I visited the University of Chicago campus for a college access/success CPS meeting, specifically…read moreat the Ida Noyes Hall building. On my way to that building, I passed by Chicago Booth, University of Chicago's business school. The building looked very modern and sleek. Comparing the Chicago Booth building to the Ida Noyes Hall building, there's a huge difference in architecture and overall aesthetic. I personally love the mix of modern and old school/vintage buildings. It adds character to college campuses. I explored a little bit more of the campus, and overall beautiful college campus.

I had not been to the University of Chicago campus in twenty years when I came back to find the new…read moreGraduate School of Business building. To say you could have knocked me over with a paper towel would have been an understatement. Wow. When I was attending B-school, it was located in old Stuart Hall which is part of the main quad area. I remember on cold wintry days, which were a frequent occurrence, we would sit in a cramped room watching "Oprah" (when she was poorer and fatter with Patti Labelle's old hair) while nursing a really bad cup of joe (in the days before Starbucks exploded). I couldn't wait to get out of Stuart the minute class was over and go to Morry's for a hot pastrami sandwich. But new millennium B-schoolers have this extravagant standalone building two blocks to the east. Adjacent to Rockefeller Chapel and the Robie House, it is a spectacular vision in glass and concrete designed by renowned Uruguayan architect Raphael Vinoly with an expansive atrium where students can spread out on comfy chairs in sunlit lounge areas. I am amazed at how lucky students are to have such a spacious, state-of-the art place to study and network. It made me want to go up to one and tell them how I had to trudge through the snow with my icicle-riddled muffler, but I was afraid he'd call me "Gramps". It's definitely worth seeing if you're in Hyde Park for any reason.

Came to the Appraisal Institute for a free CFA workshop held by Stalla, I didn't even know this…read moreplace existed! It's hidden in one of the many office buildings on Wacker Drive, and upon entering the lobby, it appears to be just-another-office-building. After probing around, the building actually had restaurant, sundry shop, valet parking, and travel agency located on-site!! As we chatted with the security guards, I learned that the 205 building is actually a historic site built since the 1920s. Apparently, the building was originally built for "Engineering" firms, thus formerly known as the "Engineering Building." Neat fact of the day eh? The CFA workshops were held on the 2F, where we were led into 2 HUGE conference style meeting rooms! The rooms are sectioned off with division screen like dividers that actually sound-proof. It was a great space for the workshop, and can probably seat up to 200 people combined! It was a nice surprise to find a piece of Chicago History through an otherwise mundane CFA workshop... ;)

I've been taking appraisal classes here off and on for a couple of years. It's a nice location…read more Instructors are usually pretty good. Getting a hotel close enough can be rather costly , as this is in the loop of Chicago.

In my quest for higher education, I have come across some places, books, people, etc. that help,…read moreand some that don't. The Morton College Library falls into the category of "some that help". This place has become my trusty companion. I have spent a lot of time here over the past few years, cramming for tests, researching for assignments, meeting with fellow classmates to work on a project together, blah blah blah. The MC Library is roomy, clean, and makes MY life easier. Yes they have books, and free internet access, and WiFi, and copying services, and mini conference rooms to meet with whomever for whatever. But what I really want to tell u about is the CAFE! =D The very cute "Common Grounds" cafe at the south end of the library offers any coffee drink imaginable. Plus milkshakes, tea, juices, milk, sandwiches, salads, cookies, muffins, and..... u get my drift. ;D

Take some time and wander into some of the beautiful old cathedrals in Chicago and the surrounding…read morearea on a Sunday (when they are open.) Look at the love, art, and discipline that went into the architecture, the stained glass, the massive pipe organs, and that which continues to go into their conservation, as well as the care of the congregation, or whoever arrives on their steps. You don't need to adhere to any particular faith to appreciate the beauty of these spaces, or the grace of those who work to preserve them, and also, those who work to help those who arrive at their doors. Services in English, Polish and Spanish. Go see.

A friend had a meeting to attend at Northwestern University on Chicago's near north side (May…read more2026). We cooled our heels nearby, and found some cool old artifacts in the medical library at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. Interesting and, well, a bit much for me :-) We spotted a pedal powered dental drill at the Northwestern medical library.  It made my teeth hurt just looking at it. And a skeleton model, anatomically correct but obviously not a real skeleton. I think we entered from the atrium side on Superior, and the exhibit was on the 2nd floor. It's probably not exciting enough for a trip just to see this, but if you're here anyway, check it out!

