The “Why”

The “why” for indoor houseplants should be fairly obviously, right? They scrub the air in your home, they lend a tranquil vibe to any room, and as a design element they’re super versatile, adding color, texture, and shape for great interest and appeal. Their aliveness makes you feel alive.

The “What”

Now, how to choose among the many, many, many options?

The Classics

Ferns and bamboos add class and cleaner air without clutter. The tiny leaves allow the eye to flow right past and beyond, not distracting from your decor. They’re so zen, you can pile on these plants in a bedroom, office, kitchen, or foyer – anywhere you need that subtle calming vibe.

The Best Air Scrubber

If NASA really thinks you should have these in your home, who are we to disagree?

Your top 3 air scrubbers all have that leafy green look, as you would imagine. They are: English Ivy with its classic trailing greens, the Peace Lily, a Christmas favorite, and Red-Edged dracaena with its tall, lanky beauty. The first two do well in low-sun or indirect sun, so they’re great for corners and dim rooms. They’ll give you fresh, benzene-free oxygen to breathe year-round – yay! The dracaena prefers sunlight and likes to grow tall, so pick a big open, sunlit room – you’ll feel healthier just looking at it. The red edge (hence the name) adds a pop of color and a sweet tropical feel. All three are easy on your lungs and easy to work into your home designs.

The Air Plant

If leafy green is not your style, or if you need something ultra-sleek for that modern guest bathroom you just put in, air plants are certainly all the rage. They range in color from deep maroon to dusty blue to light airy sage. Sculptural and elegant, they satisfy the strictest minimalist design. But they’re equally at home in their glass pods sitting atop your rustic dining table.

The Statement Makers

A lush rubber tree towering next to your white leather sofa? Awesome. Tiny decorative succulents in delicate hues of blue and purple on your mantel? Just as gorgeous. Statement pieces come in all shapes and sizes. All of which, your common house plant can accommodate with grace and living energy.

The “How”

Over-watering is your enemy. Really, it’s your number one enemy. Don’t do it. Most plants need a good soaking once a week on average, but if it’s hot and dry in your house, you’ll clearly need to stay on top of dry soil more often. Otherwise, placement is hugely important. Put sun-loving plants directly in the sun, near windows, etc.. Put shade-loving plants far away from harsh direct rays. Some of the ivies and lilies are pretty fussy. Orchids, naturally, are very finicky about their needs. While succulents of course are your easiest to care for. Give them some loose, drainy soil, and water them at most every 1-2 weeks, depending on the dryness of your home and the type and size of the container.”

Finally, houseplants can perish even under the most cautious care. Don’t beat yourself up. Our policy is: buy more. Enjoy more.

As a nation, we celebrate the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. annually on the third Monday in January. In 2023, we’ll be celebrating his life on Monday, January 16.

As a federal holiday, most area public schools, post offices, libraries, banks and government offices will be closed. 

Throughout the city, there will be breakfasts, memorials, parades and other events commemorating MLK’s extraordinary, all-too-short, impactful life as a beacon of the civil rights movement. 

Who Was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? And why do we celebrate him? 

As Brittanica.com tells us, Martin Luther King, Jr., (original name Michael King, Jr.,) was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. A compelling and charismatic speaker, as well as a Baptist minister and author, Dr. King led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s, as he organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott until his death by assassination on April 4, 1968, at age 39. He rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which promoted nonviolent tactics and civil disobedience to achieve equality for African Americans, such as the March on Washington (1963), also known as the “I Have A Dream” speech, to achieve civil rights. 

For his activism, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, but Dr. King’s most enduring legacy is his leadership, which was fundamental to ending legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. It should be noted that this fight continues today. 

Dr. King’s Chicago Activism and Living Memorial 

According to the WTTW documentary, ‘Power, Politics, & Pride: Dr. King’s Chicago Crusade:’  “In late 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. brought his crusade for civil rights to Chicago. He came at the invitation of the Chicago Freedom Movement, a coalition of 44 civil rights organizations working to end slums and improve living conditions for blacks in the city.” 

He moved into an apartment in the 1500^th block of S. Hamlin, and in light of his findings, Dr. King pushed for fair and open housing through rallies, boycotts, and grassroots lobbying for 17 months.

However, as the documentary notes, it was the marches in hostile white territory that forced the city to respond.

August 5, 1966

“In Marquette Park, on the Southwest Side, mobs of angry whites screamed obscenities and hurled rocks, bricks, and bottles toward the protesters,” it says. “King was struck in the back of the head with a rock, which knocked him to the ground.” 

Somehow, Dr. King got back up and completed the march. 

After recovering, the documentary reports that Dr  King commented, “I have seen many demonstrations in the South, but I have never seen anything so hostile and so hateful as I’ve seen here today.”

