronuts. The story says:

Elmhurst's Gur Sweets Bakery is the first local bakery to attempt to jump on the trend, calling theirs a "croughnut." Available Friday, pastry chef Rubina Hafeez has concocted two flavors of faux cronut for $5 a pop. A heavy dose of sugar covers her version and gooey vanilla filling oozes from layers of fried pastry.

It remains to be seen whether the local market will take to the faux cronut or whether you'll see cronut footage on some VH1 nostalgia show in a few years. Whatever the outcome, they're about to be available in the western burbs.

As you can see from the photo above, I was walking right by Gur Sweets Bakery on York Street in the Elmhurst City Centre at that very moment.

They weren't open yet in the am, so I couldn't actually *get* a Cronut, but the computing power that was involved - to know where I am located, to understand that I'm interested in food stuff, to look up in the index whether there is any food stuff that is relevant to my location, and to surface that to me all in a matter of seconds or miliseconds? That's neat stuff.

I'm (obviously) biased towards Google, but Field Trip is a really neat idea executed well. Can't wait for it to get slurped up right into GoogleNow which is also where a lot of these predictive/geo/interest stuff is happening as Google becomes my digital assistant.

First it was 'demand' (search for stuff). Now it is become 'suggest' and 'assist' (tell me stuff that I'm interested in or need to know). Good on you, Google. Keep the good stuff coming.

"Lain Low" instead of "Laid Low"

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:05:35 PDT

Huh. Guess I've been using it improperly my ENTIRE life?

Dahlias in Planter Box

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:50:12 PDT

Over the weekend, I found a screaming deal on these Dahlia tubers at Mendards. There are three Manhattan Island Dahlia tubers and 3 Kiev Dahlia tubers. Knowing my experience with these big Dahlias, I know that I have to put them in a container and make sure we bring that container inside for the winter - long before the frost comes - if I want it to survive until next year.

I'm getting these in the planter box pretty late, but I've finally gotten around to setting up the three spare planter box frames that Nat picked up last summer. I've attached them to the south fence line in the backyard. They'll get a ton of sun and as long as I remember to water them regularly, they should be quite happy there up in the air.

I'll try to grab a photo of the boxes hung on the fence, so I can track their progress.

Good Riddance: Cash for Gold Elmhurst City Centre

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:22:18 PDT

Not all store closings in our downtown are created equal. While I'm bummed about Jamba Juice, I actually couldn't be more pleased to see the Cash For Gold location at 122 N. York fold up shop. Or...at least I *think* they've fold up shop.

They emptied out the store. You can't really tell from that photo above, but there is no furniture in the store any more.

What can we get in here? As you know, the places/types of businesses on my list include:

Kitchen/cooking stuff store (think independent Williams Sonoma)
Manly Craft store/hardware store minus the nuts/bolts) (think Kaufman Merchantile)

What else? We don't need more yogurt shops or salons. But...I'm a free-market-guy, so I guess until I'm ready to put my money where my mouth is, we'll just have to sit back and see.

So Long, Elmhurst Jamba Juice

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 07:54:10 PDT

That's a sad sign up in the front window of our Jamba Juice in the Elmhurst City Centre. Seems like the tweens who constantly hang out inside there couldn't quite keep the place open. Or, the fact that three yogurt places have opened within a few hundred yards of this place?

Losing an independent business in our downtown is bad, but losing a national chain? Even worse.

What are we doing to turn things around in the City Centre? Besides put in yogurt places?

Radish Seedlings - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 07:11:52 PDT

Time to thin out the seedlings! Thanks to the seed tape, the job shouldn't be that tough.

Good Guy Elmhurst City Hall: Sandbagging Station

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:12:04 PDT

Yesterday we had "The Storm that Wasn't" in Elmhurst. Seems like every time the Chicago area gets warned about a major storm, we in Elmhurst always feels the impact. Except, it seems, yesterday.

The City went beyond the normal measures it seems as I came across this pile of sand and box of sandbags in the parking lot at City Hall this am. From the looks of the pile, it appears that some residents *actually* used this stuff. Based on what we experienced at our house, they didn't need it.