Beautiful school. Amazing location. Welcoming staff. Friendly students.read more

Beautiful graduate campus right by Lake Michigan! It's the Chicago campus of this beautiful…read moreSchool ! Beautiful buildings and manicured lawns and great views of The Skyline too!

At Northwestern Hospital I've liked every doctor I've seen. Sympathetic, patient, supportive. Once…read moreI fell so brilliantly that there were 5 different specialists in my room at once, checking brain, skeleton, eyes, teeth, muscles. I did wait five hours in the emergency room to be seen but I was upright and aware while others weren't.

Since the original review, washburne culinary institute as opened their brand new campus off of…read more63rd and Halsted in the Engelwood neighborhood. It is a state of the art facility with everything you can just about think of, and that's just for the students. They also have an incubator kitchen that you can arrange to use for anywhere between 7-12 dollars an hour, just in case you were thinking about starting your own catering company. The staff is very well trained and proffesional. I was comparing the resumes of the Washburne staff as opposed to the kendall college staff and was actually pleased to find out the Washburne staff has either more experience in high quality fine dining establishments, and/or higher education than a majority of the staff at kendall. http://kennedyking.ccc.edu/washburne/staff.asp The education recieved there is more hands on than most culinary schools in the nation, and that is without boosting the tuition to rediculous amounts. In total for the associates in culinary arts is around 14,000. Which is also one of the best in the nation for culinary arts. Also students are taught from the same text as the Culinary Institute of America which is considered the best culinary school in the nation. The provost for washburne was an Associate Vice-President at the CIA. Washburne provides a very quality education without making you go broke.

The oldest continuously running culinary school in the US, Washburne Culinary Institute is part of…read morethe Kennedy-King College of the City Colleges system. Offering a competitive culinary education to low income residents of the city of Chicago as well as students seeking a great culinary education, numerous scholarships are awarded every year ranging from small grants for shoes and equipment to full tuition reimbursement. The school has moved to the South Shore Cultural Center, a gorgeous building restored to its close-to-original grandeur. The cuinary school has opened up a restaurant to showcase the students' cooking: The Parrot Cage Restaurant. Although I have not been to the restaurant, I attended their 9th annual showcase, which was as impressive as the cooking was good. The students really did it up, serving up Japanese-influenced favorites from Black Cod with Miso Sauce to a very tender teriyaki chicken. In the future, I hope to support Washburne with my own donation in the future. To learn more: http://kennedyking.ccc.edu/washburne/parrot_cage/home.html

Spudnik is a co-op that allows creatives and such to use their equipment in the studio for their…read moreown personal pursuits. They have letterpress, screen printing equipment, lithography, and more at your disposal. A membership with Spudnik gains you access to all of this and there are different levels based on what you want to use the studio for (basic and volunteer for more casual artists and keyholder for those who, say, make a living off of their art). If you're new to all of this they also lead classes and workshops for outside groups as well, including classes on screen printing, zine making, lithography, risography, letterpress, photoshop and more. I had a great time here designing and screen printing t-shirts with my colleagues last week. Tara and the other Spudnik folks were so fantastic, walking us through the process of creating the image (we did a collaborative drawing but you can also use their computers to create something digitally) then taking us through the steps of screen printing. I had done some INCREDIBLY DIY screen printing years ago so it was great to see how it's done in a proper setting with a dark room and all that good stuff. She told us all about the different screen gauges, the emulsion process, and more. So fun and educational! A super cool space that I wish I had known about when I lived in Chicago. I would have definitely joined and exercised my creativity, no doubt.

Loved my experience at Spudnik! We rented out the place for a team bonding screen printing…read moreexperience and had a blast! As others have mentioned, this is a space for creatives to play. While there are studios for individual artists that are in-house, there are letterpress and screen printing machines as well as workshops that are offered to the general public. Our group made a screenprinting design, where we collaborated on a drawing between the 12 of us and the wonderful staff helped us make T-Shirts with the original screenprint that we created! It was a fun, involved process and the staff at Spudnik made it easy, seamless and stress-free. If you're looking for a fun experience or just looking to get more connected to the creative community in Chicago, check out Spudnik!