I am here often performing my work related duties and I have to tell you , everyone I've come in…read morecontact with have always been friendly outgoing and helpful. Funny how I've always had a certain opinion until I started going there with my boss for his interviews. And a special shout out to the security people at the station who are always awesome Keep up the great work guys and gals

Worst closed captioning in broadcast by far. Injecting names of hosts or anchors (Ex: Ji Suk Yi) or…read moreother added words that have NOTHING to do with context is beyond ridiculous and its constant. My poor hearing challenged husband has had enough... add Konrads "might" or "could" weather forecasts are exceptionally vague if not totally inaccurate and like others have mentioned leave actual Chicago hoods like lakefront out completely. Loyalists no more.

Great British series, always something classic and interesting to watch…read more Also informative and cultural.

If there's one thing to know about me, it's that TV is my life…read more So you can imagine my excitement when I nabbed a spot on 'Check, Please' to rep my beloved Chicago Suburbs before I departed for a life of television watching on Pacific Standard Time. My episode airs October 24th and I'll be real, I'm not so great on camera. On the internet? Sure. I'd like to think I'm pretty good on the internet, but on camera... welp... I trip on my words constantly, I can't make direct eye contact, and I talk out of one side of my mouth like the characters on the show Rugrats... it's possible I unknowingly had a stroke, and one time a coworker admitted that they legit thought I was autistic... for an entire 2 years. So I guess we'll see how this TV thing goes... they did give me a buncha wine, so the gap on the 50/50 of that is probably pretty wide. As far as WTTW in general, I can't knock 'em one bit. They were by far my favorite babysitter growing up and that Rick Steves... something about his voice is just very soothing to me. Puts my chakra in line or some junk. I recently learned that one in every 25 people is supposedly a sociopath... I don't want to incriminate myself or my cold, black heart, but I'll just say that WTTW taught me kindness and human emotions that I otherwise may have lacked. My parents tried really had to raise us brats but they had to work, A LOT, and I spent a lot of time in front of the TV, doing my learning and developing my character which I won't pretend is a shining example of humanity, but I could've come out a lot worse and based on the low-income area I grew up and seeing what the majority of other kids in my 'hood turned out like, I was better off in front of the TV than out in the real world. - Lamb Chop taught me how to be annoying with that glorious song that never ends. - Mr Rogers taught me that taking your shoes off inside the house important. - The Magic School Bus with my homegirl Miss Frizzle. - Freaking Kratt's Creatures - love those dreamy animal-loving brother. - Wishbone, the time traveling dog... couldn't get enough of that sh*t. - The Frugal Gourmet... Don't pretend like you or parents didn't own that cookbook. - WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SNA DIEGO - for hours on end. - Clifford The Big Red Dog, what's not to love? - The Big Comfy Couch was creepy and wonderful. - This Old House --- Bob Vila version or bust! - Reading Rainbow didn't exactly get me reading, but I watched the show, sooo... - And let's not forget that babe Bill Nye The Science Guy. Hubba.Freaking.Hubba. Sure, their fundraising broadcasting is pretty unbearable, but I guess it's good to turn the TV off and get out of the house sometimes, so the phone operators in mini stadium seating are my cue. As far as the studio and the staff are concerned, the place is immaculate and everyone there was cool as heck. The make-up artist was mega rad and a trooper when she had to work double time when it became apparent that I'm the sweatiest person ever and basically need make-up retouching every 10 minutes. The new(ish host Catherine De Orio) is super down to Earth and that's coming a person who went through a mini version of the stages of grief when Alpana left, but now having met Catherine and seen her deal with some pretty awkward on-set conversations like a pro, I've got nothing but love for her. And the icing on the cake was getting to meet and chat with David Manilow, the series creator, during the interview process and on set for the first day of Season 14 shooting. Super cool guy who just emanates energy and really pumped us all up for the taping. I feel super lucky to have gotten to be a part of the 14th season of a show that's on perma-DVR at my house and really is a legit slice if Chicago history, but even without, WTTW is the crown jewel of non-cable television and a thing I'm eternally grateful for. And you can watch me be the first person to say the word 'pussy' on Check, Please... possibly on Public Broadcasting altogether right here: http://checkplease.wttw.com/restaurants/season-14-episode-2-full-show

I walked by this door too many times before noticing it's an actual stationery store and printer's…read moreshop! Just browsing is fun. They have so many different kinds of journals, cards and letter writing supplies. They even have a regular letter writing Meetup. What a great way to get unplugged in a digital world! They also offer printing services. Check their website for the full list of services.

Tons of stationery items. You'll find something you like!…read more They have their own screen print studio in the back. Super cool! The owner is a graphic designer so it makes sense. Only bummer is the aisles are kinda narrow so you have to squeeze by a lot of it's super busy but otherwise it's nothing that should keep you from visiting!

Checked out the Cobblestone and we really enjoyed our visit. I had the fish and chips which was…read moredelicious and my sister had the mussels. We really liked the pubs cozy vibe. We went on a quite night so I don't know how busy it gets. But we were seated right away, got our order taken and delivered quickly. Would go again.

With a hungry group coming from a street festival to celebrate a birthday! Our targeted dining…read moredestination had a two hour wait, so thankfully we are in a neighborhood that has options. Enter Cobblestone sight unseen. We did not have to re-park the car and were a stones throw away. It was a perfect night to sit outside but there was a wait, so inside we go! The menu is skinny! They had already sold out of the mussels by the time we arrived, so it was even skinnier! Everyone seemed pleased with their drink and food choices. They had a $10 sausage plate special that I thought would be ideal for an appetizer and it was. The shaved brussels salad was gorgeous, generous, delicious and filling. The sausage platter did not disappoint. My wife really enjoyed the duck raghu and the rest of the gang liked their burgers and fish and chips. Stand out drink of the evening was "spill the tea!" We will be back!