But, kudos to the City for going this extra mile for residents. Now...if they could only solve the real problem that is causing flooding/basement backups, etc? Yeah...that'd be great.

Bruce Rauner - Gubernatorial Candidate - At Elmhurst College

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:21:01 PDT

I found this document posted up on the side window of the now empty Plass Appliances in downtown Elmhurst this morning. It is advertising a talk that Bruce Rauner - a Republican who is running for Governor of Illinois - is giving at Elmhurst College on Monday, June 17th.

Here's the listing on the site.

Beginning this month, Elmhurst College will launch a new lecture series called Fixing Illinois: A Great State’s Problems and Promise. The goal of the series is to start an ongoing discussion about the challenges that Illinois faces, and to empower citizens to help address those challenges and move the state forward. The first speaker in the series is Bruce Rauner, a wealthy businessman and gubernatorial candidate. Rauner’s talk is titled, Making Illinois Work Again.

In the past, Elmhurst College has had folks like Speaker Madigan come talk and hosted SOS Jesse White and Senator Mark Kirk, so the school is no slouch when it comes to Illinois political speakers.

How do they get these folks? Have to think it has something to with former Speaker/Leader Lee Daniels. Does this mean Leader Daniels is going to be 'with' Rauner? Or will he give Rutherford/Dillard/whomever equal time?

Water Wiggler: For our Birdbath

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:49:06 PDT

Last year, I received a four-season birdbath that has a cord that plugs into the wall to keep the water from freezing. It also happens to have a railing clamp - which allowed me to put it right on our back deck outside our back doors. I've been dutifully re-filling the bowl when it dries out (the recent rains have really helped!), but I don't think I've ever witnessed one single bird come over and take a drink.

But, over the weekend, I found this Water Wiggler still in the box. I was given it by my mother-in-law a few years back and never installed it. I put it together, slapped in a couple of D Cell batteries and plopped it into the bowl. It creates this neat ripple effect on the water which moves the water out in concentric circles.

That has the benefit of helping eliminate a potential mosquito breeding ground (moving water is bad for mosquito babies!) and according to the box, birds are attracted to moving water.

Guess what? Not 4 hours after putting in the wiggler, I saw the first two birds stop by, perch on the rim and take a drink. Pretty neat!

I'm thinking that the location isn't perfect. It is right by our back door so that likely spooks some of the potential customers, but I wanted to put it in a location that we could see easily to enjoy the visits from our feathered friends. I'm going to leave it on the deck for another month and monitor the usage. If it stays low, maybe I'll try a different spot and see what happens.

Blueberry Bush Planted: 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:18:58 PDT

Putting this hear so I remember *exactly* when this thing went in the ground. I picked this bush/shrub up on a whim at Home Depot. It was $4.99 so I'm not expecting much. Have you ever grown blueberries? I have heard two things, but don't know if they're true:

1. You need two plants to fruit.
2. You need sandy soil.

Confirmation from anyone?

Carrot Seed Tape Planted: 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 06:28:53 PDT

Over the weekend, I planted the rest of the seeds in our garden including these Nantes Half Long Carrots. I've been deliberately trying to rotate the crops each season so these carrots are running where I had peppers last year. In other cases, I've put something totally new where I've had things like tomatoes before.

70 days from now, this patch (below) should be full of lacy greens with some 'tasty' carrots underneath.

Yukon Gold Seed Potatoes Planted

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 11:57:00 PDT

This morning, I put in the Yukon Gold Seed potatoes in the ground (those are the ones on the left). I had five pounds of them and the bag says that we could end up with a yield of up to 50 pounds.

Based on my past experience, we won't get up to 50 pounds, but we *will* get some potatoes. From the looks of things on the web, this variety is pretty versatile. You can steam/fry/grill/roast them. Heck, Mrs. Martha even makes fries out of them.

90 days from now (Sept 1st) or there about, we'll be able to harvest them.

First Strawberry of the Year: 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 31 May 2013 09:46:59 PDT

Earlier this Spring, we moved our Strawberry plant from the center of the main raised bed to a separate, stand-alone pot that could allow it to spread out a bit. Due to that stress, I'm thinking that I stunted the plant's growth this year as this morning I was able to pull just one - the first! - berry off.

