Hello Kitty and some friends at a past parade

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and along with some turkey and stuffing, the yearly tradition is to watch or go see the Chicago Thanksgiving Day parade downtown. Not everyone can make it downtown to see the parade in person but if you can, dress warm and come early to get a good spot to see all the floats and performers. This year the parade is sponsored by McDonalds so expect to see a lot of McDonalds Thanksgiving Day parade mentions. Maybe they will be giving out some of their yummy coffee drinks at the parade? We can only hope!

The details for seeing the parade are:

McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade
Thursday November 26, 2009 from 8-11am CST
Downtown Chicago (along State Street from Congress to Randolph) 60611

This year’s McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago will include giant inflatable balloons, some of the nation’s top marching bands, and the best performances from cultures around the world. The parade takes place on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2009 from 8 to 11 am CST along State Street, from Congress to Randolph.

This holiday tradition kicks off with “Zing Zang Zoom,” a lively performance from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The parade will be led by Honorary Grand Marshal Ronald McDonald® and includes performances from the acrobatic USA Baton Twirling Team, the Jesse White Tumblers, the Mobile Azalea Trail Maids and Hromovystia Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.

This year’s parade also features marching bands from all over the country, including Castlewood High School (Castlewood, SD), Northwest Rankin Cougar Band (Flowood, MS) and Lancaster High School (Lancaster, OH). Chicagoland’s best high school bands will also be appearing at the parade, including the Marist High School Marching Redhawks and the Providence Catholic Marching Celtics.

The McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade also includes giant inflatable balloons, beautiful cultural performance groups and “Mr. Jolly Holiday” Santa Claus. Teddy Turkey, Chicago’s favorite turkey, will be there as well to spread smiles and holiday spirit to children of all ages.

The Thanksgiving Parade was originally called the Christmas Caravan in the 1930’s, and was created to help lift the spirits of residents suffering though the Great Depression. With today’s economic uncertainty, the McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade hopes to entertain and brighten the holidays for everyone watching.

For people wanting a closer look and seat to see the action, a limited number of VIP Experience packages are available at the parade’s website: chicagofestivals.org. These special packages include amenities including VIP Seats, a light continental breakfast and much more.

WGN Channel 9 in Chicago will air the parade on television live and in high definition from 8 to 11 a.m CST on Thursday, November. 26. WGN America will also broadcast the parade nationally, establishing it as one of only three parades in the country to be covered live, in its entirety, on a national television broadcast.

The Chicago Gourmet Festival 2009 is going to be a huge foodie event in Chicago. On Saturday September 26th and Sunday September 27th in Millennium Park (age 21 and up because there is a lot of wine!) there will be many opportunities to revel in being a foodie and try out new wines with some of the top gourmet food in Chicago. (see schedule below) This is the ultimate event for someone who really likes to be on the cutting edge for cooking/entertaining with friends and wants to learn from the expert presentations. The Chicago Gourmet Festival does get crowded though and sometimes there is more wine than food, which is not always a good combination.

So, my advice for attending the Chicago Gourmet Festival is take the CTA public transportation, get there early before they run out of food and bring a notepad to take notes if you hear something you really want to make at home. You can also purchase cook books at chef signings which is cool but expensive. The neatest part is to get to see some of these accomplished chefs work in person in their demonstrations and possibly taste some new gourmet flavors and wines.

Tickets are $120for general admission from 11 am – 5 pm for one day. (Saturday or Sunday)Tickets for 2 days are $240. Tickets for Grand Cru tastings are $175 in addition to the admission fees. Its not cheap, but it is rare that you can get access to an event like this open to the public, so for the people who love gourmet food and the exclusivity of the famous presenters it is probably worth it for the unique experience. Then again they probably assume that if you’re cooking gourmet food all the time, you can probably afford it. (I’m not sure that is true anymore in this economy though) They have an elaborate buy tickets online system and you print them directly off the internet so there is no waiting for tickets in the mail. Print this page for the complete schedule to take with you the day of the Chicago Gourmet Festival. AMEX card holders get a special 15% discount.

The events and demonstrations and book signings are listed below with the schedule for the 2009 Chicago Gourmet event:

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26:

Listings by Time Title Host and Location
11:30am – 12:00pm Perfect Pairings Ted Allen, Food and Wine Ambassador for
Robert Mondavi Private Selections wines Jay Pritzker Pavilion Main Stage
12:30pm – 1:00pm Mexico Meets the Sea Rick Bayless,Frontera Grill/Topolobampo
Paul Bartolotta, BARTOLOTTA Ristorante di Mare Marcus Samuelsson, C-House Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Main Stage
1:30pm – 2:00pm Peaches & Pork Mindy Segal, Hot Chocolate Bill Kim, Urban Belly
Stephanie Izard, The Drunken Goat Jay Pritzker Pavilion Main Stage
2:30pm – 3:00pm Signatures of Santa Margherita Fabio Vivani, Bravo’s Top Chef and Cafe Firenze
Anthony Terlato, Terlato Wines International Jay Pritzker Pavilion Main Stage
3:30pm – 4:00pm Fish with Flair John Hogan, Tavern at the Park/Keefer’s Tony Mantuano, Spiaggia
Thierry Rautureau, Rover’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion Main Stage
4:30pm – 5:00pm The Artistry of Seafood & Salt Jose Garces, Mercat a la Planxa Jimmy Sneed, SugarToad
Ken Vedrinski, Trattoria Lucca Jay Pritzker Pavilion Main Stage
5:15pm – 5:45pm Prime Cuts Klaus Fritsch, Morton’s The Steakhouse
Rock Harper, Chefrock Inc. Jay Pritzker Pavilion Main Stage
12:00pm – 12:30pm Seasonal Cuisine Bruce Sherman, North Pond Gourmet Pavilion Culinary Stage
1:00pm – 1:30pm Upgrading Your Pantry: Must Have Pantry Items From “Wine Bar Food” Tony and Cathy Mantuano, Spiaggia Gourmet Pavilion Culinary Stage
2:00pm – 2:30pm Spice Up Thai Food Arun Sampanthavivat, Arun’s Gourmet Pavilion Culinary Stage
3:00pm – 3:30pm Demystifying Whole Fish Cookery Paul Bartolotta, BARTOLOTTA Ristorante di Mare Gourmet Pavilion Culinary Stage
4:00pm – 4:30pm The Multi Uses of Mojo Randy Zweiban, Province Gourmet Pavilion Culinary Stage
5:00pm – 5:30pm Two Countries, Two Traditions, One Plate Carlos Gaytan, Mexique Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage

WINE SEMINARS
Time Title Host Location
11:45am – 12:30pm Exploring Champagne Fernando Beteta, Master Sommelier Choral Room
1:00pm – 1:45pm Understanding the Difference between Great Wines and Good Wines William Terlato, President Terlato Wines International Choral Room
2:15pm – 3:00pm Franciscan Estates Bordeaux Style Blending Fred Dame, Master Sommelier Choral Room
3:30pm – 4:15pm American Tradition Since 1795 Fred Noe, Master Distiller
Beam Global Choral Room
4:45pm – 5:30pm Beer’s Intrinsic Affinity For Culinary Pairing Ryan Johnson, U.S. Trade Brewer/Certified Cicerone MillerCoors Choral Room
11:30am – 12:15pm Green Winegrowing Paul Dolan, Owner
Mendocino Wine Co. Park Grill South Plaza Tent
12:45pm – 1:30pm Where Innovation Meets Tradition:
The Versatility of Prosecco Manlio Collavini, Owner Mionetto Winery Park Grill South Plaza Tent
2:00pm – 2:45pm Why French Wine Matters Today Martin Sinkoff Frederick Wildman & Sons Park Grill
South Plaza Tent
3:15pm – 4:00pm Discovering the Wines of Costello di Monsanto… A Tuscan Treasure Laura Bianchi, Owner Moet Hennessy Park Grill South Plaza Tent

GRAND CRU TASTING
Listed by Time Title Host and Location
4:00pm – 5:30pm Grand Cru Tasting Event Fred Dame MS, Alpana Singh MS, Serafin Alvarado MS and Fernando Betata MS Choral Room

GOURMET TASTINGS PAVILIONS
Listed by Time Theme Presenter and Location
11:00am – 2:00pm Regional American Paul Virant, Vie Restaurant Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 2:00pm Regional American Paul Kahan, Blackbird
Michael Sheerin, Blackbird Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 2:00pm Regional American Kevin Hickey, Four Seasons Hotel Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 2:00pm Regional American John Hogan, Keefer’s Gourmet Pavilion I
2:30pm – 5:30pm Regional American Stephanie Izard, The Drunken Goat Gourmet Pavilion I
2:30pm – 5:30pm Regional American Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia Gourmet Pavilion I
2:30pm – 5:30pm Regional American Graham Elliot Bowles, graham elliot Gourmet Pavilion I
2:30pm – 5:30pm Regional American Jimmy Bannos, Heaven on Seven Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 2:00pm Latin Carlos Gaytan, Mexique Gourmet Pavilion II
11:00am – 2:00pm Latin Randy Zweiban, Province Gourmet Pavilion II
11:00am – 2:00pm Latin Jose Garces, Mercat a la Planxa Gourmet Pavilion II
11:00am – 2:00pm Latin Café 28 Gourmet Pavilion II
2:30pm – 5:30pm Latin Zapatista Gourmet Pavilion II
2:30pm – 5:30pm Latin Nicholas Ibarzabal, 5411 Empanadas Gourmet Pavilion II
2:30pm – 5:30pm Latin Mario Santiago, May Street Café & Catering Gourmet Pavilion II
2:30pm – 5:30pm Latin Mercadito Gourmet Pavilion II
11:30pm – 2:30pm Stockyard Philip Foss, Lockwood at Palmer House Gourmet Pavilion III
11:30pm – 2:30pm Stockyard John Gatsos, Tavern on Rush Gourmet Pavilion III
11:30pm – 2:30pm Stockyard Mario Navarro, Gene & Georgetti’s Gourmet Pavilion III
11:30pm – 2:30pm Stockyard Fogo De Chao Gourmet Pavilion III
3:00pm – 6:00pm Stockyard Capital Grille Gourmet Pavilion III
3:00pm – 6:00pm Stockyard Flemings Gourmet Pavilion III
3:00pm – 6:00pm Stockyard Ditka’s Gourmet Pavilion III
3:00pm – 6:00pm Stockyard Gale St. Inn Gourmet Pavilion III
11:30pm – 2:30pm Asian Jackie Shen, Red Light Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:30pm Asian Rodelio Aglibot, Sunda Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:30pm Asian Joshua Linton, Ajasteak Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:30pm Asian Bill Kim, Urban Belly Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:30pm Asian Le Colonial Gourmet Pavilion IV
3:00pm – 6:00pm Asian Arun Sampanthavivat, Arun’s Gourmet Pavilion IV
3:00pm – 6:00pm Asian Hans Aeschbacher, Trader Vic’s Gourmet Pavilion IV
3:00pm – 6:00pm Asian Tony Hu, Lao Szechuan Gourmet Pavilion IV
3:00pm – 6:00pm Asian Gene Kato, Japonais Gourmet Pavilion IV
3:00pm – 6:00pm Asian Carol Wallack, Sola Restaurant
Alex Shalev, Sola Restaurant Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 6:00pm Dessert Fannie May Dessert Pavilion

BOOK SIGNINGS
Time Title Author(s) Location
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm The Food You Want To Eat Ted Allen Author’s Corner
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm Mexican Everyday The Soul of a New Cuisine Osteria Tru
Amuse-Bouche Rick Bayless Marcus Samuelsson Rick Tramonto

Author’s Corner 2:30pm – 3:00pm Wine Bar Food Tony and Cathy Mantuano
Author’s Corner 3:30pm – 4:00pm Taste TBD Anthony Terlato & Fabio Viviani
Author’s Corner 4:30pm – 5:00pm Morton’s The Steakhouse: 100 Steakhouse Recipes for Every Kitchen
Rover’s: Recipes from Seattle’s Chef in the Hat!!! Klaus Fritsch Thierry Rautureau

Author’s Corner 5:15pm – 5:45pm Latin Evolution Jose Garces Author’s Corner

Sunday, September 27, 2009 11am – 5pm

LIVE COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS
Time Title Host Location
11:30am – 12:00pm Farm to Table Carrie Nahabedian, NAHA
Kevin Hickey, Four Seasons Hotel Chicago Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Main Stage
12:30pm – 1:00pm Tallgrass and Green City Market Bounty Sarah Stegner, Prairie Grass Cafe
George Bumbaris, Prairie Grass Cafe Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Main Stage
1:30pm – 2:00pm Flavors of Italy John Colletta, Quartino
Federico Comacchio, Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Main Stage
2:30pm – 3:00pm Asian Delights Jackie Shen, Red Light
Takashi Yagihashi, Takashi Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Main Stage
3:30pm – 4:00pm Rustic Delicacies Dirk Flanigan, The Gage
Tony Priolo, Piccolo Sogno Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Main Stage
4:15pm – 4:45pm Savory Starts Michael Altenberg, Bistro Campagne
Art Smith, Table Fifty-Two Jay Pritzker Pavilion

Main Stage
11:15am – 11:45am How to Make a Classic Hollandaise Sauce Shelley Young, Chopping Block Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage
12:00am – 12:30pm Cheese Fonduta John Colletta, Quartino Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage
1:00pm – 1:30pm TBD Paul Katz, Harry Caray’s Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage
2:00pm – 2:30pm Savory and Sweet Desserts Martial Noguier, Café des Architectes
Suzanne Imaz, Café des Architectes Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage
3:00pm – 3:30pm Mini Rockit Burgers James Gottwald, Rockit Bar & Grill Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage
4:00pm – 4:30pm Caribbean Ceviche Luigi Garcia, RIVA Gourmet Pavilion
Culinary Stage

WINE SEMINARS
Listed by Time Title Host and Location
11:45am – 12:30pm Wines Best Kept Secrets Revealed Serafin Alvarado, Master Sommelier Choral Room
1:00pm – 1:45pm Wine Pairing in Chicago Neighborhoods Alpana Singh, Master Sommelier Choral Room
2:15pm – 3:00pm Special Ticketed Event -GAJA: 150 Years of Winemaking Heritage Gaia Gaja, Co-Owner

Gaja Family Wine Estates Choral Room
3:30pm – 4:15pm Carneros… Napa’s Unique Appellation Jay Schupert, President

Cuvaison Estate Wines Choral Room
11:30am – 12:15pm The Versatility of Prosecco Enore Ceola, Winemaker
Mionetto Winery Park Grill

South Plaza Tent
12:45pm – 1:30pm If The Wine Matters, So Does The Glass Robert Hall, President
Bottega del Vino Crystal Park Grill

South Plaza Tent
2:00pm – 2:45pm Green Wine Revolution: What Does It Mean? Serafin Alvarado MS, Alpana Singh MS,
Fred Dame MS, and Fernando Beteta MS Park Grill

South Plaza Tent
3:15pm – 4:00pm Seasonal Cocktails from the Garden to
Glass Bridget Albert, Mixologist
Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois Park Grill
South Plaza Tent

GRAND CRU TASTING
Listed by Time Title Host and Location
3:30pm – 5:00pm Grand Cru Tasting Event featuring Fred Dame MS, Alpana Singh MS, Serafin Alvarado MS and Fernando Betata MS in the Choral Room

GOURMET TASTINGS PAVILIONS
Listed by Time Theme Presenters and Location
11:00am – 1:45pm Gastropub James Gottwald, Rockit Bar & Grill Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 1:45pm Gastropub Dirk Flanigan, The Gage Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 1:45pm Gastropub Chris Pandel, The Bristol Gourmet Pavilion I
11:00am – 1:45pm Gastropub John Manion, Goose Island Brewing Co. Gourmet Pavilion I
2:15pm – 5:00pm Gastropub Chris Curren, Blue 13 Chicago Gourmet Pavilion I
2:15pm – 5:00pm Gastropub Jared Van Kamp, Old Town Social Gourmet Pavilion I
2:15pm – 5:00pm Gastropub Paramount Gourmet Pavilion I
2:15pm – 5:00pm Gastropub Michael Cisternino, Tavern at the Park Gourmet Pavilion I
11:30pm – 2:15pm Seafood Shawn McClain, Spring Gourmet Pavilion II
11:30pm – 2:15pm Seafood Mark Grosz, Oceanique Restaurant Gourmet Pavilion II
11:30pm – 2:15pm Seafood Luigi Garcia, RIVA Gourmet Pavilion II
11:30pm – 2:15pm Seafood Laurant Gras, L20 Gourmet Pavilion II
2:45pm – 5:00pm Seafood Seth Siegel-Gardner, C-House Gourmet Pavilion II
2:45pm – 5:00pm Seafood Ryan Pitts, RL Restaurant Gourmet Pavilion II
2:45pm – 5:00pm Seafood TBD Gourmet Pavilion II
2:45pm – 5:00pm Seafood TBD Gourmet Pavilion II
11:00am – 1:45pm French Christpohe David, NoMI Gourmet Pavilion III
11:00am – 1:45pm French Martial Noguier, Café des Architectes
Suzanne Imaz, Café des Architectes Gourmet Pavilion III
11:00am – 1:45pm French Tim Graham, Tru Gourmet Pavilion III
11:00am – 1:45pm French Michael Lachowicz, Michael Restaurant Gourmet Pavilion III
2:15pm – 5:00pm French Matt Tobin, Marché Gourmet Pavilion III
2:15pm – 5:00pm French Shelley Young, Chopping Block Gourmet Pavilion III
2:15pm – 5:00pm French Chris Nugent, Les Nomades Gourmet Pavilion III
2:15pm – 5:00pm French Frank Ferru, L’Eiffel Bistrot & Creperie Gourmet Pavilion III
11:30pm – 2:15pm Mediterranean Reza’s Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:15pm Mediterranean Koren Grieveson, Avec Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:15pm Mediterranean Tony Priolo, Piccolo Sogno Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm – 2:15pm Mediterranean Jimmy Bannos, Purple Pig Gourmet Pavilion IV
2:45pm – 5:00pm Mediterranean Federico Comacchio, Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush Gourmet Pavilion IV
2:45pm – 5:00pm Mediterranean John Colletta, Quartino Gourmet Pavilion IV
2:45pm – 5:00pm Mediterranean Carrie Nahabedian, NAHA Gourmet Pavilion IV
2:45pm – 5:00pm Mediterranean Mark Sparacino, PROSECCO Gourmet Pavilion IV
11:30pm -5:00pm Dessert Fannie May Dessert Pavilion

BOOK SIGNINGS
Time Title Author(s) Location
12:15pm – 12:45pm TBD Author’s Corner
1:15pm – 1:45pm TBD Author’s Corner
2:15pm – 2:45pm 200 True Italian Pasta Dishes John Colletta Author’s Corner
3:30pm – 4:00pm Takashi’s Noodles Takashi Yagihashi Author’s Corner
4:30pm – 5:00pm Market Fresh Mixology Bridget Albert Author’s Corner

I always like to recommend the best events around Chicago to attend and plan your weekends and vacations with but sometimes I have to call out the details about Chicago that are less than ideal. Today’s complaint is about the Chicago CTA bus service.

