More Than Meets the Eye

The cover for the August issue features a colorful image of famous Chicago architectural landmarks. At first glance, it looks like a collage of photos or illustrations of the buildings. Little do you know, that's a set of miniature paper models made from the Build Your Own Chicago postcards, by local designer Matt Bergstrom.

For those of us who don't read the cover photo credits (on page 10 of the August issue), this...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Flex Time

Good parenting, as anyone will tell you, is all about flexibility. And bribery. And Cheerios. Yes, that's it: flexibility, bribery, and Cheerios. Am I forgetting anything here? Oh, yeah, mindless repetition. If you haven't the ability to listen to the same mind-numbing song, read the same stupid Elmo book, or feed the baby the same icky goop over and over again without...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Glamorama Time

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Tickets are still available for Glamorama at The Chicago Theatre (175 N. State St.; 312-902-1500) on Aug. 22nd at 8 p.m. The ‘80s-themed show, called Pop Candy Arcade, features performances by Cyndi Lauper and the rapper M.C. Hammer (back from bankruptcy)—so bust out the purple eye shadow and tease up those rooster bangs. The runway fashion show features Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan Collection, CNC Costume National, Just Cavalli, SportMax, Tibi, and Tommy Hilfiger, among others. The after-party—as always on the 7th floor of Macy’s (111 State St.)—will feature music videos from...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Ten Things Men Should Know About Women

The wedding is about a month away, and I haven't had an unaided night of sleep in weeks. My friends and my doctor have told me it's perfectly normal to develop irrational anxieties before a wedding, as long as the panic has nothing to do with the decision to get married. Although I don't have a single doubt about spending the rest of my life with The Fiancé, I've been a little apprehensive about the living together part—especially right now, when the two of us are still in a condo built for one...

Comments (4) | Read more »

Sale of the Week—A Robin’s Nest on Lake Shore Drive

List Price: $3.199 million
Sale Price: $2.75 million
The Property: In the late 1960s, when the construction executive Albert Robin developed The Carlyle, the 40-story condo building at 1040 North Lake Shore Drive, he set aside a two-story aerie for himself and his family. Robin—a benefactor of Roosevelt University, which named its Schaumburg campus after him—died in...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Fox News

Grounded in Fiction
The Chicago Air & Water Show dominates the skies this weekend, but there's plenty to see at street level—for starters, a couple of theatre adaptations by local lit stars. Elizabeth Berg—she of New York Times best-seller list fame, who has been touted by everyone from Oprah to the American Library Association—has adapted her...

Comments (0) | Read more »

If the Shoe Fits: My Night at Hammond’s Horseshoe Casino

What I loved and hated—and felt suspiciously neutral about—at the newly renovated, $500 million Horseshoe Casino, floating just off Hammond, Indiana. I checked out the spot Friday on opening night, along with about 6,000 other partygoers. Is this Chicago's next nightlife destination? You be the judge...

Comments (9) | Read more »

On the Market—A West Loop Loft

List Price: $560,000
The Property: This two-bedroom loft has a supremely contemporary sensibility, as evidenced by the gleaming metal kitchen cabinets (intended for a high-school science lab), the black granite tepee-shaped fireplace, and a sleek, elongated bathroom sink.

Marc Lawrence, an executive at Lawrence Foods (his family’s bakery and food-ingredients manufacturing company in Elk Grove Village), bought the space in...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Goodbye, Erba

Bummer of the Week

Erba (4520 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-989-4200), a rustic Italian spot in Lincoln Square that made Chicago magazine's 2007 list of best new restaurants, will close on September 13th, according to Robert Butterfield Jr., the owner. "It's a lack of business," said Alan Pirhofer, Erba's chef. "People are being more cautious with their money. The neighborhood is changing." As for Pirhofer's future, he's...

Comments (4) | Read more »

Tropical Depression

While sitting at our private table on our private island, sipping cold drinks under our private umbrella, our toes in the warm private sand that no one else's toes are allowed to touch, I had a terrible thought. This is not paradise I find myself in. It's hell.

OK, stick with me here. I'm going to go off on a navel-gazing existential rant—which makes no sense given the fact that...

Comments (1) | Read more »

Housing Bulletin—Zero-Energy Homes on Chicago’s Far South Side

On what was once a weedy parcel of land in Veterans Park—situated on Chicago's South Side near where the Skyway crosses above 95th Street—Bernie Schmidt has built the first of what he hopes will be 20 midsize homes that use no electricity from the utility grid. If completed on the linear plot of land adjacent to rows of tidy bungalows, the subdivision, called Solar Verde Estates, will be the city's first zero-energy block...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Lincoln Park Teen Destination

The Teen Age

At a time when boutiques shutter every month, never underestimate the spending power of the Millennials. A new Lincoln Park teen and tween store Frankie's on the Park (2322 N. Clark St.; 773-248-0400) is slated to open August 14th. The brand new, two-floor space (conveniently located near the Latin School and Francis Parker) runs the gamut from casual wear and denim to special-occasion dresses and suits for boys and girls age 8 to 18. Co-owners Lisa Rolfe Burik and Mary DeRose Carter spent a year and a half...

Comments (0) | Read more »

The Accidental Bridezilla

The invitations went out last week, and suddenly everyone seems to have entered panic mode. The Fiancé, who typically keeps his cool under even the most strenuous circumstances, had to take a walk last Monday after I mentioned that some of our guests had already received their invites. It seems our pending nuptials are making even him a little nervous...

Comments (12) | Read more »

Sale of the Week—Get Width It in Ravenswood

List Price: $2.05 million
Sale Price: $2.35 million
The Property: Not yet finished but already sold, this raised 12-room house is super-wide by city standards: a full 40 feet, on a lot that is 43 feet wide. “It’s totally suburban,” says Brent Meder, whose Meder Properties built it, as he walks across...

Comments (1) | Read more »

Mod Hot Weekend

Splash HitThe dog days of August are so miserable, even local theatre is looking for a way to cool off. Fake Lake, a site-specific play from the The Neo-Futurists, uses the Welles Park Swimming Pool (2333 W. Sunnyside; 773-275-5255) as a stand-in for Utah’s Lake Powell, the backdrop for this coming-of-age...

Comments (0) | Read more »

Celebrity-palooza, Bar News, and more

There are after-parties, and then there are industry parties. Just about every club worth its cover was touting its own "official" Lollapalooza after-party last weekend. The Underground sent out mass emails and text messages bragging that Lindsay Lohan and waify gal pal Samantha Ronson were in the house—they were hanging out while Sammie's Grammy Award-winning brother (and Sunday Lollapalooza act) DJ Mark Ronson spun at the club...

Comments (6) | Read more »