I can also vouch that Paprika is excellent. Our family uses it to organize our recipes. Both my wife and I can have all of our recipe data synced to our phones. There is also a handy bookmark tool that can download recipes straight into Paprika.

It was a little strange to start a new job but be sitting at the same desk at home. One of the things I missed was being able to say in person goodbyes to my former colleagues. I’m hoping to do an in-person happy hour with my old crew when people start going back into offices but that feels so far away right now.

Chicago:
I have lived in Chicago for the better part of ten years. It took me several years to learn about the South Shore Line. It shares Millennium Station with the Metra Electric Line. The South Shore Line doesn’t seem to be well known by people who don’t go to the South Side often. It is an electric inter-urban…

This has definitely been on my list to see. I’ll have to hit it when I am in town again.

I’m really glad that has changed. It was a bit frustrating at the time (2012). Do you know if state owned liquor stores are going away?

I am so glad. I lived there in 2012 for a summer program at Pitt and was flabbergasted by the laws. I came in not knowing anything about the local situation. I remember going to a Giant Eagle (local grocery store) and was perplexed that they didn’t have a wine section.

I lived in Pittsburgh for a summer several years ago.

If you love French Fries go to the Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland. An order of fries is literally an entire deep fryer basket of fries on a tray.

You gotta have a Primanti’s Sandwich when you are there. It is one of the things I miss most about Pittsburgh.

Thanks!

The Doona was one I did consider. I really liked it a lot from video reviews.In the end the price was just too high for something that the baby would outgrow too soon.

Oh cool. Didn’t know that. Do you have a link for how that is done? Is that only for certain models? My parents keep a car seat that doesn’t have the belt routing in the back.

We are a car-free family with an infant and this is one of the biggest hurdles we have. It would be nice for Uber or Lyft to expand carseat options to my city. This would allow for us to travel one way by a different mode and then by rideshare without lugging around a car seat.

One tip that I have. We do have a Baby…

I tend to write full sentences and paragraphs. I think this has a lot to do with two things. The first is the advent of autocorrect. When I used to have a non-smart phone I would use a lot of shorthand words and phrases. The second reason is that a lot of messaging apps allow the ability to send messages from a…

Totally possible but it depends on your situation. A good walkeable transit friendly city is helpful. Also, having work from home privileges for one parent is also really helpful.

We have a car-free family. I am lucky that Chicago checks all of the boxes for a car-free lifestyle and that public transportation serves…

I’m actually getting one of those cargo bikes. We are thinking of getting the Nihola 4.0 which can carry up to four small children. In Chicago I do see children in cargo bikes from time to time.

Thanks for the insight Jon! My family is actually car-free so I don’t advocate for everyone to buy a car either. I was just curious because some people seem to take TNCs a lot even in a city with really good public transportation. I understand that paying $20 for a ride every once in a while is much cheaper in the…

There are definitely some challenges and it isn’t always convenient. We definitely take ride share less often than we used to. The good thing is that public transit is really good here so we mostly take the bus and train to most places. We occasionally rent a car for out of town trips.

As for a child seat. We don’t lug…

That is true. I should have included that caveat. I am blessed with good public transit which is not the norm in the US.

Do you know many car-free people who exclusively use rideshare and don’t take much public transportation at all? One of my financial goals for going car-free has been to significantly reduce…

I would disagree with one thing in particular. I don’t think parents have to buy a car. I live in Chicago and although most parents end up buying a vehicle I have met a few who chose not to. It can be inconvenient at times but saves a lot of money (wish children centric ride-share services with car seats were more…

Not sure if you have cycled in Chicago in the last few years. Its gotten a lot better. I feel more comfortable with the kids up front where I can see them.

Very lucky with the train passes. I wish I got that treatment.

Glad you have most of what you need around you in the burbs. We were the same way when we were out there. We didn’t like to drive very far. Driving further is just burning money, time, and slowly killing your car.