An open letter to Planet Earth about my favorite city

Dear Planet Earth,

You may not realize this, but there is a small town in the middle of the United States with a pulse. It’s a city that lives and breathes, and its heart is constantly beating.

This small town, in the state of Illinois, in the county of Cook – the City of Chicago – is the best thing that ever happened to you.

Earth, have you ever visited Chicago? If you did, you’d know what I mean. It’s a city rich with history. It’s a city bursting with culture. It’s a city filled with pride.

If you came to Chicago, you’d fall in love. You’d fall in love with the breathtaking views. At the top of the John Hancock building, you’d be 100 stories closer to the sky. In a boat along the Chicago River, you’d wave to employees working by the windows of architecturally unique buildings. And walking at street level, you’d pass by people shopping along State Street, people ice skating at Millennium Park, and people eating at an outdoor café.

Have you met anyone from Chicago? You’d know us when you saw us. We’re the ones who look like you, Planet Earth. We’re black and white, Latino and Asian, religious and secular, blonde and brunette, tall and short. We speak hundreds of languages and we accept people from all cultures as our friends. We know how to use a snow shovel, a leaf blower, an umbrella, and air conditioning, and we often use all of them within one week. We love, love, love to laugh. We bleed our sports teams’ colors, even when they disappoint us year after year. We know the proper way to make a hot dog and that pizza is only real if you have to eat it with a knife and fork.

Planet Earth, we invited you to come explore our city in the year 2016 along with the best athletes you’ve produced. We are saddened that you will not be able to join us for the Olympics, but consider this an open invitation to come some other time.

Because if you came to Chicago, you’d see why we love it. You’d fly into O’Hare and see how many people come through our city. You’d take the L into downtown Chicago and you’d visit the statues and the museums. You’d visit Lakeview and taste sushi and cupcakes with the 20-somethings. You’d go to Pilsen and see the artwork. You’d go to a Cubs game or a Sox game – but not both, of course. You’d go to Greece, Italy, China, Mexico and India without ever leaving Cook County. You’d visit the suburbs like Winnetka or Schaumburg and see our shopping and our schools.

I’ve lived in Chicago for nearly 23 years, and I still cannot get over how wonderful it is. And I want to share it with you. So please, visit us in 2016 anyway. Or next year. Or tomorrow.

Because until you come visit us and experience Chicago for yourself, you won’t know what you’re missing.

Sincerely,
Lia Lehrer
Chicago’s biggest fan

Adventures in Chicago: Roscoe Village and Lakeview

For the carless, Chicago offers more adventures than your dashboard-mounted Garmin could imagine.

But even the most die-hard public transit users enjoy the use of private wheels on occasion. On a Sunday in July, my friend Danielle and I had a car and we used it to our best advantage. It took us from Lakeview to Roscoe Village and around Lakeview again, and provided us with a great time.

Part 1: Roscoe Village Garden Walk

Where: Roscoe Village, centered at Roscoe Street and Hoyne Avenue
Cost: Free
More information: Information on next year’s Garden Walk will probably be located at www.roscoevillage.org.

Visitors explore this Roscoe Village Garden Walk stop, complete with a pond, a tree house and a shady garden

A “garden walk” is a self-guided tour around a neighborhood where certain homeowners open up their yards for visitors to ooh and ahh at the garden work they have done. It was Roscoe Village’s ninth Garden Walk, with dozens of families showing off big greenery achievements in small garden spaces.

Danielle and I parked near Roscoe Street, the center of the action, and walked to houses with Garden Walk flower balloons.

The gardens were beautiful — an assortment of urban gardens, many of them featuring ponds, patios and vegetable gardens.

The neighborhood, full of friendly people, is great for families; young children selling lemonade and cookies in at least one front yard on every block.

Children sell lemonade and cookies outside of their home, a stop on the 2009 Roscoe Village Garden Walk

Part 2: Exploring the Roscoe Street Shops

Roscoe Street is lined with cutesy greeting card shops, specialty clothes stores and lots of brunch places. My friends recommended we try Victory’s Banner, a vegetarian brunch place apparently famous for its French toast, but the restaurant was closed by the time we finished the garden walk. In fact, there were many delicious-looking brunch places along Roscoe Street (including Orange), but they were all closed by the time we were hungry. We agreed we’ll have to plan better next time and make it to Roscoe Village earlier in the day.

