Q: The Upstairs House, out February 23, is about a new mom who’s visited by a dead author of children’s books. How did your experiences as a mother influence it? A: I was the first of my friends to have kids and knew very little about the postpartum

“Everyone thinks you need more makeup onscreen, but less is more,” Dee says. Stay with your usual routine, just add primer and eye cream. Put them on five to 10 minutes before your makeup to keep it looking fresh for the entire affair. “You’ll see ed

Chris Uphues, the artist behind Ravenswood’s Insta-omnipresent Happy Garage mural, is bringing a pop of color to the stodgy world of neckties. This month, the Groomsman Suit, a formalwear retailer in Logan Square, is debuting a new collection of ties

In adult medicine in particular, there’s a push toward going plant based. In pediatrics, though, I prefer to have growing children get cow’s milk because it has the most amount of protein; it’s a comprehensive delivery of multiple nutrients, as oppos

WHEN IPPOLITA ROSTAGNO LAUNCHED HER NAMESAKE JEWelry line in 1999, the former dancer imagined creating pieces that a self-made woman would buy for herself. “It was very apparent that jewelry happened to you at given times of the year, like Valentine’

Karen Bernstein Adolescent gynecology; eating disorders; sexually transmitted diseases; weight management. UI Health. 312-996-7416 Aurelia Peera Advocate Lutheran General, Park Ridge. 773-777-5437 Michele L. Zucker Behavioral and eating disorders. Ad

There are a lot of things that distract from physical activity — iPads, game consoles, Netflix. So if I need to push the boys to be outside, I’ll go on a walk and they can rollerblade or bike alongside. So their outdoor activity starts with nice time

For decades psychologists have been working to unlock the secret to successful aging and determine how to define happiness in the eighth, ninth and even tenth decades of life. But how does one measure the potential for social, intellectual and emotio

Pre-COVID, it was like, “Come on, Shai, sit. Just sit and talk with me.” Then with COVID it became, “You’ve been sitting for five hours. We’ve got to do something.” There’s resistance. I’ll be like, “If you don’t get up and move, that’s not good for

HOW MUCH DOES CHEF KEN POLK LOVE FRENCH TOAST? HIS LINCOLN PARK BREAK-fast spot Batter & Berries has served more than 200 variations. Below are three of his over-the-top favorites. All of them call for starting with a basic batter of 2 cups heavy cre

I am staring into the face of my newborn son and praying that I don’t screw this up. Again. Looking back on the mistakes of my youth, I realize it would have been really nice to know what catastrophes awaited me before, in the blind ignorance of inex

IMAGINE A WELLNESS SCALE WHERE 1 IS THE PATRON Saint of Wellness™ Gwyneth Paltrow obnoxiously running around in a fat suit in the film Shallow Hal, and 10 is the Patron Saint of Wellness™ Gwyneth Paltrow obnoxiously hawking a $75 candle titled This S

THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF the Joffrey Ballet is unconvinced that watching dance on a laptop does the art form justice. “I’m embracing it because there’s nothing else,” says Ashley Wheater, now entering his second decade in that role with the company.

AS A DOWNTOWN RESIDENT, I’VE BEEN CLOSELY WATCHING the floor-by-floor growth of the St. Regis Chicago the past few years. The 101-story Jeanne Gang–designed building is an undeniably spectacular addition to the skyline. In December, as it neared comp

A squishy brioche bun makes it easy to take a giant bite. Chef Michael Buscemi likes the ones from ButterCrumb Bakery in Hickory Hills; he toasts them, cut side down, in a buttered pan. It’s not a breakfast sandwich without a runny fried egg. Buscemi

UPON HEARING THAT THE ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST Museum & Education Center is hosting a Nelson Mandela exhibition, one might ask: What does Nelson Mandela have to do with the Holocaust? The answer: Well, nothing directly. But Mandela: Struggle for Freedom, r

When a public servant saw that Illinois truck driver’s licenses were being granted too freely, he investigated. What he found exposed criminality at the highest level of state government. Not long after Tony Berlin began working at the state driver’s

“This is like the national breakfast dish in Egypt. I top it with lemon juice, olive oil, diced tomato, and chopped parsley,” Ross says. In a blender, combine 5 cups water, 2 chopped medium tomatoes, 5 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, ½ teasp

n I picked up a new nickname: Impossible. “You’re fucking impossible, Belushi.” My standards are high. I grew up in the restaurant business, where you work 100 percent every minute. I don’t lay off. On According to Jim, we only had to work three days

How much do I love the December cover? So much that I would be willing to drive back to the city from my place of temporary exile, isolate for 14 days, and then search every newsstand to find it. @newsstandpromos via Twitter Does anyone besides me re

AS HUMANS, WE’RE PRACTICALLY HARDWIRED TO KEEP a memory vault — a spank bank of sorts — of all the sexual things we’ve witnessed or experienced. Two of my most titillating memories were imprinted on my brain in the mid-aughts, while I was traveling o

@marshallperspectiveimagesinc One early morning in October, Chicago Public Schools staffer Samuel Chad Marshall went to Steelworkers Park in South Chicago to take photos and center himself. While watching the sun rise over the lake, he spotted a purp

THERE’S NO NEED TO RISE EARLY TO ROAST TOMATILLOS AND FRY TORTILLAS when preparing Tzuco’s version of the classic Mexican breakfast dish. Bagged chips and a sauce anchored by canned black beans — a departure from the traditional salsa — make for a sp

For my money, the view west from the DuSable Bridge at Michigan and Wacker has always been one of the most exciting in Chicago. A century’s worth of tall buildings spring from the banks of the Chicago River along Wacker: the LondonHouse Chicago, with

AS AN ENUMERATOR FOR THE 2020 CENSUS, I DEVELOPED TRICKS FOR COUNTING people who didn’t want to be counted. “We’re not interested,” a man on Pratt Boulevard in Rogers Park told me before shutting the door in my face. OK. It seemed like he was Latino

There is perhaps no greater test of a couple’s staying power than a government-mandated stay-at-home order. So when the country hunkered down last spring, the quarantine breakup jokes hit Twitter on cue. But it turns out that extreme togetherness can

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a.k.a. the Merc. What began as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board in 1898 is now a labyrinthine network for futures trading in sectors including agriculture, real estate, and metals. Futures trading — no shame in not kn