Nonprofit organization liftUPlift Worldwide is looking to train 500 people across the Chicago area as sexual assault prevention allies as part of the first-ever Sexual Assault Prevention Week. The week of classes begins April 23 and has been timed to coincide with Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Thanks to a grant from the Chicago Foundation for […]
Posted inEssays
And Let the Dating (After Divorce) Begin
A few years ago I found myself in a strange new world of swiping, messaging and ghosting. I went into a relationship in my 30s, when finding a date wasn’t a task. I was a young, feminist activist and involved in a million things where I met people with a similar world view. I went […]
Posted inJust the Tip
Just the Tip: The Kissing Conversation
I like everything about the guy I just started dating except the way he kisses. What can I do to improve this without hurting his feelings? I talked this over with a friend who considers herself a “universal kisser,” meaning she has a variety of kissing styles she appreciates. I’m envious of this. I think […]
Posted inBooks
The Role of Mercy Today: A Reflection on ‘Hallelujah Anyway’ by Anne Lamott
On Monday, April 10, I stood in a long line outside the Peoples Church of Chicago on Lawrence Avenue, clutching a warm Starbucks cup to my chest. It was cold, threatening rain, and I, like so many others around me, had not dressed accordingly. I was among hundreds of people waiting to hear author Anne […]
Posted inBeauty Rebelle
Beyond Yoga Breathing with Allison English at Equinox Gyms
There are many yoga styles out there, from Hatha, Vinyasa, Kundalini and Forrest. Forrest yoga was created by Ana Forrest, and we are lucky to have Allison English teaching us the style here in Chicago. I first met Allison when a dear friend asked me to join her on one of Allison’s retreats. I […]
Posted inReviews
Review: Betty Who Was ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’ at Chicago Show
There ain’t no party like a Betty Who party. On April 20, Chicago synth-pop fans strapped on their dancing shoes for a night full of joy, fun, art and movement as the Australia-born singer-songwriter known as Betty Who (Jessica Anne Newham) stopped by Concord Music Hall for a sold-out show at what she described as […]
Posted inTheater
It’s a Jolly Holiday with Mercury Theater’s ‘Mary Poppins’
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Mary Poppins—the practically perfect, umbrella-flying nanny who blows into London on behalf of Jane and Michael Banks, two Edwardian children who have everything except their father’s attention. With dry wit, compassion and imagination (not to mention a spoonful of sugar), Mary shows the dysfunctional family how to look […]
Posted inBody Love
Body Love: Author Renee Engeln Wants Us to ‘Stop Saying Everyone is Beautiful’
On April 18, Northwestern psychology professor Renee Engeln released a book that, I’m confident, will blow the top off the body image movement. In Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women, Engeln, a leading researcher in the space, explains the severity of the problem, why what we’re doing isn’t working […]
Posted inConfeSHH Sex Stories
ConfeSHH Sex Stories: Was This Fate or Pheromones?
Hey there, confeshhers. Here’s a ConfeSHH! about an inexplicable attraction that I thought was fate. But ya gotta trust your senses… On the night of my 30th birthday, the stars aligned to allow me to meet the love of my life. The only person in the universe I was fated to be compatible with. You […]
Posted inFeatured, Travel
Rebellious Travel: Oregon Coast Getaway
My partner Samantha and I like to celebrate our birthdays with vacations or staycations, and this year, her two choices were either San Francisco (Wine! Fresh seafood! Whoo hoo, I thought) or the Oregon Coast (whomp, whomp, I thought. At the time, I knew little about the coast and pictured days of unending Pacific Northwest […]