Part 3: Phoebe’s Cupcakes in Lakeview

Where: 3327 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago
Cost: About $2.50 per cupcake
More information: www.phoebescupcakes.com

Hungry and in the mood for brunch, we decided to head back near Danielle’s apartment in Lakeview and see what we could find along the way. We passed by Bittersweet, which looked delicious if you’re in the mood for sweets, but we wanted an early dinner/late lunch. Driving further along Belmont, we passed by Phoebe’s Cupcakes, which I have wanted to try for a while.

Customers ponder over cupcake choices at Phoebe's Cupcakes in Lakeview

Danielle and I decided to split the Red Velvet and the Funfetti cupcakes.

We both liked the fluffy Funfetti cake with its sweet frosting, but we found the Red Velvet cake less enjoyable. The cream cheese frosting on the Red Velvet cake wasn’t a big hit with Danielle, and even though I knew what to expect, the taste combination disappointed me.

Other flavors we didn’t try included Tuxedo (white cake and chocolate icing), Salted Caramel (would it taste like a pretzel dipped in caramel?) and Very Vanilla.

Danielle divides the Red Velvet and Funfetti cupcakes for us to try.

Phoebe’s offers free Wi-Fi, though, and if I lived closer I would definitely visit the shop on a cold day with my laptop for a cupcake and some hot chocolate.

But I wonder whether the computer will go for the cream cheese frosting.

A new career path

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from one of the top journalism schools in the country, I have chosen a career path: informal Jewish education.

Yes, it’s true. This lover of writing and copy editing, headlines and deadlines, has decided to spend her time teaching teenagers about Judaism, leadership and responsibility.

I will be the Senior Youth Advisor at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, Ill., working with USY (high school) and Kadima (middle school).

My parents’ friends have asked many questions about how a journalism school graduate will fit into this role. To me, it makes perfect sense.

1. It’s all storytelling. Journalists take pride in telling and retelling people’s stories, but so does Judaism. We read great stories in the newspaper and on news Web sites, but the great stories and archetypes got their start in the Torah and in other traditional Jewish writings. It is my goal to help inspire Jewish young adults to find and develop their own stories, as well as search for the stories among their peers.

2. Communication is key – especially in a non-profit. I’ve spent the past 11 years of my journalism career (it all began in sixth grade at the Schechter Scoop) learning the arts of communication in writing, speaking, photography, video and social media. These are crucial in the journalism world, but also essential in non-profits. Our youth need the skills to communicate properly with each other and with adults to accomplish their goals.

3. Spread the word? Piece of cake. Teens today are on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, some on Twitter, listservs and otherwise all over the Internet. Journalists are trained to reach readers on multiple platforms, but so should Jewish educators and youth leaders. Educators aim to spread the word that Judaism doesn’t have to be the old, stale religion our parents learned, but that it can be exciting, entertaining, fast-paced and funny. Youth leaders, like journalists, need to use every tool available to them to get their peers interested in coming to events and programs.

4. Everyone needs an editor. Writing is probably one of the last things that many teenagers want to do, but yet they’ll need to write hundreds of essays, speeches and college applications. Luckily for them, they’ll have an informal educator trained in brainstorming ideas, organizing thoughts, writing clear prose and then editing it down.

5. Who? What? Where? When? Why? The “Five W’s” don’t apply to only writing journalistic pieces. These are also the Five W’s of planning an event. You’ll find answers to these questions in the first two paragraphs of a newspaper article, but you should also find them on a flyer or event invitation planned by a teen leader. But these questions go even beyond articles and flyers. Journalists are trained to ask questions of everyone, because any given answer could lead to a great soundbite or a whole new story idea. Informal educators – and youth leaders, too – need to know how to be interested in people, ask questions and remember the answers. Pretty flyers and popular Facebook events are only part of the way to get people involved – the other way is to really care about people, get to know them and plan events that cater to their needs.

