Hello friendly faces! It’s that time of the week, time for CNSMoms’ Meet a Mom spotlight brought to you in part by Mary Gifford of Gifford Law*. This week’s Meet a Mom feature is the lovely Colombia born and raised, now Glencoe stay-at-home-mom of four beautiful children, Yamila Schwartz! Yamila chats about how life has changed since meeting her husband Dale, owner of all Pinstripes locations in the USA. Yamila moved to the U.S. only eight years ago, and, today, she feels the North Shore is home. She states: “I’ve made friends with a number of very special, fun and smart women here in the US. I feel like I belong to this wonderful community.” Get to know more about this wonderfully, warm mama, how she takes on a family of four with a very busy hubby, her own role with Pinstripes and what’s next for Yamila’s own endeavors. Welcome, Yamila!
Please introduce yourself. Where are you from originally? What city do you live in now?
Hi! My name is Yamila Schwartz. I was born and raised in Cartagena, Colombia. I’ll be turning 42 at the end of October. I love spending time with my family and friends. Love music, reading about things I am interested in like spirituality, history, politics, human behavior; I am very eclectic, lol. I also love nature, yoga and meditation/praying, my favorite things to do to keep myself grounded.
We currently live in Glencoe. Before that we lived in Lake Forest for 3 years. There are many things I love about living in Glencoe; the schools and all the activities the city organizes for families and kids. I have dear friends here, our neighborhood, the downtown area and all its restaurants, small shops, and businesses in general. I love how close it is to downtown Chicago, and I love its parks and beaches.
How many kids do you have and how old are they? Feel free to brag here 🙂
I am a mom of four wonderful kids ages 24, six, four, and two years. My oldest daughter lives in Chicago in the River North area. She went to DePaul and graduated in 2020 under quarantine. She is now working as a preschool teacher in a preschool in Lincoln Park. Then I have my three little ones, Benjamin (6yo), Victor (4yo), and Mia (2yo). The little people took motherhood to a whole new different level. They are a lot of fun, they are very sweet and have big personalities. They are the ones that keep me busy running around town and the North Shore area. LOL!
How did you and your husband, Dale, meet?
Eight years ago Dale went to Colombia on vacation with one of his best friends and they stayed at the hotel I used to work at part time during Law School. I met him there during my work shift. We chatted for a little and enjoyed our short conversation. We exchanged emails and he manage to stay in touch from afar. After two months of back and forth emails and phone calls we agreed to go for dinner. He flew back to Cartagena, we had our first date and everything started to move forward. We got engaged one year after we met, and got married three months later. One of our best decisions, to choose/love each other to build our precious family.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I am passionate about yoga and all the mental and physical benefits this beautiful practice can bring to ones’ life. As a result, I recently went through yoga teacher training and got certified as a yoga instructor! I’m currently doing some other trainings in yoga as well to add up to my formation and my plan is to start teaching soon.
You’re quite busy! Do you have any favorite local places to spend with the family?
We love the Chicago Botanical Garden, especially when they have special events like the holidays lights.
Family-friendly restaurants we love are Guildhall, Hometown Coffee & Juice and Papa Willie’s BBQ for ribs and fried chicken are the best.
But, of course, my favorite family-friendly restaurant of all is Pinstripes 🙂 We love getting together there with our friends, family, and our kids. Pinstripes is such a fun/special all ages concept. The food is fantastic and I love the variety of cocktails and wine list the restaurant has. And best of all is the awesome and friendly service. You can’t go wrong with Pinstripes.
What’s a great date night around town?
Pinstripes with Good friends it’s the perfect recipe for a great date night!
Speaking of Pinstripes, please tell us more about this fabulous, local entertainment spot! When did Dale open his first location and subsequent locations.
Pinstripes Northbrook, our flagship location, opened in May 2007. Over the last 14 years, we have opened 12 additional locations in eight other states around the country. At all locations, we combine exceptionally Italian/American cuisine with bowling and bocce, and we also host over 1,000 social and corporate private events each year at each Pinstripes location.
What’s on the horizon for Pinstripes? Have any locations opened in the last year and are any slated to open in the next few years? If so, where?
As a result of COVID, we didn’t open any new locations in calendar 2020 or 2021 (our three latest locations opened in late 2019…Houston, TX, San Mateo, CA and Norwalk, CT). Pinstripes is slated to open seven new locations in 2022…three in Florida (Coral Gable, Aventura and Orlando), two more in CA (Thousand Oaks and Walnut Creek), Tysons VA and Garden State Plaza in NJ.
Congratulations! That is great news! Do you have any specials going on at Pinstripes IL locations right now?
Our new seasonal menu is delicious! And we’ve expanded our Live Music with a new Spotlight Artist Series featuring curated local artists every Wednesday and Thursday night.
Is there anything special you’d like our readers to know about Pinstripes?
Sure! The idea for and name “Pinstripes” dates back to 1989 (32 years ago) when Dale considered buying a bowling alley in NYC. Pinstripes’ goal is to create extraordinary, magical connections – from the first strike, to the first bite, to the first kiss, to the first laugh – that bring out the best in everyone.
Yamila, do you play a role in the success of Pinstripes? If so, how?
My husband is a pretty busy person. He travels a lot and has a lot of responsibilities as a business owner. I feel like my main part in his success at the moment comes by helping him at home with our family. While I hold the fort he can have the flexibility to focus on his businesses and growth them. I am pretty aware of what’s going on with Pinstripes and I’m often sharing ideas, and comparing notes with Dale to improve the business.
What’s on the horizon for you personally? Any big milestones coming up or any that have just passed?
Since I moved to the US almost 8 years ago, I’ve been in a special constant process of learning, reassuring, settling and growing myself. As a foreigner it has been an interesting and fun process. Right now I feel like this is home, I have my beautiful family and they are my main focus. I’ve made friends with a number of very special, fun and smart women here in the US. I feel like I belong to this wonderful community, and I am excited about teaching yoga. I think I’m currently living one of my biggest milestones!
About CNSMoms’ Meet a Mom Sponsor:
A very heartfelt thank you to CNSMoms’ Meet a Mom sponsor, Lake Forest mom of three and owner of Gifford Law, a solo Estate Planning Firm. Mary, we appreciate your support of local moms in our North Shore communities! Learn more about Mary by visiting her Meet a Mom spotlight here!