Hungry Z, Grand Overview

How well do you know your city? Do you venture out and eat at new places, or do you stay within the same 7 mile radius most of the time? Are you a suburbanite who rarely if ever travels into the city for a bite to eat? If any of these applies to you, then you may want to check out one of the “Chicago Food Planet Food Tours” available. I had a chance to tag along with the “Near North” food tour recently and had a great time!

Be warned, this is a walking tour so make sure you wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to be on your feet for about 3 hours (insert Gilligan’s Island joke here). Our group met our guides Rebecca and Nikki in the Gold Coast at the Ashkenaz Deli where we got our itineraries and our first taste! While New Yorkers are blessed with many deli’s, us Chicagoans are not (Subway doesn’t count). At the deli we sampled a rueben made with sliced Vienna pastrami, sauerkraut, and homemade Russian dressing atop delicious marble rye. Off to a good start, let’s keep going. Read more »

Today I’m going to talk about a really amazing therapy that I do called Muscle Activation Therapy (MAT). MAT is a great tool for anyone that has joint pain or instability. That has back pain, foot pain, or neck pain. MAT is great for anybody that works out or is an athlete that feels like they are just a little unstable and should be performing better than they are. So pretty much, MAT is great for anyone. So what is MAT? It is a system of checking the range of motion of joints and bringing stability to where it is lacking. For example, when someone lifts their arm and their shoulder hurts, this is due to instability somewhere within the body. When muscles that should move a bone through a range of motion can’t, then other muscles must take their place to do this. This is called compensation. Compensation is the way in which the body keeps moving even when something is wrong. We know that whenever there is a lack in range of motion, there will always be compensation. So if your right arm can rise higher than your left arm, there is compensation someplace. If you look down at your feet and one turns out more than the other, there is compensation. If you find you can rotate to the left further than the right, you got it, compensation. Not all compensation will lead to pain, but all pain is due to compensation. With MAT, we check the range of motion to find where the compensation is. We then go through a series of muscle testing to find what muscles are having problems. Then we try to restore the range of motion of the join by activating the muscles that are inhibited. All of this is done on a massage table using our fingers. The session usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half. You may ask, how does this work? This is a type of neuromuscular therapy. This means that the nervous system and the muscle system have lost communication in some way. The nervous system gets information from the outside world. It then communicates with the brain that it needs some response by the body. The brain then signals the muscles to move the bones to respond to the stimuli. Sometimes the signal-brain-muscle system gets interrupted. What the MAT therapist is doing is restoring this system. The result is an instant response and immediately stronger muscles. Not because the muscle was weak, but because now the brain can signal the muscle to work all the way. This leads to joint stability, quicker movement times, and often a decrease in pain. It’s one of the most amazing therapies I’ve ever come across. One session can blow your mind. Read more about it at www.muscleactivation.com.

The Homebuyers Tax Credit contract deadline expired on April 30th. If you had entered into a valid contract to buy your first home or you were a repeat homebuyer, congratulations! You must now close on that purchase by June 30th to be able to receive your tax credit. I commend you if you are one of these people because its not often that we get gifts from the government.

What if you were not so fortunate and still need a place to call home? The good news is that there is still great inventory out there and you can still find your dream home, you just won’t get that gift from Uncle Sam.

Chicago is full of wonderful neighborhoods and has a great choice of housing available. Don’t know what your “style” is? Spring is here and so are the “Open House” signs.. start going and soon you will discover what you like and don’t like…its that simple. You can also get a quick look at what these properties will cost you on a monthly basis because good agents have a mortage calculator sheet on hand.

Home ownership is a great way to accumulate wealth and get tax advantages at the same time. Many properties are still taking a little hit on pricing but we are noticing price stabilization and an uptick in selling activity leading many to think we have reached the bottom of the housing market.

Summer is almost here! But the time to get prepared is right now. One thing to consider to jump start your summer goals is a detox. One particular one that I know most people will think is maybe a little more extreme than they are ready for, is Karyn’s Raw Food Detox. I don’t know if you’ve been to Karyn’s Raw on Halstead just north of North Ave, but it’s a marvelous, albeit crazy little place. I did my first raw food detox last May and haven’t looked back. Raw food is an idea that food carries enzymes and nutrients, and that when you cook food it kills them so that the body can’t use them anymore. Raw food Vegans don’t eat meat or dairy, and cook things only to 115 degrees. They also sprout all of their seeds and beans in order to bring out the nutrients in them. Sprouting can increase the nutrients of a seed up to 300 times! Karyn’s detox has you go either vegetarian, vegan, or if you can handle it raw. Its four weeks, and includes fun things such as colonics, wheatgrass, and a 7 day juice fast where you eat nothing but fresh juice for a week. I know it sounds daunting, but when I say you won’t believe your eyes I mean it. Besides having amazing energy, and more than likely any illness that’s bothering you just disappearing, your body will look like you never imagined it could. I don’t lie. Your body will look amazing. I lost 10 pounds during my detox last year. If you have the courage and determination, it will be a really tough 4 weeks, but you will get results that you could never dream of.

