Chicago Dibs

What do you do when you've spent three hours shoveling your car out of the snow and want to make sure no one swoops in on your spot while you're at the store? Check out Chicago Dibs for some practical and hilarious solutions for navigating the snowy turfwars this winter.

[image via Chicago Dibs] 

NB's Chicago Condo on the Market

I just saw this photo of one of Nate Berkus's many Chicago condos and my heart went "AHHH!!!! This is AWESOME!"

This particular property is in the Gold Coast and is selling for $2.45M. View the whole condo here.

[images: Elle Decor/Nate Berkus]

Lakeview gets a Facelift with LAMP

Yesterday, Special Service Area 27 and the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce unveiled the Lakeview Area Master Plan. LAMP focuses primarily on the areas between Southport Corridor and Roscoe Village, and plans to further enhance the areas' work/live/play atmosphere with more green common spaces and farmers' markets. I've included some renderings of the plans, designed by Moss Design, a sustainable architecture firm in Chicago, but you can see the full scale of the project here.

[images: Roscoe View Journal]

Snowpacolypse 2011

Believe it or not, The Addison Stop does not pay the bills. Alas, I have a day job.

Being that I am a working woman, it was fairly awesome when all of Chicago shut down two weeks ago due to a freak blizzard and its accompanying thundersnow (yes, thundersnow). Ladies and gents, let me tell you, there's nothing better than being 28 years old and finding out at 7:30 on a Tuesday night that tomorrow is A SNOW DAY! Seriously! When was the last time you had one of those?

Leslie, of Elle Rogers, and I were literally holding hands, screaming and jumping around my apartment when we got the news. It was as if we were back in middle school, and had just downed 14 pixie sticks, three cherry cokes and were about to prank call a boy. Here are some pictures of our gang in all its snowy glory.

So I'm a little late in posting these. :)

[images: Cassie Lynott for The Addison Stop]

Cool Idea: Gobos for Signs

Gobos are a classy, albeit expensive, way to brand your event. I love the use of one here on a plain-faced building. It almost looks like a magazine ad, doesn't it?

[image: BizBash]

Anthropologie Windows at Block 37

[images: Cassie Lynott for The Addison Stop]

Vivian Maier Discovered

Vivian Maier was a Chicago nanny and amateur street photographer. Due to delinquent payments near the end of her life, the contents of her storage locker, including 10,000 - 20,000 negatives of Chicagoans and their neighborhoods, were sold in an antique auction.

Since discovering the images, new owner John Maloof showcases them through his blog (vivianmaier.blogspot.com) and various gallery exhibits, which have helped generate some major curiosity for the woman on the other side of the lens.

[images: Vivian Maier]

A Chicago Lion

How cool is this? I'm making it my new mission to find out how this artist created the illustration effect in Photoshop.

[image: spudart]

Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, 1893

Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, Reflecting Pool.

Court of Honor (1893)

Another shot of the Court of Honor, including gondola rides (1893)

Even more interesting, the below photos were taken at the Trans-Mississippi Expo in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1898. Doesn't the architectural planning look similar?

(Check out the chairs!)

[images: Smithsonian Instituition]

Converted Apartment Building

Have you ever noticed this apartment building directly south of Wrigley Stadium on Sheffield? I've probably walked past it a hundred times, and never gave it a thought. It's a church! You have to wonder why this church was even converted to apartments in the first place. Was there a fire? Lack of funding? Where are the stained glass windows? And most importantly, is it haunted??

It's always a little spooky when a church is no longer a church. As much as I respect the architects' decision to preserve the original structure (there's nothing more heart breaking than bull-dozing an old building), I'm not sure how I would feel about living in an old house of worship. Maybe I'm being too superstitious.

What do you think? Would you live in a converted church?

Cruising

While crusing the streets this weekend, Mike and I literally had to pull over and get a picture of this classic Porshe. Isn't it beautiful? It makes me want to hop in (like jumping over the door-style), bleach my hair, and drive straight to Hollywood.

I'll probably want to bring these little babies, too.