Lisa White

If the adventuresome seniors in the new musical Gotta Dance get your own creative juices flowing, you're in luck. We've rounded up an array of Chicago classes, workshops, open mics and dance parties for when you've just gotta put yourself out there.

Before you deck the halls with holiday cheer, get a sugar high with some seasonal treats. There are many ways to get your peppermint or sugar cookie fix—and these snacks offer up a far superior range of flavors compared to the wave of pumpkin overkill before it. But not every treat is jolly. We took on the tough job of sampling some sugary confections ourselves. From minty meltdowns to runny nogs, here are the busts and musts this holiday season.  RECOMMENDED: Complete guide to Christmas events in Chicago    

It's no surprise a neighborhood as unique and eccentric as Pilsen offers up a wide variety of local shops with plenty of character, from funky vintage clothing stores to deeply discounted reads and plenty of options for the creative, DIY-loving crowd. After you spend a day filling up at all the great restaurants and exploring the area's best things to do, head to one of these lovingly curated shops that bring to life one of Chicago's most lively neighborhoods. RECOMMENDED: Our complete guide to Pilsen

Brewing beer sounds like a great gig, but the folks over at Half Acre took it to a new level Friday with a little destructive workplace fun. The brewery had a pallet of discontinued cans, and before dumping them off to be recycled, Gapers Block noted that the staff went a little wild, complete with a masked man running head-on into the stack of empties. Sounds like a pretty fun way to break up the Friday afternoon slump.  From the video, you can tell the discontinued cans are GoneAway, Half Acre’s India Pale Ale. The brew went through a few swift name changes, initially after members of the Lakota Native American community reached out to express disappointment over the original name. If watching the video makes you thirsty for a cold one, head up to Half Acre’s taproom and order a round of GoneAway, no chanting required. 

The not-so-sensible Cards Against Humanity team is keeping it kosher this year with its annual holiday “bullshit” campaign, offering up eight sensible gifts for Hanukkah. If you’ve put off participating in this yearly tradition, it’s your last chance—they are putting the kibosh on the holiday hoopla because they are simply “very tired.” Fans of the Chicago-based card game can fork over $15 bucks to celebrate a holiday CAH “actually believes in,” and in return receive eight mystery gifts for the eight nights of Hanukkah during December. Past gifts from their holiday campaigns have included actual lumps of coal, comics and a variety of specialty CAH cards, but knowing the general humor of the popular game, expect at least a few practical options this year.  The first 150,000 people who sign up will get this special offer, so head over and order, then wait for your sensible mail to arrive. And to further prepare for the holidays, enjoy a soundtrack of well-meaning nagging from around the Hanukkah table, currently streaming here. Consider it prep work for attending your own family functions during the upcoming season. 

Fried chicken fans who have been patiently waiting to enjoy a taste of cult classic Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken here in Chicago finally get their day in the sun. As Eater reported earlier this week, Gus’s will open the doors of its Chicago outpost at 11am this Monday at the new Fulton Market roost at 847 W Fulton Market. Looks like you’ve got your Monday lunch plans already figured out, Chicago.  The Memphis-based spicy bird empire will serve up its signature made-to-order chicken alongside traditional Southern sides (make sure to grab some of the killer fried green tomatoes) and on Gus’s standard paper plate service. Gus’s is famous for its secret recipe, which only a few individuals know, that creates a surprisingly light and perfectly spiced crust wrapped around seriously juicy chicken. The restaurant also plans to offer some regional fare in the future. Here’s hoping we get some Southern spins on local favorites soon. Even better, our Gus’s location plans to stay open late on the weekends, until midnight Thursday through Saturday. So now you’ve got a spot when that fried chicken craving hits you at 10pm on a Thursday night. The Chicago location will also serve alcohol, which isn’t available at most of the Gus’s currently open in the U.S. Chicago’s menu will include specialty cocktails, which is a first for any Gus’s location. Now that this bird has finally landed, get ready to enjoy a little taste of the South.

