Hilary Decent

A door handle is a door handle, until you decide you want to replace the hardware and you learn just how many options there are.

Decent: It all looks so easy on TV, but there’s no such thing as a simple home remodeling project

January 25, 2024 at 10:15 p.m.

If you're as big a fan of those TV home improvement shows as I am, you'll know that most rehab projects can be done in 20 minutes, maybe an hour...

Director Elizabeth Margolius is presenting a stripped-down version of "Fiddler on the Roof" at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. She's seen here in rehearsal. Among those in the cast are Mitzi Smith, an assistant professor of theatre at North Central College in Naperville.

Decent: North Central College prof to tread the boards in new version of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’

January 18, 2024 at 11:13 p.m.

A Naperville musical theater educator is leading by example as she prepares to tread the boards in a new production of "Fiddler on the Roof" at Drury Lane Theatre in...

A sign on Washington Street near Royce Road welcomes visitors to Naperville, which this week was deemed the best city in America in which to live by Niche.com for the second consecutive year.

Decent: Naperville’s newest welcome sign the latest in a hodgepodge that have gone up around town

January 12, 2024 at 12:18 a.m.

Have you seen the new Welcome to Naperville sign letting anyone driving here from Bolingbrook and parts beyond know they're arriving in a better place? It's generated more than a...

Is this how you'd dress for a wedding in Britain? Maybe, depending on the hour it's held and if it's a formal occasion, columnist Hilary Decent says.

Decent: America’s anything goes attitude toward attire can be a breath of fresh air — sometimes

January 7, 2024 at 2:48 a.m.

I have a feeling my current conundrum wouldn't even begin to register on the radar for most of you. Asking how someone should dress for a particular event or activity...

Baby names can be tricky given the many ways they can be turned into jokes, likely the reason you don't see many Dicks or Karens among the newer generations.

Decent: What’s in a name, Shakespeare once wrote. Plenty, if you ask Jack, Joy or John

December 28, 2023 at 11:08 p.m.

I was chatting with a group of friends recently when this topic came up. "Although we all have different names, they have one thing in common," said Mark. "If we...

If you can afford it, finding five golden rings is probaby the easiest thing to do if you're trying to replicate the gifts compiled in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song.

Decent: As long as you’re not too literal, it is possible to deliver ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for your true love

December 22, 2023 at 5:36 p.m.

It is all very well having your true love send you a long list of extraordinary items for Christmas, but it can be a challenge for those of us who...

Being forced to fill out paperwork to claim her old age pension in Britain is equal parts pain and nostalgia for columnist Hilary Decent.

Decent: The only benefit of getting old? The nostalgic trip you take when looking back over the years

December 15, 2023 at 5:15 p.m.

When you're young, it's easy to imagine something you're going to do as an older person very differently than how it transpires. To be honest I can't say I ever...

Neighbors Joe Straka, Tim Ory and Dick Walz are on a mission to try every breakfast place within a 30-minute radius of their homes in Naperville's Carillon Club subdivision.

Decent: Naperville’s own version of ‘The Breakfast Club’ likes to chow down while chewing the fat

December 8, 2023 at 2:18 p.m.

There's a new version of the iconic John Hughes' movie, "The Breakfast Club," in town. Instead of being an all-day detention class for high schoolers, it's a fun way for...

Tatiana Chen, of Naperville, aspires to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who was a professional ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre in New York and performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Decent: Like mother, like daughter: 16-year-old Naperville ballet dancer performs ‘Nutcracker’ in Chicago

December 1, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.

A 16-year-old Naperville ballet dancer will be following in her mother's dance steps when she takes the stage in Chicago this weekend. Tatiana Chen is the daughter of professional ballerina...

While dining in restaurants in Europe can take as long as three hours, waitstaff in America seem to have no problem trying to get you out the door by asking for your dessert ordern when you've barely started your entree, columnist Hilary Decent says.

Decent: I’m grateful for so much this Thanksgiving, but let me share with you a few things for which I am not

November 24, 2023 at 4:36 p.m.

It's too easy to take stock of everything we're thankful for at this time of year. Friends, family, the gorgeous city we call home; it's something on which most of...

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