Dec

18

Guest Post: Christmas Activities in Chicago

Filed Under Chicago, Chicago Events, Family Events, Lincoln Park, Parks, Shopping | Comments

After a long interlude, I now have another guest post to share from one of my Team members. This post comes from John Costa, our team’s Director of Marketing. While John spends his days spearheading the print and online marketing of our client’s properties, today, he’s offering up some advice on how to make the most of Christmas in Chicago.

Christmas in Chicago

Lights on palmetto trees. Playing a quick nine holes of golf. Wearing shorts in December. While this was Christmas as usual for me when I lived in Charleston, South Carolina, it didn’t feel truly like the holiday season to a New Jersey native such as me. So, when I moved to Chicago two years ago, I looked forward to enjoying “Northern” Christmases once again.

With so many holiday offerings in the city, I thought it would be helpful to provide a short list of some of the best ways to take in the season in Chicago. Here’s my picks:

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Dec

11

Last Minute Chicago Christmas Gifts

Filed Under Chicago, Family Events, Shopping | Comments

If you have some last minute holiday shopping to do, especially for out-of-towners, why not get them a gift with some Chicago flair?

For years, the hardworking folks at the Chicagoist blog have made regular posts on this topic. Here are some of my favorite Windy City gift ideas they’ve come up with.

Chicago Christmas Cards

These adorable cards portray the Chicago flag with tinsel and ornaments and boast the slogan “Celebrate Early. Celebrate Often.” Very Chi-Town.

Intelligentsia Gift Box Set

A great Chicago coffee brand and a four-star-flag mug to drink it in - what more does one need?

Vienna Beef Chicago-Style Hotdog Kits

An excellent way to give loved ones a taste of Chicago - everything one needs for a great Chicago Dog, and of course, NO ketchup.

Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Pizzas

If you’ve ever wanted to ship an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza directly to friends or family, Lou Malnati’s has you covered. Their selection is extensive, and they ship nationally.

CTA Gifts

If someone in your family owns a shower curtain that does not depict the Chicago Transit Authority rail network or has jewelry not set with vintage El tokens, the CTA gift shop can remedy the situation.

Chicago Neighborhoods Poster

Anyone who has lived in Chicago will appreciate this vintage poster of Chicago’s many neighborhoods.

The Dark Knight DVD

Not only is this a critically acclaimed film, but it was shot on location in good ol’ Chicago. See if your friends and family can spot the scenes set on LaSalle and Wacker Streets, Millennium Station, and Trump Tower.

Is there a great Chicago-style gift I forgot to include? Chime in with a comment and tell me what it is!

Aug

18

Shopping Successfully (in Fashion and Real Estate)

Filed Under Chicago, Commentary, Shopping | Comments

Wardrobe  
 

Busted! If you saw this month’s Chicago Agent magazine, you know that Lindsay Wolfe from my residential real estate sales team and I recently attended a shopping event.

Truth be told, I hate shopping. I would rather visit the dentist than the average department store. With three young children and a full-time career, I just don’t have the time to shop. Moreover, I find the volume of options in most stores completely overwhelming. So instead, I have a closet full of dusty clothes I don’t wear, with just a few things that I love and wear frequently.

Held at Nordstrom’s Chicago downtown store, the cocktail event was sponsored by the Women’s Council of Realtors, but it was not just any shopping event. The presenter was wardrobe consultant and personal shopper Julie Watson, and she talked about how to build a wardrobe. She explained that the architecture of your collection (I laughed, because my wardrobe is hardly a “collection”) should be comprised of three layers in the shape of a pyramid: a base layer of essentials, a second layer of novelty style essentials, and a top layer reflecting today’s trends. (You can read her full strategy here).

Better yet, Julie is not just all talk. She will come into your home and go through your closet, helping you decide what to keep and what to give away. She will then work with you to make a list of what you are missing and schedule time to take you shopping to buy exactly what you need. In the meantime, Julie will deliver your better quality hand-me-downs to Bottomless Closet, a charity that assists under privileged women by providing business attire for their interviews and new jobs, as well as image and career skills coaching. She’ll even mail you the receipt so you can take the tax deduction for your donation.

As Julie explained her services, I could not help but remember a classic scene in the hilariously funny play about the differences between men and women, Defending the Caveman. Rob Becker was explaining the difference between how women and men shop: women are “gatherers,” he said. They go to the mall, look around, and gather ideas of what they might buy. They touch, smell and try on all sorts of clothes. He said that in contrast, men are “hunters.” In his finest caveman voice, he explained that if they need a shirt, they go to the mall, buy their shirt, and then leave.