We’ve packed away our Al’s Beefcake costume for the year, but before we bust out the Christmas tree, we’ve got one hurdle of a holiday to clear: Thanksgiving. Chicago is an opinionated town, so some topics are better left off the table when it comes time to gather your family around the turkey (or deep-dish, if that’s your thing). Here are some Chicago topics to leave at home this holiday season.  No calling dibs on your place at the table. You're a person, not a parking spot. For today only, don't correct your cousins from the burbs when they claim the Chicagoan label. They get a holiday radius pass. Don’t get your aunt started on the merits of deep-dish pizza. You'll be debating Giordano's vs. Lou Malnati's all night.   Avoid talking about the Cubs' stellar season with your White Sox-loving uncle. And completely avoid the Cubs with your Cardinals-loving cousin from downstate. Too soon to rip the Band-Aid off that wound.  Sharing in graphic detail the most memorable smells you’ve experienced on the CTA. Some of us are trying to eat stuffing here.  Taxes. We know they’re going up, but this isn’t the season to constantly remind ourselves of the lump of coal that’s been dropped in the city’s stocking.  Any mention of Rahm. Sure he's a turkey who should get stuffed, but the bird on your table is more important. And remember, Chicago politics are rarely a fun or fruitful side dish.  The Lucas Museum. The diehard Bears fans will only get huffy about the loss of tailgating space an

If your Halloween is lacking the gore and nasty bits, Fat Rice is continuing the long-standing Chicago tradition of restaurants dressing up for the season and offering a tale of revenge this holiday. Kill Grill, a one-night haunted izakaya, will transform the Macanese spot into a spooky ode to Quentin Tarantino’s epic two-part film, Kill Bill, that tells the story of the Bride setting out to take the lives of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad after her former crew riddled her wedding with bullet holes.  Fat Rice warns the more than five-course meal isn’t for the faint of heart. It would be a safe bet to expect lots of blood and guts, a visual component from the movie that almost edged it into the NC-17 realm but that easily translates into taste. If we took a stab at possible courses, we'd obviously expect lots of blood, maybe a few eyeballs plucked out to enjoy (Pai Mei-style) or some severed feet or tendons sliced by the finest Hattori Hanzo sword. Perhaps diners will enjoy a five point (or five-spiced) palm exploding heart or a lethal injection cocktail administered by a dead ringer for Elle Driver? And with a deadly squad full of nicknames like Black Mamba, Copperhead and Cottonmouth, a slithery option on the menu for the evening seems possible.  Kill Grill at Fat Rice is October 31 only with two seatings, 6 and 9pm. Attend in your best Halloween getup and you could win the costume contest. Tickets are $80 each, and include tasting, beverage pairing, tax and gratuity.

The suburbs tend to get a bad rap. Which isn’t fair, because although we love our sweet home Chicago, there are still a ton of cool places to visit when you head outside the city limits. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite reasons to hop on the Metra or get in the car and head to the suburbs. Get in touch with your natural side. If you want to truly relish in the massive acreage of the Midwest, you’ve got a few wonderful options just a quick trip away. Head up to Glencoe and enjoy the gorgeous flora at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Or spend a day enjoying the 1,700 acres of gardens, plants and trees out in Lisle at the Morton Arboretum.  Grab a pint of some brews from the ‘burbs. Sure, we love all the wonderful local beer options in Chicago, but you’d be missing out on some excellent offerings from the likes of Two Brothers, 5 Rabbits, Penrose and many other brewers if you don't explore a bit farther out. Enjoy a movable feast. Venture out on a culinary crawl and try some of the finest foods in the Chicagoland area. Hit up Gene & Jude’s for a classic dog with no ketchup, get your beef dipped at Johnnie’s in Elmwood Park, crunch on some fried chicken at Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket or White Fence Farm, grab a scoop at Graeter's or class it up and enjoy fine dining at the award-winning Vie. You’ve got abundant possibilities to eat well in the suburbs.  Get your game on. Sure, we’ve got some excellent arcade bars in the city, but if you want one of the biggest in the country, you’

