Hailey and Mom Explore KC 2015: East Bottoms, Liberty Square, Westport.

Hailey bought the KCMO letters at Urban Provisions.
The succulent cacti are from City Market last weekend.

It’s hard for some to believe that at 47, I’ve never really explored the city I’ve spent living in over half my life. 

I’ve come up with a few reasonable excuses. First, growing up in St. Louis, my parents never exposed me to anything outside of the West County city limits. 

In high school, my friends and I would always go to the same chain restaurants and the most adventurous that we got was to go to a Cardinals baseball game. (But when going downtown, make sure you get off before you see that “Last Missouri Exit” sign or you’ll never return home!)

The first time I went up in to the Arch was when I took my college roommates back to St. Louis for a weekend. They were from a small town near Kansas City and of course a ride up in to the Arch seemed the natural thing to do. I thought it sounded pretty boring to me. 

But as I progressed through college I realized that the most interesting places in St. Louis sure weren’t in West County.

At this point I was married and had kids and schlepping them around to places that I knew nothing about really just was not in my comfort zone, or even on my radar at the time.

I had always dreamed of raising a family in the suburbs with families with similar interests, great schools and neighborhoods where all the kids play outside on warm summer nights. This was something I had only experienced at age 5 and 12 in my childhood. From 6-11 I lived on a farm. Sure, it was great playing “nature girls” when my friends would come over. I had a horse I could ride and the exploring was endless. The memories made there were incredible but I was always missing having friends to play with.

I was lonely quite often. So raising a family as I have has been a dream for me. I have no regrets and would do it again.

But now that my daughter is 15 and is learning to drive, I find it really important to help her explore what Kansas City has to offer outside of our small suburban area. I want her to be able to drive to interesting places and share these experiences with friends. I don’t want her to grow up in a bubble.

She is very interested in a few places she she’s posted on social media so after talking with her, we decided to start a list of places we wanted to visit. Most of these places are based on coffee, food or design.

We have a title for our adventures. “Hailey and Mom Explore KC” and we are posting on Facebook brief tidbits of our day. But I decided to write some reviews of the places we visit and give others some idea of what there is do to in this great city.

Day 1:  We went to the East Bottoms.  We had no idea what to expect, but we read about 2 places located in this area in Travel and Leisure magazine. First is Urban Provisions which is a very small store housing a lot of refurbished flea market finds and many items made locally. There are soaps and lotions and trinkets and things that brought me back to my childhood. Next door is The Local Pig, a meat market that has a great food truck outside and a seating area with large picnic benches. We each got cheeseburgers and their house made chips which were fantastic! Then we went into the meat market. They boast about everything being transparent and fresh, organic etc.. It was definitely not a typical meat market in that they only displayed one or two of each item in the case. I bought 8 of the thickest slices of bacon I have ever seen. I cooked it at home that night and it was honestly the best bacon that I’ve ever had. It was the prime rib of bacon!

Great food at the Local Pig "Pigwich" food truck

Urban Provisions 

Wall art in Urban Provisions

Day 2 took us to the Liberty Square. The square has had its share of ups and downs over the years. Today we went to Morning Day Cafe, which over the past 15 years has been at least 3 different places. This one is a keeper! It has a very “hippie” feel with all sorts of fun decor. The chairs and tables are all painted different colors. They have amazing, healthy food with gluten free options. There were a few people in there on their computers settling in to stay for a while. It reminded me of something you’d see in Boulder, Colorado or a college town, which Liberty happens to be! I found out that they have live music Thursday through Sunday nights and martini specials on Thursdays. They have a small selection of beer and wine and according to our server, fantastic cocktails. I can’t wait to go there with my girlfriends!

Morning Day Cafe has such a fun vibe!

A new place going in on the square! Looks exciting!

Day 3 we went to Wesport. Now I admit, I haven’t been a big fan of Westport because I typically associate it with partying and bars. But my son went with his friend to get Bubble Tea, and my husband has taken me to McCoys Public house and Beer Kitchen; both great places! So I figured we should explore the area on our own. We started at Broadway Cafe. Now, I will admit, that the latte we had was beautiful, and tasty. It was great to sit with Hailey and just chat and we found a flyer for King Lear, Shakespeare in the Park that we are excited about attending. But other than that, it didn't’ stand up to Morning Day Cafe in Liberty. I think that will be the coffee house to beat in the future.

Unfortunately it was raining, and my umbrella was magically removed from my car. We decided to seize the day and walk in the rain, but that’s just not the best for exploring. We were hoping to find a few more stores than we did, but mostly we found restaurants. I had no idea The Local PIg had a place there. Wow, what a crazy menu. We opted for “no” on that one and ended up at Pie 5. It reminds me of the pizza version of Chipotle. We waited in line to order and by the time we paid, our pizza was ready. It was good pizza, very fresh and great thin crust so it felt healthy. But like Chipotle, the atmosphere was a little cold and sterile and not very unique. So would I eat there again for  $7 pie? Probably not unless I worked in the area.

So that’s our first 3 days. We aren’t going every day because frankly, I have grown up responsibilities that I need to take care of, but this sure beats sitting at the pool all summer!

Mother's Day: The day I celebrate being a mom

This year I am excited for Mother's Day! I learned a long time ago that this Hallmark card-created day can be difficult for some for a variety of reasons.  For me, the real gift is each day that I get to spend with my family and be a mom. Today I celebrate being a mom.

It’s the hugs that come out of nowhere, the “I love our family” that comes from my son, the guitar or ukelele playing downstairs that puts me to sleep at night, or the drums that I can actually take a nap to. It's the 110% effort I get to see my kids put in to a soccer match or a track meet. It's the "Mom, I have a 'mom question' for you" and the daughter that takes care of me when I'm sick. It's the husband thanking me for being the glue that holds the family together. 

This year I get to go to be with my sister and my mom who are both amazing women. We get to eat Chinese which means no cooking and no dishes!  We are making it a good day! We get to celebrate being moms.  And as teenagers, both of my kids have figured out that getting me even a small gift, a hug and a "Happy Mother's Day" goes a long way. And a shout out on social media, oh my stars!

Mother's Day is every day to me. I talk to my mom almost every day and I am grateful that I get to be a mom every day. Making it a great 'holiday' is all up to me. It's a choice that I can make. I can't rely on others or create high expecations.  I am grateful that God has given me these two great kids to raise and be a part of my life forever. I will always be their mom. I know they love me Every.Single.Day.