What I find appealing about the idea of working with Julie is the idea that together we could efficiently “hunt” for the basics I need. The idea of spending hours or even days checking out every possibility is torturous.

In many ways, Julie and I offer the same professional service to our clients. One of my roles as a residential real estate agent is as a “personal shopper” for my buyer clients. Time is our most precious resource, and I do my best to respect my clients’ time and not drag them though every available house or condo in the city. It is my job to understand “what’s in stock” and what is a sound investment and to efficiently present only those options that meet my clients’ needs and tastes. I am definitely not an expert at when it comes to assembling a wardrobe, but I know Chicago like the back of my hand and feel confident my buyer clients would whole heartedly recommend my services.

Update (10/08/08): I’ve just learned about another charity similar to Bottomless Closet. They’re called Bridge to Success and they provide a similar service but to both women and men.

Aug

5

Eating Green in the City

Filed Under Chicago, Chicago Events, Dining, Gold Coast, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Shopping | Comments

Lincoln Park farmers market

This past week, I had the pleasure of attending an event where I heard Alice Waters speak. Alice is the founder of the Chez Panisse Foundation, a not-for-profit with the mission of promoting “edible education.” Specifically, the Foundation is seeking to change school lunch programs and improve the way we care for the health of our children, our communities and our environment.

The main point Alice raised was her concern over the poor diet that Americans - particularly our children - are adopting. Low quality, highly processed foods are increasingly dominating our meal plans and taking a toll on our health as well as the environment and local economies. Furthermore, the drive-thru dinner is steadily eroding the tradition of the family sit-down meal. Alice summed up this new lifestyle with a bumper sticker she had recently seen: “If we are what we eat, I’m fast, cheap, and easy.”

As a mother raising three children, I was struck by Alice’s presentation. Finding healthier food and the time to prepare “traditional” dinners is an ongoing challenge. Between our hectic work schedules, a desire to squeeze in some exercise, and spending quality time with our kids, my husband and I have minimal time to shop and prepare homemade meals. Dining out or “dialing for dinner” (aka ordering carryout) is a tempting option in a city like Chicago, but as a daily habit, it can be expensive and fattening.

The good news is that - fueled by the organic movement, a new emphasis on buying local, and an increasing desire to eat healthier - more “green” food options are sprouting up in Chicago. Some are more practical than others (raising chickens in backyards being on the ambitious side), but increasingly, there are many tempting options for those looking to buy healthy, local food.

Division Street farmers market

Perhaps greatest among these options are the many Chicago farmers markets. These markets bring more than 70 vendors selling fruits, vegetables, plants, flowers, and canned and baked goods to sites across the city. Most markets take place once a week, but several, including the Green City Market, are open more often.

As a Realtor, I am out on appointments seven days a week. Whenever possible, I try to swing by a farmer’s market between appointments. Just last Saturday, I squeezed in enough time to purchase an armful of corn on the cob as well as Michigan fruit and the ingredients for ratatouille. Saturday night, I cooked and organized and we have been enjoying the fruits of my labor (no pun intended) ever since.

For the epitome of local flavor, the City Farm sells produce grown right in the city on a garden lot at 1204 N. Clybourn. Its crops are often used by local restaurants including the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room.

Of course, the farmers markets are only a seasonal occurrence, which is where storefront markets come in. There are many organic grocers in the city, foremost among which is the Whole Foods Market chain. A portion of their selection is local (defined as shipped from no more than seven hours away), but by definition, out of season products and those that simply won’t grow in Chicago (bananas and pineapples come to mind) arrive from elsewhere. In addition to their six Chicago locations, Whole Foods hosts organic and sustainable cooking classes offsite including two upcoming classes at the Lincoln Park Zoo Farm House this month.

Chicago is home to numerous organic grocers including Newleaf Natural Grocery and True Nature Foods, as well as countless organic juice bars and green-minded restaurants. Sola Restaurant is hosting an organic five-course dining event, their First Annual Green Harvest Dinner, at 6:30 pm on August 11th.

Of course, if you’d rather cut out the middleman altogether, you can look into planting your own backyard garden, joining a neighborhood garden, or growing produce on a terrace or in a planter box.

The appeal of green food may be coasting on a bit of extra hype these days, but with real benefits in health and taste, it’s not something to dismiss lightly. Plus, if the experience of buying, growing, and cooking green can enrich the lives of you and your family, who can say “no”?

To find the major farmers markets and organic grocers on the North Side, consult the map below. Green markers denote farmers markets and blue ones denote organic grocers. Click the markers to view locations and dates.


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