I have a love hate relationship with public transportation to begin with so lately when the 121 bus is nowhere to be found I become even more frustrated with the system that is supposed to move 3 million people around the city every day.

I have taken the Metra in from the suburbs to work every day since I moved out there a few months ago. The Metra Trains only run 3 times per hour so you don’t have any choice about when they run or when you arrive in downtown Chicago. This combined with the bus issues pushes my commute to Naperville to 2 hours each way regularly.

There is only one bus going to Michigan Avenue from Union Station, the 121 bus and it only runs 3 times an hour as far as I can find on any schedule. I don’t have a smart-phone so I can’t use the CTA bus tracker, I just expect that the CTA knows that there is a BNSF train with about 1,000 people on it that gets in every 20 minutes at Union Station and they would want to coordinate the busesthat stop there around those times. The BNSF line has more riders than any other Metra line in Chicagoland and runs the most people in and out of the city each day, it is well worth coordinating with.

Yet, they don’t.

No matter if I take the 7:00, 7:20, 7:40, 8:00, or 8:25 BNSF Metra Train, there is never a 121 bus available when I walk out of the station. Granted, the walk from the basement core of the station up 2 levels and out to the street level takes about 6-7 minutes as a bunch of trains unload and converge with Amtrak passengers with luggage and a bunch of luggage moving vehicles.

Why the last batch of AM trains come in at 9 am and the buses pick up and leave at 9:03 AM exactly I have no idea. You can’t possibly get out there fast enough.

There is nothing more frustrating than to be on the first car of the train, standing by the doors to get off first and then by the time I get to street level, the last 121 bus has left or the latest one is leaving and it will be 15-25 min before another one arrives and 15 minutes on that bus if it does eventually arrive. (and after 9 am sometimes they just don’t even though there is a 9:15 bus on the schedule). 

Likewise for getting back to the station. I spend a small fortune in cab fare to get to Union Station in less than 20 minutes. It is obsurd that they don’t know and coordinate busses picking people up and dropping off at the station with when the most crowded trains leave.It seems like you have to leave work and hour before your train in order to get the bus to Union Station. If I leave at 5:15 or 6:15 there are never busses to be found to get to the 5:45 or 6:50 trains, yet it only takes 10 minutes to get there.

I am not the only one with this problem. I see dozens of people arrive at the bus stop under Michigan Ave notice that nobody is there and leave to catch a cab. This is at totally different times every day too. There is no consistency to the schedule either. People also arrive at the stop, wait for 15-20 minutes and then abandon the bus to pay $8-9 for a cab to make the last express train home so they can actually see their kids before they fall asleep. 

In the AM people stand around at the 121 bus stop hoping there is another bus as promised and the 9:15 never shows and they never make it to work by 9:30 am as expected. Some give up and take cabs, others walk, but it isn’t fair either way.

There should be some digital communication between Metra, BNSF and CTA for these kinds of trip planner transfers to note when packed trains are coming in and leaving with thousandsof people and how to get them routed to the appropriate next leg of their journey. During peak hours this is 3 trains an hour per line and during off-prak times this is only 1 train per hour! (How much simpler does it get?)

I am not sure they have any interest in this since they still get my flat fee monthly fare payment even though I end up walking for a 1/2 hr most mornings now and get to work before the next bus would get me there. An equal opportunity rant for Metra would be appropriate since bringing in the trains at 8:50 rather than 9am would help a lot of people catch that 9:03 am 121 bus.

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The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival is back again this summer (for the 10th year!) with a great lineup of movies planned. If you live in the city or work downtown these classic movies are a great way to picnic for dinner and wind down from a crazy day at work. I highly recommend the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival because it is fun and Free!

Every Tuesday at sunset (about 8:30 pm) from July 14th thru August 25th, a classic film will be shown in Grant Park’s Butler Field. Movie fans can enjoy a very good outdoor sound system and pre-show activities at each weekly screening. These films are sometimes great American classics and other times they are movies you have heard about but never seen because you weren’t around when they were popular. You can discover a new favorite classic film this way or relax because you know the dialogue in the scenes so well.

Many people bring picnic blankets and dinner to enjoy while watching the movie. It is a Ravinia style event though, so even with food and drinks allowed, you have to be quiet so that other people can hear the movie.

Grant Park’s address is:
337 East Randolph Street Chicago, IL 60601
 

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To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the film festival, Chicagoans are invited to join Movie CriticRichard Roeper on July 14th in an opening night discussion with a screening of Sunset Boulevard to follow.

The rest of the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival in Grant Park is as follows:

Complete List of Chicago Outdoor Film Festival 2009 Classic Films

- Sunset Boulevard July 14

- Duck Soup July 21

- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof July 28

- Born Yesterday August 4

- Psycho August 11

- Young Mr. Lincoln August 18

- Tootsie August 25

Enjoy the Show!

These are the updates I just got about Memorial Day Parade and Street Closures in Chicago. If you are planning on attending the Chicago Memorial Day Parade, The JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Race, The Memorial March, or the Bike the Drive event, check this list first to find out where the streets are closed and where/when the events happen. I hope eveyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend and have a burger from the grill for me!

J. P. MORGAN CHASE CORPORATE CHALLENGE (3.5 miles) on Thursday, 21 May 09, 6pm – 10pm:

This event site will be in Grant Park, Lower Hutchinson Field.

The run will take place on Columbus Drive from Roosevelt Rd to Wacker Drive.

Start time for the run is at 7:10 pm.

Columbus will close at 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm from Roosevelt Rd to Balbo.

Columbus from Balbo to Wacker Drive, as well as the east west streets in this area will remain open for as long as possible to allow for the end of rush hour traffic.

The on site CPD Commander will give the order to close the streets shortly before the race begins.

At the end of the race, as soon as it is safe to do so, Columbus from Balbo to Wacker Drive and the east west streets in the area will be opened.

MEMORIAL DAY PARADE on Saturday, 23 May 09:

The parade route is from Wacker Drive to Van Buren on State Street, step off 12 noon.

State Street and the east west streets along the route will close at 11:30 am.

Wacker Drive will be closed for staging from Wabash to Lake Street at 8:00 am.

Van Buren will be closed for vehicles and disbanding from Michigan to Franklin at 8:00 am.

The parade will last approximately 2 hours and streets will be opened to traffic as soon as it is safe.

BIKE THE DRIVE on Sunday, 24 May 09:

The event site will be in Grant Park, Butler Field the bike route is on Lake Shore Drive.

Lake Shore Drive will be closed to vehicle traffic from 5:00 am to 10:30 am from Hollywood to 63rd Street.

AMERICANS FOR LIFE, LIFE MEMORIAL MARCH on Friday, 22 May 09:

This group will meet at the Thompson Center Plaza; the march will step off at 11:30 am.

A group of 2000 to 3000 people will march south on Clark St to Adams, east on Adams into Federal Plaza.

The group will hold a rally at Federal plaza until approximately 2:30 pm.

During the march traffic will be affected from Wacker Drive to Jackson and State to LaSalle.

As soon as it is safe, streets will be opened to traffic.

Vintage Black and White Mother's Day Photos with Kids.

There are a lot of ideas for spending Mother’s Day in Chicago with mom this year. Whether your mom is a corporate VP or a stay at home multitasking genius, there is something you can do to make this Sunday’s Mother’s Day Special.

Mother’s Day Flowers are always a great gift. Most moms love flowers so getting a bouquet of roses, flower arrangement of dasies or car load of bedding flowers for the front yard are all great ideas.  I have been taking my mom flower shopping for several years now the week before Mother’s Day. We buy a few hanging pots of geraniums and some flats of flowers for the garden (petunias, begonias, dahlias and maybe a rosebush or a flowering shrub if we need one that year).

Blue Butterfly on an Orange Zinnia, Flowers are a great gift for Mother's Day

I end up spending about $100 since it is a fancy place for flowers (Vern Goers in Hinsdale), but the Jewel stores have their greenhouses up and the home depot sells a lot of interesting bedding plants also. (also try The Growing Place in Naperville. ) You probably want to go home and help mom plant them in the garden and pots too, in order to really make it a great gift and a great day.

Mother’s Day Brunches

There are numerous Mother’s Day brunches all over Chicagoland on Sunday May 10th. Some good local Chicagoland restaurants I know of are:

Vintage Moms of the 1950's. What would they would have liked? What do they want us to remember?

The Glen Prairie Restaurant in Glen Ellyn, McCormick & Schmick’s Restaurant in Chicago, ZED451 in Chicago and the very popular Naperville Hilton Sunday Brunch at Allgauer’s in Naperville. You need reservations for all these restaurants on Mother’s Day. They all are usually booked for their Sunday brunches and Mother’s Day is no different. Call now to see if there is still room!

Mother’s day Gift Ideas

If you can’t afford an iPhone or a luxury spa vacation for mom here are some good Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for kids and families.

What most moms want is to be appreciated and to spend quality fun time with their kids. With how hectic the schedules are in our lives with work and home responsibilities, nobody gets enough quality time. Doing something for the day for the family is probably what mom would like best.

The famous Blue Box from Tiffany's.

Also keep your ears open for what mom has been talking about needing latley. Does the dishwasher make a menacing noise when it starts? Would the thought of doing dishes by hand in the sink every night grind your life and schedule to a halt? Is the washer starting a leak or acting funny stopping mid cycle? Getting things for the home that need upgrading is a great way to get a gift for mom and help both parents in the house get things done quicker.

Not all mom’s want to be reminded of the work they do at home on Mother’s Daythough. Some moms want to go out and experience the world that they left behind when they had kids. Maybe this kind of mom wants a night out withdad in the city, with a broadway show, fancy dinner and four star hotel.

Mother’s Day Traditions

If you really think about it, moms are the glue that holds nature and life together. Without all their nurturing and caring how would human life transfer knowledge to the next generation and continue? If you think about it, its pretty amazing that life has existed as long as it has, and how within a few short decades the generational shift in the world is huge. Moms also influence heavily who you become and some of your deepest personality traits. Women have traditionally played an important role in making all life possible on earth, lets give them the credit they deserve.

Spring is the time that most people look for an apartment in Chicago. Rental Leases are up and it is the first time for the year that it is warm enough that you can actually move furniture our of one apartment and into a new apartment without freezing. April-June are the high points for most apartment rental searches so that means most people start looking in February, March and April in order to see enough places to make a decision on which lease to sign and where to move to in Chicago by May or June.

There are many ways to start your search for a new apartment in Chicago. If you are moving here from out of town most people find that making an appointment with an apartment rentals listing/finder service is an efficient way to see a lot of apartments over one or two weekends (with a guide) that they visit and then they can make their decisions within a few weeks. This way of searching for a new apartment in Chicago has a higher price though because there is always a finder’s fee involved in the cost of the apartment.

Lots of vintage buildings have apartments available that have charm and character you won't find in new apartment rentals.

Other people prefer to go it alone looking at craigslist or other apartment rentals listing sites (like apartments.com) for individual apartment listings and see the units on their own time schedule. This is more convenient if you already live in the neighborhood and generally you find better deals this way,but it may take 2-3 months to find the right apartment unit. Craigslist has many search options and ways to filter the search results and RSS feeds so you only see what you can afford and most listings have some photos that help you weed out the seedy/gross places. 

A lot of people consider the night life and amenities in a particular Chicago neighborhood to be a large part of their decision on where to find an apartment. Getting around in Chicago with 9.5 million other people isn’t easy, so being as close to work, friends and convenient places to hang out is definitely an asset. The problem is that the places closest to downtown are the most expensive and the places closest to a lot of bars and trendy hangouts in Lincoln Park and Lakeview are also in high demand and therefore cost a lot also.

A typical 1 bedroom apartment floorplan in Chicago

Sometimes you can find better prices on rent for apartments further north in the city like Buena Park, Uptown and Lincoln Square. These neighborhoods have a longer commute if you work downtown, but you can save $200-$300 per month on your rent. Another option may be to rent a condo that someone can’t sell in this bad real estate economy. Many condo owners who have moved or gotten married just want to recoup some of the cash they are paying in monthly mortgage payments so they are usually very negotiable on rental prices. You also get someones home that was probably taken care of much better than a rental unit. A lot of newly rehabbed condos with luxury details are available for rent from individual owners listed on craigslist or other classified sites.  

How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Chicago?

I know people in Lakeview/Lincoln park that pay $750 per month for a 500 sq ft studio apartment without parking, and the price goes up from there. A 1 bedroom might be around $1,200 per month and a 2 bedroom might be around $1,800 especially if you want parking. Extra parking rental spaces can run from $150 – $300 per month depending on where it is located and if it is a garage or not.

A modern apartment that would be typical in Lakeview or Wicker Park neighborhoods in Chicago.

If you go further north the prices drop a few hundred dollars per unit. Also, Oak Park is a convenient alternative where a 1 bedroom might only be $850 per month and the parking is free. Oak Park apartments are still walking distance to the el for commuting to work downtown every day and the suburb is right next to the city so you can enjoy all the nightlife. Other people have found Evanston to be an alternative to living in Chicago and paying high apartment rentals prices. Evanston prices are very comparable to Oak Park and the buildings there are very similar also. The only difference is which train line you take to work. The Purple line instead of the Green line.  

Even cheaper apartment rent yet is available the south side of the city or some of the near west neighborhoods like Humboldt Park in Chicago.These neighborhoods may have lower rent rates for a reason though and it is always important to feel safe in the area that you decide to rent an apartment and live for a few years. Checking the crime reports through the local newspapers online is a good way to assess the situation and decide. 

How much of your income should you spend on rent each month?

A typical starter apartment where someone brings their bikes in because in Chicago cutting the locks & stealing bikes is all too common.

I think the guide to getting approved for a lease is around 25-30% of your monthly after tax income.Don’t forget you have to figure in the cost of utilities, parking, food and transportation also each month on top of rent. Some apartments come with heat or water included in the rent price, but not all of them do. If you find one that does, it is rare. The cost of food and utilities is about 25% more in the city than in the suburbs also. Finding roommates can help share the costs of rent but finding someone you can live with and share a bathroom with can be a serious challenge.

Wherever you decide to live in Chicago I hope this information helps you find the best deal on cheap apartment rent while finding a place you really like to live in. After you find your new apartment that you love you may want to check out whitefence.com for finding the cheapest utilities in your area also.

Plenty of fast fun affordable spring break escape options in Chicago.

I know that the tradition is to leave Chicago and go to a warm sunny tropical location to celebrate spring break, but for many people who live throughout the Midwest, Chicago is the destination for a spring break getaway. If you’re from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri or Minnesota you might be thinking of spending Spring Break in Chicago. OR, Maybe you live in Naperville and want to escape and stay downtown for a stay-cation break?

It’s the big city with all the bright lights and events happening. Maybe you’re considering moving there some day and want to see what all the excitement is about in Chicago? Here is a list of things that you can do on Spring Break in Chicago, whether you’re 17 or 77.

