What’s New

Read More

Read More

For Taking Flawless Notes

Martha Mae

marthamae.info

The goal Get back to simple practices, like putting good old-fashioned pen to paper, to create a sense of calm and purpose.
The goods Ordinary items with a sophisticated twist. Check off that to-do list with metal writing pads from Paris, double-ended colored pencils, gold-edged memo pads, and fountain pens that move like butter.

For Creating Background Envy

Kristi Kohut Studio

hapiart.com

The goal Channel creative energy into your space with sophisticated wall art. More important, give yourself a reason to keep your camera on during Zooms.
The goods Kohut, who lives in Libertyville, plays with bold colors, shiny crystalline elements, and mixed media. Her new special-edition embellished prints are bathed in cut-glass glitter and call for attention.

For Setting Boundaries

Velvet Goldmine

2001 W. Division St., Ukrainian Village

The goal Separate your home and work life by setting up a dedicated office space. (In other words: Stop squatting on your couch.)
The goods Functional and striking midcentury modern furniture and accessories. While desks are often sold out (a recent walnut stunner with brass pulls was gone in a day ), you might get lucky. More commonly found: lacquered metal lamps, starburst wall clocks, and repurposed bookcases.

For Breathing Life Into Your Space

Greer

1013 W. Webster Ave., Lincoln Park

The goal Look forward to hunkering down for the day because you are surrounded by objects that are interesting and beautiful.
The goods A curated selection of office supplies imported from around the world. Mundane tasks become more bearable with multicolored sticky notes from Korea, brass bookmarks from France, and erasers from Japan that are so squishy they can double as stress balls.

Read More

1. Sweet Potato

For this sweet-savory smørrebrød, chef Madison Burns doctors up rye bread with cocoa powder and orange zest and tops slices of it with sweet potato soufflé, brunost (a caramelized cheese made in-house), chai pepitas, and shaved fennel salad. $8
Pair it with 2019 Patton Valley Vineyard Riesling Pét-Nat. “It’s pear- and apple-heavy and helps balance the sweetness,” says Ørkenoy’s Briana Hestad. $30 a bottle

2. Short Rib

“This is modeled off a Danish reindeer dish,” says Burns, who subs in braised short rib. Confit potatoes, balsamic onions, red wine and shallot butter, lingonberries, and housemade brioche round it out. $9
Pair it with Millie Westport Brown Ale. “It stands up to the short rib but also lets the nuances of the red wine butter shine through,” Hestad says. $8 for two cans

3. Spam

This untraditional smørrebrød features American cheese, gochujang mayo, kimchi, green onions, and a poached egg on King’s Hawaiian bread. “It’s less Scandinavian and more Filipino-Hawaiian,” says cofounder Ryan Sanders. $7
Pair it with An Oslo 1952 punch. “The acidity and effervescence cut through the egg and cheese,” says Hestad. The yuzu and plum “play super well” with the rest. $20 for two servings

Read More

Does the firing of Doug Pederson impact the Chicago Bears decision? We are less than 24 hours removed from the Chicago Bears playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints in which the offense managed a measly three non-garbage time points. It came on the heels of another woeful performance against the Green Bay Packers in […]

Chicago Bears: Does Doug Pederson firing turn up heat on Matt Nagy? – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

Read More

The best thing about living in Chicago is experiencing the full four seasons. Spring’s returning neon green tree leaves put a bounce in your step. Summer’s open fire hydrants and porch stoops relieve you until the burning sun fades to an orange evening haze. Fall brings all the basic bitches to the yard. But it’s not until you experience the full force of winter that your grit is tested as a true Midwesterner.

If Chicago winter were a song, it would be belted by a seasonally depressed Lil Jon: “Close the windows … on the walls! Wear your gloves … and your hats, till the sweat runs down your back. Y’all, sleet sleet mother[censored]!” It’s a difficult time for all, but here’s a temperature checklist to help yu through.