6. Journalism is really just teaching, anyway. If you’ve ever learned about hunger in Ethiopia, corruption in politics or a new species of cicada, a journalist probably taught it to you. Educators and journalists both have the responsibility to collect accurate information and disseminate it in the most effective way possible. Maybe that’s why journalists love what they do – because it combines their passion for writing with their passion for sharing information to help others.

The past four years at Medill were extremely valuable to me, and I thank all my professors and classmates who taught me everything. Now, I look forward to working with a talented group of teenagers and a supportive group of adults in my new community. And as much as I look forward to teaching, I look forward to learning from these adults and teens as well.

To Northwestern or not to Northwestern? College senior Lia speaks to high school senior Lia.

It was the fall of my senior year of high school. At 18 years old, I was selecting a college, and, according to my old blog entries, I seemed to have a pretty clear last choice.

On November 28, 2004, I wrote an entry called “To Northwestern or not to Northwestern” – a pro and con list about NU.

Now, as a graduating senior at NU, I look back on my decision to apply.

The original entry is located here, and is included below. If I could talk to 18-year-old Lia now, here’s what I might say.

THEN: High School Lia said…	NOW: College Lia says…
Should I apply to Northwestern? I need to decide ASAP.	Sure, Lia. Only you would leave a big decision like this up to the seven people who read your blog.
Reasons to apply: -Great school	This is true.
-I have a fair chance of getting in solely based on legacy	Pulling the legacy card, huh?
-Though I don’t want to go there now, I might want to go there later.	Famous last words.
Reasons not to apply: -I don’t want to go there!	Yeah, but tell me how you REALLY feel.
-It’s too close to home	But you’ll probably never go home. Except for senior year, when you decide you’re comfortable enough with your social situation and you don’t mind occasionally doing laundry at home.
-It’s too familiar to me	Can you name the school’s president? The oldest building on campus? The health center? Yeah, didn’t think so.
-My brother goes there (so did my dad and grandmother), so it’s nothing new	Eventually, they’ll have to put up a statue to honor our family.
-I can name all the buildings and I know my way around the campus already	Liar.
-The application is the most annoying thing ever and I won’t be able to recycle any essays for it	The application is fun! And think harder – you just might be able to recycle another school’s essay…
-I don’t want to be in Medill journalism (too rigorous), but if I’m not then I won’t be able to work on the paper.	False and falser. Medill journalism is a great program for you and you’ll learn a lot from it – even if you decide not to pursue journalism as a career. And there are plenty of people at The Daily Northwestern who aren’t in Medill, anyway.
-I sort of don’t want to know if I would have gotten in or not. If I did get in, I’d feel obligated to go there since it’s such a great school. If I didn’t get in, I’d get made fun of (maybe not to my face)	You are such a high schooler.
-I might ruin the chances for all my friends getting in who actually do want to go there	Don’t be a saint.
Please vote here ASAP. Leave reasons if you can.	Way to make your blog readers do all the work for you.

The comments were the best part. Some highlights:

“It seems to me like you don’t want to go but you feel like you have to because your family expects it.”

“Don’t apply, it seems like you think it would only be a waste of time.”

“Don’t bother … I’m doing the application now, and it’s ridiculous.”

“From what I’ve heard, most people don’t grow into their college. If they’re going to like it, they usually like it before they get there.”

“There’s nothing wrong with stealing college spots from other people at your school who want to go more than you. As long as you don’t like them.”

And, then, the one pro-Northwestern comment: “You lazy *** … NU is so much fun, and I’d hate to see you pass up this life-changing experience simply because of personal feelings. Emotions are SO overrated. And, honestly, so what if the app is long? It’s worth it to avoid wasting your life at a not-ranked-eleventh-in-the-nation school.”

So against all odds, against all my friends’ blog comments and my lopsided pro/con list, I sent in my application just before the due date. I got in, felt that magic “accepted” feeling and decided to make it my home for the next four years.

And, yes, four years later, on my final day before graduation from Northwestern, as I think back to the classes I’ve taken and the people I’ve met, the activities I’ve done and the places I’ve been — I’m definitely I’m glad I decided to apply.