Pounding the pavement isn’t for everyone, so even if you aren’t one of the 45,000 runners hitting the streets to participate in the Chicago Marathon this year, you can still find a ton of ways to enjoy race day. From the starting line to photo finish, here are some top spots where you can fuel up and keep your sideline stamina while cheering on the athletes stepping up on October 11. The starting lineWish your runner luck then head nearby to Toni Patisserie for an espresso and pastry. This little taste of Paris in the Loop offers an array of delicious European-style tarts and breakfast pastries. Grab an almond danish to go as well as a frothy cappuccino, and head over to State Street to catch runners right before they hit the two-mile mark. Raise your glassIf cheering is your sport of choice, head to Boystown, where the crowd is loud and the entertainment is lively. You’ll need to refuel as well, so grab a few rounds at DryHop Brewers after all the runners pass by. If you're saving celebration for post-race, hightail it down near North Avenue and Wells Street. Aid station 07 is one of the livelier ones on the course, thanks to the large cheering section of diehard runners near Fleet Feet.  Double the funJust past the half-marathon mark is a prime location for catching the action twice without traveling far. Racers at Halsted and Adams streets will feel that runner’s high after flying by 13.1, but after looping west in the hot sun, they’ll need some extra cheers at Jackson Bou

Want a free day trip from the city to explore the beautiful architectural work of Frank Lloyd Wright? The Chicago Architectural Biennial is here to hook you up. One of the many awesome events during the Biennial includes this sweet gratis trip, where you can reserve a spot on a shuttle departing from the Chicago Cultural Center and heading to Racine, Wisconsin. There you’ll be able to explore the Wright-designed SC Johnson corporate headquarters as well as take in Wingspread, one of the iconic Prairie-style homes Wright created during his career. Opened in 1939, Wright designed SC Johnson’s main administration building to include more than 40 miles of Pyrex glass tubing, and it's the only Wright-designed commercial building still in use today. The Research Tower was opened in 1950 and was recently restored and open to the public for the first time in spring 2014. The tower was Wright’s ideal complement to the original administration building, and it's one of the tallest structures built using the cantilever principle. Tours of Wingspread are only included on the weekend visits, so if you're already making the trek (and even better, for free!) you should make sure to enjoy both, especially since Wingspread is the largest (14,000 square feet) and last of the Prairie-style homes designed by Wright. H.F. Johnson Jr., the third generation of SC Johnson, commissioned Wright to design the house in 1936. During the weekend tours you’ll kick off the trip with a shuttle ride from the C

Sure, we love a good rowdy night out with friends, but sometimes you need a little me time in the city that you love. The next time you want to enjoy an afternoon, evening or full day flying solo in the "Second City," enjoy one of these options for a little alone time.  Brave an open mic without having to worry about knowing a soul there. Play your fiddle, clarinet or kazoo and don’t worry about bombing in front of your friends and loved ones. Enjoy an art museum at your own pace. And without any snobby Art History 101 commentary from your friends or out-of-town guests. Grab a Divvy and hit the road. You don't have to own a bike to explore the city on two wheels. Check out a new neighborhood on the cheap, just make sure not to ride on the sidewalk, please!  Hit up your favorite record shop. It’s a lot easier to flip through vinyl without your friends impatiently waiting next to you. 
 Indulge in a solo glutton crawl. How many tacos can you eat alone in Pilsen? Only one way to find out. Make like Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and get behind the wheel at a local pottery class. Learn a new skill and get some sweet handmade swag at the same time. Hotel bar hop. Make up a fake backstory and see how many free drinks you can get from out-of-towners visiting in business. Take in a midnight show at Music Box or Facets. Grab some popcorn and Junior Mints and get a little thrill out of watching cult classics way past your bedtime.  Grab a book and a few rounds at a bar you’ve always wan