Hungry Z, Grand Overview

So you sit down for dinner and the waiter hands you the wine list, what do you do? You want to pair the right wine with the right dish, but you’re not sure which one. Do you just guess? For those wanting to learn how to pair wines, there are some great wine dinners out there ready to help! Pinstripes in both Northbrook and South Barrington just finished hosting an evening with Terlato wines and have more such events planned for the future.

The beauty of these events is that you not only pair wines but you also hear from the chefs and wine makers themselves. John Terlato and Chef Mark Grimes guided us through a 5 course dinner and left us all a little more wine savvy. Our meal began with a salad consisting of crisp chicken liver, frisse, spring garlic, blood orange gastrique, and cippollini mustard vinaigrette that was paired with a fruit forward Terlato Pinot Grigio.

An elegant and refreshing Rutherford Hill chardonnay was paired with a buttery day boat scallop glazed in raw honey along side a citrus risotto. A complex Sanford Pinot Noir complimented the wonderful black duck and apple smoked bacon chips (yum!). My favorite course was the juniper berry-red wine marinated filet of beef, foie gras, and topped with amazing truffle butter! This was paired with Mazzoni Rosso Toscana and its ripe dark berry flavor.

While most lamb dishes are accompanied by mint, the lamb tonight is served tandori style with a nice level of spice! Read more »

For some reason people think that love is easier for good-looking people, or rich people, or white people, or men. And as a single, black, 30-something, successful woman, everywhere I turn someone is telling me how hard it is for me to find love. Well, I’ve decided that Steve Harvey and Sherri Shepard and Nightline and MSNBC can all kiss me where the sun don’t shine. Because I’ve come to learn that finding love is difficult for most people. It doesn’t have anything to do with your financial status, what color you are or even your sex. Love, real love, is precious and rare and it doesn’t grow on trees. It shouldn’t be too easy to find, because otherwise, why would anyone appreciate it? Observe anyone who is in a relationship where their partner loves and gives more freely than they do and I guarantee you’ll find someone who doesn’t appreciate what they have. It seems so unfair. They seem so undeserving. You can’t help but think, why can’t someone love me like that instead of them.

But I’ve chosen not to focus on them any more than I focus on the legion of naysayers that are trying to convince me that I’m not going to get the love I desire and deserve. And I don’t think you should focus on them either. When it comes to finding love, I’ve decided - and I think that you should decide as well - that I’m going to listen to a real expert: Luther Vandross. Yes, really. Not skinny, sexually questionable Luther, but straggly Jheri curl, jelly-bellied “Lutha”, God rest his soul. In one of his most prolific songs his answer is clear and simple: wait for love.

Like many of you I am tired of waiting. Damn tired. But what else is there to do? If the love you seek hasn’t materialized, there’s very little you can do to make it happen. You can work on yourself and your own issues, get yourself together, think positive and still come up with nada. You can sign up for dating services, ask to be set up, and hit the singles scene and still find yourself alone and longing. You can pray until your knees are rusty but until the divine one feels you are ready to receive that special love you crave, you’re not going to get it. But you will get it eventually, when the time is right. That may not be what you want to hear, but its a hell of a lot better than listening to a “King of Comedy” with 2 divorces behind him. At least it is for me.

Patience is a virtue, and although it isn’t one of mine I’m working on it, because I don’t believe that God operates under chaos or confusion. He knows what He’s doing a whole lot more than I do. By having me wait, He’s teaching me something, and I’m going to be still and quiet and listen until He answers so that I can learn my lesson. And I’m going to try and do it without an attitude.

So who’s with me? If you’re with me, open your window, tell Steve Harvey and ’nem to shove it, then hold your lighters in the air, wave them from side to side, and sing with me : ”I never stopped believing there could one day be, be a chance…for me to get the love, that I’ve been missing, sometimes love takes a long time, but wait for love and you’re gonna get the chance the chance to love, wait for love, wait for love”. Now hold on tight if you think you’re right. It’s coming. I don’t think Lutha would lie to us.