Adventures in Chicago: Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods

Continuing my hobby of city exploring, I visited the Wicker Park and Bucktown areas a few days ago.

Getting to Wicker Park: Take the Blue Line to Damen.

Part 1: Brunch at The Bongo Room

Banana Nestle crunch white chocolate cream pancakes at The Bongo Room

Where: 1470 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Cost: About $10-15ish
More information: http://www.centerstagechicago.com/restaurants/room12.html

The Bongo Room will immediately become your favorite brunch spot. The restaurant has your standard breakfast and lunch foods of eggs and sandwiches, but the pancake and French toast options go far beyond the ordinary. I ate the banana Nestle crunch white chocolate cream pancakes, pictured here after I couldn’t eat another bite. (Half of me wanted to finish the gigantic plate just so the pancakes didn’t win the battle; but the other half of me remembered that I somehow need to fit into the nice dresses I’ve bought recently.) The menu changes seasonally, but in the past I’ve had chocolate tower French toast, white chocolate berry pancakes and white chocolate caramel pretzel-covered pancakes. This place definitely makes you wonder where you draw the line between breakfast and dessert, but it’s completely worth it.

Part 2: Exploring the areas

The T-Shirt Deli

Where: Damen and Milwaukee avenues
Cost: Free for window shopping

The streets around the Damen ‘L’ station are fun and interesting for the explorer inside of you. Milwaukee Avenue is full of kitchy thrift stores, clothing stores you’ve never heard of and nice restaurants. Damen Avenue has higher-end designer stores, as well as chain restaurants like Chipotle and Potbelly.

Unique stores included Grasshopper 510, full of gifts made of recycled items, and the T-Shirt Deli, a store for designing and ordering your own T-shirts in a room that looks like a deli (pictured).

Part 3: Miko’s Italian Ice

Banana with chocolate chips Italian ice at Miko's Italian Ice

Where: 1846 N. Damen Ave.
Cost: $2-5
More information: http://www.mikositalianice.com

Chicago is full of great ice cream, frozen yogurt and gelato, but when it comes to Italian ice, I’ve noticed a significant void. This made me especially pleased to discover Miko’s Italian Ice, a mostly outdoor place to get a great cold treat. Flavors range from lemon to strawberry to kiwi to chocolate, and mixing flavors is encouraged. I had the banana with chocolate chips (yes, it was a day full of bananas for me), which was definitely refreshing. I paid just $2 to get it in the “baby” size, which was just the right amount.

The only thing that would have made it better is if the weather had been a bit hotter — but still, even in a chilly Chicago day in late May, the Italian ice hit the spot after a few hours of exploring.

Part 4: What’s next?

I’ve seen Old Town, Rush Street, the Gold Coast, and now Wicker Park and Bucktown. Where would you like to see me travel next?

Adventures in Chicago: Old Town, Rush Street and the Gold Coast

I have a new hobby: exploring.

I’m no Marquette or Joliet, but I decided that exploring the streets of Chicago is interesting and exciting to me.

I’ve been on a few recent “adventures,” as I call them. If you live around Chicago — God’s gift to the planet — consider yourself lucky. Read on and then start exploring on your own. This is my first recent adventure, from last weekend. Stay tuned to read about the others.

Adventure #1: Old Town, Rush Street and the Gold Coast neighborhoods

For my first official planned exploration, I decided to do the Chicago History Museum and the surrounding areas. The day went something like this.

Part 1: Chicago History Museum

Chicago History Museum

Where: 1601 N. Clark St. – near the Red Line Clark/Division ‘L’ stop or the Brown Line Sedgwick ‘L’ stop
Cost: $14; $12 for students
More information: www.chicagohistory.org

Through dioramas, artifacts and interactive exhibits, the Chicago History Museum has turned me (along with the other museumgoers) into an unofficial Chicago expert. I found the exhibits interesting and easy to follow. The permanent exhibit focuses on chronicling Chicago’s history: Did you know the city’s name comes from the word for “wild onion”? Or that streets like Lincoln Avenue and Clark Street don’t fit into the grid system because they were Indian trails? Or that the Great Chicago Fire was so fierce because most Chicago houses were made of wood and there was a lot of hay and dry leaves around the city? The museum also includes temporary exhibits — currently one on Abraham Lincoln and one on historic Chicago fashion.