I think Apple Fest is a great way to bring in the autumn season. Tasty Apple harvest. Cute town…read moresquare good selection of seasonal vendors. It brings small town feels to the city. The leaves are changing on Lincoln Ave and the air smells like sweet fruit and cinnamon. It's very family friendly we a large kids sections and multiple performance stages. Take in some folksy acoustic music while sitting on a hay bale, enjoy some hot apple cider, and of course some fresh apple pie.

First the annoyance: The festival started at 9 am, but there were quite a few booths that weren't…read moreready at that time. For the most part that was some of the food booths so fine, I wasn't going to eat anything that early anyway. AppleFest Is a better fest than a lot of the other fruit-forward festivals because it actually has a lot of items that follow the theme or things that complement it. You'll find bushels and bushels of apples, apple cider, donuts, raclette, hard cider, and so on. Many of the neighborhood restaurants have booths here. There are many vendors, and some of those are in the neighborhood as well, but its not limited just to stores in the square. I bought some earrings from a place called Milagros that works with women in Guatemala to make them, and they have a portion of their fingerprint on them. Eco and the Flamingo had a booth, so I purchased a couple things from them too, as well as Nomadic Ant. The woman at one of the textile booths said she'll make me a Little Bean onesie for my bean since she didn't have the right color and size, and I bought a few things from another textile artist whom I hadn't heard of--Tori Grace Outfitters--and ended up with some super cute things (and now we're ready for baby's first Cubs game!). I think the best food really was the apple pie from The Chopping Block. In the first two years of the pandemic they offered full pies in the cast iron pan and I didn't buy one, but I probably should have even though I definitely shouldn't have. They're back to selling single slices and wow, it's probably the best apple pie I've ever tasted. It was somewhat tart, and it didn't have a traditional pie crust; rather, it reminded me a bit of a cobbler crust. We are lucky to have this festival right in our neighborhood. For 2023, they have expanded it significantly because where it once went from Lawrence to Leland, it now extends down to Sunnyside just before Welles Park so another two blocks or so. The children's section is great! There were lots of activities for the little ones and I look forward to bringing my own little one to it in the future. There three stages, one in Giddings Plaza, one in the children's section, and one in the Old Town School parking lot. Events started early, at least in the kids area, and go throughout the day. Parking is questionable but luckily the Western Brown Line stop is literally steps away from one of the entrances, so that would definitely be the easiest way to get there. They have ATMs posted in several areas but many or most of the booths took cards or digital wallets, and some had credit only or cash only lines. The cash only lines were definitely shorter on some of the booths. I think we'll be back regardless of whether we're still in Ravenswood.

I'm very proud to say that I grew up listening to WFMT. It was constantly on in my house. And,…read morewhile many classical radio stations -nationwide or in Chicago - have moved online or dissipated, WFMT has persevered. I think that this fact speaks volumes about its leadership and listener base. The format is mainly classical music, although they do lean towards folk music on some evenings (um, no thank you). WFMT has it's own traditions, such as all commercials are read, not recorded. There are no irritating commercial breaks. And, it's funny when their stuffy voices read Red Lobster commercials. I especially enjoy celebrating the birthdays of familiar composers. And, on those days, expect to hear a day devoted to some of the more famous pieces and work of Bach/Mozart/Rachmaninoff. Today, in my house, the tradition continues: I get the chance to share my love for this station with my children. And, I want you to know that I totally could have blended my feelings for this station with some Haydn wordplay, but chose not to (you're welcome).

I grew up listening to WFMT and it's still the station I have on most of the time, especially in…read morethe car on my way to and from work. Classical music is the soundtrack for my life. My favorite hosts are Carl Grapentine, Suzanne Nance, and Candice Agree. During the morning and afternoon rush hours, they play mostly shorter and lighter works that are enjoyable to listen to while driving. I can thank my parents for introducing me to classical music at an early age. They paid for piano lessons and later on, violin lessons. The violin became my primary instrument, leading to several years playing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and later on, the NU Symphony. Because of this early exposure to classical music, I find that my life is immensely enriched by having access to it on the radio, and WFMT helps fulfill that need. I don't agree with people that say this station plays a limited selection of music or that the presenters sound monotonous. WFMT has an extremely diverse schedule, offering everything from opera to folk music, symphonic works, chamber music, and choral and organ music. Much like the changeability of Chicago weather, if you don't like what's on at the moment, come back a little while later because it will be something different.

Found 60 year old transparency slides and brought them over to Scan5. Beautiful digital copies of…read morethe slides were made quickly and efficiently. The download was ready in less than a week,and in time for a memorial service. The photos projected beautifully and a very meaningful event was enhanced. Thanks Scan5! Your professionalism speaks volumes for the quality of your business. Will be back and will send anyone who may need such services in future.

I needed to digitize an archive of audio cassettes, photos and video tapes and Scan5 knocked it out…read moreof the park!! Communication was spot on and I always felt connected to my project. Turnaround was quick. Price was better than most of the companies I had researched and the team really made sure I felt comfortable with sharing my archived information. Upon completion, everything was delivered to me with cloud download and on a flash drive. The cloud is so helpful to have as a backup for incase I lose the flashdrive but it above all else it saved all of my families precious memories, videos and photos. I cannot recommend a service like this enough to everyone as we move into a digital age. Above all I recommend Scan5 as the premier company to take on such a personal task.