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 […]
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 […]
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 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” […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Take your love for fashion to the next level with a few of these books on your coffee table: The Cocktail Dress by Laird Borrelli-Persson($21.99). A fun and informative book about the history of the cocktail dress. The Style Strategy: A Less-Is-More Approach to Staying Chic and […]
This dynamic area on Chicago’s northwest side is the home of some of the best food and shopping in the city. Here are some suggestions if you’re heading to Bucktown and Wicker Park. For breakfast, try… The Bongo Room The creative courses dished up at this pancake house are worth the wait for a […]
As a young Jewish girl, Anya Cordell read The Diary of Anne Frank, and wondered whether she would have had the same kind of courage as the people who helped the Frank family hide during the Holocaust. Many years later, Cordell proved to herself that she could follow, in her small way, in the footsteps […]