50°The trickiest temp! It could mean shorts or a stocking cap, depending on whether it is a fall 50 or a winter 50. Try this test: Step outside, breathe in, and exhale. If you can’t see your breath, you’re still at fall 50. If icicles cling to your vibrissae like Trump to the illusion of his presidency, then i’s time for a coat.

35°Give it a rest, cargo-shorts-and-hoodie guy. We get it, you’re a single dad who’s “still cool” even thoughyou can’t find your kids at the McFetridge Ice Rink.

20°Summon your best Cardi B to stay warm while you shovel: “There’s some snow in the streets, there’s some sow in the streets. Grab a bucket and a mop, that’s a dib, that’s a dib.”

10°Gather the kids for a trip to ZooLights! Step outside, realize how cold it is, take the kids back in, teah them that life is full of disappointments.

-10°Call in sick, order Harold’s, crack open a bottle of Malört, and thank patron saint Brian Dennehy that it’ll be six months before you’re frightened by a scurrying rat again.

Read More

How to Whoosh Down a Sledding Hill

● Olympian Aja Evans, bronze medal bobsledder
● Hometown South Loop
● Advice “My sister, my mom, and I used to go sledding at Dan Ryan Woods and use different things, like big plastic tubs, to see what was the fastest. My mom said, ‘We need a real sled.’ She got us a red four-person plastic one, and when we went back, we were flying. We’d make friends, and when someone would hop in with us, we’d go even farther. Fluffy snow will create too much friction. So say you have fresh snow. It may take a few runs to compress it, but if you keep going down the same place, you can make it a hard, ice-like surface. To go faster, get in a tight position to lessen wind resistance. Extend your legs out and arms forward. Get low and keep an even balance. Stay relaxed and enjoy the ride.”

How to Start and Stop on the Ice

● Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield, gold medal hockey player
● Hometown Palos Heights
● Advice “Say you’re gliding on two feet. You’re going at a moderate pace and want to go faster. Implement a crossover to increase your speed. Work both edges of your skates and put your left foot over your right. The right foot becomes your power foot that’s going to push you out. And then when you are skating fast, the most important skill is stopping. Take your hips and throw them forward, transferring your weight in the direction you’re trying to stop — one foot on the inside, one foot on the outside. And shave that top layer of ice.”

How to (Safely) Skate on a Pond

● Olympian Brian Hansen, silver medal speedskater
● Hometown Glenview
● Advice “Skating outside on lagoons has become a recreational thing for me now that I’m done training. But I take a lot of precautions. I use ice-testing poles that are like spears. I look for four inches of thickness. I’ll do a practice lap with a friend. I also bring ice awls. They’re kind of like if you took a little rod and put a screw through it so you can grip the ice in case you slip in. We’ll wear a wetsuit if we’re not sure. Often ice freezes in the middle but might be thinner at the edges, so I’ll scoot on a surfboard to get to the thicker ice. One time, me and a friend paddleboarded out in Lake Michigan by Racine. There were floating, mile-wide ice islands. They were definitely thin — but thick enough to skate on.”

How Not to Fall on the Rink

● Olympian Emery Lehman, speedskater
● Hometown Oak Park
● Advice “In skating, you need to be in an athletic stance: a slight knee bend, a slight ankle bend, muscles activated. If you’re standing up straight, you’ll fall. But in an athletic stance, you can feel that motion coming and resist it. You don’t want to mistake that for having your ankles caved in. You want the skate at an angle with blades rotated out but legs straight. Practice walking like this on the ice — think of it like a duck walk. Focus on keeping pressure on the inside edge without pushing your ankles in. Get more and more comfortable, then you can get lower in your stance and start pushing out more — and that’s when you’ll get really fast.”

Read More

Some 19,000 years ago, torrential meltwater from a receding glacier tore through central Illinois, gouging out the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers and the dramatic sandstone canyons of what is now Starved Rock State Park. Those water-carved canyons attract thousands of city dwellers in spring, summer, and fall, but I’ll never forget the park’s spectral beauty when my wife and I first visited in winter.