Granted, it is a bit early, as last year it wasn't until late June that we were getting a lot of fruit. Nat and the girls enjoyed this one berry and Nat said it was delicious. Makes me want to go out and buy a few more plants. I know it takes multiple seasons for them to start paying off/bearing lots of fruit, so we better get started now to have something by next Summer.

Elmhurst Block to Block City Centre Party

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 31 May 2013 09:40:34 PDT

Last night, we took the two girls out for ice cream at BrainFreeze and stumbled upon a series of live musicians that were playing around the City Centre. Turns out, the Elmhurst City Centre group is hosting an event series called "Block to Block Party" every Wednesday and Saturday night from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The Party consists of live musicians at four locations around the downtown area. We saw three of them and they added a nice atmosphere to the area. It didn't hurt that it was an amazing night out.

The notion of live, acoustic music played two nights a week in town every week is a nice one and...in my mind...is a bit of a differentiator. I don't know of any Western Suburban Downtown area that does something like this? Maybe other's do indeed have a musician in place, but the scale at which this is executed (4 musicians two times a week all summer) is pretty great.

Will it get people downtown? I'm not sure, but it certainly can't hurt. It appeared that at least *some* of the stores around town were open when we were walking around that I don't think stay open past six pm. Hopefully, they'll see a nice boost from the foot traffic. Either way, I like the thinking here from the City Centre group.

If they're open for recommendations, I have one: what about a digital/online photobooth for these Wednesday nights. Imagine getting your photo taken and delivered (with some Elmhurst City Centre branding) that you can easily post to the social network of your choice (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc). Could be a nice way to bring the offline experience of shopping/dining/walking around in the City Centre to online and allow sharers to broadcast to their friends what they're doing. If not a photobooth, what about a #hashtag?

Baptisia Australis - Perennial of the Year 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Thu, 30 May 2013 09:15:48 PDT

Last week, we picked up one of these Baptisia Australis plants at Luurs Nursery last week. It is commonly known as Blue False Indigo. We bought because we liked the look and the fact that it was named Perennial Plant of the Year didn't help. According to Wikipedia, the Cherokee Tribe used it to create blue dye.

I planted it in our front yard and Nat quickly said that we should go back and buy a few more. It seems to have taken root and the rains we've had the past few days have certainly assisted it finding a home in the bed.

Pinky Winky Hydrangea Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:11:38 PDT

Last week, we stopped by a nursery in Hillside and found a nice Pinky Winky Hydrangea Tree that we loved. The only issue was the price. It wasn't cheap. On Saturday, I took both girls over to Menards and while out in the garden center, I saw the same variety and about the same size, but for less than half the price. Into the cart this thing went.

Our plan calls for something like this as a way to add some height to our northern set of beds along our walkway from the garage to our deck. I put it in the ground yesterday after I cleaned up the one sucker near the bottom and gave it a big drink.

I've had mixed results with hydrangeas so I want to stay on top of this one water-wise so it has a good chance at establishing itself this summer.

Spiked Gayfeather: New Perennial 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:17:15 PDT

I picked up two Spiked Gayfeathers at the Elmhurst Garden Club Plant Sale a week or so back.

They grow tall and provide some height in a perennial garden and they do well in full-sun, so they'll - hopefully - do really well in the backyard right to the West of our family room. I put them in and the greens are doing really well even though the Babe stepped right on one while she was chasing a wiffleball. Which...as her father is a GREAT excuse for trampling my plants, btw.

Elmhurst Garden Club Plant Sale: 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:38:34 PDT

Back a few Saturdays ago, we stopped by the Elmhurst Garden Club's annual plant sale which was held at the Park District's Abby on St. Charles Road.

We didn't arrive too terribly early, but there was still a good selection available. These sales tend to focus mostly on perennials with a few nicely planted annual pots put together.

The prices tend to be pretty good and the variety was just fine for us. They had things broken down into shade vs. sun perennials and a wildflower section. I always gravitate towards the ferns in the shade section, but either they only had a few or they were already picked over when we arrived as they only had Ostrich and Painted Ferns available. Both of which we already have. The Ostrich variety do really well for us, and we're on our second year with a Painted Fern and it came back well - even after being buried for a few days under mulch.

