Judy Hevrdejs

When At Play asked readers to nominate your favorite tacos, you sent e-mails, letters and postcards--almost 200, nominating more than 100 places--many like these: "I almost hesitate to tell you...

What happens when you put several dozen kids in a room with multiple birthday cakes? You get stunned silence and megawatt smiles. OK, the stunned silence lasted all of a...

It's buffet season (Easter, Mother's Day and all), and chances are you'll encounter eggs Benedict. Well, you can thank a couple of cranky customers for that ... Seems a Mr....

When reality bites -- i.e. your Christmas-bloated Visa bill means the hills at Whistler and Aspen are out of the picture -- ease the disappointment with a trip across the...

Destination: Gurnee Mills THE SHOPS More than 100 retailers--from the Abercrombie & Fitch Outlet T-shirt emporium to Zumiez, the skate and snow boarder's paradise, plus a Kohl's, Sears Grand, Value...

You're one of those, right? A shopper who rolls out of bed, pre-dawn, to hit the early-opening stores on the day after Thanksgiving. You need fuel for this expedition beyond...

At Play caught up with pastry chef Fabrice Francois Bouet in the kitchens of the Palmer House Hilton (17 E. Monroe St.). That's where he mixes up tarts, tortes and...

What's the biggest stumbling block to your happiness? To hear psychotherapist Dan Neuharth explain it, it's you. In his book "Secrets You Keep From Yourself: How to Stop Sabotaging Your...

1. Spring means local produce starts showing up. What are some favorites? "Wild ramps . . . they look like green onions and have a nice oniony kick, a little...

For all the reliable sites in the vast online marketplace, there are a few--OK, maybe quite a few--that don't cut it. Sorting through all the sites to find ones that...