1. Shopping on Michigan Avenuedowntown or at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Before the Mall of America was built, Woodfield was the largest mall in America. Do your civic duty during this recession and find the best sales and deals in the stores now. Shopping is a local pastime in Chicago whether the country is in a recession or not. I see Michigan Avenue filled with shoppers every day.

2. Eat a Steak.Or if you’re a vegetarian, check out some of the finer veggie options in Chicago (yes there are many). Some of the best steakhouses in Chicago are: Gibson’s, Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris, Mickormick & Schmick’s, Smith & Wollensky and Lawry’s Prime Rib (technically not steak but still very good). Some of the best well known Vegetarian restaurants are the Lakeside Cafe, Uru-Swati on Devon, Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant on Ashland and Mana Food bar on Division.  

The view of Chicago on spring break

3. Odyssey Chicago Lake Michigan Dinner Cruise or the Chicago River Boat Tours. Both of these options give you a great view of Chicago and the skyline. The Odessy Dinner Cruises are best at night when the skyline is lit up. The Chicago River Boat Tours are also fantastic on the Chicago River. I think the Architecture tour is the best but all of them are equally informative and entertaining.

4. Check out the Art Institute of Chicago. Ok, this isn’t really very spring breaky, but well worth the time and still provides a certain amount of risque topics for discussion. There are always special traveling exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago that showcase collections of artwork that are very rare and exclusive. Check them out since they are usually only showing the exhibit for a limited number of weeks.

5. If your spring break is really late, or you are possibly waiting to plan a summer trip, consider Six Flags Great America. This is about the most spring break like activity we have here in Chicago. It’s pure fun, all the roller-coasters and rides you can possibly dream of. It is a day of pure escape from the everyday.

6. Check out the concerts. A lot of local bands play weekly in the city and if you plan ahead you can catch big national tours as they pass through Chicago. The Allstate arena, United Center, House of Blues and Chicago Theater all have new shows every weekend and you can get discount tickets the day of, if they aren’t sold out. The best way to check out these venues is their individual websites.

The Wood Dale restaurant is small, it only seats about 20 but the food is worth the wait if it's crowded.

Sweet Baby Ray’s makes a great Barbecue Sauce. I am a huge fan and when I found out that there was a restaurant that served just BBQ items with that sauce I had to try it out.  I had the Sweet Baby Ray’s Ribs at the Naperville Ribfest last summer and loved them. (Sweet Baby Ray’s won best ribs and second place in best sauce at the Naperville Ribfest) The barbecue sauce and the ribs are both important to getting your barbecue right, and although there are a lot of places in Chicago where you can get good ribs and ok BBQ, there aren’t many restaurants as good as Sweet Baby Ray’s.

They are known for having an authentic barbecue menu at very affordable prices and I found that to be very much the case.

The Wood Dale Restaurant is located at: 249 E. Irving Park Rd in Wood Dale, IL 60191. The phone number is: (630) 238-8261 you can also check out their menu online at sbrbbq.com.

The amazing Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce is more of a Kansas City style sauce but they also have hotter options for people who enjoy more of a Cajun flavor. When I visited the Sweet Baby Ray’s restaurant they mentioned that they don’t go too hot with their sauces because you alienate a large percentage of the BBQ fans with sauce that is too hot. They prefer tangy, flavorful sauces with a little heat that are enjoyable by many.

We tried a lot of food that night at Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant and here are some of what we thought were the best highlights:

If you go to Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant for BBQ there are plenty of options. There are sandwiches, ribs, pulled pork, chicken and shrimp. They do make the distinction of doing a lot of research and bringing Barbecue styles and recipes in from all over the country so Chicagoans can taste the different regional flavors. I found that I am a fan of a good Kansas City Style Sauce, but they have many dry rub and hotter options.

One of the slabs of BBQ ribs you can get at Sweet Baby Ray's Restaurant

There are many side dishes at Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant that are artfully paired with the main dish when you choose a meal. We found that we were huge fans of Chef Paul’s Corn Maque Choux and the Baked Beans, Sweet Baby Ray style. All the sides are great, but if your BBQ doesn’t come with the Corn Maque Choux you can still order it on the side for $1.29.

We were lucky enough to meet the Chef at Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant in Wood Dale, IL. Chef Duce Raymond (son of the creator of the famous Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce) is a local grad of Kendall College’s professional cooking program and a proud innovator of the restaurant menu. They try and change up the menu often to feature new dishes and offer a taste of BBQ from all over the country. They take great pride in their food at Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant and try and make it a high quality dining experience even though the price won’t break the bank.

In this less than stellar economy, going out for BBQ is one of the simple pleasures most of us can still afford and don’t have to go without. A dinner at Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant can range in price from around $9 for a BBQ Sandwich, $20 for a full slab of ribs, $10 for Jamaican Jerk Chicken and $16 for shrimp New Orleans style. (including tax) Drinks are about $3 and Desert should not be missed with $3 specialties like Banana Pudding, Chocolate Mud Pie and Pecan Pie to choose from. The only problem is that with generous meat portions it is really hard to still have room for desert. Even harder after you taste the honey kissed cornbread. (which may be the best cornbread I have ever had) Personally I would go back again for the BBQ Ribs, Corn Maque Choux and the Cornbread

Overall a dinner at Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurant will cost around $15-$25 per person depending on what you order from their menu. There is also another restaurant location in Elk Grove Village, IL and they have started to concentrate on a new venture into the catering business for corporate functions and parties. The food is definitely a crowd pleaser and has an upscale taste even though it is down home comfort food.

The Odyssey Dinner Boat Cruises on Lake Michigan in Chicago are well known for providing an elegant evening on the lake with a spectacular view of the city of Chicago. When we got a chance to take one this weekend and have a night out we jumped at the chance. My fiance and I couldn’t remember the last time we had been out on a date night since we got engaged. The Chicago Odyssey Dinner Cruise was just what we needed among the crazy wedding planning we are managing right now. Here is a review of our experiences on the Odyssey Dinner Cruise this past Saturday night in Chicago.

Boarding Time: 6:30 pm

Cruise Starts: 7:30 pm

Dinner: 8PM

Jazz Music/Dancing: throughout

View of Chicago: the entire night until 10:30 pm when we got back to Navy Pier in Chicago.

Cost:  Saturday Night Dinner Cruises start at $92. This may seem like a lot of money, but there are many restaurants in the city that cost a lot more than that and don’t provide this kind of unique experience.

The weather started out rainy so we were not sure we would have much of a view on the Chicago Odyssey Cruise ship that evening, but we drove to Navy Pier anyway in hopes of a romantic evening away from everything stressful happening right now. We read that the dress code was somewhat formal and Steve actually pulled out a suit jacket to wear. The location was easy to find, we parked in the Navy Pier garage and the Chicago Odyssey Boat was docked right on the other side of the pier from where we parked by the #5 doors.  The cruise ship looked just like the pictures, big white modern looking boat with black windows. 

The rain was disappointing but when you are on a large boat for 800 people you don’t even know it’s raining outside. The interior was surprising, no communal tables or big buffets. The level we were set up on was a very elegant restaurant setting with individual tables and we sat right by the window to see the view perfectly. The meal was a 4 course meal which was very good. The appetizers, salad, main course and desert were all very good. The chicken I had as the main course was a bit heavy but Steve really enjoyed his steak and the cobbler for desert was amazing. I don’t think that people view the Odyssey or any of the Chicago Skyline Cruises as a big floating four star full service restaurant, but they really are.

The cruise started out with a champagne cocktail hour while people were boarding. Then we switched to diet pepsi so we would stay awake since we live sleep deprived lives at this point. The coffee later in the evening was also a welcome perk of caffeine. There was a full bar available though with all the amenities you would expect from a restaurant of this caliber.

The dining room on the Odyssey is really as nice as a fine dining restaurant.

The Chicago Odyssey Boat Tour Cruise also had a very nice 3 piece jazz band playing sets on the boat during the entire time we were there. They covered everything from smooth jazz to classic Sinatra standards and finished out the evening with an energetic rendition of Sweet Home Chicago. I think they are wise to have good quality music on a cruise of Chicago’s skyline. People in Chicago know their music and jazz and the couple next to us was commenting how the music was genuine jazz played well.

Our server was very attentive and the service all around was very good the entire time we were on the ship. We were still invited to go upstairs and view the skyline from the top deck of the ship even in the poor weather and the server even offered an umbrella if we needed it. I think having separate levels and rooms on this ship is a key to it’s success. There was a college honor society party on the 2nd level and a high school party on the 3rd and we never really came in contact with any of the immaturity you would expect from those younger crowds during the trip. I am sure that all the couples that were in that dining room were happy to be in a separate room also. 

We were surprised at the variety of events that people were celebrating on the Odyssey Cruise Ship that night. They make a special effort to find out what event you are celebrating and make it special. They announced people’s anniversaries and birthdays as well as had special birthday desert cakes with candles. They try and go out of the way to make your 3 hours on the lake a special and memorable experience.

We found that the Odyssey Ships don’t go far from the shore on to Lake Michigan (which is nice for the view), they initially turned south to view the city and then looped back north a few times cycling back and forth from the museum campus to Navy Pier. We did go up on the top deck and saw a beautiful view of Chicago (under a light fog) and of Navy Pier. Some HS kids were smoking up there but were just hanging out.

I can imagine how cool it must be for a high school or college student to take a date, or have a dance on Lake Michigan on a boat like this, especially if you’re from the suburbs.  It is like their first night out as adults and most of the kids looked like they took it pretty seriously. The rest of the crowd seemed like they were a mix of young couples celebrating birthdays and mid-aged people on anniversaries. One group was a girls night out all the way from Tennessee. I could see this as a great way for people traveling from other cities to really get to see Chicago and have an elegant dinner at the same time. I can also see the appeal for couples with kids to get away for the evening and go on a cruise like this just to relax and enjoy each-other’s company.

My overall experience surpassed my expectations on the Chicago Odyssey Dinner Cruise on Lake Michigan andI can confidently recommend the experience for anyone looking for an elegant night out in Chicago or someone looking for tourist suggestions for enjoying a vacation in Chicago. The spring-summer-fall seasons are probably better weather than the first week in March but it is possible to go on these scenic dinner cruises almost any time of year and we’re glad we got to get away this weekend regardless of the weather.

Have you had an experience on an Odyssey Dinner Cruise that you would like to share? Comment below…

Everyone loves a good party and this year the recession has compelled more people to stay home and party for the Oscars with their neighbors and TV than in years past. The superbowl was a great example of people staying in, having a house party, bringing pot -luck dining items and enjoying the evening spectacle on DVR. The Oscars are always a very entertaining telecast and this year with Hugh Jackman hosting there will likely be lots of singing and dancing as well.

I think the Oscars will be entertaining whether you go out or stay in this year. Watching the Oscars at a posh party in Chicago is nice, although you will have a hard time justifying $150 ticket prices in the recession. Chicago Oscars house parties will be very popular this year and here are some tips for making yours fun. Remember that creativity is what really makes your Oscar party fun and not necessarily how much money you spend.

Chocolate Oscar Candy for guests.

Chicago Weekend Fun’s Oscar House Party Tips

:

1. Dress up. Seriously. Don’t buy anything new, just raid the closet and dress up fancy as if you were attending a formal Oscar party. Some people also take more of a character theme to party costumes and tell guests to dress up as their favorite movie character.

2. Champagne, or in most cases, use the champagne glasses with ginger ale soda and voila, it’s a lot cheaper and nobody gets drunk before the end of the loooong Oscars broadcast and has to figure out how to drive home.

3. Liveblog the telecast on your blog, or twitter your reactions to what is happening on the Oscars telecast online. Some snark may make that pretty popular with guests and your online friends if it is a “virtual” party.

4. Invite the neighbors, friends, family. People enjoy getting together the more people the merrier. It proves that just sticking together helps in a recession like this. Pull all the chairs into the TV room for seating to watch the Oscars and put the food in another room so people don’t chat in the room where people are actually watching the show. Interesting mixes of people from different areas of your life make the most interesting parties.

If you really can afford a $100+ ticket to an Oscar Party in Chicago here is one of the local Chicago Oscars Events you may be interested in:

The Gene Siskel Film Center Oscar Party @ 6pm till Midnight downtown at the Gene Siskel Film Center. “Oscar Night in America”. $150 or VIP $250. This is a formal black tie event, but you get to watch the most well known awards for movies with some of the most influential movie personalities in Chicago, making this a truly unique experience if you can afford it this year. CALL 312-846-2072 for your tickets.

It is that time of year again, Tax Preparation Season in Chicago. (it can ruin many weekends before April 15th) You get through Christmas and the Super Bowl and very quietly your 1099’s sneak up on you when you aren’t looking. Tax Preparation in Chicago can be just as challenging as any other location in the US and it is a lot harder to make the trek out to an accountant when it is below zero here.

The tax season is a different process for everyone. Whether you use a paper form 1040 EZ, an online form, TurboTax, H&R Block TaxCut, go to a tax preparing service like Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block or have your own personal accountant, there are deductions your should know about.

Personally I got to use the energy credit for new energy star windows last year which was thrilling considering how much they cost up front. I also started using TurboTax a few years ago and have enjoyed doing my taxes online with their Q & A format. I actually don’t dread doing my taxes anymore thanks to TurboTax.

I actually think the ads that say an accountant will find you thousands of dollars in refunds is a bit misleading. The people who own businesses and have complicated situations may find more deductions with H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt, but someone single and uncomplicated like me does just fine with an online tax preparation program.

Here are some tips and resources to help you through the tax season in Chicago for 2008 in 2009. I do need to state that I am not a tax professional by any means, but through some research I was able to find these tips that I wanted to share.

This is a helpful list of green tax credits you can claim in 2009.

$150 for some Energy Star furnaces/boilers
$200 for all Energy Star windows
$300 for some Energy Star heat pumps and central AC
$500 for insulation and sealing that meets model building code
$3,150 for the purchase of a hybrid car or SUV

Also, the federal limit in tax credits for home improvements is $500. More information on state tax credits can be found at the Database of State Incentives for Renewable and Efficiency.

This is also a list of common income tax deductions that are often missed:

1. State sales taxes as a deductions.This only applies if you live in a state without income tax like Oregon but work in a state that does have it like Washington. Keep track of these expenses during the year by saving receipts or logging them in Excel.
2. Reinvested dividends. This is more of a tax break since those dividends never got taxed. Bonus!
3. Out-of-pocket deductible charitable contributions. This includes mileage driven for charity and cash donations.
4. Deductible Student loan interest paid by parents. Since the IRS treats student loan repayments by parents as a gift to their child, students that aren’t claimed as dependents can actually deduct up to $2,500 of the loan interest paid by their parents.
5. Moving expense to take your first job. As long as you move more than 50 miles, you can deduct the cost of getting yourself and your stuff to the new locale. You can even deduct mileage.
6. Military reservists travel expenses. Members of the National Guard or military reserve can deduct travel expenses related to drills or meetings as long as they travel over 100 miles and are away overnight. The deduction covers the cost of lodging plus half the cost of your meals. You can also deduct mileage, parking fees, and tolls.
7. Child-care credits. If you pay someone to take care of your kids such that you can work, you might qualify for a tax credit. Note that this is true even if you claim your childcare-related expenses through a tax-favored reimbursement account at work because such accounts are capped at $5,000 while expenses up to $6,000 can qualify for the credit.
8. Estate tax on income in respect of a decedent. You can get an income-tax deduction for the amount of estate tax paid on an IRA the you inherit from someone else.
9. Any State tax you paid last spring. If you owed state taxes when you filed your 2007 return, you can deduct that amount along with the state income taxes that were withheld during 2008.
10. Deductible Mortgage Refinancing points. Any points that you pay when you refinance can be deducted (on a monthly basis) over the life of the new loan. Moreover, all unamortized mortgage points left over from prior years are deducted all at once if you end up refinancing your mortgage in any particular year.
11. Jury pay paid to employer. Some employers continue to pay their employees’ full salary when they’re on jury duty, but require that the employees turn over their jury pay. Since the IRS views this as taxable income, you need to be sure to deduct it. If you don’t, you’ll end up paying double taxes on a portion of your income.
     

Chicago has had some comic shows rotate through town every so often but it has been a while since local comic fans had a large scale event here to attend locally. It is exciting to know that the majority of web and tech workers in the Chicago area will be happy to know that the Chicago Comic Book and Entertainment Show is coming to McCormick Place in Chicago in 2010. (or C2E2 as they call it)

It is more than a full year off, but all geeks rejoice because they will be able to bring out their costumes and partay in 2010. Ok, not everyone who likes comics has a costume, but several people I know do.

I am also surprised at how mainstream comic books are these days and how not-geeky this has become since the popularity of Spider man movies, BatMan movies and especially the Iron Man movie this past summer. There is a huge audience for this event in Chicago and I may even be going myself with my fiance since he and all his friends are big fans also.

The Chicago Comic Book & Entertainment Show details are:

April 16-18, 2010, at McCormick Place’s Lakeside Center

Hopefully this will be as good a show as the New York comicon shows since it is being organized by the same trade show company Reed Exhibitons. They can start by inviting the entire improv community at IO and Second City’s training centers. Then they can hang out at the comic shops and recruit more attendees there. I just know there are probably several hundred thousand people in Chicagoland (out of 9 million) who are comic book fans and collectors. When I find more details I will update this page. More info can also be found at chicagocomicandentertainmentexpo.com.

Well the groundhogs in Chicago saw their shadow this morning and that means we get about 6 million more days of winter. Or 6 weeks, whichever global warming provides. Groundhog Day seems to have been seriously overshadowed (no pun intended) by the Superbowl last night. Never the less, the groundhogs at the Brookfield Zoo (including Tubleweed at left) were out this morning giving us our anecdotal weather forecast for spring. Bill Murray was not present at the shadow sighting, he is most likely off making more funny movies somewhere exotic and warm. Photo linked from & credit to the Chicago Tribune & Antonio Perez . Anyway, happy winter!

After being absent for 2 years the Flower and Garden show is back this spring in Chicago. The Chicago Flower and Garden Show will be running between March 7 and 15 in 2009. This is a great show if you have a yard or garden area around your home that you enjoy spending time in or plan on renovating or improving this spring/summer.

The Chicago Flower and Garden Show is amazing for anyone to see because they have so many example gardens there that are inspiring for what you can really do with your space, even if you have a very small space to work with like urban dwellers do. There are usually a lot of vendors of plants, patios, decks, pools, hot tubs, landscape and design companies as well as lawn care companies exhibiting that can help. There are usually how-to talks also that help you find the right info if you want to do the work on your yard and garden yourself.

Tickets are $12 during the week and $14 on weekends for Adults and $5 for kids. This does not include the Navy Pier $23 parking fee. So, this is a fun family event if you want to take the time to drive downtown and don’t mind the parking costs. There are a lot of restaurants and shops at Navy Pier that are also fun to stop and see if you bring the family down to the Flower and Garden Show.

More details can be found at chicagoflower.com

Trader Joe’s opened their new Oak Park Store location on December 5, 2008.Trader Joe’s is a great store for Oak Park because it is all about organics, low cost gourmet and foods from around the world. They have a great selection of interesting foods plus a Trader Joes House Brand that offers just about everything for less. The new Oak Park store is located at 483 N Harlem Ave in Oak Park, IL 60301. Parking is available in a garage near by but beware the elevators don’t always work, so if you plan to buy a cart full, park on the ground floor.

Oak Parkers are a unique breed. (I know, I live there) We appreciate the local delicacies but want to experience the best the world has to offer. We like the close availability of the city of Chicago and mass transit but want to live green and earth friendly lifestyles at the same time. We want really tasty enjoyable food but we want it to be good-for-us at the same time. We also like elegant new products but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg in a recession.

Somehow Trader Joe’s Food Stores cover this entire list of contradictions. Not everything in Trader Joe’s fits all the requirements, but everything hits at least 2 or 3 of them. I am not a vegetarian or someone who eats only Organics so I may not know as much about those foods as I should, but I know that a lot of people have applauded Trader Joe’s alternative foods that are vegitarian, vegan and organic friendly.

Others applaud Trader Joe’s for clear labeling and dating of their products that are perishable like deli meats, cheeses and breads. Some people contrast this honesty policy with whole foods no-date-labels on anything in a refrigerated case so you don’t know how long it has been there. (a day or a week?) I think the only complaint I have heard about Trader Joe’s is that sometimes products are discontinued and people can’t get them anymore. It causes a freakout situation because it is usually something that wasn’t available from other stores in the first place, and TJs was the only source locally for that item. (a balsalmic reduction is frequently mentioned) But this may be a result of that product not being available from the manufacturer or it not selling enough in the stores. Neither are much fun, but both are a factor of doing business globally.

I have been shopping at the downtown Trader Joe’s location lately since I work nearby and it is closer to walk over after work than it is to drive to the other locations in Lombard, Glen Ellyn or Downers Grove.  (or on the North Side) To celebrate having a new Trader Joe’s within walking distance from my house I came up with a list of my top 10 foods to buy at Trader Joe’s that I think you should check out:

10. Potato Pancakes – Latkes- I love potato pancakes because I am Ukrainian and they are part of my heritage and since I am no cook, I really enjoy the latkes that Trader Joe’s sells frozen. Just pop them in the oven to warm them up crispy, add a dollop of sour cream and voila, yumminess.

9. Quiche- There are 2 kinds of quiche, with crust and without. They are both wonderful for no mess one plate dinners. It might not be rocket science to whip up a quiche myself but sometimes during the work week I couldn’t be bothered to run the dishwasher let alone cook something. Microwaving the bacon-feta crust-less quiche or the crusted spinach or ham & cheese quiche and you have a hearty dinner with rich flavors.

8. Scones – the fresh baked scones aren’t always available but they are luscious.

7. Tiramisu- the boxed frozen tiramisu is just like at the fancy restaurants but half the price. I like to use Trader Joe’s tiramisu as a birthday cake for small groups (because it isn’t very large) and you can keep it frozen for several months just in case something comes up to celebrate.

6. Two Buck Chuck- this wine is good, but don’t overlook all the other unique wines that Trader Joe’s carries. I have found many good wines here to compliment my meals.

5. European Style Yogurt- I first tried this in France where this was the only style of yogurt they had and they sold it in small glass containers that got re-cycled. I found that this slightly tart but sweet thick yogurt is available at Trader Joe’s in a few flavors. I like the coffee and the chocolate. After tasting the richness of the European style yogurt, Dannon will taste too sugary sticky sweet and simple. 

4. Individual Chocolate Lava cakes – These are beyond decadent, and sometimes can take the edge off a particularly bad/frustrating day. I don’t recommend buying them all the time though because I would eat them all the time then. I have to make sure I consume some healthy food too after all!

3. Kashi Products- Now you can get Kashi everywhere (including Jewel and Target) but Trader Joe’s was the first place I saw the Tasty Little Crackers and the Go Lean cereals. You can still get great Kashi Products at Trader Joe’s and they are usually priced lower than most other grocery stores. Likewise Trader Joe’s was also one of the first places you could find organic/natural cleaning products, soaps and shampoos. They still stock a great selection of those also.

2. Organic Milk- They charge far less for the organic and hormone free milks than most grocery stores (Whole Foods) do. I have friends that only drank hormone free or Organic milk while pregnant and also use that kind of milk for their kids, and it saves them a lot of money to get it at Trader Joe’s. The organic meats (beef, chicken, fish)are also a good deal if you can buy them on sale and freeze them until needed. Most meat is ok frozen for up to a year.

1. Mochi- Trader Joe’s is the only place I have been able to find these yummy ice cream treats for sale in a grocery store in Chicago. They come in Chocolate (the best), Strawberry, Mango and Green Tea. I found the Green Tea flavor to be a bit odd at first but it grows on you. The best thing is that each ice cream ball wrapped in a rice flour dough is only 100 calories.

Let me know if you have any other Trader Joe’s favorites that you can recommend in the comments below.

This is a friendly reminder that the CTA train and bus fares will increase on January 1, 2009. Even though the state of Illinois approved the budget increases last year that prevented a fare increase then, the state revenues from sales and income taxes is down in 2008 and 2009 due to the current economic recession.

So, the CTA isn’t able to get the full amount of the funding and most estimates show that CTA public transit use it still up year over year even though the price of a gallon of gas has gone back down to about $1.70 in most areas of the suburbs and just under $2.00 in Chicago.

This means that the CTA fares have to increase to cover the gap between what the expenses are and what funding is provided from the state. Plus somebody has to pay for all those station improvements they started and the shiny new website design. Most people should be highly annoyed by the increase in CTA fares but it probably won’t keep people from going to work.

My daily commute is going from $3.50 to $4.50 per day. (still far less than driving and paying $25-$35 per day to park plus gas) My CTA Chicago Card Plus monthly unlimited pass will also go from $75.00 to $86.00. Most people pay for them pre-tax through companies like Wageworks though so you do save something on not paying taxes. (in an odd twist of fate keeping the CTA from getting more state funding) All of this will seem cheap someday when I have to take both Metra AND the CTA to work.

The people hardest hit are usually low income hourly workers that make around minimum wage. ($7.75) After the taxes and health insurance fees are deducted from a paycheck (if health insurance is even available) and they buy CTA fares and possibly buy lunch at work they are left with a very small amount of money each day.  I would guess about $800 per month is left for everything else from rent to utilities after “work costs” are considered. (plus uniforms are usually required to purchase) It is a meager life.

CTA Fare Types Current Fare Structure and Increases in January 2009

Full Fare Transit Card (TC) Bus Now: $1.75 January 2009: $2.00
Full Fare TC Rail Now: $2.00 January 2009: $2.25
Full Fare Chicago Card (CC) Bus Now: $1.75 January 2009: $2.00
Full Fare CC Rail Now: $1.75 January 2009: $2.25
Full Fare Cash (bus only) Now: $2.00 January 2009: $2.25
TC or CC Transfer Note #1 Now: $0.25 January 2009: $0.25
Chicago Card Bonus Note #2 10% Eliminated

1-Day Pass5 Now: $5.00 January 2009: $5.75
2-Day Visitor Pass Note #5 $9.00 Eliminated
3-Day Visitor Pass Note #5 Now: $12.00 January 2009: $14.00
5-Day Visitor Pass Note #5 $18.00 Eliminated
7-Day CTA Pass5 Now: $20.00 January 2009: $23.00
7-Day CTA/Pace Pass5 Now:  Did not exist, January 2009: $28.00

Full Fare 30-Day Pass Now: $75.00 January 2009: $86.00

U-Pass Note #3 15% Increase
Reduced Fare Note #4 TC or CC Now: $0.85 January 2009: Unchanged
Reduced Fare Cash (bus only) Now: $1.00 January 2009: Unchanged
Reduced Fare TC or CC Transfer Now:$0.15 January 2009: Unchanged
Reduced Fare 30-Day Pass Now:  $35.00 January 2009: Unchanged

Notes:
1 Transfer fare allows two additional rides within two hours of the first boarding
2 For every $20 purchase of pay-per-use fares, $22 of value is added to the card
3 Available through participating universities only; price change effective 2009 Fall Term
4 Reduced fares offered to eligible customers only
5 Only the 30-Day and the new CTA/Pace 7-Day passes will be valid on Pace beginning January 1, 2009. 

Happy New Year…

Harry Potter’s props costumes and sets will be coming to the Museum of Science and Industry Exhibition in Chicago in April 2009. The exhibition will be there through September 7th 2009. This is much like the Star Wars Exhibition that they had there in the winter of 2007-2008. The movies are so popular that Harry Potter and Star Wars bring a whole new audience to The Museum of Science and Industry and help raise awareness of the museum for tourists and visitors as well as local residents.

The following for Harry Potter Books is huge in Chicago and an entire generation grew up on these books, reading them from cover to cover over and over again. I expect the tickets to easily sell out for the first few months at the exhibit. I would also expect there to be some demonstrations in the exhibit about how the magic effects happened in the movie and some explanations of how the Harry Potter movies were made.

Tickets on sale now at the Museum of Science and Industry website; $26 for adults, $19 for children, and $25 for senior citizens. There are discounted prices for everyone during the evening hours after the museum closes which is nice since people will pretty much line up forever to see these items in person if they are superfans. And judging from how many people stood in line at bookstores at midnight to get the books each time they were published, I think this will be one of the most popular exhibits at the museum of science and industry to date.

I also think this makes a good trip activity idea for the kids over spring break or summer break in 2009. There are a lot of other educational exhibits there that you should see too if you can make it. The bodyworlds exhibit is always popular. Just stay away from the internet exhibit (ala 1997) and the automobile exhibit (ala 1985). There are some areas of the museum that need a lot of updating.

See harrypotterexhibition.com for details and to buy tickets online.

I was just viewing this video from Leigh Hanlon on ChicagoCareless.com about how this year’s Macy’s window decorations suck since the company let go their former window designer Amy Meadows and cut the costs to produce the motorized diorama type Christmas holiday displays. In fact they imply that they are so sucky and cheap this year that it’s not worth making the trek from the suburbs or other parts of Chicago to see them. Ouch!

I have been going to see the Marshall Field’s and now Macy’s Christmas window displays for about 5 years now. (since I have worked downtown) and I have to say that every year along the way they have gotten cheaper or re-used displays from past years to save money. Guess why? The department store business isn’t very good these days. People don’t really want to shop at a store that they can get everything in one place for some reason, and favor specialty niche retailers now. So, Macy’s like Marshall Fields, is not selling as much merchandise or making as much profit so they have to keep cutting costs.  (and the recession really isn’t helping)

Plus, in another criticism of Macy’s is that they must pay a boatload of royalties to all the celebs they licence names from to promote their house brand products. (Martha Stewart, we’re looking at you) So, there goes the profits that would have been there in other years.

Personally I don’t know if I would go as far as saying the window displays ”suck” this year but they aren’t near the glory they once had. The designs look much less traditional and rely on a lot of cardboard cut outs and less of the dolls and actual moving parts. (this has been the trend for a while though) I have posted some pictures of the windows now and some from 2005 that I took before Macy’s bought Marshall Fields here.

So, if you want to go see the window decorations at Macy’s downtown in Chicago this winter with the kids or maybe haven’t seen their windows in the past, it is ok but not wow kind of work. If you used to love the attention to detail in the old traditional windows, you won’t be happy with these, and it is probably worth saving yourself the trip unless you really like going to the walnut room.

Chicago gets really cold in the winter so having an outdoor ice rink is no problem downtown. Millennium Park’s ice skating rink opened in 2004 after Skate on State was closed down to accommodate a new building being built across from what was then Marshall Fields.

McCormick Tribune Ice Rink at Millennium Park is located at N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, IL 60602 Phone: 312-742-5222

Millennium Park’s Ice Skating Rink is smaller than a usual ice arena rink but it is plenty of fun for kids and the family to go skating all winter. The rink is right next to the bean (cloud’s gate) in Millennium Park and it is free to ice skate there. (Skate Rental is not free, $10) Both figure skates and hockey skates are allowed on the ice rink. The ice rink is open from 10 am to 10 pm from Thanksgiving through March 15. The main benefit of the rink is some exercise for most of us that sit behind desks all day long and it is also a pretty picture to see people skating at holiday time.

The Millennium Park Outdoor Ice Skating Rink is a fun thing to do for free downtown if you own your own skates. (or if you want to rent skates) The public is welcome to try out their ice skating skills anytime of the week and have some fun. No lessons are currently available but many local ice skating rinks offer lessons if you want to learn to skate from a professional. Millennium park is a great place for a cheap romantic date though and after you skate you can go to dinner at the Park Grill restaurant there.

If you go skating in Millennium Park remember a few tips:

1. Always ice skate in the same direction as traffic. (far less people get hurt this way)

2. If you are not confident of your ice skating skills stay close to the boards.

3. Bend your knees and keep your butt under you for balance while skating with your feet shoulder width apart. Push outward with the insides of the blades rather than pushing with the toe pick of the skates. Or swizzle your feet in and out while doing a 2 foot glide.

4. If you feel yourself start to fall, letting yourself sit down naturally without struggling usually hurts less than trying to save it. You may want to bring extra gloves or extra pants for kids if they get wet falling a lot. You can change the kids for the ride home in the washrooms after they are done mopping up the ice.

5. They don’t resurface the ice often so expect it to be bumpy, full of snow and basically slow ice because of all the blades cutting it up in traffic. If you do know how to skate this is not really the place to practice or show off. Plus it is kid of rude to cut people off doing all your USFSA stuff when you are on a public skate.

And that is my best Millennium Park Ice Skating advice since I haven’t taught ISIA (ISI) lessons in about 15 years or skated USFSA in even longer. Have a great time skating and getting some good cardio exercise. 

If you haven’t been to a Renegade Craft fair holiday sale, this weekend if your chance to get some great affordable Christmas gifts for family and friends (and yourself) that are hand made in the USA by very talented artists and crafters. I have become a fan of the Renegade Craft Fairs (when they aren’t rained out) over the years and I look for the sellers I find at the show on Etsy also.

The Renegade Craft Fair is at the Pulaski Park Field House (1419 W. Blackhawk St in Chicago) on December 6 & 7 from 11 am to 7 pm. They also have after-parties with bands. Check out renegadecraft.com for more info.

 I have become a fan of hand made gifts also because it is a more down to earth trend with gift giving. Giving something handmade (a quilt, jewelry, kids toys) shows that you like to find unique gifts, you like to buy eco friendly gifts and you support local artisans and crafters and you local economy. It is all kinds of holiday goodness.

