2010 Holiday Gift & Entertainment Guide

We’re all searching this time of year: for the perfect holiday cookie recipe, the most gorgeous trimmings for our home, the ideal gift for everyone on our list.   And after all that is accomplished, we might even search for a little serenity. We’ll leave the serenity to you, but meanwhile, we’re helping by giving […]

Candy Queen Dylan Lauren Talks the Holidays and More

Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren, isn’t just fashion royalty—she’s also a successful businesswoman, nicknamed “the modern-day Willy Wonka.”   A candy freak ever since her parents showed the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” at her 5th birthday party, Dylan followed her sweet tooth, and it led her to start Dylan’s Candy Bar, […]

Citadel Theatre: The Boarding House

Thanks to all involved in the Citadel Theatre’s production of local playwright Ann Noble’s “The Boarding House,” the seamless transportation to a post-World War ll love story— resplendent with emotional warfare and physical conflict—was a fabulous journey indeed.   A serious head injury discharges Dell, (Michael Bullaro) from the armed services. Disembarked in New York […]

Dog Rescue: Cult or Movement of Love?

About five years ago, my good friend Joe introduced me to his good friend, the writer Joy Nicholson. I had never met anyone like Joy; never met anyone close. I was immediately smitten and Joe, after noticing how smitten I was, pulled me aside to follow his introduction with a strong warning. “Great writer,” he […]

Travel as a Family: Life Lessons, with Luggage

You can describe an exotic or well-known travel destination to your children, but it’s not the same as stepping off the plane to let them smell, taste and feel another culture.   Ladia Cheng of Mundelein did just that. She wanted her teenage children to soak in her native Guam, so she packed them up […]

When is Private Air Travel Worth the Price?

Picture yourself at O’Hare Airport, clutching a bagel and coffee in one hand, dragging your suitcase behind you with the other, racing toward your gate, which will inevitably be the last one in the terminal.   Now imagine driving directly up to the runway, where valets meet you to park your car and load your […]

Carmen Seduces Us All

Carmen is one of opera’s very bad girls. She seduces and then abandons her lovers about every six months, leaving them in various states of despair.   But the weak-willed Don Jose, a Spanish soldier who deserts his regiment for her, will be her undoing. Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its production of Bizet’s “Carmen” […]

Joffrey Ballet: "All Stars"

The beauty of motion, the joy of dance, the shapes and choreographed patterns expressed through the human body all come together during the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago’s fall program, “All Stars,” at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.   The most stunning work of the program is Christopher Wheeldon‘s 2005 “After the Rain,” a Joffrey premiere, […]

Fresh: Spa O

You’ll really feel like a queen at Spa O, where pedicures include soaking your feet in hammered copper bowls. For your manicure and pedicure, choose a rejuvenating agent: lemon, green tea, rice-koji or baking soda. $15 for a manicure, $35 for a pedicure, $45 for both Mondays through Wednesdays. Make It Better readers get 15 […]

Daytripper: Shopping Oak & Rush Streets

Chicago’s Oak Street, just off the main drag of the Mag Mile, is the city’s premier destination for designer finds. Here’s a quick guide down this glamorous avenue and a few of its neighboring streets. First stop: lunch (and parking). Ditka’s Restaurant You’ll need sustenance for your afternoon shopping expedition, so stop by this outpost […]