Encased meat fans still mourning the closure of Hot Doug’s have a new way to honor the dearly departed sausage shop. Honey Butter Fried Chicken will celebrate the the one-year anniversary of Hot Doug's closing by offering "The Doug Sohn" special, a culinary mash-up of two of the best foods in the world—fried chicken and hot dogs. For five days only, September 30 through October 4, grab the hybrid dish that riffs on Chicago-style hot dog toppings. Green River pickled shallots, pickled Fresno peppers and cherry tomatoes, Half Acre beer mustard and celery salt top a fried chicken sandwich that is tucked into a poppy seed bun. If you stop by for lunch on September 30, you can tell Doug in person how much you miss his shop since he’ll be on-hand to kick off the special from 11am to 3pm. Each sandwich is $8. Even better, $1 will be donated from every sandwich sold to Doug’s charity of choice, The Shriver Center. Still feeling generous? Join Doug as he co-hosts the Shriver Center’s Taste of Change on Thursday, October 8 at Salvage One, where local chefs will share their fare to help raise funds for the center’s work aiding people struggling with poverty. Participating restaurants include Hot Doug’s, of course, as well as The Dawson, RPM Italian, The Radler, Green Zebra and many more. Get a ticket here. Gone, but never forgotten, grab a sandwich and toast to Doug while remembering all the delicious dishes you enjoyed over the years at his shop. 

Celebrating Chicago’s love of encased meat just got a little easier with the opening of the Foodseum’s first pop-up, “The Hot Dog and Encased Meats of the World.” The ode to tubular meat is a cozy exhibit tucked into a corner of Block 37’s second floor overlooking Daley Plaza. The first pop-up aims to be representative of a single exhibit at the future food museum, set to open in 2017. Photograph: Jaclyn Rivas       The display is small in size but has a lot of heart, like the simple yet mighty hot dog. Besides learning the basic history of encased meats across the globe, there is a lot of Chicago-style history–original Vienna Beef neon signs, a vintage Superdawg drive-in menu and intercom kiosk (we miss the $1.85 Supershakes and $2.95 Superdawg!) and the star of the show, a bevy of hot dog goodies collected over the years from the dearly departed Hot Doug’s. Doug Sohn himself was set to appear at the grand opening today and was happy to offer up all sorts of kitschy items, from a hot dog telephone to sausage bobbleheads. Photograph: Jaclyn Rivas       With free entry and lots of kid-friendly interactive options (grinding and stuffing your own faux sausage with Play-Doh, smelling different spices from around the world, dressing up as a Chicago-style hot dog), it’s a perfect way to take a break while visiting downtown and still entertain little ones. The pop-up plans to host various activities and guests as well during its run until December 20. Photograph: Jaclyn Rivas

Well, they do always say everything's bigger in Texas. A recent story from Reuters points out that the city of Houston is set to pass Chicago in the next decade to be crowned the third largest city in the United States, just behind New York and Los Angeles. Demographers in Illinois and Texas forecast that Houston will surpass Chicago within eight to 10 years, with a projected population of 2.54 to 2.7 million by 2025. That's compared to Chicago's projected 2.5 million by the same year, these numbers associated with official data from both states that were provided for their respective health departments.  Houston has low taxes, a booming energy industry that has created a robust job economy and the promise of work to attract under and unemployed people to the rapidly growing metropolis. Not to mention, as the story points out, Houston is one of the more progressive parts of the notoriously red state, where diversity and left-leaning political views are more often the norm these days.  WBBM spoke to Chrissy Mancini Nichols, director of research and evaluation at the Metropolitan Planning Council, about the findings. She pointed to job opportunities as a major factor for the figures, along with a lower cost of living, something on most Chicagoans' minds. That said, Nichols was quick to suggest that she doesn't believe Houston can sustain its growth. Zoning restrictions and sprawl are already creating traffic issues that could discourage people from moving to the Lone Star State