The last renegade craft fair this fall was in the middle of a monsoon so it was less fun, but now they have rented a field house with a roof and heating. So, this should be better. Some of the great handmade gifts I have seen at renegade craft fairs are scarves, hats, sweaters and other knitted items. Kids clothing, kids shows, baby clothes, accessories and children’s toys. Lots of screen printed T-Shirts, messenger bags, purses and jewelry. Women’s accessories of all kinds. Soaps, lots of home made soap and candles. Printed items like letterpress cards, stationery and photo prints. Some sculpture and original artwork. Some glassware, pottery, plates, bowls, vases and glass artwork. Home decorating items and some custom made clothing. Pretty much something for everyone. (although probably more women’s gifts than guys)

Harry Connick Jr is playing 2 nights in December at the historic Chicago Theater with a concert featuring Christmas music from his new holiday album “What A Night! – A Christmas Album“. (CD available in stores now) Harry Connick Jr is one of the people who brought back swing music in the early 1990’s (before the gap commercial) and for that I will always love him. The rest of the world knows Harry Connick Jr for his acting as well as his New Orleans style jazz and big band swing music that has been consistently popular for 2 decades now. He has a smoothness that reminds us of Frank Sinatra and more presence and range than youngster Michael Buble’.

If you like Christmas holiday music or the swing and big band sound, this is a concert not to miss. I can’t go because of prior commitments but I would love to. Harry Connick Jr’s music is always something that gets me in a positive and creative mood. I think the Chicago Theater is also a great place for a concert of this style of music. It is historical and back from the dead kind of like swing music. (although some people would like swing music to die out again). Harry also likes to innovate on classic songs and compose his own work. He is so much more than just someone doing covers from the great American songbook. I highly recommend his shows also because he is one of those few people who is just as good live in performance as you hear on the CDs. In an age of digital enhancement and robot voices, this is rare.

Tickets are still available for the shows on December 10 & 11 (Wednesday and Thursday) at the ChicagoTheater.org site. Both shows start at 8pm and tickets range from $37-$52.00 (plus at least $10 in service charges). There are still tickets available on the main floor and all over the balcony. I advise you to bring binoculars if you sit in the back of the main floor or in the balcony. The view is good in that it is clear and well lit but you just can’t see any detail from that far away or really get a feel for the performance going on. I think this will be a great concert not to miss. (and what is going on with that CD cover? and the spray tan? weird.)

There are so many great photos of the Barack Obama election night celebration on Flickr it is near impossible to process and see them all. I have linked to some here that show how amazingly the event went and how excited all the people were all over the country. I have never seen people out in the streets celebrating all over the world like this before. I have seen pictures of people outside on the streets cheering and celebrating Barack Obama’s election win in Las Vegas, LA, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. It is amazing to see people so excited and electrified by this election and so many people voting for a candidate that they believe in.

I have also never seen people watch the news and process this information in so many ways. People were online, watching TV, watching the internet on their mobile phones and mashing their own creations together with photos, screen shots, videos and their own t-shirt designs to cover the event themselves. It really is a user generated world in combination with the established media now. I sincerely hope that the change and hope we feel can be maintained and that we all do our part to pitch in and help this country rebuild and fix it’s problems. See the Obama celebration pictures below:

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Every year millions of consumers flood the shopping malls on Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving Christmas sales and buy as many of their Christmas gifts on sale as possible. The point to this 5am madness is that there are special deals and sales only on that day and sometimes only on that morning of Black Friday that help you save money on your yearly Christmas gifts bill. This year in Chicago will probably have even more emphasis on cost savings, sales, deals and discounts since we are in the middle of a economic recession and everyone I know is cutting back on their holiday budget this year. With holiday spending budgets getting smaller and the same number of people to shop for gifts for, parents will be even more willing to get up early for Black Friday sales all over Chicagoland and save an extra 20% or 30% on the toys their kids want for Christmas. Cyber Sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving have also become more popular in the last few years leading CyberMonday to also be a big day for sales and black friday ads. (as well as Green Monday, the second Monday in December)

The Stores that participate in this Black Friday Sale tradition each year change and you never really know what the sales will be until the week before or maybe the last few days before Thanksgiving. Then there is a flurry of TV commercials, newspaper flyers and internet posts on a BlackFriday site on the internet. Why these retailers don’t run Google ads for the term Black Friday Sales and CyberMonday Sales, I have no idea. It would be much more efficient in search and content networks online.

Some great Sales going on for Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

WalMart is opening at 5AM in Chicago! They have a lot of flat screen HDTVs on sale but you have to go online to one of those dumb interactive flyers where you have to click to turn the page rather than just listing them in one long page. I hate interactive flyers online. The deals are in store only. 

MicroCenter has 2 Laptops each for $299.00. A MSI Wind Netbook with an Intel® Atom Processor N270, Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, a 120GB Serial ATA Hard Drive, a 1GB DDR2-667 RAM and a 2.6 lbs; 802.11b/g Wireless Network. (Price after $50 instant savings / REG. $349.99 / 857565 / IN-STORE ONLY) OR a Acer Aspire Notebook with a Intel® Dual-Core Processor, Microsoft® Windows® Vista® software, 160GB 5400RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive and a 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi Certified Wireless Network. (Price after instant savings / 860361 IN-STORE ONLY) Pretty cool deals on some very functional laptops. The stores open at 8am on Friday. Be in line at 6am if you want these deals!

Dell also has laptops on Sale and they have a deal where some are $530 off. That still isn’t as cheap as Microcenter though.

BestBuy’s sales don’t look that great, maybe because their largest competitor Circuit City is going out of business and they don’t really have anyone to force them into offering really good deals anymore.

MACY’s has a special sale going now before Thanksgiving that includes free shipping online and an additional 15-20% off when you use the checkout coupon code “PERK” and buy more than $99 worth of stuff before tax. They say over 25,000 items are on sale too. MACY’s actually has a pretty cool website and a lot of your Christmas shopping can be done online very efficiently. They also have a second coupon discount code for free shipping “GOBBLE” that is good through Saturday Night. And a third for Monday only “ONEDAY” that is good for free shipping on orders over $75. They also have a special deal on buy one get one free women’s sweaters. And for Tuesday through the end of the week Macy’s has another free shipping code of “MERRY” running on the site. It seems that they change their marketing programs daily.

Fancy housewares retailer Crate and Barrel is even getting into the Black Friday – Cyber Monday sales this year offerin free standard shipping on all orders over $100 (excluding furniture). They also have started to mark down some items which they never used to do until they hit the outlet. I still think Crate and Barrel has great gifts for coworkers, family and friends if you need to impress.

And of all the times of year to make upgrades to the site Hallmark.com is not available this weekend. At least they recognize that people will be upset about this and go elsewhere for cards and creative stuff so they are offering a $2 off on $10 purchase cupon right now and they are offering a discount coupon code “SORRY25″ for when you come back to order your cards later from the site. I am not sure though if it will make much of a difference. First Hallmark looses it’s real estate in all the Jewel food stores in Chicago (to American Greetings) and now they can’t get their web retail distribution right either. Not a good sign for this company.

JCREW also has some sales online offering an additiional 30% off all markdowns today on Monday using the promocode EXTRA30 at checkout but only through Wednesday December 3rd. JCREW always has the best sweaters for work and in great colors. See if you can find something great there online if the site is back up. It was crashed when I checked. Maybe there was a really great deal?

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The stores in Chicagoland that I have gone to or seen sale flyers for on Black Friday for sales have been: ToysRUS, Kohl’s Macy’s Department Stores, WalMart, Target, BestBuy and Carson’s. Amazon.com also has a lot on sale for that day only. That doesn’t mean there won’t be more stores around Chicago that will have special door-buster sales or early bird deals. When I find out what some of the sales are about, the times, locations and %off I will add that information to this early bird post. I come back and edit and add info to posts like this to help get the word out. Gift giving is an American tradition at this point and even if we give smaller cheaper gifts this season, we still mean the best things from the heart. 

I do see a few trends continuing this year despite the credit crunch. I think video game systems will be hot and computers and electronics will continue to be popular too. Kids are just to dependent on them now for so much of their time and the systems have all evolved to do so much more than Duck Hunt. (Wii, XBox, PS3) Anything related to Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Wii is just going to sell off the shelves, so get them early or pay a lot more on ebay than you want.

I hope your Christmas season is bright this year and that we all will be able to make a happy holiday with family and friends with 1/2 the money it used to take in this sluggish world economy. I think focusing on good food and good times with family is more important than a pile of gifts anyway. Check back later to find out what is on sale near you in Chicago and get the best local deals to save money.

Macy’s State Street Store in Chicago has continued the traditions of Marshall Fields with the lighting of the great Christmas tree in the Walnut Room (on the 7th floor) each holiday season. This year will be no different. I just heard that Tommy Hilfiger will be the special designated guest of honor for lighting the Macy’s Walnut Room tree this year and hopefully Tommy will design some cool unique ornaments to decorate the tree with. Last year in 2007 Martha Stewart lit the Walnut Room Christmas tree in person and her ornaments were featured on what I called the gradient tree. In 2006 the tree was covered in Wedgewood China ornaments and the year before in 2005 it was all about Swarofski Crystal Christmas ornaments. The Christmas Tree Lighting in Macy’s Walnut Room usually happens the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year the event is scheduled for November 8, 2008 at 1 pm. The tree this year is supposed to be a vintage decorated one with tinsel and antique ornaments.

The Walnut Room at Macy’s is a great day out with the family regardless of who designs or decorates the Christmas tree. I have been going there with my parents for the last few years and it is a very enjoyable experience and a tradition we plan on keeping up as long as we can. The food at the Walnut Room is not super fancy but it is very good and they revamped the menu with some more modern dishes last year in addition to the comfort food favorites you have always enjoyed. (chicken pot pie anyone?)  Expect to pay between $10 and $15 per person for dinner plus drinks, tax, tip and desert. Last year we had the best little mini-bunt spice cakes with ice cream on top that were a Martha Stewart recipe. I have included that picture here at left. We also usually stop to shop a bit and get some Frango mint chocolates since they are very good also. If you go during peak times (afternoons) the line to get into the Walnut Room is long and it is a first come first served type seating order. So, either go around lunchtime or go later in the evening to miss the crowds. The Walnut Room is kid friendly and they have lots of room for stroller parking.

If you don’t know him alreay, Tommy Hilfiger got popular in the 90’s for the preppy look that urban youth ended up taking, changing and owning later on. (think boyz 2 men) In the years since then he has tried to open his own line of stores (one was in Oak Brook Mall) that did not last very long. I know Macy’s is really is loyal to this brand and celebrity marketing plan they have going but I am not sure this one will work. Tommy Hilfiger may be a big deal to Macy’s but the rest of us aren’t really into his designs anymore. The line hasn’t evolved and it is too similar to a bunch of other brands we get cheaper at Target and Old Navy. (and probably manufactured in the same factory in China) So, he isn’t my favorite guy but he is a celebrity so I am sure that there will be a crowd.

If you do plan on visiting Macy’s department store in Chicago on State Street this winter for the holiday displays or the Walnut Room Christmas Tree Macy’s is reachable by Metra trains to Union Station and then by taking a cab from there to the store on State Street. Or if you live near the el train, take the brown, green, pink, orange or red lines to the State Street and Lake Street stop in the loop and just walk one block south of there to get to Macy’s department store.  Enjoy the shopping at Macy’s, the Walnut Room Tree and the great food this holiday season.

Two new pavilions are planned for Millennium Park from architectural designers Zaha Hadid of Britain and Ben Van Berkel of the Netherlands. These pavilions will be temporary and be set up for 5 months in Millennium Park starting on June 19, 2009. This is all part of a 100 Year Centennial Celebration from the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee in Chicago. The two pavillions will be completley recycled following the 5 month display time in Millennium Park. (Being green is cool)

Many of us have heard of the Burnham Plan from watching Geoffrey Baer tour the Chicago lakefront, Rivers and skyline on Channel 11 over the years. The Burnham Plan is one of the inspirations behind why Chicago built Millennium Park and the grand city planning the Mayor Daley has been doing all over the city. Daniel Burnham envisioned that the lakefront area in downtown Chicago would be open to the public and be filled with gardens parks and recreational areas for the community. 100 years later his plans and ideas are being implemented and there are two new pavilions planned for Millennium Park.

I think executing the Burnham Plan is a huge win for the city of Chicago and Millennium Park has been a great success even though it was 3 times the budget that was estimated for creating it. The citizens of Chicago should have places that they can enjoy the city for free and have green space in the downtown loop area. These green spaces are also important for the tourism business that Chicago makes millions from each year. I would like even more green space to be planned like Millennium Park or Roof Gardens but we have yet to see any other plans like Burnham’s that emphasize that need in other areas of the city.

This year the Chicago Windy City Wine Festival is being held on September 5th and 6th at Daley Plaza downtown in Chicago. The Wine Festival starts on Friday evening at 4pm and goes until 10 pm. It continues on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm and is open until 10 pm again. Tickets are available to purchase for the Windy City Wine Festival Online at windycitywinefestival.com/buy.html or call 847-382-1480 to purchase them by phone.

Tickets are $25.00 for the wine tasting in advance and $30.00 each at the door. Additional tasting coupons can be purchased for more tasting at the festival for $5.00. There is even a designated driver ticket available for $10.00 which gets you 2 non-alcoholic drinks and food as well as access to cooking demonstrations and a copy of the festival program.  

They have also included live bands performing at the event to add to the relaxed atmosphere and they have brought in several local wine experts and Sommeliers to present information about choosing, buying and pairing wines with food as well as information about the wine making process.

It is interesting that even though the economy has slowed down people have certainly not stopped drinking wine. People have decided that buying cheaper food and clothing as well as saving energy were all bearable changes but the Chicagoans are not giving up their wine drinking. Wine sales have increased an enormous amount in the last decade thanks to movies like Sideways that made it a cool, independent, social and cultural hobby to have.

Chicago may not have any vineyards or be written about much in Wine Spectator but we have a lot of wine drinkers and buyers in the Chicagoland area. They have been a fan of the Chicago Wine Festival and the Naperville Wine festival the last few years. Also a few stores like Armanetti’s, Sam’s Wines and Spirits and Binny’s have made buying from huge selections of wine from all over the world possible under one roof for very affordable prices. Also, hundreds of small wind boutiques have popped up like Wine Expressions and Wine Styles in all the small shopping centers in the suburbs.

Yuppies and baby boomers liked taking a bottle of wine to dinner at a friend’s house or serving a new wine guests had never tried before at parties. This novelty as well as great taste has kept wine popular while other luxury items have trailed off in popularity since the economy has slowed down. Click here for a map of the wine festival grounds and plan your trip today.

The entertainment and educational presentation schedule for the fest:

Friday, September 5 – 4-10pm

5:00-5:25pm – Tim Laird, Mixology, The Art of the Wine Cocktail.
5:30-6:00 pm – “Cutting Edge White Wines” Serafin Alvarado, Master Sommelier Director of Wine Education, Southern Wine and Spirits of Illinois
6:05-6:35 pm – Sheri Sauter Moran, Wines of France
6:40-7:10 pm – Colleen Stewart, The Bonterra Vineyards Organic Road Show
7:15-7:45 pm – THE HEARTY BOYS
8:00-9:45 pm – KIM MASSIE

Saturday, September 6 – 3-10pm

3:30-4:05 pm – Sheri Sauter Moran, Wines of France
4:10-4:40 pm – Steve Ciappette Viand
4:45- 5:15pm – Fetzer Eco Tour “Growing Green”
5:30-6:40 pm – DAYNA MALOW
6:50-7:20 pm – Tim Laird, Mixology, The Art of the Wine Cocktail.
7:25-7:55 pm – THE HEARTY BOYS
8:15-9:45 pm – MICHAEL HEATON BAND

Have you ever needed a zip code to find out an address or mail a letter to someone and needed their zip code? I run into this problem a lot so here are the zip codes I have been able to compile from a few different places on the web. There are Chicago neighborhood zip codes from the north, south and west side of the city and some near Chicago suburban zip codes too. The zip codes are all listed aphabetically for easy reference. Hopefully this list will be helpful and if you bookmark it you can come back again to look the zip codes up as soon as you need them. No more hunting for old letters or christmas card envelopes with return addresses on them!

