For most of my life, Animal Crossing was a tiny and indescribable world made just for me. It was reserved for the turquoise Nintendo DS original that I got for my eighth birthday, the now-clunky-feeling device that hosted a sticky and peeling Nintendogs decal across the front and served me throughout my childhood. Playing Animal Crossing: Wild World on that thing was a daily routine during my heaviest DS-playing years, and I was always astonished at how deeply I cared about my weird, anthropomorphic digital town.

Of course, as I grew older, my DS-playing tapered off, and I began to accept the fact that Animal Crossing was but a fond memory of my childhood, of long car rides on the way to vacation, of beautiful summer days squandered by virtual obligations.

That is, until a few months ago, when turnip prices, tarantula catching, Tom Nook memes, and all sorts of other hyper-Animal–Crossing-specific content began to flood the Internet. Suddenly, celebrities like Elijah Wood and Guy Fieri became faces of the game, interacting with Animal Crossing fans on Twitter and Instagram. Local institutions like the Goodman Theatre began to enter the conversation, posting on Facebook some screenshots of Animal Crossing characters recreating recent Goodman shows. Even national athletic teams started joining the fun, like the Detroit Lions, which used the game to announce their schedule.

My guess is that, if you didn’t know what Animal Crossing was before March, you do now–the well-timed release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has made it the official game of quarantine. However, I’ll debrief for those still confused.

Animal Crossing is a social simulation game where you, as a human character, live on an island full of animals. It’s intensely open-ended, with no core objectives aside from building your world exactly how you want it. You do things like hunt bugs, catch fish, dig up fossils, earn money (“Bells”), customize your house, and socialize with others, all to the real-time pace of the calendar year. There’s even a fluctuating economy, including a stalk market, a high-risk high-reward way to get rich by buying and selling turnips.

I understand that it does not sound fun. Animal Crossing: Wild World–my childhood version–even starts out by gifting you a hefty home loan and forcing you into a job to start paying it off. (In my quest to describe the game’s charm to my girlfriend, that’s where I lost her.)

And I admit, Wild World hasn’t aged too well (the graphics look practically 8-bit now). However, with each new iteration that has surfaced since the original in 2001, more features and characters and customization options have been added, and Animal Crossing just keeps one-upping itself.

The game is quaint and artistic, with pastel colors and lulling music, and because it operates on an actual time clock, players experience a different environment playing in the morning versus the evening. It inspires a compulsive need to check in frequently, to ensure that you don’t miss any special events, the first digital snowfall of the year, or a new villager’s arrival. The daily upkeep of pulling weeds, completing simple quests, and earning money is just enough to convince you to log on every day and keep playing, in a way that miraculously feels less like a guilty time suck and more like a calming part of your routine.

It’s calming because there’s really no way to lose the game. The new autosave feature in New Horizons prevents the greatest hardship that came from its predecessors, which was accidentally losing hours of progress. Sure, you can lose money, have a villager you dislike, or neglect the game for too long, but even the rainiest days on Animal Crossing are more serene than high-stakes violent video games.

That’s why it’s no surprise that New Horizons has taken over the world. After creating versions for GameCube, DS, Wii, 3DS, WiiU, and mobile devices, Nintendo released the newest for the Switch on March 20, and it’s widely agreed to be the best yet, and not just because of its newness or the desperate boredom of people in quarantine. I only recently secured a Switch Lite (frequently out of stock), but after just days of playing New Horizons, it’s obvious that it tops all of its predecessors. It’s hard to imagine a game having a better foundation on which to build, with nearly two decades of success stories behind it.

Despite all this success and my own personal affinity for it, it’s still hard to describe what it is about the game that makes it so wonderful and addictive.

One potential factor is the main character customization, which has only improved in the newer versions. As a kid, for me, this was as simple as choosing “burly” instead of “cute” and playing as a boy, better able to express my sense of style and avoiding the real-life scorn at my picking shorts and a T-shirt over a dress every time. Today, it means creating a character that looks just like you (even for people of color, after many years and much backlash), inventing someone totally new, or creating a celebrity look-alike.