The result was a “Summit Agreement” which King called “the most significant program ever conceived to make open housing a reality in a metropolitan area.” Today, much of the public housing and ‘redlining’ experienced in that era is gone. 

Aftermath: A Living Memorial 

Today, a living memorial stands in a plaza in Marquette Park, on the Southwest corner of South Kedzie Avenue and West Marquette Road where Dr. King marched. It’s free and open to the public.

According to the Chicago Park District’s website, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorialwas dedicated on August 5, 2016, to mark the march’s 50th anniversary. Artists Sonja Henderson and John Pittman Weber produced the artwork, which is composed of an oval-shaped plaza with three carved brick rectangular obelisks and a low seating wall.  The carved brick material relates to the bungalows and other historic brick buildings of the area. Sculptural reliefs depict Dr. King and many prominent community members who marched that day, including Rabbi Robert J. Marx, founder of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, who urged his fellow rabbis to march,  Reverend Willie Barrow, co-founder of Operation Push, and Imam Warith Deen Muhammed, a highly influential African American Muslim leader, theologian, activist, and scholar. 

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago

Many of us have a goal this year to get more fit. If you go by fitness centers in January, the parking lots are full, but February…not so much. We need to find a way to increase physical activity in a way that will become a habit and be enjoyable!

Number one: don’t be glued to that number on the scale. Do not weigh yourself every day. As you get more fit, muscle may develop and it weighs more than fat. Pay more attention to how your clothes fit. That is a better clue as to how you’re doing!

It matters more to do something rather than what you planned to do. Advice will come from all sides. “Swimming is best. Get a Peloton. You must run to get fit!” They mean well, but you must find what is best for you, something that you will do and keep doing and have fun. The CDC recommends 150 minutes per week in some moderate-intensity aerobic activity. This can be as much as brisk walking or biking. Then add twice weekly muscle strengthening sessions. Light weights or resistance bands can work here. Try to increase your reps and times for better fitness. 

There is a relatively new approach to fitness called HIIT. It involves short bursts of intense exercise followed by periods of low intensity exercise or rest. It works, but be aware that if you choose a high intensity exercise like sprinting you might overwork. Try more body weight exercise like squats and step ups to avoid exhaustion and injury. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for each, followed by a 2-minute rest, 5-10 rounds. In a 2011 study just three 20 minute HIIT workouts per week improved metabolism, body composition, and cardio fitness. 

Above all, listen to your body. As we age, we walk a fine line between pushing enough and pushing too far. You might want to replace running with rucking (walking with a weighted pack). It could also be beneficial to hook up with a personal trainer to gauge a safe workout for you. It’s worth the money for a few sessions to see what you can do safely. Make sure to get out and do something for a fitter 2023!

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago

Welcome to 2023!  Now that the holidays are behind us, it’s time to focus on getting through yet another one of Chicago’s winters.  As you may or may not know, this weekend happens to be the last weekend for some holiday events which can be reviewed again at my This Weekend in Chicago Blogs from December.  However, here are a few other events that may entertain you this weekend as well!

Skate under the Chicago skyline and within eyeshot of the Chicago Christmas Tree (coming down this Monday) at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink located in Millennium Park (201 E. Randolph St.) in The Loop.  The rink is open every day through March 5^th (weather permitting) with free admission, but online ticket registration is required.  Plus, free skating lessons for both beginner- and intermediate-level skills are offered from 9 a.m.-10 a.m. on most Saturdays and Sundays with free skate rentals!  As for regular skating sessions, the skate rental is $16.

Take a whirl around the twirling, whimsical Ice-Skating Ribbon located at Maggie Daley Park (337 E. Randolph St.) in the heart of downtown Chicago through March 5^th (weather permitting).  Skaters can wind around a winding ice-covered path that’s twice the length of a lap around a traditional rink for a more exciting time!  Skating sessions are $5 with your own skates from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. through this Sunday with skate rentals at $20 online and $22 for walk-ups.  After Sunday, skate rental fees are $16 with registration and $18 for walk-ups; however, advance ticket registration is highly encouraged since only a limited number of tickets are available for each session.  Don’t miss this ultimate winter season experience!

Need to add some color to our dreary days?  Then check out the following colorful events:

Wrapping up on Saturday (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) is the Sugar Plum Winter Flower Show at the Lincoln Park Conservatory (2391 N. Stockton Dr.) in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.  The show consists of pink poinsettias and scenes from The Nutcracker Ballet along with Jubilee Poinsettias and Purple Heart Spiderwort creating a lavender dream world filled with dancers and nutcrackers.  Plus, admission is free with a reservation!

Ending its run this Sunday (10 a.m.-8 p.m.) is the Winter Flower Show: Snow Day! at the Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave.) in the Garfield Park neighborhood.  This exhibit celebrates childhood joy when the fluffy stuff (snow) piles up for an opportunity to make a snowman, build a fort, and just have some fun in nature!  This wintry snow day features scented geraniums, pansies, sweet alyssum, poinsettias and more, creating an illusion of a snow-covered garden with a variety of textures and hues of white, silver, and pink!!