Life-sized hot dog in the Chicago History Museum's section for children

The museum also has a special section for kids, focusing on the senses relating to Chicago: smelling a Chicago-style hot dog, hearing the sounds of the stock yards, etc. (you can even feel what it’s like to BE a hot dog!).

Part 2: Fudge and exploring Old Town

Where: The Fudge Pot, 1532 N. Wells St.
Cost: $2-5
More information: www.oldtownchicago.org/members/the-fudge-pot/

After a long day learning about hot dogs without ketchup, deep-dish pizza and wild onions, I was ready for a sweet snack. I walked just a few blocks from the museum to The Fudge Pot, a small chocolate store located in the middle of the Old Town neighborhood. I could have been satisfied with the strong, delicious chocolate smell alone, but I bought a small slice of milk chocolate fudge anyway for about $3 — worth every penny. The store also sells sweets like taffy apples, chocolate-dipped strawberries and chocolate in the shape of sunglasses, jewelry and fancy sports cars.

Part 3: Second City

Where: 1616 N. Wells St.
Cost: About $18, using discounted tickets from www.hottix.org
More information: www.secondcity.com/?id=theatres/chicago

Using Hot Tix, a site for discounted Chicago theater tickets, I found that the matinee of “Best of Second City” wasn’t too expensive. And Second City, home to all those famous Saturday Night Live stars, never disappoints. The show was a great mix of sketch comedy and improv, including my favorite part — scenes improvised based on headlines from the day’s paper. I can’t wait to go back in a few weeks to see their mainstage show “America: All Better!”

Part 4: Rush Street

Where: Beginning at Rush and Division and heading south until Chicago Avenue
Cost: Free for window shopping; $50ish to have your portrait drawn by the artist in the park; hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase a Lamborghini at the dealer in the area
More information: www.rushanddivision.com

I didn’t have much of a reason to pull out my wallet here, but window shopping and people watching were certainly enjoyable. The area is lined with fancy, upscale restaurants (including one that had the biggest slice of chocolate cake I’ve ever seen), bars and stores (like Barney’s and other expensive clothing giants).

At the corner of Rush and State is a little park, complete with chairs and tables, a fountain, portrait artist, a smoothie stand and lots of pets.

Part 5: Michigan Avenue; dinner at Foodlife in Water Tower

Where: If you don’t know where the Magnificent Mile is, then I think you better go to the Chicago History Museum right away; but Foodlife is at 835 N. Michigan Ave.
Cost: Free for window shopping; around $10-15 for dinner at Foodlife
More information: www.themagnificentmile.com; www.foodlifechicago.com

I’m almost embarrassed to include this in my “adventure” since it’s so cliché — but it’s still pretty magnificent. The shopping along Michigan Avenue appeals to all interests: Fashion lovers can hit up Banana Republic or Neiman Marcus, chocoholics can indulge at the Hershey Store or Ghirardelli and techies have the Apple store. The Water Tower, as I learned in the Chicago History Museum, was one of the only buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire.

And next to that Water Tower is the famous Water Tower Place shopping mall. Inside the mall is Foodlife — what I think of as a dining hall for adults. Diners have their choice of pasta, pizza, salad, comfort food, stir fry, Chinese food, burgers, soups, sandwiches and desserts in this diverse restaurant. That evening I had grilled cheese and a made-to-order salad.

Part 6: Deep breath

Quite a day, but pretty Chicagotastic. Stay tuned to hear about my adventures in Wicker Park and Bucktown in my next entry.

Blackhawks emerge from black hole

In my 22 years of existence on this planet, all of which were spent in the world-class city of Chicago, I have never seen a single person identify as a Chicago Blackhawks fan.

We love to love our Cubs, even when they let us down, year after year. We spend the winter months donning Bears orange and navy blue. The 1990s was the Decade of the Bulls. And there are even South Side sports fans who, for some reason, root for the White Sox.