It was just after the new year, on the eve of a historic arctic chill. The thermometer had already dipped into the mid-20s, and our breath billowed in front of us as we followed the easiest trail, which hugs the shore of the Illinois River. The occasional birdcall overhead sliced the quiet like a scalpel. As we descended into the deeper reaches of the park, we were struck dumb by the silent agony of frozen waterfalls. There are many of them in the park: At Sac Canyon, a broad series of plateaus fan water into a stream below; the falls at French Canyon cut a twisty path down a shallow incline of sandstone; the spectacular falls at St. Louis Canyon perform a long, straight drop past a commanding amphitheater of rock.

But what stopped us in our boot prints that day was Ottawa Canyon’s falls (pictured), where an overhang and a landing below it allowed us to cross, precariously, behind the sheet of water and look out into the canyon. In the cold, the water hung like thick braids of silver hair, cascading earthward but shocked into stillness, awaiting spring’s thaw.

Read More

The only way out of a Chicago winter with two young kids is through. This summer I became an expert at keeping them and myself from losing it when our typical warm weather distractions weren’t an option. (For a mini drive-in, I stuck each kid in a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, parked six feet apart, to watch a movie projected on the side of our garage.) To stave off this year’s particularly brutal brand of cabin fever, I’ve concocted these ideas for socially distant outdoor playdates. Grab your mask, don your snowsuit, and double up your socks — it’s a four-month-long snow day.

1 Snow painting Fill balloons, spray bottles, and water guns with nontoxic washable paint diluted with water — a one-to-one ratio works. Then find a snow-covered wall, backyard, or alley, and get your Jackson Pollock on.

2 Photo scavenger hunt Let your shutterbugs loose on the neighborhood or a nature trail to see what wintery things their eyes spy, from sweet (a dog wearing boots) to cheeky (yellow snow!). It’s pretty easy to drum up a list of items to seek — or you could just ask the kids to find something for each letter of the alphabet. Even easier: Premade lists are abundantly available online (Good Housekeeping has almost two dozen on its site). Tell your surly teen it’s a #InstaChallenge.

3 Chilly American Ninja Warrior All the outdoor toys are just as fun, if not more, when used to build obstacles on fresh powder. Think Hula-Hoops propped to create tunnels, pool noodles bent into hurdles, and mini trampolines you can bounce on to avoid snowballs. Bonus: Jumping, crawling, and running while bundled up gets the heart pumping harder and, by my scientific estimate, decreases the chances of a hellacious bedtime by 78 percent.

4 Winter Wiffle Ball Hitting and tossing an aerated plastic ball on a blustery day will have everyone running like loopy circus clowns. Pro tip: Buy a colored ball so you can spot it in the snow.

5 Ice Legos Freeze water in ice cube trays, butter tubs, Dixie cups, and other small containers to create different shapes. Then let your little architect build dreamy ice castles, fairy igloo gardens, and true-to-life frozen dystopian landscapes. Add tiny trinkets and food coloring to the water before freezing for extra pizzazz.

Read More

1. Warm up with a five-minute jog and 50 air squats.

2. Start circuit 1 with heavy shoveling. “Focus on getting the most snow in each shovelful,” Hudson says. “Bend your knees. Use your legs to get underneath the snow.” Shovel for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

3. Perform walking lunges for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

4. Do pushups for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 three times, alternating arms for shoveling on each round.

6. Rest 60 to 90 seconds.

7. Start circuit 2 by performing a weighted carry: Walk slowly up and down the sidewalk while carrying a 40-to-50-pound object (say, a five-gallon water cooler jug). Continue for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

8. Resume shoveling, but with smaller shovelfuls and at a faster pace. “This time, fling the snow as high as you can by shooting your arms overhead and extending your body so that you end on your toes.” Shovel for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

9. Perform V-ups: Lie on your back with your arms over your head and reaching for your toes. Do them for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

10. Repeat steps 7 to 9 three times, alternating arms for shoveling on each round.

11. Cool down with another five-minute jog and 50 more air squats.

Read More