Then there’s the element of connecting with others; it used to come in the form of physically linking up on DS and visiting another town close by, but New Horizons is equipped with an entire airport that can connect players anywhere in the world, as long as they have WiFi. The Switch game has opened a doorway for socializing right when people need it most–even if “socializing” just means staying at someone else’s virtual home instead of your own.

Overall, the Animal Crossing world feels like something special. The game feels like it’s built for everyone in the world, while simultaneously feeling like it’s built for you, and you alone. It’s been a pleasure to rekindle my love of the Animal Crossing universe and to see this game hit the mainstream, beloved by people who get as much joy from it as I did when I was eight years old. v

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On May 29, 11 DePaul students will present a series of their written and multimedia work as part of 14 East‘s third annual live storytelling event. 14 East is an independent online long-form magazine staffed and run by DePaul University students. As is the case with every other event in Chicago for the foreseeable future, this live storytelling event won’t be “live” in the traditional sense of the word; in lieu of a stage and audience, the event will be prerecorded and streamed on the magazine’s Facebook page.

The magazine’s editorial emphasis on multimedia and data-driven reporting has well-oriented it for this year’s digital event platform. Its theme, “Venture into the Wilderness,” which was decided on late last year, has also taken on new significance in light of coronavirus and the widespread social distancing it has necessitated.

When the staff first started discussing the wilderness theme for this year’s live event, associate editor Grace Del Vecchio’s mind immediately went to relationships.

“Learning about relationships and learning how to communicate within a relationship with other people is something that we’re trying to navigate every single day of our lives,” she said. “It’s difficult, but all of us do it because we all are in relationships of some kind–not just romantic relationships, but also platonic and familial. Navigating relationships is kind of like navigating wilderness.”

For her live storytelling submission, Del Vecchio interviewed Tim Cole, an associate professor at DePaul’s College of Communications with a PhD in relationship communication. She also filmed interviews with three different pairs of people, asking each pair the same set of questions centered around the navigating of relationships and intimacy, physical and otherwise.

“The personal experience I’ve gained in dating and relationships, and my own thankfulness–really–for my nonromantic relationships [made me think] this could be something that could be interesting to explore,” Del Vecchio said. “And when I brought it up at our 14 East staff meeting, a lot of people were like, ‘Yes, absolutely. Relationships and love is a wilderness.'”

Del Vecchio participated in the live storytelling last year while she was enrolled in the 14 East reporting class that is offered through DePaul’s College of Communication. While the transition to Facebook has been an adjustment for Del Vecchio and the other performers, they’re “moving with the culture and living with what’s going on,” she said.

She’s focused on finding the bright side to this format as well; while she’s comfortable with public speaking and enjoys live performance, her topic of exploration is one she’s never spoken on publicly before.

“So I’m going to find solace and a certain type of safety in knowing that I can rerecord it and then send the video,” she said.

The chance to get comfortable with new storytelling formats, such as in Del Vecchio’s case, is one 14 East editor-in-chief Marissa Nelson said she hopes the staff carries into their regularly scheduled repertoire of reporting post-coronavirus, as well.

“I think for everyone right now, during the pandemic and during COVID-19, we’re finding new ways of doing the work that we were already doing,” Nelson said. “I think seeing that we can pull together a multimedia show that is heavily video-based from our homes, [shows] we can do that when we’re able to go out and report on stories like we traditionally do. Hopefully it will encourage us to use more video throughout our website.”

In the previous live events, some of the performed work was previously published 14 East content repurposed for live performance. This year, all of the content is new material, said Mikayla Price, 14 East‘s event planner.

“We purposely kind of leave the theme vague in order to see what direction people take,” Price said.

“But still, when we chose the theme wilderness in the fall, we had no idea how relevant it would be,” Nelson said.

While some people are sticking to the theme more literally, addressing Chicago’s ecosystem and biodiversity or contrasting the wilderness of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Wilmington, Illinois, with the wilderness of property developments in Chicago, and others, such as Del Vecchio, are tackling the more metaphorical wilderness of love and relationships, some participants are addressing coronavirus head-on, or at least tangentially.

