Shopping is one of the most popular vacation time activities, and if your travel plans have you headed to Chicago, you’ll want to take advantage of some shopping time along the Magnificent Mile.
The Magnificent Mile is eight blocks of Michigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street, and is the main street between the Loop and the Gold Coast.  It’s also about a block off of Rush Street, home to lot of great bars, nightclubs, and music.  Here you’ll find exclusive stores and boutiques, hotels, and restaurants.
Shopping choices range from elite upscale stores to simple specialty shops.  …read more

I enjoy grocery shopping with my son the way some people like picking their scabs. There is something painfully pleasant about the whole thing. Sure, we end up with a box of some sugary cereal that he’ll eat two bites of and then toss aside for his tried-and-true Crispix. And at times there is some yowling as we cruise up and down the aisles. But we’ve got the experience down to a nice groove now. I can even manage that oversized car buggy without ramming other shoppers now. And that takes skill.
A girlfriend of mine was sharing an usually unpleasant …read more

Miami Beach is known as much for the hip celebrities that visit as well as for the actual beach.  But a trip to Miami probably will feature at least a stop off in the area.
There’s more to Miami Beach than just the beach!
Lincoln Road is a popular area of Miami Beach, and is a hip, creative, pedestrian-only shopping area that features specialty shops and restaurants tucked in between some of the large national retail chains stores.  Although it likes to bill itself as more than just touristy, as I looked around I couldn’t identify anyone who wasn’t one.
You’ll find lots …read more

Bleeeeeeep! Bleeeeep! Bleeeeeeep!
This is the soundtrack that plays when I enter store with shoplifting gates.
Bleeeeeeep! Bleeeeep! Bleeeeeeep!
This is also the soundtrack when I exit a store.
It always happens at CVS, some places in the mall, Brookshires, Old Navy, Ross . . .
All the employees seem to feel it’s a theft tag sew inside the inner lining of my purse or jeans. But, no one can find it. They all say it happens all the time and that it’s no big deal. They’ve even run my purse over their debleeping sensors. It never works.  
It has occurred to me that if it’s happening all the …read more

Here in the Northeast of the U.S., we have endured very strange Spring weather. Winter didn’t actually leave us until early April, then we went through a heat-wave in May, and then a rash of dangerous flooding in June.
But today, July 1st…it’s a glorious day, it’s hot in that way I remember as a kid…there’s just something in the air that says beach.
But alas, I am not in beach condition…I had all of those winter months to get ready…but I did nothing. Even Kirstie Alley got off her duff and lost a ton of …read more

Ever have days like this: Everyone seems annyoying? Nothing motivates you? The whole world seems unremarkable? You’re even unimpressed with yourself?
Today was one of those days for me–I felt invisible…business was a little slow–it was sooo bloody hot. And–yet again–NOone was answering my e-mails…I didn’t even want to deal with clients…I was in heavy phone-screen mode.
I decided to get out of my office and go shopping. I didn’t really want to buy anything…I just wanted to roam around the mall, alone — just to avoid engaging with anyone.
So much so–I even lied to the girl at the Clinique counter when …read more

Ok, quick like a bunny…it’s time to think about yourself, noone else just vous. Time for a little feng shui of the mind, soul and body. Here is my list of spring things you need to do: (If there are things you’d rather see on the list, please feel free to add!)
Go shopping
Watch Food Network for 12 hours straight
You must get a manicure
You really must get a pedicure
Change your hairstyle or find a new salon
Endure/enjoy a department store make-over
Learn how to cook something you’ve never cooked before; better yet, start a cooking club
Buy a really expensive bottle of wine
Go to …read more