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February 2008
The Buzz Bin
By Rebecca Little
Kathryn Kerrigan launches a line of separates and eveningwear for tall women Read more
Sales Check
By Rebecca Little
A roundup of sales, store openings, and shopping news in February 2008 Read more
Dining Out: Head of the Brass
By Dennis Ray Wheaton
Twenty-first-century brasseries bear little resemblance to the original breweries they started out to be or, more recently, to restaurants where beer is served, and Chicago's newest bids to the title are no exception. Old Town Brasserie and Brasserie Ruhlmann emphasize fairly classic food and wine by acclaimed French chefs in polished surroundings but neither recreates the fabled brasseries of Paris—such as Au Pied de Cochon, near Les Halles (the food market), where patrons would often sack out on banquettes after gorging on oysters and quaffing copious amounts and Beaujolais. Just as well, I suppose. Read more
Happy Super Tuesday

One of the more genius uses of Flickr we've encountered: a presidential candidate sets up an account and, over the course of the year, steadily posts almost 15,000 photos shot at various events by thousands of users across the country. That candidate? Barack Obama. The wide range of photos includes your run-of-the-mill crowd shots, insightful behind-the-scenes peeks into campaign life, and quite a few downright artsy photographic dedications. We had hoped to find the same from the other candidates—but no dice...

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Week 37: Bare-Assed and Pregnant

I've spent much of my life avoiding women who appear to be pregnant, because they scared the hell out of me. What if I said the wrong thing? I had nothing to offer them, conversation-wise, beyond "So, what's it like being pregnant?" Now everything is different. Today at the gym I asked the pregnant woman on the cross-trainer next to mine how she gets her recommended daily calcium intake.

Watched Sarah's belly vibrate today. It looked like when you throw a stone into a still pond, and the splash ripples out to the edges...

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Going for Chic in Winnetka
By Rebecca Little
Uptown Girl

Simone Gensburg has opened a suburban boutique for women who want to standout. Simone’s (1060 Gage St., Winnetka; 847-446-9966) stocks only one to three sizes of each piece, “so women won’t see themselves coming and going,” she says. Specializing in top-of-the-line, hard-to-find designers, she says “everything in the store is classy, chic, and timeless.” Gensburg, an Israeli émigré and former model, was a full-time mom for 17 years before opening the boutique, and modeled the elegant, monochromatic space after her own dressing room. Look for a beautiful black satin coat with pink trim ($1,895) from Ruffian, or a simple, flattering Audrey Hepburn-esque dress from Alessandro Dell’Acqua ($1,190). She also carries pieces...

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Bright Pink is the New Pink

Bright Pink founder Lindsay Avner was all smiles at a fundraiser for her year-old organization Friday night at Le Passage. "It's amazing to be 25 and know what your purpose is—why you were put on this planet," Avner told me in between hugging guests and doling out thanks for helping spread Bright Pink's mission (the group provides resources for young women at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer). "This is definitely our biggest event yet," she said. "But more than that, we had more than 50 high-risk young women reach out and...

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Sale of the Week—Roscoe Village Edwardian
By Dennis Rodkin

List Price: $1,599,000
Sale Price: $1,550,000
The Property: The rich Edwardian detail of this new Roscoe Village house sets it apart from its contemporaries in the neighborhood. There’s the Mary Poppins–impression of the façade, with headboards and shutters adorning the windows, a slate-shingled gable front, and a pair of fluted Doric columns flanking the front door. The layers of detail continue inside: in the living room, with a row of five Ionic columns between stained-glass panels displaying a Greek key pattern; in the staircase, with a wood-trimmed half-moon cutout in the wall...

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