We ended picking up two wildflowers and Pink Plox that the Babe picked out. Of course, it had to be pink.

Thanks Google for the "Awesome Surprises" in Google+ Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:45:01 PDT

At this year's annual Google I/O Conference, the team at +Google announced a bunch of things, but the first one that I *experienced* first-hand was the "extra Awesome Somethings" in Google+ photos.

Using some programatic intelligence, the team at Google has started to 'drop' little surprises into your photo collection on Google+ when you take bunches of photos at once.

As an example, Google+ 'gifted' me these two neat things. First, an animated GIF (JIF?!?!) of the Babe and then this composite of the Bird.

Pretty neat stuff. Thanks +Google+ !

Maple Tree Helicopters: I Hate You

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:20:54 PDT

Our neighbor has a massive Maple tree that is right near our property line. In the summer it provides a really wonderful shade, but in the Spring? I hate it. It drops so so so so many of these helicopter seed pods that clog up our gutters, litter our landscape beds and just make a mess of everything.

Just last week, I was so pleased with our our mulch/beds looked and today they look terrible.

I get our gutters cleaned every Spring and I've learned to wait until after these things fall to get it done. Perhaps I need to remember to wait until late May for the mulch next year.

German Queen Tomato Plant - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:53:28 PDT

I've never grown German Queen tomatoes, but like a Sharpei dog, they're so darn cute so I figured I should give them a try. I know I said that I wouldn't be doing too many tomato plants this year, and I'm not....Just going to limit it to just five or 6 varieties. Hopefully, I'll get this one in the beds before the calendar turns to June.

Our Crab Apple Tree Flowering - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:10 PDT

For but one week each Spring, the Crab Apple tree in our backyard turns into a spectacular pink beauty. It gets covered with these flowers and really shows off. Unfortunately, the show isn't very long and the petals fall into the landscape beds and the tree leafs out.

When we moved in, I wanted to take the tree down, but Nat pushed back. She really likes the size/shape of the tree while I hate the location. It is still standing. And isn't going anywhere.

Black Cherry Tomato Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:37:32 PDT

Over the weekend, I couldn't resist picking up a few tomato plants. I typically wait until the pickings are thin and the heirloom varieties are few and far between. I usually plant at least one cherry/grape plant, but it isn't typically an heirloom. This year, that changes with this Black Cherry beauty.

The beds aren't quite cleaned up yet, but by June 1st, we'll hopefully be able to plant these in the ground. Until then, I'll do my best to keep it happy in the peat pot.

Fireworks Goldenrod - Via Western Springs Garden Club Plant Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:07:46 PDT

On Saturday we made our normal run to Kirsbaum's for doughnuts in the early am hours when we came across the Western Springs Garden Club Plant Sale which was taking place under the big tower on the Village Green.

This species will find a home in our plan in our backyard as it can tolerate some heat. There are two spots that it would work: on the southside by our butterfly bushes and in the front yard by our anemone. I'm thinking it would work well in the front.

If you ask some gardeners, they'll tell you that this is an allergy attack waiting to happen. Good news: they're wrong. Consider me the Snopes.com of Goldenrod. From the source:

Don’t worry about it causing long-lasting sneezes, either. Goldenrod is often blamed for aggravating hay fever, but the real culprit is ragweed, which blooms at the same time.

Freshly Laid Mulch - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:12:00 PDT

We had 7.5 yards of mulch put down in our beds yesterday and I'll tell you that there's nothing better looking than a freshly mulched yard. It makes the our plants look healthier, our shrubs look bigger, and even makes the spots on our grass look a lot less barren.

This year, we got the mulch in a lot earlier than in 2012. It wasn't until mid-July until we had mulch last year. As I noted last year, I was about 2 months behind the neighborhood schedule, so I think we're right on track this time around. At least now Nat will be able to pull out of our garage without our neighbors frowning at her. (I'm kidding! Our neighbors don't frown at us because of the mulch....it is more about when they see me gardening/mowing the grass in my socks/sandals garb.)