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March 14th, 2008 March in Chicago means three really beautiful things: Daylight Savings Time, springtime, and St. Paddy's Day! We can't wait to say goodbye to our winter blues and hello to longer hours of sweet, sweet sunlight. And celebrate we will, for St. Patrick's Day in Chicago is pretty much a total showstopper. This year we’re not only planning to don green boas, shamrock stickers galore and a faux Irish accent at times, but we also plan to indulge in a pedi, hit up Merz to smell sweeter-than-sweet (see below, dearies) and send a greeting card or two. Each week Chicago Picks helps us plan our mood, our methods and our go-to spots of the week… and plan for the aforementioned upcoming springtime. Is anything sweeter than that? |
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Chicago Picks: |
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| 1 | Make Good at Merz Beauty for our bod is something we don’t take lightly—we’ve only got the one, see, and even a Chicago winter can’t defeat our desire to look and feel utterly delectable. Too bad department-store cosmetic counters are just a bit too sterile for our tastes. Instead we hit up Merz Apothecary, where we can browse our favorite luxuries. This Roaring Twenties-style storefront in emerging Ravenswood will stock your most personal must-haves. The selection is truly international; a far cry from the pre-packaged, mass-produced mall output. We lost ourselves in the stacked aisles and found Tallba Pine Soap, Smith’s Rosebud Hand Salve and Yu-Be Moisturizer all elbowing for space. No more desperate searching for that elusive scent we picked up at the local parfumier on a whirlwind trip to Nice years ago—Merz has it, along with just about anything else we could possibly need. Even the brawny boy in our life will stumble on sweet-smelling success here. Our guy loves his traditional stainless-steel shave set and old-school Royall Bay Rhum cologne (imported directly from Bermuda). It might just provoke an Axe body spray-like reaction! Merz Apothecary |
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| 2 | Dining Out With Your Boo Chef Giuseppe Tentori and Elizabeth Dahl have the gift of creating intoxicating selections. Like the beef tenderloin with fried ceci gnocchi. Top it off with Elizabeth's delightful oatmeal stout panna cotta and you'll be singing Boka's praises all the way to Steppenwolf's "Carter's Way," which is about one block south on Halsted (see below!). |
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| 3 | Cat-Scratch Fever Watching our future cats (we couldn’t split up a pair of sisters, now could we?) in Cat’s Paradise, we felt like stretching out, asking for a lemonade and curling up on one of the pillowed perches. But instead we took ’em back to their new home sweet home. |
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| Chick Picks: | |||
| 1 | On That Note We run into the same greeting card dilemma over and over. Like, we go looking for the perfect card to express our expressions and yet we find nothing but second-rate, Grade F generic sentiments—ugh! |
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| 2 | Statement Pieces All you need to make a statement is one key accessory. Sometimes it’s the heels, other times it’s the handbag on which you spent your last paycheck. But most often it’s the jewelry. |
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| 3 | To Thine Own Self Be True We believe in love. And we believe in loving one’s self. Sometimes that means a nice little pedi to soothe our winter toes. Other times, it's as simple as a little retail therapy. |
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Get Lucky Uh, hello! It doesn't matter if you're Irish, English, Scottish, or a total mutt, 'cause in Chicago we party like we're Irish and it's our birthday every St. Paddy's day. Get down to where the river is green and the beer flows like water. Green water, that is! What: 53rd Annual Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade |
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| 2 | All That Jazz We love a night out of great jazz. This week, instead of hitting up Green Mill, settle in to “Carter’s Way,” Academy Award-nominee Eric Simonson’s new play set in 1930s Kansas City (props to our editor’s hometown!), about an African-American jazz saxophonist. Expect love, integrity, the mob and, best of all, stellar jazz. |
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| 3 | Timeless Luxury Like a fine wine, we just keep getting better (and smarter) with age. Example 1: We eat spaghetti, not ramen. Example 2: We refuse to date a dude still livin' the frat life. Example 3: We now choose quality over quantity. Enter Lorain Croft's Trunk Show at Only She. Her pieces are ready to wear, classic, easy and effortless! |
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| 4 | Chicagolicious Diva |
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| 5 | Road-trip to the Columbia Outlet! We know you like the outdoors—even though you’re a city girl. So make the drive to Pleasant Prairie and the Columbia Outlet to get everything you need for your outside adventures—from walking to camping—no matter what the conditions. Plus, their gear is cute! Also, get a free Columbia tote bag with your purchase … while supplies last. What: Columbia Sportswear store Grand Re-Opening |
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