One submission addresses the emptiness of public spaces during quarantine and the idea that people seem to be becoming much more in tune with nature and being outside during this period of social distancing.

Nelson, who will perform her piece at the end of the show, was originally planning to address the wilderness of navigating one’s twenties.

“And then, as the pandemic happened, I shifted my focus to, ‘How are we finding joy and . . . still connecting with each other and experiencing togetherness when we can’t physically be together?’ she explained. “That wouldn’t have been as relevant two months ago as it is now, so that piece for me has definitely shifted amid COVID-19.”

While the storytelling event itself will be prerecorded and then streamed, the magazine staff plans to host a conversation on Instagram Live following the performance, in order to retain some element of live interaction, Price said. v

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In 2017, Reader critic Peter Margasak described the trio of local guitarist and bandleader Tim Stine, bassist Anton Hatwich, and drummer Frank Rosaly as bringing “deliciously teetering and coolly swinging energy to Stine’s improvisations, which recall the early work of Joe Morris and the splintery spontaneity of Derek Bailey.” On Friday, May 15, Texas jazz label Astral Spirits dropped the trio’s dynamic second album, Fresh Demons, which captures the group in fine fettle–Gossip Wolf is especially fond of the swirling “686868,” which precisely balances Stine’s jigsaw-puzzle riffing, Hatwich’s long, flowing lines, and Rosaly’s snapping cymbal work. Cassettes and digital downloads are available at the trio’s Bandcamp page.

It feels like just yesterday that Gossip Wolf was getting psyched to see Jersey punk lifer Mikey Erg at Crown Liquors in February, and now the beloved Avondale slashie is no more–last month the pandemic forced the owners to permanently close. Chicago hot-sauce company Soothsayer has partnered with local bookers MP Shows on Shot Dice: A Compilation for Crown Liquors, a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp release whose proceeds benefit former Crown Liquors staff. Garage veterans White Mystery, emo darlings Retirement Party, and party punks the Brokedowns are among the 26 contributors; this wolf digs Flake Michigan’s sweet ditty honoring MP staffer Vito Nusret.

New Yorker critic Alex Ross gave props to Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio for its Quarantine Concerts series in his recent essay “Concerts in the Void.” If you haven’t yet checked out these terrific livestreams, this wolf highly recommends starting with the program on Thursday, May 28, titled “Keep Your Mind Free”: the lineup consists of Black Monument Ensemble bandleader Damon Locks, cellist Tomeka Reid, flutist Nicole Mitchell, and guitarist Jeff Parker. The show runs from 8 till 10 PM, and ESS suggests a $5 donation. v

Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail [email protected].

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Not only is 2020 the Year of Chicago Music, it’s also the 35th year for the nonprofit Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC), which provides business expertise and training to creatives and their organizations citywide. To celebrate, the A&BC has launched the #ChiMusic35 campaign at ChiMusic35.com, which includes a public poll to determine the consensus 35 greatest moments in Chicago music history as well as a raffle to benefit the A&BC’s work supporting creative communities struggling with the impact of COVID-19 in the city’s disinvested neighborhoods.

Another part of the campaign is this Reader collaboration: a series spotlighting important figures in Chicago music serving as #ChiMusic35 ambassadors. This week, we hear from Sima Cunningham, cofounder of avant-rock band Ohmme and a busy collaborator with Chicago artists across genres–among them Charles Rumback, Twin Peaks, Jeff Tweedy, and Chance the Rapper. Ohmme’s new album, Fantasize Your Ghost, drops June 5 on Joyful Noise Records.

This interview was conducted by Ayana Contreras, who’s a DJ, a host and producer at WBEZ radio, and a columnist for DownBeat magazine.

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Ayana Contreras: What’s one of your favorite Chicago music moments?

Sima Cunningham: I was in the Chicago Children’s Choir when we sang for the Dalai Lama at Millennium Park. That was in 2007, one of my last years in the choir. I was in it from age six until I was 18.

I remember at that time, my mom was battling cancer (which she defeated), and she had gotten deep into Buddhism through her time with that. So I was learning a lot about the Dalai Lama with her, and then he came to Chicago. We were singing all of these very peace-inspiring songs. I think we sang “I Need You to Survive” [by prominent New York pastor and gospel artist Hezekiah Walker].

Then I remember the Dalai Lama came back and touched a bunch of our hands, and I got to touch his hands too. I remember feeling so moved by it, and feeling that “this is what music can do–bring people from across the world together.”

That felt like a really special moment in Chicago music history: the Dalai Lama was there, and kids from all over the city were a part of that.

What makes Chicago such a hotbed for musical invention, and a place so full of really exciting collaborations?

I think we have exceptional programs in Chicago that really work on bringing kids from different parts of the city into one space together. I know it happens some in other cities, but it’s done so intentionally and overtly here.

The Chicago Children’s Choir started as a civil rights organization to bring kids from around the city together. Gallery 37, the Old Town School of Folk Music’s open mike–so many of my friends were involved in programs like these. And Citywide Jazz, which was a big deal when I was in high school. I guess it’s the magnet idea.

I think that just carried over into my generation that got to grow up with all of those programs. And those programs have played a huge role in making this exploding music scene that’s happening now.

That’s definitely something to think about in this moment, because a lot of these same organizations are trying to figure out how to pivot . . . and it’s the same for you as a musician.

Yeah. I was just on a call with a bunch of alumni and the directors of the Chicago Children’s Choir, trying to figure out some ways to help them move through this time. The top of the list of “This cannot happen” is people singing in a room together. We’ve got to figure out a way to give that moment back to kids in Chicago, because it’s really important. It’s important for people to get out of their world, and for some kids to get out of their family space and feel they have chosen family around the city that they can collaborate with. v

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Thomas Comerford, 49, is a filmmaker and singer-songwriter who started the group Kasper Hauser in 1999. He’s currently mixing his fourth solo album, and this week he releases the single “Our Valley,” written late last year and recorded during the Illinois stay-at-home order in March and April.

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Before I came to Chicago, I lived in Iowa City for three years. I was in an MFA program there and I studied film, but I was also interested in audio production. I had been writing music for a while. I started writing songs when I was in college in upstate New York–started in ’88 and was out by ’92. I had a couple of groups, but sometimes just the idea of putting something in front of people and having it be judged was terrifying.

I would trade tapes with friends. Actually a big inspiration for me was this singer-songwriter named Lisa Marr, of the band Cub. I became buddies with her because one of the places I lived before that for a little while was Las Vegas–that was a pretty cool little music scene there. I met Lisa at an in-store that Cub did in Vegas, and we got along really well. I would write stuff and record on a handheld tape recorder, and I would send it to her and she would send a tape back or some of her demos or whatever.

But coming to Chicago, and having been inspired by so much music that’s come out of here–it was exciting. So I arrived here in 1999, and that’s also when I started working. I’ve been, I guess, an artist first and also working, because I’ve never held a full-time gig. I teach film and video production and history, looking at nonfiction movies . . . a range of different things.

Within that first year of being here, I played my first live show, going under the name Kaspar Hauser. I’d been real shy about performing in front of people, so that was a big plunge for me. I had to sort of kick myself in the butt to do that. That’s when I really started to get excited and inspired by the possibility of not just the writing process but also bringing the songs to various people to work on them together. To me that’s kind of the magical part, bringing people into it and then seeing what happens.

I mostly grew up in northeast Ohio, in the Cleveland area. My parents were from that area, and we ended up landing there when I was six. Then I got out of there and moved around a lot in my early 20s.

“Our Valley” was a song that happened very quickly. I was in Cleveland around Christmastime last year visiting my dad. We went on this walk together in this area called the Valley. It’s this series of parks and whatnot. My dad walks a lot, and we went out for a walk there, along the Rocky River. It was just the two of us. My mom passed last June, so it’s been a difficult year.

It’s hard to articulate exactly what happened on the walk, but I guess I just felt very moved. I also thought about this idea of a valley as a safe place but also kind of a low place. I think I started writing it while we were walking, actually. I had some of this imagery, and then I started playing around on the guitar. I remember dinner was being prepared, and I was quickly trying to just get some stuff figured out and recorded so I didn’t forget anything. I was late arriving to dinner because of that.

And then I just had a very rough demo, pretty much by New Year’s. I shared it with the live group, and we learned it and played it at a couple of shows in January and February of this year. We actually played a show on March 13 at the Hungry Brain, and at that point we were wondering if we should do that. It was basically the last night–everything kind of shut down after that.

By early April, I really wanted to try to find a way for us to work together. I’m fine with the format of streaming concerts, but I’m not really interested in doing a solo show that way. I think it’s hard for me to play completely alone. I just want to hear more stuff going on around me. And I knew it would be difficult to try to do something live across multiple feeds, because there’d be a time lag.

The group that I did the single “Our Valley” with (with two exceptions) are people that went on the road with me last summer, and then they’ve been sort of my main crew since then. I thought, I am pretty comfortable with overdubbing. If I record this with a click track, everybody can add their pieces and then we’ll see how it goes. As people started adding their parts, I was really taken with how things were coming together. So we mixed it and thought it merited an official release.

I thought it might be cool to have a video to go along with it and asked the band if they could shoot video of themselves performing. By the end of March, I had participated in a lot of Zoom meetings, and I liked this idea that even though we can’t be together in the same place we can at least have images of people performing the song–kind of coming together musically.

Originally the song was going to be called “The Valley,” and then I was thinking about walking with my dad and the experience we were sharing while grieving. He and my mom had walked those very same paths for the last 50 years together. I saw a connection as far as this space or a state of mind that is shared.

I’ve gotten so busy with the production of my own music in the last ten years. I still keep my feet in the media stuff, teaching and making music videos. I was about to start working on one for Azita, actually, but two days before the big shoot–that’s when everything kind of fell apart. We’re still going to make that video, but I’m just not sure when. v

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Chicago Bears Rumors: 3 trade packages for J.J. Watt by Vincent Parise

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to the playoffs if hockey comes back which is incredibly exciting despite the tough season that they have had.

Hockey is back (almost). The Chicago Blackhawks have officially been named as the 12th seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket as the NHL Return to Play committee has come up with a format that is about as fair of a format as you can make it. They are going to be in and matched up against the Edmonton Oilers for this. Whether they have a chance to win remains to be seen but you never know.

There are certain rules that have been announced today by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and we will still wait for other things to become more clear. The top four teams in each conference based on regular-season points percentage will play a round-robin tournament to determine the seeding of those teams. The other playoff teams will play in a best of five play-in series.

Whoever loses in that best of five series will join the seven non-playoff teams in the NHL Draft Lottery. Dates for everything remain to be seen but an official format is announced if the play is able to resume. They announced the dates of phases but each phase needs to be met in order to come up with a hard date for everything if it is going to happen.

The first and second rounds after the five-game “play-in” series are still to be determined if they will be five or seven games. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals are for sure going to be a seven-game series no matter what.

The Blackhawks were sellers at the deadline but they still were able to be in the top-24 teams in the overall league standings. They have guys like Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, and Corey Crawford to lead the way so you just never know. Regardless of what happens, the Hawks have a chance and if they fail in that play in series they will have a chance at a top-three pick in the draft.

Related Story: Can Corey Crawford win a series for Chicago?

Some people might not like it but it is the way it is. There have been some people who need some normalcy back in their life after COVID-19 did what it did to our world so it would be nice to watch some sports of any kind. People who don’t like it simply don’t have to watch. It is fun, either way, to have a Chicago team back in the playoffs!

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A nurse claims she was fired from a Norwood Park senior home in retaliation for whistleblowing about COVID-19 safety issues, according to a lawsuit.

Andrea Hinich, a military veteran, alleges she was fired a day after bringing up safety lapses in a safety meeting at her workplace, Norwood Crossing, 6016 N. Nina Ave., according to a lawsuit filed May 20 in Cook County Circuit Court.

She was fired April 22 for “insubordination” after refusing to take part in a plan to distribute personal protective equipment, or PPE, to staff without required “fit testing,” the suit states. Fit testing, a federally required safety rule, is the process of testing PPE on someone to determine the person knows the right size PPE they require, and that they know how to wear it properly.

Administration allegedly told Hinich they “don’t have to do the fit testing” and that the PPE was being given to the staff only to “make them feel better.” The suit claims Hinich was fired without warning and given false reasons for her termination that made her the scapegoat for the safety issues she raised.

In June 2019, she was hired as the assistant nursing director at Norwood Crossing and supervised staff on the home’s fourth floor, the suit states. But during the coronavirus pandemic, Hinich’s efforts to raise safety issues were repeatedly disregarded and ignored by her supervisors, according to the suit.

Her bosses allegedly “reacted in hostile and negative ways” in response to her objections to what she pointed out was “unsafe and unlawful conduct.” Hinich allegedly pointed out several issues at the nursing home including: improper infection control, a lack of COVID-19 treatment protocols and COVID-19 training for staff.

The suit alleges her bosses believed or anticipated Hinich was disclosing the alleged safety lapses to state authorities or to the public.

The suit names Norwood Crossing Association and its parent company Norwood Life Society as defendants.

A representative of the nursing home did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

“Healthcare workers must be free to raise safety issues without fear of retaliation,” Hinich’s attorney, Jeffrey R. Kulwin, said in a statement. “In our community, it is essential to protect people who are responsible for the safety of frontline healthcare workers, and especially the people responsible for protecting healthcare workers who care for the people who live at long-term care facilities.”

Norwood Crossing, a 130-bed facility, has seen 22 cases of coronavirus in residents and zero deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. So far, fatalities in Illinois nursing homes account for half of all COVID-19 deaths in the state.

Hinich is seeking at least $100,000 in damages.

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With the MLB season postponed, the city of Chicago misses its two favorite baseball teams, the Cubs and the Sox. Normally, we’d have one of our home teams playing every day, but until the league makes its decision on whether or not to return, we’ll be left waiting. A lack of sports has been tough for fans, and we’ve tried to make things easier with some of the best Chicago sports highlights and Bulls throwback games to watch. And now, this week, we’re here to help cure your sports needs again with some great Chicago Cubs highlight games for all you northside fans to rewatch.

Best Chicago Cubs Highlight Games

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The Sandberg Game

In this highlight game, former Cubs second baseman hits a pair of home runs to tie the game in the 9th and 10th innings. Famously known as, “The Sandberg Game,” the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-11 in this matchup against our division rival.

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Mark Grace Hits “The Cycle”

Not every player in the league bats for the cycle in their careers, a feat that comes from hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game. In Chicago Cubs history, only nine such players have been able to do so. The most recent Cubbie to bat the cycle came in 1993 when Mark Grace hit one against the Padres. While the Cubs didn’t win that game, it’s still an incredible accomplishment and makes for an entertaining game.

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Kris Bryant’s 3 HR Game

Speaking of games with superior batting performances, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant has had two games in his career with three home runs. His most recent one happened a little over a year ago on May 17th against the Nationals. Thanks to Bryant, the Cubs went on to win 14-6 in this throwback game. 

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Carlos Zambrano’s No-Hitter

Moving on to strong pitching performances in Cubs history, our first no-hitter on this list comes from Carlos Zambrano. Back in 2008, Zambrano struck out 10 batters against the Houston Astros to get the win. The game was played in Miller Park in Milwaukee due to a hurricane, but that didn’t stop Carlos or the Cubs.

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Jake Arrieta’s No-Hitter

The next no-hitter on this list comes from former pitcher Jake Arrieta. The first no-hitter in his career came against the Los Angeles Dodgers on their own turf. The Chicago Cubs beat the Dodgers 2-0 in this one, and it only took Arrieta 116 pitches to do it. 

