Last week a Chicago woman named Lauren Trost was scolded by another woman in the Lincoln Square shopping district for nursing her baby in a public place. The woman told her what she was doing was indecent and illegal. She threatened to call the police and she tried to rally...

Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard is set to open her second restaurant, The Drunken Goat, in the West Loop in January of next year. In preparation for the opening she has been hosting traveling dinner parties in secret locations around Chicago called The Wandering Goat Dinner Series.

The...

When I read Hanna Rosin's "The Case Against Breast-Feeding" article in the April issue of The Atlantic Monthly, I was well into my third trimester with my first baby. I had no plans other than to breast-feed, but reading this article gave me pause. In it, Rosin compares breast-feeding...

I recently had the chance to dine at Bonsoiree, Chef Shin Thompson's exclusive Logan Square restaurant famous for its Saturday Night Underground Dinners, an experience gained by invitation only. Born out of a series of illegally-held dinner parties in tiny Chicago apartments, which eventually led to a small, airy...

Last December, at four months pregnant, I went for my first ultrasound. While it was incredible to see the little baby inside me waving its arms about and stretching out its legs, my husband and I were shocked to also see a very large ovarian cyst looming alongside my uterus...

In August my husband and I traveled to Costa Rica for what was supposed to be one of the world's first "Carbon Neutral Vacations."

As an occasional travel writer, I've found the leaning trend towards environmentally and socially conscious travel quite impressive. From giant, all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica...

I didn't do much during the last election. I was twenty-five and still finding my feet politically. Coming from a staunchly Republican household and an oppressively conservative father, it took me a while to recognize and embrace my true liberal values. The last election was actually the first I ever...

The hardest thing about grieving is how lonely it is. When you lose someone important in your life, not only are you automatically missing one of the persons you would normally turn to during a difficult time, but you simultaneously find yourself walking through a world that you believe no...

I had never thought too much about Oprah. Of course I like her. She's Oprah. Her philanthropy is astounding. Her background and rise to fame equally impressive. Her ability to influence millions around the world can't be ignored. But those things aside, what is it about Oprah that makes women...

After a year of living here, I'm still trying to figure out what makes for a successful Chicago restaurant. This city has long held a reputation for being a great culinary destination, a place to uncover inspired dishes, some of which even New York or Paris have yet to rival....

Last weekend marked one year since I moved to Chicago from Los Angeles.

Twelve months ago found me driving through the continental Southwest in a 16-foot moving truck, my car sitting atop a trailer hitched to the back, and two mewling cats as my only company on the passenger seat...