Albany Park zip codes- 60625, 60630
Andersonville zip code - 60640
Belmont Cragin zip codes – 60639, 60634, 60641, 60707
Berwyn & Forest Park, IL zip codes - 60402, 60130, 60398
Beverly zip code - 60643
Bridgeport, IL zip codes – 60608, 60616, 60609
Bronzeville - 60653
Bucktown zip codes - 60622, 60647
Chatham zip codes - 60620, 60619
Chinatown zip code - 60608
Dearborn Park & Printer’s Row - 60605
DePaul zip code - 60614
Downers Grove, IL - 60515, 60516
Edgewater - 60640, 60660
Edison Park & Jefferson Park - 60630, 60631, 60646
Englewood - 60636
Evanston, IL - 60201, 60202, 60203
Gold Coast & Streeterville - 60610, 60611
Greektown - 60607
Highland Park, IL - 60035
Horner Park - 60618
Humboldt Park - 60647, 60651, 60624
Hyde Park & Kenwood - 60615, 60637, 60653
Irving Park - 60641, 60618
Lakeview - 60657, 60613
Lincoln Park - 60614
Lincoln Square - 60625, 60659
Logan Square - 60647, 60641, 60639
Loop - 60601, 60602, 60603, 60604, 60605, 60606
Marquette Park - 60629
Naperville, IL - 60540, 60563, 60564, 60565
Near North Chicago- 60610, 60611, 60654, 60606
Near South Chicago - 60605, 60607
Near West Chicago - 60606, 60607, 60610, 60612, 60622, 60661, 60608, 60616
North Center & St. Ben’s - 60613, 60618, 60657
North Park & Budlong Woods – 60625, 60659, 60646, 60630 Old Town: 60610, 60614
Oak Lawn, IL - 60453, 60454, 60456, 60457, 60458, 60459
Oak Park & River Forest, IL - 60301, 60302, 60303, 60304, 60305
Pilsen & Little Village - 60608, 60616
Portage Park - 60641
Ravenswood – 60625, 60640
River North - 60610, 60611
River West - 60606, 60622, 60610, 60661
Rogers Park – 60626 Roscoe Village: 60618, 60657
Schaumburg, IL - 60173, 60179, 60192, 60193, 60194, 60195, 60196
Skokie, IL - 60076, 60077
South Shore - 60649, 60617, 60619, 60637
St Charles, IL – 60174
Tri-Taylor & UIC University Village – 60607
Ukrainian Village - 60622, 60612, 60607
Uptown & Buena Park - 60640, 60660, 60613
Washington Park - 60615, 60637, 60609, 60621
West Ridge & Warren Park - 60659, 60645
West Town - 60612, 60622, 60647, 60610
Wicker Park - 60622, 60647, 60614
Wilmette, IL - 60091
Winnetka, IL - 60093
Wrigleyville Chicago - 60613, 60657

The Labor Day Weekend and Holiday Monday are so jam packed with events you won’t be able to stay home for long. Both in the City of Chicago and in the suburbs there are large events and parades happening in addition to all the shopping sales all over Chicagoland. The Chicago Jazz Festival is this weekend, the JayCees Naperville Last Fling and the Labor Day Parades are all day Monday. I know the weather will also be good this Labor Day Weekend, it should be in the upper 80’s and no rain is in the forecast.

First, on Friday at 5pm there is the monthly Critical Mass Bike ride through downtown and the streets of Chicago. Join up wiht them at Daley Plaza at 5pm if you want to ride along. There is a police escort at the front of the pack and bike riding helmets may be required….

The Chicago Jazz Festival is also this weekend in Grant Park. The 30th Annual Jazz Festival runs Thursday through Sunday.  In the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park they will be celebrating 30 years of jazz with two time Grammy Award winner Sonny Rollins. The admission to the Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park is Free! The Jazz Festival will run August 29-31 for three days of free music on three stages from 10:00 am-9:30 pm per day. No Dogs or Alcoholic beverages will be allowed in the festival. The Grant Park Petrillo Band shell Schedule is as follows:

Friday, August 29, 2008
5:00-5:50 T.S. Galloway’s Tribute to Capt. Walter Dyett featuring Julian Priester, Ken Chaney, Mwata Bowden, Edwin Daugherty, Ari Brown and Von Freeman
6:00-6:55 AACM Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Amina Claudine Myers, Michael Logan and Thurman Barker
7:10-8:10 Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Tribute to Betty Carter
8:30-9:30 Eddie Palmieri’s Latin Jazz Band

Saturday, August 30, 2008
4:30-4:45 – Remembering Franz Jackson
5:00-5:50 – Pharez Whitted Sextet
6:00-6:55 – Vijay Iyer Quintet
7:10-8:10 – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
8:30-9:30 – Gerald Wilson Orchestra with a special guest Kenny Burrell

Sunday, August 31, 2008
5:00-5:50 – Ron Dewar Quintet
6:00-6:55 – From the Netherlands: The Instant Composers Pool
7:10-8:10 – 8 Bold Souls with a Special Guest Dee Alexander
8:30-9:30 – Ornette Coleman

Naperville is also hosting it’s Jaycee’s Last Fling Concert Event in the downtown area. This is the traditional last event of the summer to celebrate and socialize before the official fall season and back to school craziness takes off and fills the calendar. Click here to see the full last fling booklet with the map, directions, schedule and more info you may need.

The Naperville JayCee’s Last Fling 2008 features a Carnival, Main Stage Performances featuring Nationally known Artists, Free performances on the Entertainment Stage daily, a Beer Garden and Dozens of Great Food Vendors and Business Expo Booths From local Naperville Businesses. It is a great place to take the family for a fun night out. Tickets are $10.00 per person on Friday night and $12.00 per person on Saturday and Sunday night. Tickets can be purchased at Oswald’s Pharmacy at 88 Gartner Road in Naperville, 60540 (in the Naperville Plaza Shopping Center) or at Dean’s Clothing at 226 South Main Street in Naperville, 60540 (in Downtown Naperville). The actual location of the Last Fling is: The Naperville Riverwalk, 100 West Jackson Avenue Naperville, IL 60540 phone: 630-961-4143

Naperville Last Fling Dates and Times:

• Friday August 29 @ 5 pm – 11 pm
• Saturday  August 30 @ 10 am – 11 pm
• Sunday  August 31 @ 10 am – 11 pm
• Monday September 1 @ 10 am – 6 pm

Music Concert Schedule
Friday August 29th
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Dennis DeYoung
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm The Music of Styx – Hi Infidelity

Saturday August 30th
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm The Doobie Brothers
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Painkiller Hotel
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Josh Holmes

Sunday August 31st
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Gavin DeGraw
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Absentstar
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Kimi Hayes

Monday September 1st
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm The Hat Guys
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Stellar Road 

Enjoy the Labor Day Holiday and have a great weekend!

Sweet Tomatoes is a casual dining restaurant that offers healthier low calorie foods than most dining places that are still very tasty. Sweet Tomatoes is somewhat new in Chicago and I had only previously heard of it from a friend who lives in Portland and raves about how much she loves to go there with her family.

I found out that there is Sweet Tomatoes restaurant in Chicagoland in Naperville-Aurora on Route 59 not far from Fox Valley Mall and I tried it out a few weeks ago.

I loved the food and the “sample-everything” setup of the restaurant. I liked it so much that we have been back to Sweet Tomatoes one other time since then. There are 6 Sweet Tomatoes restaurant locations in the Chicago suburbs now:

Chicagoland Sweet Tomatoes Address Locations and Phone Numbers

Aurora 986 North Route 59 1-630-978-4017 (about 1 mile north of Fox Valley Mall)

Glenview 2351 Willow Road 1-847-657-8141

Lombard 2820 Highland Avenue 1-630-932-5099 (Just outside Yorktown Mall)

Schaumburg 1951 E. McConnor Parkway 1-847-619-1271 (just east of WoodField Mall)

St. Charles 2801 E. Main Street 1-630-377-3309

Waukegan 850 S. Waukegan Road 847-578-0474

The food offered at Sweet Tomatoes is a cross between a salad bar and a buffet. That said they market the restaurants as healthy dining alternatives for families instead of a burger chain or a old country buffet.

So, when you go you still have to be conscious of how much you eat and what the calories are in the items you choose. That said you can have a really tasty dinner that has more vegetables and less fat than most restaurants offer.

The entry to the Sweet Tomatoes restaurant usually has a menu of large self serve salad bar full of fresh vegetablesimmediately where you walk in. They have pre-made salads and a selection of fresh cut vegetables and all the toppings you can dream of in addition to staples like potato salad and raisin-broccoli salad.

The dinner meal pricing is usually all you can eat for $9.95 per person plus drinks. So, this usually works out to about $13.00 per person with tax. For a couple of single people that is pretty affordable. For a family with a lot of kids that might get pretty expensive. 

What is nice is that you really can try anything you want, and if you don’t like it it’s no big deal and you can get something else. With kids and their picky palates this can be a good thing. There is different selections of pre-made salads, soup and pastas for lunch and dinner to mix things up.

The sweet tomatoes self serve salad bar ends at the cash register and for some reason they have you pay there. I would have thought just having the cash register at the door would have made more sense but they don’t set it up that way.

Then after you pay and take your tray of salad you see the rest of the restaurant contains fresh bread, soup, baked potatoes, chilli, deserts, pastas and drinks. So, then you get a few more plates of things to try. Luckily they have made the plates and bowls small so you can save room and try a variety of food.

I really enjoyed the Sweet Tomatoes strawberry lemonade, the Broccoli-Rasin Salad, the wonton salad and the cobb salad. The fresh bead with cheese on top was great, as was the make your own sundae bar. The chocolate and vanilla fat free frozen yogurt they have is a low calorie treat, but you have to be careful with toppings and brownies adding a lot of calories to your dinner.

Overall all the foods offered at sweet tomatoes is very good and leaves a lot of choice to the individual. If you want to find out more about their menu you can download it here from the site. 

The thing you also have to watch is how many plates you get and things you try. The employees are very good at busing plates right as soon as you finish something and it has been proven in studies that people eat about 30% more when the plates and remnants of the meal are removed and not in eyesight. It is a visual queue for your stomach to say it’s full when the table is full of empty plates. When the plates are removed immediatley people generally stretch things further. But aside from that I think Sweet Tomatoes is great and I plan on going back again soon.

This weekend in Chicago there are plenty of events to attend if you are still making your plans. First off the Olympics are ending this weekend and the closing ceremony will be on Sunday evening NBC Channel 5 in Chicago at 8pm.

Everyone is a Buzz over Barack Obama announcing his Vice President Choice via Text Message today. We still await the text message. Barack has chosen Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware. We hope there wasn’t a server crash sending out all those emails and texts… I am sure most people will be tuned in to the Democratic National Convention on Monday since Obama-mania is sweeping Chicago. Everywhere I go people are wearing Barack Obama T-Shirts, buttons, hats and other merchandise. He really is a phenomenon in Chicago. We may not win the Olympic bid for 2016 but we may get to have a cool connection with the next president of the United States.

Another event happening this weekend that will be a lot of fun is the Chicago Viva Latin Music Festival August 23-24 in Grant Park downtown.  (200-300 East Jackson. Jackson Street will be closed from Columbus to Lake Shore Drive Thursday to Monday for the Festival) Viva is a two day festival that features all styles of Latin Music along with food, a low rider car show and latin dancing too. The Viva Latin Music Festival is free and open from 10:30 am to 9:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday! The CTA is the best way to get to the festival. Please see the CTA web site for directions from where you live. The schedule of music performers is as follows:

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.

Saturday August 23rd 2008
2:30-2:35 pm Opening National Anthem
2:35-3:30 pm Everardo Rey y su flota musical
3:40-4:35 pm Malo featuring Jorge Santana
4:45-5:30 pm Don Tetto
5:40-6:20 pm Tommy Torres
6:25-7:05 pm The Dey
7:10-8:20 pm Yamil, El orgullo de México con el Mariachi, Zapopan y el Ballet C’Acatl
8:30-9:30 pm Alexis y Fido El Duo Sobrenatural

Sunday August 24th 2008
2:30-2:35 pm Opening National Anthem
2:35-3:05 pm Menudo
3:15-3:30 pm MTV Winner
3:40-4:40 pm Cruz Martínez y Los Súper Reyes
4:50-5:50 pm Los Creadores del Pasito Duranguense
6:00-7:00 pm Fobia
7:10-8:00 pm Mike Roman & The Tellstars Featuring Jose Chepito Areas and Armando Peraza
8:10-9:30 pm – Los Lobos

Also, you should tickets if you want to see Dirty Dancing the Musical when it opens at the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago September 28th. These tickets are selling fast because this show got such great reviews in New York. And remember, nobody puts baby in a corner. Broadway in Chicago sells all the tickets for the theater and musicals in Chicago and they are also listed on Ticketmaster.com. Prices range from $27.50 to $125.50 each. 

The Accenture Triathalon is also happening this weekend in Chicago. You probably wouldn’t think of entering unless you have already been training for 6 months, but if you want to go watch very fit people compete and get some inspiration for your own fitness goals you can watch the triatheletes. The race starts early on Saturday Morning at 6 AM at Chicago’s Foster Avenue Beach. It is all over by 11 am  though so you have to be an early riser to compete or be a spectator. The weather should be nice for a day at the beach in general though…

The Labor Day Holiday is also just around the corner and planning your shopping trip, camping expedition or last cookout BBQ of the season would be good right about now.  Or maybe it is just more fun to stay home and play Rock Band or the Wii. Personally I may go see the new movie The Rocker with Rainn Wilson in it and I have some Fantasy Football Drafts to attend. (although I am only playing fantasy football because my boyfriend asked, not because I understand anything about Football) Whatever you do this weekend, have fun with it!  

The first (Aurora) Sonic Drive In burger restaurant in the Chicago area is set to open in today August 19th. The address is 2974 Kirk Rd. in Aurora, IL 60502. Right by Fermi Lab. I wonder what impact Sonic Burgers will have on particle colliders and atomic research in the future?

I have never been to a Sonic because of their out-of-Chicago locations but anything that gives us more commercial opportunities to see TJ Jagodowski on TV can’t be all that bad. Sonic Burgers are known for being yummy, creative and fast food (like all ther burgers). So, what makes the Sonic Drive Ins so popular in the rest of the country? (besides TJ the Chicago improv comedy god?) Well for one thing they have a shake called the Fried Ice Cream Blast. In a city known for it’s deep dish pizza, hot dogs and love of all things fried, Chicago will love that one.

Or maybe you will come to love Sonic for their angus bacon cheeseburgers, the super sonic breakfast toaster or your ultimate drinkstop that allows you to combine as many different carbonated pop flavors, syrups and other add-ins to make custom drink combinations. Sonic also has “Coneys” which are basically hot dogs with chili on them. Chili-Dogs? Chilli Cheese Dogs? I hear it’s a Ohio thing.

Anyway, Sonic Burgers and Drive In will bring some needed excitement and creativity to the fast food and greasy spoon restaurant category in Illinois. And of course being human we want anything we have never tried before a few times before we get tired of it. I think Sonic will do a tremendous business at first but I wonder if they will be able to sustain that high level beyond 6 months or a year?

I remember Culver’s being a huge deal and now the parking lot looks empty every time I go by. (seriously who eats something called a butter-burger with custard? doesn’t that spell instant heart attack?) And we all know how McDonalds has had to completely re-brand after that whole Super Size me debacle a few years ago. They are just getting people to forget about how unhealthy their unbelievably cheap food is three years later.

So will I visit the Sonic in Aurora? Yes. I want to try it just like anyone else. But fast food is not a staple in my diet so it probably won’t be a habit for me. But I will enjoy the TV commercials. For more info visit their site at sonicdrivein.com/offers/index.jsp

There is so much happening in Chicago this weekend I am not sure how you will choose which activities and events to attend! The weather should be beautiful with temperatures in the 80’s and no rain.

The Chicago Air and Water Show is front and center on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Lakefront. The show turns 50 this year and is still a huge draw to the city for the weekend.

The Cirque Shanghai Gold is still in town and performing at Navy Pier.

The Olympics have the Closing Ceremonies next Sunday night on Channel 5 NBC and a lot of sports coverage all weekend and next week. Check out all the track and field events this weekend on TV or on NBC.com.

You should buy tickets to the Robin Williams stand-up show at The Chicago Theater on September 26 & 27 when they go on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday morning. (they will sell out) Tickets are from $40.00 – $95.00 and VIP packages are available to meet and greet Robin Williams in person and sit up in the first few rows of the show for $400.00. (Ouch!) No starving comedian who idolizes him will be able to afford that. Ray LaMontagneis also coming through Chicago to play his music this fall on October 1 and tickets are on sale for this folksy acustic gutar player and soulful singer.

If you haven’t seen Dark Knight or Wall-e you should they are still in theaters and have gotten great reviews. Pineapple Express is getting rave reviews too. It is only like th 5th weed themed movie out this year, but people still want to see them. Tells ya something about what people do with their free time around Chicago.

Dance Chicago tickets have also gone on sale and they are available earlier this year. If you have never been to Dance Chicago, it is a month long Dance Festival in November at the Athenaeum Theater on Southport featuring the best performance artists in the Chicago area in many nights of dance performances. Each show is made up of one number from each group and usually contains 7-12 dance groups or performers. The results are diverse and stunning. Order tickets online from Ticketmaster to avoid the rush later.

You can also get tickets to Macy’s Glamorama Party featuring Cindy Lauper and benefiting the Art Institute of Chicago coming up on August 22ns, Next weekend. It has a 80’s pop candy arcade theme and tickets start at $50.00. It sounds like part fashion show, part concert, part 80’s theme party all rolled up into one.  One thing is for sure, you will be able to find out what is hip to buy and wear in clothing this fall.

You could also register to Vote, since the Presidential Election is closer than you think. I know Chicago is hot for Barack Obama but there are some very adamant McCain supporters who live here too. We do know though that it is better to duke it out in the polls legally than in person of course. So, register to vote if you haven’t already.