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NLCS Cubs vs Dodgers Game 5

This next Chicago Cubs throwback game is also against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but this one’s in the playoffs. In game five of the NLCS, the Cubs would take down LA once again in their quest for a pennant. Jon Lester pitched the win for the north-side in this one, giving up only one hit in seven innings.

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World Series Game 7

We’ve covered this one before in our favorite Chicago sports highlight games, but it’s too good not to include on this list. After not winning a World Series title for 108 years, the Cubs clinched the pennant in extra innings of game seven. This is definitely one of the most exciting games in Cubs history and one that every fan will remember fondly.

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters and what we should write about next in the comments below!

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Chicago (along with the rest of the country) has been in a state of emergency amid the ongoing threat of COVID-19; meanwhile, your tresses have been experiencing their own ever-growing state of hair-mergency! Fret not, Chicagoans — many hair salons, including the 10 listed here, are reopening in June and are ready to tackle whatever situation has developed atop your dome.

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By @badgal_royroy using @davinesnorthamerica Visit the link in our bio to make an appointment! Currently taking orders for local delivery on all Davines products. Email us at: [email protected] for more information. We are a modern and sustainable @davinesnorthamerica exclusive salon located on Chicago’s Northwest side in Logan Square. Two blocks north from the California Blue line and #56 bus or two blocks south from the California exit of 90/94. #marinhairco#chicago#logansquare#logansquarechicago#humboldtpark#avondale#wickerpark#davines#davinescolor#donewithdavines#bangs#bangstyle#fringe#fringebangs#shag#shaghaircut#shaggylayers#layers#mullet#hairstylistlif

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A post shared by Marin Hair Co. (@marinhairco) on Mar 21, 2020 at 3:34pm PDT

Marin Hair Co

The Logan Square salon’s target date for reopening is currently June 2, and you can easily make an appointment using the online scheduling system on their website.

Fringe

Based in Wicker Park, Fringe has recently hired back some of its staff, is currently scheduling appointments and plans to reopen May 30.

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A post shared by Bespoke Haircolor Begins Here (@trianonsalon) on Feb 12, 2020 at 7:04am PST

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Trianon

Those in Lincoln Park needing a trim can make an appointment at Trianon, where extensive sanitizing and social distancing policies are being implemented upon reopening.

Kala Salon

This River North spot is opening up just in time to look great for your socially-distant gatherings of 10 people or fewer.

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A post shared by a.salon (@asalonchicago) on Feb 6, 2020 at 9:23am PST

a.salon

An eco-conscious salon located in Pilsen, a.salon is ready to cut some hair and hug some trees this June.

Sine Qua Non

With locations in Lakeview, West Town, and Andersonville, this salon has you (and your hair) covered from June 2 on.

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A post shared by Lavender Park (@lavenderpark_) on Apr 29, 2020 at 7:22am PDT

Lavender Park

This is another Lincoln Park salon with a planned June 1 reopening and easy online booking.

Old Irving Salon

Consider heading up to the Old Irving Park neighborhood for your much-needed haircut when this salon reopens May 29!

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Did you know we’re a Ouidad certified salon? Do your curls lack definition, bounce and shine? Let us help you bring your curls back to life with a Ouidad cut and we’ll show you the right products to use specifically for your curl type. #ouidad #curlexperts #ouidadcertified #ouidadcut #ouidadcurls #letcurlsbecurls #ouidadsalon #ouidadchicagosalon #ouidadcertifiedsalon #ouidadcertifiedstylist #naturallycurlyhair #naturalcurls #curlyhair #curls #curlycut #curlyhaircut #beforeandafterhair @ouidad

A post shared by Fox Hair Chicago (@foxhairchicago) on May 29, 2019 at 6:26am PDT

Fox Hair

No matter how shaggy you are when you walk in for your haircut in June, this salon will have you feeling a lot foxier by the time you walk out.

Urban Lift

One of Lakeview’s hairstyling hotspots, Urban Lift is reopening in June and ready to provide you with a new hair color to match your most stylish face mask.

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!

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