Midwesterners talk about the weather a lot. We try to avoid it, but with the way things have been this past week, let’s face it: March isn’t the time for […]

Dear Cinnamon is a monthly column based on the idea that all of life’s questions can be answered by art, because, after all, art is the spice of life. To […]

If you haven’t spent a lot of time hanging around any botanic gardens, conservatories or arboretums in the area, you might think the season is long past over once the […]

Spring is in the air–even if there’s sometimes a pretty stiff breeze coming with it lately. It’s beyond time to fling open the windows and start to get moving again, […]

We may have been seeing the sun more since the beginning of this month, but it’s still winter, and we’re tangling with icy winds, snow and grey days more often […]

Tradition is typically king at the holidays, with meals, movies and destinations remaining the same year after year and creating that sense of cozy familiarity. This always seems particularly true […]

[soliloquy id=”48701″] Whether it feels like it or not, spring has officially arrived today. Eventually, parking restrictions lift, green will replace grey and we’ll be headed to the lakefront for […]

Spring’s been sprung and skipped straight into summer, but that’s no reason not to stop and smell the roses. If you don’t mind taking the trip to Glencoe, IL to […]

  Back in the summer of 2015, I was working for Chicagoist and in covering arts and culture there, had gotten myself unofficially on museums and park duty (no surprise […]

[soliloquy id=”23969″]     There’s a certain part of winter that can drive you absolutely nuts. The groundhog has either seen its shadow or declined to, and you know, because […]

  [soliloquy id=”21907″]   Wonderland Express is something of an institution at the Chicago Botanic Garden. For years, it’s been delighting families with its classic model trains, unique local botanical […]

  I’m of the opinion that we don’t appreciate winter enough here in Chicago. On the face of it, there doesn’t seem like much to appreciate- snow makes traffic even […]