Along with Mayor Daley’s Office, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is starting their yearly efforts to encourage business owners to make sure their sidewalks are clear of snow and ice.  The temperature is dropping and we have received some snow and ice already.  So all Logan Square businesses should be making sure that their sidewalks, steps, and other public pathways are clear of any impediments to customers, neighbors or just passers-by.  If you notice that a sidewalk is not cleared within 4-6 business hours after a snowfall, feel free to touch base with CDOT or the local alderman so they can issue a warning to that business. 

Logan Square business owners: if you feel that snow and ice removal are out of your league or you cannot guarantee that you will have it done in a reasonable amount of time, touch base with some of the local businesses or the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce for recommendations on a good local business to hire.

Photo from Daily Candy

Yesterday, I was getting on the Metra after work to go hang out my parents house, who live on the North Shore. The undercarriage of the Ogilvie train station has always been a dank through-way but last night I noticed a giant CVS planted down there as well as the new French Market! I plan on going back today, as I’m not rushing to catch a train, and pick up some stuff for dinner. The market is entirely local, comprised of over 30 vendors from Chicago neighborhoods and outlying areas. I’ll make sure to post some pictures of dinner!

Chris Walker for the Tribune

Also exciting news: Logan Square is now home to Chicago’s first co-op! Dill Pickle Co-op, at 3039 W. Fullerton, carries one of the largest bulk grocery sections in the city. Both members and non-members are welcome to shop there and you better believe that if lived near Logan Square, I’d be all over that membership. They offer monthly payments as low as $10.59.

The opening of these grocers is another step in the paradigm shift of the food industry so make sure to support places like these because your most impacting vote is your dollar.

If you have not noticed, Logan Hardware located at 2410 W Fullerton does not stock your every day tools, nuts and bolts anymore.  Jim Zespy (told me to call him Zespy) recently purchased the unique brick-faced storefront and has converted it into a record store.  Not only is the building his place of business, but he lives in the property as well…talk about cool live/work space!  Zespy opened the store in mid-November and is planning a grand opening launch in January.  Currently he is stocking new and used vinyl records, cds and dvds, but as he continues to build, he is planning on adding board games and audio equipment as well.  Logan Hardware is open Thursday-Sunday from noon to 9pm.  Call 773-235-5030 for more info or just stop by.

Green Exchange (Gx) Logan Square

The Green Exchange (Gx) is not only going to be bringing several “green” businesses to the Logan Square neigbhorhood; it is also going to be providing close to 300 temporary construction jobs and 300-500 permanent jobs for area residents.  Amazing news to hear when the economy is making it tough for job seekers.  Click here for the 12/8/09 press release.

If you have not driven around the neigborhood to check out the latest holiday light displays, you are missing out.  While the economy is putting a strain on many people, some are getting into the holiday spirit by installing their holiday lights in very festive ways.  Here are a couple shots (camera phone…sorry for the poor quality) of the infamous “Logan Square Christmas House”.  As Clark Grizwaldt’s dad said, “It’s a beaut, Clark!”.  Happy holidays!

If Betty Grable were still alive, I would have to tell her to watch her back! That’s because Heather Stumpf at Vavoom Pinups made me into a pinup girl for a day… and with convincing, gorgeus results:

In addition to promoting the Chicago Ugly Christmas Sweater party being held tonight by snapping my pic in an ugly Christmas  sweater and vest, Heather snapped my photo in a cute red dress posing with lots of different props.

How did I go from regular, everyday MCH blogger Dev to Chicago Cherie? First, you have to get your cute pinup butt over to Heather’s studio in Logan Square to get your hair and makeup done.

The studio is so cool. It’s a beautiful loft with huge windows and cute, 40s-inspired decor. You can see pictures of the studio here. Heather puts you right at ease with her bubbly, friendly personality and her infectious energy for pinup glamour. She chatted with me while my hair was being curled about what I had hoped to do during the shoot. Honestly, I didn’t have many ideas, but luckily she had a vision that worked perfectly with both the ugly sweater/vest and pretty red dress.

