After graduating high school outside of Chicago, most peers of mine got jobs as lifeguards at the beach, day camp leaders or book worms at Borders. For me, I went straight back to the place I was so excited to leave... to be a janitor for the summer. My high school was not just any public school, it was New Trier, a well tax-funded North Shore suburban institution, standing four stories high (five if... more ›

This is hilarious... and weird. Back in 1998, my family took my grandmother out for her 89th birthday to a restaurant that fused French and Asian. The quaint little restaurant in Chicago's suburban North Shore village of Wilmette was appropriately named Chinsoiserie. The seven of us were seated and we immediately ordered fifty dollars worth of delicious appetizers. When it came time to order our meals, half of what we desired sent the waitress... more ›