But when did hockey suddenly become socially accepted in Chicago?

A convenience store with everything you need in case of emergency

I passed by this convenience store today in the Loop area of downtown Chicago:

I couldn’t help but be grateful that this store was advertised as offering everything I could possibly need on short notice. They’ve got coffee to make sure I’m awake, donuts to keep me fed, watch batteries to keep me on time and fax/copy/phone cards to keep me connected.

And if I’m ever in need of an emergency Beanie Baby, I know where to go.

Then again, if I find myself in need of an emergency Beanie Baby, it’s probably because I accidentally time-traveled back to 1994. In that case, I think I’d need a lot more than a donut.

Being covered by my parents’ insurance makes me want to say “I don’t”

A new, slightly secret Illinois law extends my childhood and warns me to hold off on tying the knot.

Before this law was enacted, many Illinois college graduates like me were thrown off their parents’ health insurance plans as soon as they threw their caps in the air, praying they’d find a job with good benefits. But now, effective June 1, 2009, Illinois young adults will be eligible for coverage under their parents’ policies until the age of 26.

To help promote this new law (and to poke fun at it a bit, too), here are three blog entries on this topic for the price of one.

1. All the single ladies!

The new Illinois law is only applicable to young adults who are not married.

Thank you, State of Illinois, for planning out my family life for the next four years. Finally, an excuse to be single!

In a tight-knit community like mine, where everybody knows everybody’s business, I’m being asked more and more often when I’m getting married. Well, okay, I’m pretty clearly not in a long-term relationship, so I don’t get asked it that much – but some of my family members and friends do. This law has come to the rescue for them.

“When are you getting married?”

“Not until we’re at least 26 – my parents’ insurance plan covers dental!”

All the single ladies getting insured until you’re 26, put your hands up!

2. But if I did want to get married…

Of course, that time still may come for me – possibly even in the next few years. Maybe when Prince Charming finally stops and asks for directions to find me, it will time to begin that chapter in my life.

But not without meeting certain requirements.

If I willingly go off my parents’ insurance plan, Charm, you better be worth it.

For young, single girls like me who might not necessarily get insurance through their jobs, the new law could completely change the conversation on a first date.

“Where are you from?” and “What’s your family like?” will be replaced with “What’s the deductible?” and “How does your plan deal with pre-existing conditions?”

Would you like a bite of my dulce de leche cheesecake, and oh, does your insurance policy cover well child care?

I’m sorry, Prince, you look like a great person and there might even be a spark, but I just can’t afford to date you right now. It could lead to marriage, and that would have to wait until I’m 26.

3. Four more years of childhood

I thought my childhood ended when my family dismantled the swingset and clubhouse in the backyard.

Or maybe it ended when my parents waved goodbye on my first day of college. Or when I had my first job interview. Or when I took my last final exam of college.

But alas, I am still a child.

At least until I’m 26.

As long as I’m a dependent on my parents’ plan, I guess I can still order from the kids menu.

Laundry at home? No problem! Borrow some money? Take what you need! And while we’re at it, why don’t we take a family trip to Disneyland!

—

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining about this new law. In fact, it’s probably the best thing the Illinois government has done recently (though that’s not saying much).

Illinois, on behalf of all the other recent college grads in my situation, thank you for this law. I hope that the state and the country will continue to provide decent coverage for our age group and older. Because whether our first employers are gracious enough to provide with a good benefit package or we decide to become self-starting entrepreneurs, we still need to pay for contact lenses.

Because, really – who wants to grow up and plan a wedding anyway?

ASB and Twitter

I’m still not quite sure how I feel about the whole Twitter thing, but I’m trying to give it a fair chance.

And, to test it out in a context that it was probably designed to be used, I’m hoping to “Tweet” my weeklong volunteer trip I’m leaving for today.

I’m going to St. Louis for a Northwestern University Alternative Student Break trip, volunteering with an organization called Wings of Hope.

If you’re on Twitter, follow me at @lialehrer. If you’re not on Twitter, consider joining, but I’m linking my Twitter updates with my Facebook statuses, so you can “follow” me there.