And if you just want a quiet afternoon with the kids, there is always Lincoln Park Zoo, which is the only Free admission Zoo in Chicago. (although it is a lot smaller than Brookfield Zoo) If your kids are older you may want to check Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s and WalMart for sales on back to school clothes, shoes, supplies and college dorm gear. This year may be a lean one with less money to spend, so it is more important to make sure eveything is on sale and the best deal possible. Many people I know utilize the Kohl’s charge card which gives you 15-30% off coupons in the mail combined with sales in the store. They end up getting everything at 50% off or more. But go early the stores get unbearably crowded in the afternoons.

If none of this is on your weekend to-do list just relax, have a lemonade and enjoy a hamburger from the grill since 6 months from now it will be frigid cold and snowing.

So, have a great weekend and remember “it’s your weekend, have fun with it“!

There are a lot of very affordable (cheap) entertainment and (family) fun options this weekend in Chicago. Whether you live in the suburbs or are planning on getting a hotel room and vacationing in Chicago for the weekend, there is lots to do. If you haven’t gotten tickets to see the award winning show Wicked (the musical) or Jersey Boys, get them quick, the last block of tickets is on sale now. Also, in perfect timing with the Olympics on TV, Circqe Shanghai: Gold is in town performing at Navy Pier. The Museum of Science and Industry also has a new exhibit on Glass Making called The Glass Experience that is a lot of fun for the family. The Chicago Shedd Aquarium also has a new exhibit also called Lizards & the Komodo King. Here are my recommendations and best picks this weekend in Chicago:

1. Everyone knows that the Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics will begin on NBC Channel 5 at 6:30 pm Friday evening. You can also see Cirque Shanghai: Gold at Navy Pier’s Pepsi Skyline Stage this weekendin between watching Olympic TV events from China. They will be performing there through September 1st so get tickets for later in the month if you are already booked. Tickets are very affordable from $15.00 to $30.00 and it is a fun family event. If you re coming in from the suburbs, take the metra and then a cab or bus from the train station to avoid traffic and the high cost of parking the car.

2. The Museum of Science and Industry has a new exhibit on Glassmaking and Glassblowing that is a lot of fun for the family while also being a learning experience. The Museum of Science & Industry is located at the address: 57th Street & Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60637. Call 773-684-1414 for more information. The Glass Experience, runs through September 1 and this interactive exhibition reveals the science, craftsmanship and beauty from the world of glassmaking. There are live glass blowing demonstrations, Dale Chihuly glass bowls artwork, Tiffany glass shaded lamps and Frank Lloyd wright stained glass windows. Admission is 8.50 for kids and $13.00 for Adults. the Museum of Science and Industry and the Glass Experience is open from 9:30 am to 4pm daily.

3. The Chicago Shedd Aquarium has a new exhibit also called Lizards & the Komodo King through September 1. The John G. Shedd Aquarium is located at the address 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive (Museum Campus) Chicago, IL 60605. Call 312.939.2438 if you have questions for the Shedd Aquarium. This exhibit is neat because the world’s largest lizard is making his first-time appearance in Chicago and they have brought out all the lizard creatures he is related to for show also. Lots of great fish and amphibious creatures are always viewable at the Shedd Aquarium (penguins!) also. Admission is $27.00 for an adult day pass which includes this exhibit.

4. The award winning show Wicked is ending it’s Musical Theater run in Chicago at the Ford Center for the Performing arts (formerly the Oriental Theater) in January. The last blocks of tickets to the shows through December have gone on sale now. They won’t last long, plan tour trip to Chicago and book your hotel rooms now before it sells out. Get your tickets to see Wicked from Broadway in Chicago before it leaves Chicago whether you have seen it many times or have never seen the show before. I saw it 3 times and loved it. Ticket prices range from around $30.00 to $100.00 per seat.

Have a happy and safe Olympic weekend in Chicago!

It is officially Fourth of July weekend now and we have a lot going on around Chicagoland. I am not sure how anyone would go to all these events, but here is a list of things going on from the family friendly to the avant gard. If nothing else, enjoy the holiday weekend and relax while celebrating our independence one more time. It is a good time to pause and reflect on patriotism, freedom, our values and the upcoming presidential elections in November. It is also a time for food, family and flags. So it’s your 3 day weekend, have fun with it!

1. Taste of Chicago is still running. If you haven’t had your giant turkey leg yet this year, this is the place to do it. Downtown in Chicago in Grant Park. Admissions is free, food is sold by a ticket system and expect drinks to be expensive.

2. The Naperville Ribfest (the suburban anti-taste) is running this weekend also. This festival celebrates the joy that is barbecued ribs with rib cooking specialists from all over the country. My favorite is still Sweet Baby Ray’s though. There will be Fireworks at 9:30 pm on Friday night for the 4th of July.

7/4/08 Update: If you go to the Ribfest, you must-must-must park at one of the lots and take a shuttle to the event. We found no parking within a mile of Ribfest yesterday and we ended up parking at the 5th Avenue Metra Station in Naperville and taking the bus shuttle to Knock park behind Edwards Hospital. (the Ribs were great though!!!) And Ted Nugent was mighty entertaining.

3. The Lisle Eyes to the Sky Hot Air Balloon Festival is also happening this weekend in the  SW suburbs. The Lisle Eyes to the Sky festival is off Route 53 in Lisle,IL at Short Street between Maple and Ogden Ave. But much like Ribfest, if you go there isn’t any parking located there. You have to go into downtown Lisle at the Metra station, park there and walk or take a shuttle to the festival. Also much like Ribfest there are live musical acts, fireworks and all the carnival foods and rides you would expect of these summer carnival fests. The balloons usually launch at 6:30 pm each evening and 5:30 am each morning. The one bummer of this fest is that you can’t actually ride in a balloon yourself and the wind sometimes grounds the launches all together. It is a free event though, so at least there is no cover charge.

4. The Navy Pier City of Chicago fireworks display will be the day before the 4th on July 3rd at 9:30 pm. The fireworks are from Navy Pier but are viewable from most places near the lakefront downtown.

5. Summerdance is back at the Grant Park Spirit of Music garden in Chicago. Sunday July 6th is a Swing night with a USO swing band and free dance lessons beforehand by the professionals of Big City Swing. Lesson is at 4 pm and big band swing music starts at 5pm and goes until 7pm. The park is located at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Harrison Street. Summerdance does happen every weekend all summer long, so mark your calendars for next week too.

6. Free workouts in Millennium Park in Chicago on Saturday Morning. Work off all those BBQ ribs…

7. The Chicago beaches are open but there has been a swimming ban put out by the National Weather Service because of a seiche (wave) warning so please stay out of the water. Picnics and volleyball on the beach are still ok though.

8. Most cities and towns in the suburbs will have fireworks on July 4th at dusk. My favorite has always been the Darien/Downers Grove/Woodridge fireworks at 75th street and Main street (Lemont Road). They are viewable from all 4 corners of the intersection in the shopping mall parking lots. I also have seen a great fireworks show in Carol Stream at the intersection of Idaho St and Lies St. They use a retention pond area to display the fireworks over and they are really close to where you sit on Lies Street so you end up watching the fireworks overhead most of the time. They are even more dynamic up close like that. I have also heard that DesPlaines has a nice fireworks show over Oakton Community College and that Glen Ellyn’s Fireworks are really good too, over Lake Ellyn.

9. And lastly, if all these events aren’t risque enough for you Going.com is listing an event at Crowbar for “P*rn on the 4th” with a p*rn star Jesse Jane. I guess that is celebrating freedom of a completely different kind. You can RSVP for no cover charge early at the going.com/pornonthefourth website.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July in Chicago!!

The 4th of July is almost here and everyone is heading out to their favorite restaurants with outdoor patios and putting on the sunblock to go to the beach in Chicago. It is that rare time of year when we forget that Chicago is really a cold and desolate place the rest of the year and we enjoy the outdoors. But we also like our air conditioning because Chicago is humid in the summer, so you have to balance your activities between indoors and outside. This weekend there is a bevy of new restaurant openings, events and concerts to go to. So enjoy your weekend and plan for next week on July 4th also.

1. The Grant Park Music Festival is going on all Summer long from June 11 through August 16th. They have found sponsors to cover the costs of the musicians and facilities so that the city can offer free classical music concerts to the public all summer. This weekend they have 2 concerts scheduled, one on Friday at 6:30 pm and one on Saturday at 7:30 pm both at Harris Theater. (which may not be free, but there is no note about ticket costs on the booklet they sent me in the mail) The classical music concert is featuring 20th Century Masters played by the Grant Park Orchestra. The Harris Theater is a very box-like uber-modern concrete structure at the northern most edge of Millennium Park.

2. C-House Restaurant opens at the Affinia Chicago 166 East Superior Street Downtown. (312.523.0923) Expect a high class experience with a nautical theme. I wonder what the draw is for bringing high quality seafood to Chicago when transportation and fuel costs are so high. Anyway, I am sure the food is divine.

3. The (BAM) Belmont Arts and Music Fest  is on this weekend with plenty of indie bands to delight the senses. As they say it is “2 days of Beats, Art & Eats” (and drinks) The Belmont Arts and Music Fest is open from 12pm noon until 10pm on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Check it out on Belmont Avenue between Damen and Leavitt in Roscoe Village. The music lineup includes (in reverse order):

Saturday: Cursive @ 9:00 pm, The Redwalls @8:30 pm, Maritime @ 7:55 pm, Waco Brothers @7:00 pm,
Sybris @ 6:45 pm, Dot Dot Dot @5:30 pm, Unwed Sailor @ 5:40 pm, Steepwater@4:00 pm; Parlor Mob @ 4:35 pm Rockit @2:30 pm, Mark Rose @ 3:50 pm, Hey Champ @1:00 pm, Everthus The Deadbeats @ 3:00 pm,

Sunday: American Music Club @ 9:00 pm, Smoking Popes @ 8:30 pm, Johnathan Rice @ 7:55 pm, Justin Townes Earle @7:00 pm, Maria Taylor @ 6:45 pm, Air This Side Of Caution @5:30 pm, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone @ 5:40 pm, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons @4:OO pm, Nik Freitas @ 4:35 pm, Anne Harris Band @2:30 pm, Yourself and The Air @ 3:30 pm Cavashawn @1:00 pm 

4. Cirque du Soleil has a new show in the parking lot around the United Center called KOOZA. The concept of highly trained acrobats with lighting and special effects and clowns is getting a little old, they have been pushing it since the Albertville Olympic Games in 1992. I am really tired of it and most of us realize it’s still just a bunch of circus performers. Yes it can be awe inspiring to see once in a while, but not anything new, exciting or ground breaking. Hence all the advertising they had to do in order to sell tickets. If you love the circus, this is for you, if not, skip it.

5. The Joffrey Ballet  is selling tickets to their new home location opening coming up this September, so if you really miss having a local Ballet Company downtown, book these dates. 

• Thursday, September 11th, 2008 – 6:00pm Joffrey Ballet Performance at Millennium Park
• Friday, September 12, 2008 – 7:00 pm The Opening Night at the Joffrey Tower. A Black Tie Dinner and Performance Limited Seating is available.
• Saturday, September 13, 2008 – 3:00pm Joffrey Tower: Community Open House
• Monday, September 15, 2008 – 6:30pm Couture and Cocktails Fashion Show by Maria Pinto

6. Of course on Sunday the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago is going on from noon until around 2 in Boystown and Wrigleyville. It is always a light hearted fun time with lots of flamboyant costumes, rainbows and skin. I have to say that it can be an eye opening experience if you have never been there before but everyone is really nice and very cool so it is always a fun time. It is really a chance to celebrate openness in society and realize that while we aren’t all the same we are pretty similar (we all like beer!) and can all get along.

7. The Randolph Street Market Festival has all you can possibly imagine in the way of decorative furnishings and vintage antiques. (over 200 vendors from all over the country selling all eras of “vintage”) It is kind of like a cross between those fancy shmantsy antique shows at the merchandise mart and the flea market on the Kane County Fair Grounds. But on Randolph Street instead. The Randolph Street Market festival is open on Saturday from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday from 11am to 5pm. 

8. If that isn’t enough to do just wait, The Taste of Chicago Starts Friday June 27th at 11 AM!

Have a great weekend!!

The Old Town Art Fair is just one of many festivals going on this weekend in Chicago. On June 14th and 15th (Saturday and Sunday) from 10 am to 6 pm you can pay $5 bucks to wander through the stations and view all the artwork and hear the local jazz and musicians play. The entrance is on to the Old Town Art Fair is at 1763 N Park Avenue but most people seem to get there by Second City at North Avenue and Wells Street because the Piper’s Alley theater has a paid parking garage. (it fills up fast and costs $25 to park for the afternoon) From there you can walk north or south to view the posh artwork.  

The Old Town Art Fair features local artist’s work from Chicago and the surrounding areas. You can find everything from fine art like paintings and watercolors to photography, sculpture and other creative arts. It is not though a craft fair. You won’t find flower arrangements or sewing projects. It is all about art in the traditional sense. They even feature some interesting emerging artists you might also see at the Around the Coyote Festival in Bucktown each year. So if you are looking for art to furnish your condo or home in Chicago or if you are just looking for an entertaining way to spend the afternoon in the Old Town neighborhood, check out the Old Town Art Fair. Expect large crowds (like in the picture) and this weekend expect it to be hot and sunny so remember the water and the sunscreen while enjoying the art fair.

The Chicago Blues Festival is the second most popular and attended event in downtown Chicago and Grant Park every year. The most popular is the Taste of Chicago. I missed Blues Fest this year due to some lack of planning and lack of time. I still think this is an important festival for chicagoans and visitors alike to attend because it helps continue communicating the language of jazz and blues music to the next generation while providing a weekend of great entertainment for everyone. Chicago has long been a center of both jazz and blues music creation and performance. There are fewer jazz and blues clubs in Chicago than in the heyday of Jazz but it is still an important part of our local culture and should be preserved and innovative at the same time. This year’s blues fest was a great success and these are some pictures that I looked up on flickr. I hope you enjoy the sights of the Chicago Blues Festival recapped here. And maybe next year I will get to actually attend the fest!

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. The Skyline behind people watching the show at the Chicago Blues Fest in June.

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The Front Portch Stage at the Chicago Blues Fest.

This is some very disturbing news. The state of Illinois will be deploying radar and speed cameras all across the state in July to record photos and track speeds of cars going over the speed limit in construction zones and work zones on the highways and tollways. The first ticket will be for $300.00 fine and a second one will result in a $1,000.00 fine. On the surface that looks like something good, to ensure safety, but it isn’t and we have seen this before.

What the press release doesn’t say is that speeding isn’t what you think it is. Most of us consider 5 mph over the speed limit to be ok, because a hill could create that without you even knowing it and most cops won’t write you a ticket for going 2 mph over the limit. These cameras and radar machines will be able to automatically print cash for the state’s budget deficit by sending tickets for anyone over the limit at any level. Even 1 mph. And they will, because it has nothing to do with safety. It is all about money.

This was a huge problem in Bolingbrook last year when a Mayor’s thinly veiled attempt to “reduce accidents” revealed a plan to print cash also. It failed when residents were getting $200.00 tickets in the mail several days a week for making legal right turns on a red light after stopping behind the white line. People were enraged. They lit up the internet protesting this unfair way to basically steal their hard earned money during an economic downturn when paying the mortgage and bills is harder than ever already. After months of vocal complaints, phone calls and an outright boycott of the stores in Bolingbrook, the mayor reconsidered this policy, took his money to the bank and suspended the program in November 2007. This has also been a huge problem as cameras were installed in London and all over England as a revenue generating machine, and the people were so enraged they openly disable and destroy them and just voted out the current mayor of London that approved it.

I hope the same protests happen online, by phone and in person all over the state of Illinois about these unfair tickets from these  automated speed and radar cameras. Technology has led to many new conveniences and advances in our lives, but it has also reduced our privacy and anonymity to an almost non-existent level. And now exploiting technicalities for the sake of revenue is more popular than ever.

It is obvious also that there is a huge budget deficit to be filled in Illinois right now, and technically catching small infractions and charging an insane amount of money in penalty for them is a fast way to make a lot of bucks. What the citizens of Illinois really hate is the patronizing tone of this false justification for the charges being to save lives. We know it isn’t true, and that isn’t even a growing problem. If saftey was a problem, the numbers would be higher. They find it legal and justified to charge everyone $300 or $1,000 because 2 people were killed in 2004 and 5 in 2003. No data is presented to prove that in the past 5 years anyone has been killed, injured or otherwise mildly annoyed while working on the roads. Why use 5 year old data to justify this program except that this is the last time this happened? And they don’t mention if the cars were speeding or not. I would bet they weren’t speeding and it was probably drunk driving, of which kills hundreds of people every year and the state is not very good at stopping at all.  How about we accept that accidents happen sometimes on highways rather than invent false reasons to charge people money they can’t afford because there is no public vote on this type of revenue generation scheme and no way the citizens could block it from happening?  

