Have you ever said, “I’m not racist.” “I treat everyone the same.” “I don’t see color.” Well, unfortunately these are direct quotes. Who am I quoting? Myself. Or how about, “I did not lead a privileged life because I’m white.” “I don’t even think of myself as white. …

Today a coalition of Aurora artists and volunteers united to show that they are #aurorastrong. After the peaceful protests on Sunday May 31 in Aurora, IL, unrelated fringe parties looted and caused destruction of some downtown businesses. The very next morning over a hundred volunteers and Aurora residents made quick work of cleaning up their city. Today, Aurora citizens continued the healing. They started early this morning and plan to continue their work tomorrow.

Every year we go through the same thing. We make our lists of things we want to be different and the list of things we wish were different about ourselves. We start out the new year with the promise of new things and hope that this year will be different. …

I despise the ordinary. As a child, I would day dream and play pretend all the time. I always hoped something incredible or extravagant would one day happen to me. In some twisted sense, I used to fantasize that something tragic would befall me. …

Abandoned by her mother as a baby, now singing on TV. That would be enough to make for an incredible story of beating all odds. …

6/3/15 Summer is a great time for reviewing Chardonnay. I used to think I hated Chardonnay. Then I read “Drink This: Wine Made Simple.” by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl. She made a great case for this grape helping me realize in her words, “You just haven’t met the right one.” Now…

2/24/15 Years ago a humble Michigan distillery shocked the world of Bourbon fans with their Ravenswood Rye. Journeyman entered the ranks of my favorite whiskeys when I randomly discovered them on a trip back to Chicago, IL from Ann Arbor, MI. I stopped in there for a small break, about…

We are greeted by all of our favourite Gilmore Girls memories through sound bytes from our favourite characters. Lorelai smells snow. The Gazebo looks the same, but the town has changed. …

Step One: Pick a partner in crime. You definitely want to pick someone who you love doing things with and who (like you) wants to try new things. For this adventure my big sister Sarah and I went into Chicago. We got dressed up and prepared ourselves to have a…