My hair was designed and styled by Heidi McLaughlin

My makeup was designed and applied by Heather Stratos, who also owns a blog…check it out!

The actual shoot was amazingly fun. I am pretty energetic (understatement of the year!) and was ready to shake my tail feathers for Heather and she just let me do my thing while she snapped picture after picture.

She has great suggestions about what to do with your hands, where to stand, how to hold your head and what props to use, so if you are new to the whole modeling thing, no worries!

She really knows how to make your curves look amazing, too, so don’t be afraid to push it out! Meow!

Brad Flora from Windy Citizen was supervising the shoot to make sure we got some pictures that would work for the party promo. Heather noted that, “We never get boys in here!” So I guess Brad was pretty lucky ).

If you like to switch your poses up often, just let Heather know. She was an expert at only having to take several shots to get an amazing picture, then switches your pose up. During the shoot, I held a red candy box in the shape of a heart; wore ice skates, posed with tinsel, sat on a suitcase (and leaned over it, too!); had fun with a hoola hoop and more. It was so much fun, I didn’t want to leave!

The coolest thing is that Heather has a package online that would allow you to pose for your own calendar! You mean I can be Miss March, Miss May AND Miss October!? Stop! I am already dreaming of my Miss October spread!

The best part of the whole experience is how beautiful the whole Vavoom staff will make you feel. Classic pinups were actresses and models with amazingly curvy bodies and adorable faces, and Heather and co. will make you realise that you have both. After your experience with Vavoom you will wonder a.) “Why did it take me so long to do this?!” and b.) “What can I do to feel like this more often?”

The answer? Buy a 40s pinup dress, learn how to style your hair in a classic 40s style and get more pictures taken by Heather at Vavoom!

Happy Pinupping, loves!

Dev xx

At long last, the Dill Pickle Food Coop is open for business at 3039 West Fullerton Avenue in Logan Square.  Join us at the grand opening celebration this Saturday, December 12, 11:30a and on.  We will be on stage to deliver some words of encouragement to our fellow picklers around 1:15p.  See you then!

UPDATE 12/11:  While I’m flattered to be designated owner, I am only 1/540th of the management team, however.  It got fixed.  Check us out in Timeout Chicago here.

Halloween is my second favorite holiday, right behind April Fool’s Day. This year I dressed up as a skeleton because I’ve been really into skeletons and ghouls lately. I painted my costume by hand, and it turned out really well. My main inspiration was this old cartoon.

When the big night arrived, I invited everyone over to my house and we started the night out drinking and putting the finishing touches on our costumes. We made our way over to the Mopery, which was having a free show. Alex and her friends have talked about the Mopery a lot, but this was my first time. The show was fun, there were a couple punk bands, some good costumes, a couple great ones, a whole mess of bad ones, and of course, there was free jungle juice. For me, free liquor is a disaster waiting to happen, and I ended up way too intoxicated and don’t really remember our trip to Victory Liquors, or the trip back home.

So I was pretty hung over the day after Halloween, and I didn’t want to take a risk on a Bloody Mary that I’ve never tried before so I decided to go to Lula’s, a place that has been consistently above average for me. The food was amazing and I really liked the Bloody Mary. The mix was really good and had chili flakes, tomato juice, and sugar. It had one olive, one dill pickle and one sweet pickle, a lemon, and celery salt around the rim. All that plus well vodka made for a totally satisfying Bloody Mary. I will definitely go back.

Place: Lula’s
Price: $5.00
Service: 7 out of 10
Spice: 7 out of 10
Mix: 7 out of 10
Fixin’s: 8 out of 10
Creativity: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10

Misery and Mystery Undergird Two Plays by Beau O’Reilly

Curious Theatre presents:

Two Plays by Beau O’Reilly

by Beau O’Reilly
thru January 3rd (ticket info)

review by Paige Listerud

Program notes handed out for Curious Theatre’s latest production at the Center Portion Gallery tell you nothing typical regarding the plays performed. They give a bit of history about their creation process–but nothing so conventional as actor biographies or promotional material about the company itself. Instead, playwright Beau O’Reilly writes about getting knocked out of commission at an unexpected moment:

I woke up on Wednesday with “No Longer a Rock” completely in my head and wrote it down . . . Celebrating, I got on a bike and headed down the dirt road . . . I was knocked unconscious, woke up to . . . a feeling of disassociation, which included watching language blend, dissolve, and wander away as if it was someone else’s province . . . rescued from the brain trauma unit by my friends, I did go to the theatre festival, but efforts to move on stage with lumpy grace were replaced by spinning vertigo . . . I sat instead in an armchair and told a half-remembered story, watching my mouth paraphrase my paraphrases as words would float away . . .

Serious misery accompanies incapacitation. Both No Longer the Rock of the World and Dead to the World reveal lives of emotional and mental disability. Despair over what has been lost and won’t be recovered dwells side by side with miraculous possibility–the healing of longstanding wounds and the opening up of new worlds. Forgiveness and the recovery of humanity–heck, even the recovery of a reliable daily routine–allude to chance, fate, or the mystery of existence lying behind material reality. Is O’Reilly aware that he has written little mystery plays for the modern world?

Never mind. In No Longer the Rock of the World, Kelly Ann Corcoran and Guy Massey strike a nice dueling sardonic pair as Carol and Charles. Both are defensively mourning the death of Walter, an idiosyncratic performance artist who was Carol’s lover and also Charles’ brother. Walter’s dying wish brings them together, as much as they wouldn’t stand each other under any other circumstances.

Charles hurts from his own unfinished business with Walter, as well Carol’s limited judgments of him. Guy Massey immaculately conveys Charles’ brittle spirit, especially when he returns fire with, “You’re a snob, Carol.” But nothing frames their scene together like the black despair Carol sinks into when alone. Who needs who the most becomes the predominant question. O’Reilly’s original music, sung live by a character named Elsie, provides eerie accompaniment to the scene, performed on opening night by Sophie Sennard and Julian Berke. (Jenny Magnus will alternate with Sennard during the run.)

Dead to the World is essentially one long monologue about a man suffering unpredictable attacks of narcolepsy. Already living on the edge, his life’s journey is an uninterrupted dreamscape that, in its own grungy way, represents a descent into hell. Certainly, the building he lives in, with its gangsta-style vandalism and creepy neighbor lady, is a familiar renter’s hell. How survival happens at all for this guy is as much a mystery to the audience as to him. We are left to presume the kindness of many unmentioned strangers. It’s here where O’Reilly’s writing could use an editor’s eye, since the work threatens to devolve into a shaggy-dog story. But it’s a strong stroke of realism when his character’s escape from narcolepsy is as unpredictable and enigmatic as the rest of his experience.

Kate Teichman adroitly navigates the ups and downs of O’Reilly’s text. Thankfully, the writing exercises her full, versatile range. She’s an actor who gives quirky roles grounding and respect, avoiding clownishness, even while wearing oversize glasses and engaging in a few acrobatics. It’s a performance worth seeing, even with a text that could be tightened up. Not only do we buy her performance as a man, we believe the moments of epiphany along with the dips into despair and disorientation.

Rating: ★★★

November 27 – January 3
Fridays & Saturdays 8 PM
Sundays 3 PM

Note: No shows Christmas week or New Year’s Day.

@ Center Portion
2850-1/2 West Fullerton Ave
in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood

$15 or pay what you can at the door
$12 in advance online

Reserve advanced tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90439

CRAVE Chicago puts one-inch buttons to work in Chicago

Michele Kravetz organizes events for CRAVE Chicago that benefit women entrepreneurs and Busy Beaver Button Co. knew it was a good fit right away.  Ladies include Nourhy of NOW Studio, who recommended Busy Beaver Button Co. when Michele described what she wanted to do to help the group of Chicago business owners.  She writes,

Your buttons were a hit! All of the ladies thought they were just “brilliant” and “adorable”… thank you so much! They really added something special to the night.

Click here for info about the next CRAVE event at the Historic Stan Mansion in Logan Square.  And click here for Busy Beaver Button Co. to get one-inch buttons too.

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Well, the sun also rose today, the start of the third month since I became unemployed.  And, winter made a debut, leaving the first few flakes of snow. But perhaps “unemployed” is not at all the right word.

Since being let go from my former full-time position in public relations, my days are a whirlwind of activity:  Networking initiatives;  responses to posted jobs; calls, emails and research into places I’d like to work at; more project work than I imagined; volunteer work on behalf of the Universal Accreditation Board and the Chicago Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America; learning more about the increased role of Web 2.0 in public relations and business; meetings and more meetings.

Perhaps I’ve forgotten something?

Oh yes.  I still take my morning walk, usually after 9 a.m. when the streets in our Chicago neighborhood are quiet.  Those with “real” jobs are at work, leaving the thoroughfares of Avondale and Logan Square to me, a few joggers and others out for a stroll.   There’s a certain tranquility in mid morning on these streets, framed by century-old stone and frame homes, some quite grand and stately.

Newer parts of the city can’t match the sense of permanence we have here. Generations ago, this part of Chicago was built up by developers who sold two-flats and single-family homes primarily to European immigrants.  They stayed for decades, raising families and building futures.  Most moved away in the 1960s and 1970s; but their presence will forever be defined by what’s left, the streets where I walk each morning.

It’s late now.  I look forward to waking up some seven hours from now to a new day filled with challenges and activity, another day searching for an opportunity where I can contribute my skills in public relations, another day of being “unemployed.”  And, another day to walk the streets I have all to myself.

Alderman Rey Colon’s office is having their annual holiday toy drive and gifts can be delivered to the 35th ward office (2710 N Sawyer) by December 5th.  The majority of the gift requests are for coats, boots, blankets and children toys, which can range between $5.00-$80.00.  The gift receipients are  Logan Square individuals and families who are having financial hardship and could benefit from your giving spirit.  For more information, contact the alderman’s office @ 773-365-3535 or ward35@cityofchicago.org.

I recently found out the Logan Square Farmer’s Market stays open all winter (November through March)! How awesome! They even take LINK cards and credit cards. Hours are 10-2 every Sunday in the lobby of the Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee. Anyone been? Is Logan Square the only Chicago farmer’s market open in the winter? Send pictures/seasonal recipes!

UPDATE: Green City Market also stays open through the winter, setting up shop in the Peggy Notabart Nature Museum every Saturday from 8am-1pm.  Check it out!  Here is their calendar of events.

We wish all you Logan Squarians a very happy Thanksgiving with your family, friends and loved ones!

Catalyst Notebook __ Hundreds of young people speak out on violence

Conscious Living Media produced a great video highlighting Chicago’s Green Exchange (Gx) that is slated to open soon in the Logan Square neighborhood.  Check it out here…Gx Video.  Currently there are 17 sustainable businesses listed on the Gx website and as soon as the property opens its front doors, I’m sure there will be many more to come.

The shelves are being stocked and final inspection is mere days away (see update below).  Good food coming to Chicago soon NOW!

UPDATE: We have passed our final building inspection!!!  Opening imminent!  Celebration ensues.

Optimal Energy drills through bedrock at Busy Beaver

Did you know that Busy Beaver installed geothermal heating and cooling in the new Logan Square button building?  When rehabbing the two flat, vintage storefront we decided it was a good idea to save money and energy at the same time.

Click here for a video of a semi-truck equipped with a diamond-tipped drill digging 400 feet into the Busy Beaver backyard bedrock.

How does this system work?  Wikipedia describes geothermal energy as, “heat retained within the Earth’s core since the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface.”

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