Carmel Carrillo

It's cold and gray outside, which makes most folks want to crawl back under the blankets. But it's also the perfect time to get out and about. MORNING Take a...

MORNING Fuel up on a shot or two of espresso and a cranberry-orange scone at Julius Meinl (3601 N. Southport Ave., 773-868-1857, www.meinl.com/southport/home.html), where you'll find an assortment of coffee,...

It's the day before the night before Christmas. The shopping should be finished (theoretically), and it's time for some holiday-themed fun. AFTERNOON Where better to get in the holiday spirit...

Donald Nally, who served as music department chairman from 1983-85 at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, has been named the new chorus master of the Lyric Opera of Chicago...

`Real Simple" glides into television this week, aiming to "improve every aspect" of viewers' lives. (And we thought only laundry detergent could do that.) Billing itself as a "lifestyle strategy...

Forget about the treehouse of your childhood dreams. Now the clubhouses that served as hiding places are being constructed as adult living spaces. "World's Most Extreme Homes" visits such an...

`I'm not here to do an after-school special," growls "Homewrecker" host Ryan Dunn. "I'm here to [mess] things up." With his scraggly hair and multiple tattoos, Dunn is not your...

If you had to choose a Christmas movie as inspiration for your holiday decor, which flick would you pick? Cable network Women's Entertainment (WE) uses National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation" as...

`If you're new to auctions, sit in on one first before you join in," advises Lucy Alexander. "Bidding isn't for the fainthearted!" Property developers Alexander and Martin Roberts host "Homes...

`It's like we're in college," says Amy, surveying the messy apartment where she lives with her boyfriend, Alex. "It's like we're college students in dorm housing." That's because neither one...