I was fortunate to be invited for one of Glen Oak's annual candlelight dinners. It was quite nice…read morewithout being overly pretentious. Free valet and coat check (well, someone pays for it I'm sure, but as a I was a guest it sure wasn't me). Nice bar area with a roaring fireplace. Okay wine and whiskey selection, nothing over the top but definitely good selections available. The dinner was served by candlelight, which was actually pretty swank. Food was good. Dinner wine was great. Costumed carolers were interesting. Overall a positive experience. Holiday without tackiness. Kinda nice.

#earleygotthegirlie !! Doesn't everyone love a good wedding hashtag? Celebrated one of my…read moregirlfriends and her future hubby today at Glen Oak Country Club for a bridal shower! The grounds were beautiful and it was the most perfect weather! Being from Wheaton, I had no idea this gem was right around the corner! Shower went great and the staff was attentive. Only complaint was it seemed by the time the middle crowd got up to get brunch, pickings were slim and food had been picked through or cleared out! By the time they had replaced the empty bins, the "shower" portion was beginning and I think guests felt like they shouldn't go up and get seconds or in some case firsts! The grounds were absolutely beautiful and the mimosas were top notch!

I have contributed to and had some non-proift business contact with Bridge Communities since it was…read moreformed some twenty years ago. I have the highest opinion of Bridge and their staff. They are effective, business like with a heart and warmth and they have a top reputation for their field of activity. Bridge has helped many adults and children to a better life. I support them wholeheartedly.

http://www.bridgecommunities.org/ They provide transitional housing for people in the process of…read morebecoming self-sufficient. One of the goals is to keep the children in their same school, because bouncing from place to place is detrimental to kids' academic progress. They are taking part in the Sleep Out for the Homeless this November. Great great GREAT people. Give them your time and $$ - it's worth it.

VFW's bring up childhood memories of cranky old men complaining about the war. At least that is…read morehow they seemed where I grew up. This place is anything but cranky old men complaining about the war. My first experience here was completely surprising. I came for the Friday fish fry with my father and the nugget, who was a baby at the time. During Lent, this place is PACKED with people on Friday nights. I could not believe it. While waiting for my fish to arrive, I got a glass of wine at the bar. I thought I misheard the price...nope I didn't...it was soooo cheap compared to a bar or restaurant. After I bit into a nice meaty piece of fried fish, I was hooked (buh duh cha). The fish fry continues all year long...not just during Lent. Don't like fish, no problem. They have Italian Beef sandwiches, hot dogs, and fried shrimp. The price of your meal also includes coffee, and cake for dessert. You can't go wrong. Don't forget to bring some cash for the raffles. They usually do a 50/50 raffle, and some other thing. For Valentine's Day there was a delicious pork dinner and a band. For St. Paddy's they do a corned beef dinner. High suggested! Tuesday is Bingo and Thursday is wing night. There is almost always something going on here. Check it out!

I know it's a Fish Fry but they have 1/2 pound prime rib burgers that are the best tasting burgers…read moreI have ever eaten. And I've eaten a lot of burgers! The fish can be ordered fried (not as healthy) or baked (healthy). Both taste great but I can't resist fried!

Amazing and super welcoming group-- a great way for literally ANYONE in DuPage County to get…read moreinvolved within their community! Are you interested in gardening, restoration work, political advocacy, or even crafting? All waiting for you at Sustain DuPage! Could not recommend checking out this group enough :)

The Morton Arboretum is a great place to visit year-round. It is very family friendly with trails…read moreaccessible via stroller. Some of our favorite trails are on the east side, but we have so much more the explore! They have a variety of events that are included with admission as well as events that require an additional purchase. There is a small café that sells drinks and small bites. I have tried a few different lattes and they were good. They also have a restaurant and their food always smells delicious, but I have yet to try anything from there. The restaurant itself has a beautiful view of their lake. I definitely recommend a membership if you live nearby and plan to visit multiple times a year. Another great benefit of the membership is the reciprocity to other gardens throughout the country. A great value!

This is the second time I've gone to the Morton Arboretum for their Illumination event, and it's…read morebeen fantastic both times. Despite the fact it was cold outside, we enjoyed the various light installations, especially with the freshly fallen snow to set the mood. I didn't take as many pictures this time, I was too busy enjoying the lights - the lantern section this year was my favorite! They do a great job with making sure the path is cleared and there are places you can step off of it so you're out of the way if you want to take pictures or just want to be by an installation for a while. You can't get lost, they have signs and people posted to help make sure foot traffic keeps moving in one direction. I think the cost is fair, if you're a member it's a bit cheaper, but we are not. Giving it 4/5 stars for this last experience because there were supposed to be fire pits along the path but there were none this time, just one heated tent that was packed, so we didn't have another way to warm up a bit during the mile long walk. I do look forward to going again next year!

Tonya & Kate have been extremely rude & unprofessional in handling my emergency rental assistance,…read moreI am self employed and owed 6,800 through IDES both employees failed to have me do any questionnaire on what's the delay for the money & they never sent over the 1099 documents for the cash I've received to help get qualified for the grant. They have been dismissive, won't transfer me to the correct person or schedule an appointment to speak with a board member on why I can't receive a written response with detailed explanation on how we can't go further, Tonya constantly kept saying this was pending litigation & didn't ask any questions on the documents sent to her that showed that I have a large sum of money coming my way that will help me pay my rent from that point on, this grant is for emergencies & everything I sent was never looked at or questioned on the severity of the emergency

This is a great resource for the community. I volunteered here for a few months too. Support them…read morein any way you can!

I love this group so much. We had been looking for a pup and we were referred to ARF and I have had…read moreextraordinary service! Everyone has been so nice, kind, and their dedication to their mission is unwavering. I'm so grateful to them for our Louie !!! 100% gold star

I'm not sure that these folks actually want to adopt out their rescue pups. Was approved and got…read morean email stating I was approved. Second email said wait 5-7 days and respond with dogs you're interested in, which I did. Never heard back. Ended up going to a local rescue and adopted a senior companion with special needs to add to the family. Our last rescue we had for over 11 years and we kept in touch with not only his rescue (yearly with donations and events), but with the actual person who rescued him. We are sorry ARF turned out to be such a disappointment with no communication after application approval. But nonetheless, it worked out for us and the rescue we rescued from. I was warned in the therapy dog community not to attempt to adopt from them and they were correct. Hate to leave a bad review since it's all volunteers, but simple communication goes a long way when there are a lot of pups waiting for forever homes out there.

I wrote this a while back, but never posted it. I didn't want to change my wording so I left it…read more This event was several months ago, but I left my feelings written as I originally wrote them because they were written in the moment.... This morning I wake up feeling lucky. Lucky to have the wonderful family I have been blessed with and lucky to be a part of their lives. Last night, I went to a fundraiser for Teen Parent Connection. If you don't know what it is, take a moment to look it up. It's a wonderful organization of people who help teen parents when they need it most. They have support groups and classes about becoming parents and what's involved with it, they support these young people during the time when they need it most. My sister was a part of this organization both as a teen parent and then as a mentor for others once she was a mom. I tend to forget how hard it was for her because I was so young when my nephew came into this world but last night I heard stories from other teen moms that bravely spoke to hundreds of people that attended the event. It's was beautiful. These young women who took a situation that I'm sure scare them to death and turned it into a blessing with the help and support of Teen Parent Connection. They became teen moms like my sister once was and didn't let that stop them from living their dreams. It's funny how you forget how things once were. Teen Parent Connection is a real organization doing things to change the lives of people that could be your neighbor, coworker, cousin, child, friend, sister or even you. The stories I heard made me cry. The reason: because they were real. People become parents at many different ages and its doesn't necessarily become easier at any specific age but teens are judgmental, society sucks, people don't generally support teen pregnancy but its a real thing and it happens. Life happens. Who knows, maybe I could have had a child but it wasn't in the cards for me. Everything happens for a reason and the children and families involved in TPC are proof of that. I'm not mentioning anyone in particular here but he knows who he is and I couldn't imagine my life without him. 17 years ago, I was still a child and was pretty excited my big sis was pregnant and I was going to be an auntie! I knew people were not supportive and I'm sure there were moments people judged but if there is one value OUR mother taught us, it's that we were not put on this earth to judge. Well leave that to the big guy upstairs. Lots of love to you, sister. There is no price I could put on the things you have taught me. My support last night, that's nothing. Giving back to an organization like TPC is priceless.

The mission statement of Teen Parent Connection: "To serve…read morethe community through education on the realities and responsibilities of teenage pregnancy and through long-term assistance to adolescent parents for their development of self-esteem, parenting skills, and empowerment toward self-sufficiency." Yea for TPC! Here are some of the services they provide for young moms and dads: -Doula (pregnancy support person). Will met with mom and dad throughout pregnancy to prepare for the 'big day'. The doula will be there at the hospital during the birth to provide information and support. Doula's also meet with parents after birth to help with breastfeeding, postpartum depression screenings, etc. -Childbirth Education Class (CBE). Parents can learn about birth while meeting other young parents! -Health Families DuPage: Trained family support workers visit families in their home and answer any questions about taking care of baby/toddler/child. FSW's can answer questions and provide support for discipline, immunizations, illness, and also perform developmental tests. -Groups: Parenting support groups are a great way to meet other young parents and learn more about how to care for your child. We have groups all over DuPage county! -Parents Pantry: When a parents utilizes any of the above services, they are rewarded with Baby Bucks. They can use these Baby Bucks to go shopping in our AMAZING Parents Pantry, and purchase diapers, wipes, formula, baby clothes, etc. -Prevention: Health educators and peer educators visit classrooms and community groups to discuss the realites of teen pregnancy, and how to prevent an uninteded pregnancy, as well as STD's/HIV. -And finally, our scholarship program: parents can apply for a large shcolarship to be used for a college or vocational school. So, yes, I work for Teen Parent Connection. Please refer any interested parents to our website, www.teenparentconnection.org, or call us directly at (630) 790-8433.

OK, yes I know this is the VFW post however, when service is consistently bad in there, there's…read moresomething to say about it. I have gone there repeated times (and I'm going to say I e given this four or five times with this exact scenario happening) to eat and what not I get completely ignored. No one comes by to take the order. The last two times after sitting for 20 minutes I actually walked out. I thought I'd give them one more shot, but it went exactly the same, and I actually waited for the food which total took almost an hour and I don't know how you can mess up easy food, but I guess it's possible. when the food comes. It's either ice cold or not cooked, they basically demand a tip and I get that a lot of them are volunteers. I volunteer as well but when you've ignored me for 25 minutes and my food comes not cooked or ice cold and it seems like I'm bothering you, I don't know why I should be tipping? The tipping culture is ridiculous. It's not something that's demanded or expected you get tipped for good service. That's how it works. If there is no service to speak of there shall not be a tip as well. if you volunteer that's a choice like I do it and I don't expect anything from it

That VFW Post,because Leo the Commander,Big John and all his volunteers make that the best place…read moreto go to when they have ANY event going on.Great people go there,great food is always served there and they have great prices for any thing food or other wise to sell. Take my word for this...Just go there once and you will always look forward to going back there again for any reason.