Held for the first time in Chicago since 2015, The Great American Dog Show will be held this Saturday and Sunday (8 a.m.-6 p.m.) at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center (1551 Thoreau Dr. N) in Schaumburg.  Dog lovers from all over Chicagoland can enjoy meeting over 200 AKC dog breeds who will be competing for top prizes as well as visiting with top dog experts from around the country.  Catch amazing demonstrations of agility, scent work, flyball, trick dogs, and more across 12 large, indoor, carpeted rings.  There’s even a Dog Grooming Competition and a Vendor Village with specialty dog vendors offering unique products and gifts for your dogs and home!  Plus, there’s plenty of fun, interactive activities for the kids as they learn more about dogs, training, caring for them, and more!!

Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago

Happy New Year from Dean’s Team Chicago! If you thought the holiday celebrations were over after January 1…think again.  Wednesday, January 4, is National Spaghetti Day!

Paying tribute to one of the best Italian restaurants in the city 

While there are many exceptional Italian restaurants here, you can look to any list of top Italian restaurants in Chicago, and the West Loop’s Monteverde is consistently in the Top 10, if not ranked #1.  

What’s their secret? According to their website,  the heart of the restaurant is the Pastificio (pasta factory) where James Beard Award winner (Best Chef Great Lakes) Chef Sarah Grueneberg’s team creates fresh, hand-made pastas throughout the day, offering a variety of shapes, sizes and textures. If Gruenberg’s name sounds familiar, you may have seen her beating the daylights out of her competition on cooking shows like Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay. She placed second on Top Chef, and actually beat Food Network icon Flay on his first show. 

“Flour is power at Monteverde”

Opened in late 2015, Monteverde was once so popular that reservations needed to be booked 57 months in advance, according to The Infatuation. That’s nearly six years!

(Note: Currently, the restaurant is on Winter Break through January 10^th)

While you might not have to wait quite as long now, and there’s a special list to get you in when reservations are cancelled, reviewers have been nearly unanimous in saying “It was worth the wait!”

Start with STUZ ZICHINI (snacks) such as Emilia’s Spuntino, withParm, hand- rolled grissini, and balsamic “from our batteria.“ Or, for something completely different, a Mozzarella Shooter, consisting of tomato dashi, giardiniera, and shallots. Or, an Artichoke & Sunchoke Crostino, with house-made ricotta, shallot, fontina fonduta, and savini truffle. 

Move on to PIATTINI (shared plates) with a highly recommended Burrata E Ham with rosemary tigelle, prosciutto di san daniele, and a peach apple fig mostarda. Lighter appetites will enjoy Oma’s Green Mountain Salad, pairing little gem lettuce with avocado and crunchy vegetables. For sweet and savory, their Tuscan Kale & Apple Salad is made of endive, charred onion tahini vin, sheep’s milk feta,  spiced seeds, and toasted breadcrumbs.

PASTA TIPICA choices include a White Truffle Tajarin, with hand-cut angel hair pasta, parm fonduta, and a fresh shaved white truffle. Chitarra Alla Norcina combines black truffle sausage ragù with porcini mushroom, black garlic and parm. Or, try Gnocchetti Con Pesto, with house-made ricotta, basil, tuscan pine nut, and Sardinian pecorino. 

However, their SPAGHETTI AL POMODORO, with roasted tomato, basil, and oven-dried cherry tomatohas a special cause: “$2 of every spaghetti al pomodoro sold will support TPAN, an organization serving individuals of all identities living with and vulnerable to HIV.” 

Leave room for their delectable desserts, which include a Double Chocolate Gianduja Tart, with dark chocolate sorbet, toasted marshmallow fluff, orange marmalata, and piedmontese hazelnut. Or, try Monteverde’s Baked Apple Sundae, with cinnamon and vanilla ice creams, toasted marshmallow fluff,  rye blondies, balsamela, and brown butter walnut.

Google reviewers are ecstatic about the food and service:

 “Food is excellent! The burrata and the arancini are a must. The house made pastas have the perfect flavor and texture. Perfect place for sharing a meal. Drinks and wine program complemented the meal very well. Great atmosphere and a place that really pays attention to the details.”

“Fantastic dining experience. Great food with full of surprises. The fried squash blossom was amazing. The veggie in the Regu was a highlight. The meatballs was so tasty. The pastas were just authentic and on point.

The long waited reservation did not disappoint us.”

Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio is located at 1020 W. Madison Street. They are open Tuesdays-Thursdays for dinner, 5pm-9:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays for lunch, 11:30am-2pm and dinner from 4:30pm-10:30pm. For reservations, click here. 

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago