Day 5: It's a family thing!

When I started this challenge I was focused on mostly my behavior.  As I explained to Scott (husband) what I wanted to do, he didn't hesitate to jump into the challenge himself.  So, we quickly made this a family thing.  Just a little background on us (in case you are wondering).  We have an awesome 4.5 year old and Scott is a stay at home dad while I work downtown.  He is an amazing dad and enjoys living in Elmhurst.

So I had very little to write about today as I was downtown all day for work and had very little planned in terms of shopping today.  Today's blog is focused on Scott's day today (whew - thank goodness I have some content).   It also made me think of the balance between local and national businesses that make up our community (and the need to support both).

A few things they did today:

1.  Animal Spa Day:  From Head to Tail
So, typically we will go to Petco for grooming (or do it at home), but today he decided to try a local business instead.  Now, please don't get me wrong, I like Petco.  They have a great selection of products, including kitten toys which have been harder to find than I expected.  They support rescue organization and adoptions (this is where we adopted two of our pets).  That said, I do believe that it is important to support BOTH and when there is a local business available, we should try them and support them when possible.

So today, it was From Head to Tail.   This was our first time bringing the dogs there and Scott said they were "friendly" and that the experience was "excellent".   So how did the dogs like it?  I tried to ask, but they were too tired from their day at the "spa".  Oh well, they smell great!

Second Stop - Groceries:  Marianos

No pictures, but just wanted to give a shout out to Marianos.  Best.grocery.store.ever.  Enough said.

Third Stop - Lunch:  Meatheads

This is an interesting one.  Their original plan was to go to Nu Crepes (which we will do soon and I will write about). That is one of our daughter's favorite places.  She loves "The King" (peanut butter and banana crepe) and every time eats the entire thing.  We have a fairly picky kiddo so I love anything where she will actually EAT.  They went over to Nu Crepes forgetting that they are not open on Mondays.  Uh oh...

Scott had promised her lunch out and as he suggested "the Chicken Place" (see earlier post), she pointed to Meatheads and declared that she wanted a hot dog.  We are always happy when she will actually eat something, especially if it has some protein in it.  So, they went to Meatheads.  The most interesting thing is that Scott emailed me and said "don't blog about that...we wanted to go to Nu Crepes instead".  I thought that was interesting.   He was bothered because it wasn't locally owned.  I told him that we will go to Nu Crepes soon (and write about it), but he was still supporting Elmhurst by having lunch in town vs. going to a neighboring suburb instead.

To that point, one of the key things I want to note is that I have a few priorities in my challenge:

1.  Support businesses within the city limits of Elmhurst.   I hate seeing empty storefronts as that is bad for everyone.  Small, big; one location, multiple locations; local, national - all of them.  More business = more revenue & jobs for our town.   Too often I hear and read Elmhurst residents refer friends and neighbors to businesses in neighboring 'burbs without thinking about options in our town first.

2.  When available, prioritize local businesses and discover the interesting businesses and owners that make Elmhurst unique.  When you truly shop local MORE dollars stay in your community.  Local business owners are the biggest advocates for this community.  When you spend with local businesses, you are literally supporting your neighbor which is what community is all about.

Anyway..now that those points are out of the way...

I am enjoying that this has now become a family thing and that Scott is committed as well.  So much so that he is using this blog as an excuse to eat out more in order to support "more" businesses. (and now he has a "make up" lunch scheduled with our daughter for Nu Crepes..haha).