When it comes down to choosing a dress for the most important day of their lives, so many brides are allured by the bridal fashions of Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, Reem Acra and Badgley Mischka just to name a few.  So they go in search of this beautiful gown they have seen in a bridal magazine or on the runway, but what they are not prepared for is the sticker shock for their dream gown.  As soon as they see the price tag, their eyes begin to tear up and shoulders begin their descent as they shuffle in search of a “chain bridal store” that may offer a copy cat of the real thing.  This is where White Chicago comes in, located in the River North gallery district.  “With its striking interior, expansive dressing rooms, relaxing lounge and library and signature white runway (watch out Tyra Banks) White Chicago redefines traditional elegance for today’s modern bride.”   It is the brain child of Stacy Senechalle and Ursula Guyer .  This upscale resale boutique adds an entirely different meaning to old bridal adage “Something Borrowed”.  They offer new, sample and once wed designer dresses with out the designer price tag.   Just like you would expect at any other couture salon, each bride is tended to individually and given the upscale bridal salon treatment so they can feel like the princesses that they are.  White Chicago has  just recently launched their online web store and wedding gown listing service www.whiteXchange.comso that now its not just limited to .   Chicago brides but all brides are able to join in on the fabulousness! 

So if you or someone you know has bridal dreams of grandeur without the fairytale budget, Send them (or tag along with them) to White Chicago, they will have white socks waiting on you at the door! 

White Chicago

222 W Huron

Chicago, IL  60654

312-397-1571

www.whitechicago.com

www.whiteXchange.com

info@whitechicago.com

Thanks so much and as always make it an Eventful day!!!

You know, We Chicago folk are pretty lucky.  Yeah we have the dastardly winters and blazing summers and those grey clouds just LOVE them some us!  But we have such a unique and dynamic culture that isn’t found very many places.  One could literally tour dozens of countries and never leave the city limits. For instance,  Merz Apothecary, one of my favorite oasis’s, Founded by a Chicago pharmacist of Swiss decent over 130 years ago.  Merz Apothecary is modeled after the European approach of health and wellness.  Needless to say, Mr. Peter Merz was way ahead of the curve of what we consider the “modern” holistic approach.

Walking through the large wooden doors of the Lincoln Square location I am immediately enveloped in a sense wellness and bliss.  Antique pharmacy jars and solid oak cabinets reassure me that “Yes, all is right in the world.”  The shelves are lined with classic and nearly forgotten herbal remedies, aroma-therapeutic soy candles, essential oils and high quality vitamins.  I buy everything from my skincare down to my toothbrush there.  When cold, flu and allergy season hit, this is my doctors’ office.  When I had my mini meltdown about terrible things the cosmetics industry was doing (from earlier post Only Skin Deep) Merz was there like an old wise Nana with a big hug that said “There, there.  Here’s a nice warm glass of soy milk!”

If you’d like to learn more about the story of Merz Apothecary visit: Read more »

I find that too often people do not and often refuse to work out their legs at the gym. I don’t really understand this to tell you the truth. I don’t understand a compartmental way of looking at the body. I know that legs are tough, tiring, and often painful to work out. This doesn’t mean you can just skip them. One thing I usually hear is “but I run, that’s working out my legs.” Um, no it isn’t. Our legs are so important to keep strong and work out. Our legs carry the entire weight of our body. When we run or jog the forces on our legs are up to 4 times our body weight. The pelvis and spine are moved and stabilized by our legs. When our legs have dysfunction and weakness, this opens the door to compensation and injury. The legs are responsible for holding most of the muscle on the body. This means that our metabolism is very connected to them. Anybody that is trying to lose weight and considering not working the legs is missing an important component. Also, working the legs is key to getting the core and abs strong. The psoas muscle is an important spine stabilizing core muscle that attaches to the spine and the leg. It’s the only muscle to do so. The psoas is a spine stabilizer, but when there is dysfunction the psoas then becomes a mover of the legs. This is not good. It’s a compensation pattern that eventually leads to all kind of problems. Women often think their legs will get big if they train them, not true. Men often believe that since the invention of board shorts, you can’t see their legs so they don’t matter. Good job men, that’s a fresh one. And yes, I have heard that from clients of mine. I feel the legs are one of the most important components of working out that is often missed. So please, start adding these in. It’ll change everything for you.

A staged home makes a great impression on buyers. If you don’t have that decorating touch, then you should seriously consider hiring a home stager.
But not every stager is appropriate for all properties, therefore ask a few questions before hiring.
*Ask to see their portfolio, its not enough to ask a few questions over the phone.
*Do they have a specialty? Many stagers specialize in a specific type of of home and may not be the right fit for your property, or their furniture may not be the right fit.
*What is their training and background? The home staging industry is largely unregulated, find out if they have been trained and what their certification means.
If you have marketing ideas you want to bring to the table, ask the stager if you can work together because if buyers aren’t walking through the door, the staging doesn’t mean much.