Another solution to this workers shutting down the roads every summer would be to actually fix them in a proper manner so they don’t require more fixing every summer. I have had a strong feeling for years now that the road construction companies are a huge racket making money in unjust ways from the state while they patch and repair roads in low quality ways that won’t last, on purpose, to create more work for themselves next year and for every year in the future. No roads should have to be redone every year. Yet, there they are on 290, I-55, 294, 90-94, I-88 and 355 every year jackhammering out road seams just to put in 2 seams where there was once 1. All the seams patched now buckle and bump my car so that the CD skips, but hey that made someone personally a lot richer. I believe that 90% of the highway road construction is completely unnecessary. I would be happy with the quality of the roads with no further work at all for about 5 years.

Hey, there is the answer!  The answer to the budget deficit problem is to stop all road work for the next 5 years. That way we don’t get busywork shutting down our roads and the state of Illinois can actually pay for things it needs all the while no one gets killed or mildly annoyed working there.

So, now we know that instead of stopping the racket of road construction companies basically extorting money from the state, the government has decided to steal the money from the citizens to pay them. Make your opinion known to the governor and state government that this is not right to do to citizens and it must stop.

Personally, I am not going to travel on the highways or tollways after July 1. I can’t take the risk of loosing that much money for something I didn’t do right now. I am perfectly ok with back roads for where I need to go. If you do have to travel on these highways, use cruise control and set it for 5 mph below the limit just in case of a hill.

If you want to read the full press release you can at: www.dot.state.il.us/press/r033005.html 

It finally feels like spring in Chicago and we should get out and enjoy it before the oppressive heat starts! Here are some suggestions for activities and events this weekend in Chicago.

1. Chicago Green City Market opens on May 14th and they have a special event with Mayor Daley on Saturday May 17th. The Market will be open weekends now until fall at 1799 N. Clark, and Stockton Drive. This is very close to Lakeview and Lincoln Avenue. Green City Market’s 10th Anniversary Rally for Local Sustainable Farming  Saturday, May 17, 9:00-10:00 am, South Lincoln Park *RAIN OR SHINE*. Come see what fruits, vegetables and foods have been locally grown and delivered fresh. I assume though that because of the location and the premium to raise produce locally these prices will be higher than your grocery store. I think that if you can afford it, locally grown food is a better choice for ecological sustainability.  Check out the Green City farmer’s market for what food is fresh and local this weekend.  (Many of the suburbs have local farmer’s markets also starting soon)

2. Lollapalooza Tickets  are still on Sale and if you want to make it to this fantastic festival this summer get them now before they are sold out. They have also set up a contest called Last Band Standing that you can find out more about on their site.

3. Eddie Izzard  is playing at the Chicago Theater on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm. Tickets are about 95% sold. See Ticketmaster for those last few nosebleed seats if you can get them. Eddie is fantastically funny and not to be missed since it may be another 5 years before he comes to Chicago again.

4. Chocolate Grape Restaurant opened last weekend and now that the crazy rush has passed it might be a good time to stop in and give them a try. Expect wine and chocolate themed food. It sounds luscious. Chocolate Grape Restaurant is located at 2113 West Division Street, between Damen and Hoyne Ave. call 773-772-3990 for reservations. 

5. The Field Museum  has  several new exhibits opening in May 2008. Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters opens next weekend May 23rd and advance tickets can be purchased online. This may not seem like regular Field Museum Fare (maybe more Science and Industry?) but it will be interesting in our current climate crisis. They also have a new permanent exhibit the “DNA Discovery Center” open now and “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” is open at The Field Museum through September 1, 2008.

6. Before you blow your $600.00 government economic stimulus rebate check at Home Depot on a giant grill consider these options. Jewel food stores are offering a 10% bonus if you give them the entire check amount. This may seem like a lot of money for groceries, but with no time limit for the card usage, who wouldn’t really get good use out of a 10% bonus on your money?  Also, consider the tax implications of this money. I think you still have to pay taxes on it like income. If you have most everything you need right now, why not stash it away in an interest bearing savings account like the ones online at ING? This will provide a safety net for when you need it later. You never know how much worse the economy is going to get or how global economic conditions will affect your job in the long term.

7. Register to start training for the Chicago Marathon.  I know this is a huge bragging right of passage in Chicago every year, to say you ran and finished the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. (they were bought by Bank of America so the name may change?) What most people don’t know is that you have to train for 6 months to get in shape enough to run 26 miles of Chicago city streets. It is about 6 months from now, so if you are interested the Chicago marathon site has training program guides available and Nike.com has some great running training tools and groups they coordinate for running locally. Check them out to get into better shape and stay away from the malls this summer.

8.  Chicago Mayfest  is this weekend and this opens the summer event festival season officially. Expect streets to be blocked off and traffic to be backed up for social-networking yuppies to be drinking al fresco all summer. The Chicago Mayfest includes the ambiguous staples such as beer, live music and dogs. It is located in Lakeview at 3100 N. Ashland Ave. It will be open from noon to midnight Friday Saturday and Sunday and is $5 to enter.

9. Try the ginormous Iron Maiden Burger  on a yummy pretzel bun at Kuma’s Corner.  (seen in the picture above) They are located at 2900 W. Belmont Ave in Chicago, IL 60618. Phone 773.604.8769 for more info.

Chicago Earth Hour 2008 [and 2009] is an event where Chicagoans turn off their lights on Saturday March 29th at 8pm for an hour (local CST time) to see if we can save energy and electricity as well as think about how to lessen our energy use long term. [along with the rest of the world] It is part of a larger event called US Earth Hour which aims to raise awarness of things people like you can do to combat climate change.

I got a note/flyer in my comEd electric bill about the Chicago Earth Hour this month and thought it was interesting that they would promote this event since they are the electric company and they make a lot of money from the use of electricity. (and constantly raise our rates) 

Some people are excited about the Chicago Earth Hour providing a possibility of being able to see stars and the sky better as the light pollution will be less than normal if everyone participates. I don’t think everyone will participate though. There are some people in Chicago that aren’t really interested in saving energy or living simply. We have a lot of energy hogs living here.

I hope that some people participate in this event and turn off the lights, computer, TV and radio in an attempt to chill out and chat with the family, light some candles and maybe play a board game or read a book. If you can’t turn it all off, at least turn the vast majority of it off. Make it a game for the kids to see if they can think of any more ways to save energy. If you are a couple without kids in Chicago, ahem…an hour of dark never sounded boring before?

The Earth Hour is also a time to look at your home-condo-appartment’s energy use and see if you can minimize it. Do you have compact fluorescents (squiggley bulbs) in all your lamps, closets, ceiling fixtures and outside in the lights? if not now is the time to buy them (they are cheap now if you buy in a bulk pack) and put them in.

Do you have your fridge and freezer cranked to the max cold and your water heater cranked to the max hot? Both can be turned down to mid level and reduce the amount of energy they use. Do you use the plate warmer setting on the dish washer and leave the room for hours with the TV on? Turn the dish washer off when plate warmer goes on and just crack the door open with a spoon and they will dry by morning. If you pick up the phone when watching TV and have to walk away, shut it off or at least the screen if you were watching a DVD/DVR.

Do you leave your computer and all the peripherals on all day? Turn those off too when you are done using them, especially if you aren’t home. It’s safer for net security reasons too. I am sure there are even more ways to save energy, post more ideas below if you have them.

Its not practical to always have the lights out all the time at night like in the 2008 Earth Hour (ouch, ran into a wall there) but minimizing the use of electricity (and all energy) in inefficient ways and for unnecessary uses could save people a lot of money and the earth a lot of resources in the long run. And maybe even help save our planet from some serious climate change.

I have been writing this blog since this summer and it is time for a little check in as far as how it’s doing. I have to say that I am hosting the URL and working with wordpress software in a self hosted situation for the first time. It has been a huge learning experience so far. To date the blog has had over 10,000 unique visitors and over 18,000 page views to date. I consider that a success and am always amazed that you are reading what I write and finding it online. I aim to help with useful info so if there is anything you would like me to write about in the future please contact me via the contact form link on the right hand link list or post a comment about it below.

I am still also amazed that running this has been as easy as it has been. Years ago I thought of starting a site when an online store was a new and hot businesses to be in. Everyone I knew was trying to find an online business to start in some way and I was not able to jump in at the time. I didn’t know how to set up a site or do anything related to ecommerce webhosting or site management so it was just a daydream at the time. Wordpress has made publishing possible for anyone who has an opinion to write about it, and let the world know what you think. It’s really quite revolutionary both in the technicality of how it works and the ease of how someone who doesn’t even know HTML to set up and use. (And self hosting is cheaper than you think, so if you want to jump in to blogging it you might be able to afford it after all. And there are a lot of great companies that can help you build a more complicated site if that is what you dream of doing) So, maybe some day I will start an online business like some people I know, but for now I am happy just blogging to write about the things I care about and enjoy and that’s enough for me.

I got my Oak Park FYI newsletter in the mail today and it has a mention that a new condo tower will be built at South Avenue and Harlem Avenue in Oak Park. Don’t we have enough condos in Oak Park? At any given moment in the current housing crash and real estate meltdown there are over 500 condos for sale in Oak Park already. So, they are wiping out 140 public parking spaces in order to get a parking garage under almost 100 new condos that no one will buy. There are about 10 rehab and new condo developments  in Oak Park for sale already, that are not able to sell any units as it is. And any owner that wants to sell will never gain any equity or value or ever sell with this many on the market.

There is a glut in this area’s market because it is overdeveloped! So for the love of God, STOP BUILDING and Converting CONDOS!!! I know the big developers don’t care and the Realtors are happy to lie to people and say you will gain value year over year on your condo, but you won’t. (the old data they usually show you is from 1997-2003) Oak Park has a multitude of problems and the developers and Realtors are making it even worse. They are taking advantage of good people that haven’t lived here before and don’t know all the details on why it sucks to buy here like I did. Don’t get sucked into this trap. It can be a financial disaster and a huge mistake to buy a property in Oak Park.

The exact blurb from the newsletter is as follows:

“An agreement has been reached with Morningside Equities Group, Inc. on the terms for a new $30-million mixed-use project at South Boulevard and Harlem Avenue. The eight-story development will contain 96 condominium units, 12,500 square feet of new retail space and a parking garage in the heart of the downtown shopping area. The current site’s 143 parking lot spaces will be replaced with 245 public parking spaces in the new public garage. The public spaces are in addition to dedicated on-site parking for the condominium owners. The building will be designed and constructed to achieve certification through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. A formal redevelopment agreement between the Village and Morningside is expected to be signed before the end of the year. The project then will enter the planned development process, which includes opportunities for public comment. For more information on the project or process, call 358.5644 or e-mail devsvcs@oak-park.us. “

They don’t tell you that it costs $100-$150 per quarter to park in a public lot.

Here are the reasons NOT to buy any property in Oak Park ever:

1. Whatever you pay for the new, rehabbed or redeveloped condo you buy will be worth less a year from now and still worth less 5 years from now. The housing slump isn’t creating this problem, overdevelopment is. This was happening in Oak Park two years before the rest of the country had a slump.  In the 1990’s Oak Park had a mini-boom and many people saw their real estate value jump up each year, but since about 2003 only stand alone houses have increased in value. There has been a glut of condos for sale since 2001 and that has caused condominium values to drop and stagnate at these lower levels. (simple economics, there is not enough demand and an over supply; not that many people want to live there because of the crime and extremely high costs)  They get away with this scam by putting fancy granite counter tops and new appliances in very old buildings with lead paint, lead pipes, bad windows, sagging floors and leaky roofs. Many young first time home buyers buy into it thinking it will be new and redone and face thousands of dollars in additional work that has to be done afterwards. A friend of mine has had a leaky roof problem that will cost him $30,000.00 to fix. The builder is being sued but even if they win he won’t see that money for at least 5 years. So he is paying out of pocket with a second loan and a second morgage payment to get the water to stop coming in his condo. It’s a nightmare. You should be aware of these risks. You could be buying a place with serious faults that causes you to spend thousands of dollars to fix it and then your property value drops on top if it. It’s a double bad situation.

2. Oak Park taxes are higher than anywhere else I have lived and higher than most places in Chicago. Why? Because the city has nowhere to gain revenues from except it’s residents. There is no business or industry or commerical property to make money from. The largest employers in the town of Oak Park are the Rush Oak Park hospital and #2 is the town of Oak Park. That isn’t much and the small stores and small businesses there don’t generate enough sales tax revenue or other taxes to pay for much. So they devised this parking ticket scheme to make money and taxes are very high. They say to count on 2.5% of your home’s purchase price. An average home in Oak Park is vintage (needs a lot of work every year) and costs $500,000.00. That makes your property tax bill $12,500.00 per year and $1,042 per month. There is a homeowner exemption, but that is just $400.00. Not much help. By comparison in Downers Grove a 500K home will get a 1.5% tax bill of $7,500.00. And that is in a town of lower crime and better schools. So, that is pretty convincing to me.

3. The Parking in Oak Park is rigged on purpose. It is in place to make money for the town by taking advantage of the fact that there is very little parking available. It’s the scam of the century. Oak Park doesn’t make enough tax money from businesses because it’s almost all residential and something has to pay for all the police, new schools and the salaries of the town of Oak Park’s employees since it is the largest employer in the town. They don’t require builders and developers to provide parking spaces or garages with the property it develops or converts on purpose. They purposely want to restrict the availability and access of parking so they can make a large chunk of their revenue from parking tickets each year.  (the article above is only including enough parking to replace what was there and the parking for the high priced units, not enough for people who don’t have parking now, and it doesn’t help people who don’t live in that area of the town who don’t have parking) The parking ticket agents hunt cars down and know when the lot time or meter expires and are ready to write a $30, $50 or $100 dollar ticket. And they will write you more than one in a day if they can. ( I couldn’t be surprised if they have quotas to fill or get bonuses for writing more tickets) The town also puts a boot on your car wheels and suspends your driver’s license if you have more than 3 unpaid tickets. In Oak Park, that can take about a day and a half to accumulate, and then you have to pay $150.00 and get them to remove the boot plus the original tickets. People say the parking is bad here, but no one has been able to get the city government to do anything about it because the government is profiting of the problem they purposely created to take advantage of residents. They also know low income people aren’t active in politics or in donating to their campaigns so they aren’t pissing off anyone they care about or depend on, and they take advantage of those who live in low income housing and low priced condo units. Don’t give Oak Park any more money and certainly don’t park there.

4. There is a lot more crime, theft, drugs and gangs in Oak Park than a Realtor would like you to think. Oak Park is in many ways an extension of the City of Chicago and an extension of the City’s problems. No one talks about the crime, it is always very hush hush and hard to find out about. The crimes range from bikes stolen to cars broken into and stolen to break-ins and some homicide deaths. (those usually make the news) There have been more homicides in Oak Park every year since I have been here, yet no one talks about the rate going up. It is also curious that every time there is a helicopter circling overhead, another escaped criminal is in Oak Park. They get out of the Cook County Jail and make a beeline for Oak Park because it is next to Maywood and Bellwood or the West Side of Chicago. Do you think that maybe people are also having a hard time existing in this town with all these costs and regulations and are turning to drugs, theft and crime to try and get by? Not everyone makes over 100K a year and can afford all the costs of Oak Park, and for a lot of low income people who have been born and raised here, Oak Park is very frustrating.

5. Oak Park is very very polluted and dirty. I-290, the Metra trains and the cargo freight trains all make Oak Park a very polluted place. Black soot falls from the sky daily landing on windowsills and cars which is from the diesel freight train engines that stay parked and running all night next to 290 or along the Metra lines by Lake Street and South Blvd. The car pollution is bad and the noise pollution is even worse. They even route the air traffic from O’Hare and Midway overhead to make sure we get all the possible toxins we can. It is much more polluted than the rest of the Chicagoland area but people don’t talk about it, because no one is supposed to know.

6. When you try to sell your condo you will need 12 months or more to find a buyer because there are 500 other condos for sale and almost no buyers. You will be forced to pay a village property sales tax of $8 per each $1000 of your sale price called a property transfer stamp. (no other town has this!) With all the fees including the property transfer tax stamp and the realtors, lawyers, cook county and the state of IL, your fees will run about 10% of your sale price. I know I just finally sold. That was what the total was. So you have to make more than that 10% you loose to fees, just because the property is located in Oak Park.

7. They are public works project happy. The government in Oak Park is the largest employer of workers in the town and they see public works projects as their birthright and choose anything and everything to build in order to spend tax payers money. There have been propsals floated for every hairbrained idea from capping 290 and making it a concrete tunnel with a park on top to more and more condos. Basically everyone pays for these (like the ginormous library nobody uses?) and nobody really benefits.

Do yourself a favor, and buy a home anywhere outside Oak Park and Chicago, out in the real suburbs where it’s your right to park anywhere you want any time you want, and your home’s value will increase at a rate faster than inflation. Plus the schools are a lot better out there and it is much safer to live there too. Don’t fall into the trap of living in Oak Park it will cost you more money and you get far less than in other suburbs.