Feeling Stressed? Think about Therapy at the Northwestern Family Institute

Do you have great insurance? I thought I did, but let’s be honest. These days, who isn’t substantially aware of the rising costs of living compared to the value of what we’re actually getting? For me, 2008 brought many exciting, but stressful surprises and, like many of you, I function at my best when I feel in control and can compartmentalize my exciting and exhausting life. Unfortunately, when I decided to seek professional counseling to ease the stress, I learned that even with insurance, I’d need to spend $500 of my own money on a therapist before my insurance would step in to cover a portion of the counseling costs. Enter Northwestern Family Institute.

A colleague’s friend is a PhD student at Northwestern and informed me that the Family Institute offers their counseling services to the public for $20 a session (the small price I thought I was expected to pay with insurance). However, there’s a catch: in exchange for $20-per-session counseling services by student therapists, we are asked to participate in their studies. At the beginning of each session, I fill out a survey that measures my progress in therapy, as well as the progress of the student’s counseling. As the process promotes the betterment of the student’s learning, the survey is actually the most ingenious idea ever. Think about it. How many therapists out there spend your time staring at their clock? This survey ensures that both parties maintain their end of the deal. My counselor jots our conversation down in a journal as I’m speaking to outline my common themes and struggles back to me—something I’ve only actually seen on TV, in theory, not practice.

For those of you politically incorrect people who think therapy is only for the crazy, think about this: in college (and throughout most of our lives in grade school) we’re expected and encouraged to see our school counselor, advisors and professors for mentorship. But the moment we graduate that door quickly closes and we are left to our own mental and emotional devices to solve life’s excruciating surprises. Honestly, I find it even funnier that, as an adult, the moment we admit we need help, everyone asks, “What’s wrong?! What happened? Are you okay?!” Perhaps we’re conditioned to think that success means you must never admit you’re tired and need a break.

For those of you who are hip and “with it,” log on to Northwestern’s Family Institute site for further details, or perhaps consider other Universities with similar programs, as the demand may put you on a waiting list. Good luck and hopefully 2009 will bring more exciting challenges!

Design Your Underwear in Your Underwear

Chicago-based company Evlove Intimates is making shopping for sexy lingerie easier this holiday season, thanks to its online design studio. Bralets, camis and thongs are just a few of the pretty little things available for purchase, with one twist — each garment is designed by you!

Who isn’t tired of the one-size-fits-all products online these days? Perhaps you’d like to order a pair of butterfly soft ivory panties sewn with panels of lace while exposing full back coverage, or, some simple, yet low-cut, racy thongs.

Right now I’m sporting the lounge pants I designed from their loungewear line, which also happens to be one of their best-selling products. With several colors and fabrics to choose from, the ultra comfortable pants can be stitched and delivered to your door (or someone else’s) by Christmas for a flat shipping fee of $5.00, no matter how many you order!

Keep this site in mind, because these items also make perfect gifts for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and anniversaries. Evlove Intimates also hosts private lingerie parties, perfect for the bride- to-be, or a girls’ night. The company’s stated goal is to inspire sensuality and expression.

“Buying lingerie is a very personal and intimate purchase, and for the most part you’re buying it for yourself,” Evlove owner Jenny Dombroski says. “It’s a celebration of your body and your sensuality and sexuality, and when you have the ability to design it yourself, it’s also a celebration your individuality.”

For more information, or to begin designing your own lingerie, log on to http://www.evloveintimates.com.

Chicago Christmas Show Spotlight: Frostbite

This holiday season, the Annoyance Theater (4830 N. Broadway) in Uptown presents the written play and comedy show Frostbite. Running every Saturday night at 10pm from November 22 – December 27, the Grimm-esque fairytale, directed by Mark Vannier, represents a cross between Frankenstein and Frosty. A scientist creates a snowman to fill the void of his passed wife, but the snowman escapes and goes on a zombie-like brain-eating spree. Along the way, we learn the origin of various holiday customs.

Perhaps if you lived in any other city, I would recommend sticking to your routine of Christmas-inspired ballets. But, you live in Chicago, where, for entertainment’s sake, men paint themselves blue, women paint themselves green, and improv comedians request a random word from the audience—to which you reply, ‘pickle’— and an entire show ensues. This holiday season, consider the alternatives to Christmas celebrations like the Nutcracker.showposter2

Chicago has a long history with improv and sketch comedy. Many of the mainstays of the comic world started their careers in the Second City (like the original cast of Saturday Night Live and Emmy Award-winning Tina Fey). In addition to offering stand-out shows with fun adult humor, the Annoyance offers comedy, acting and writing classes for the aspiring performer. Founded by Mick Napier in 1989 (author of Improvise. Scene From the Inside Out), their famous Coed Prison Sluts is the “longest running musical in the history of Chicago.”

Come show your holiday spirit at Frostbite on Saturday! Tickets are $15 at the door or online at annoyanceproductions.com or look for the event on Facebook.

Explore Chicago Humanities Festival

Who doesn’t love culture and the arts? The celebration of life’s faceted dramas? Whether you’re a sophisticated Bernini sculptor lover or a self-proclaimed Blue Man groupie, there’s enough going on in this city to accommodate every taste. But if you want to get one step closer aficionado status, remember there’s only two more weeks to attend the exciting and educational events at the 19th Annual Chicago Humanities Festival through November 16.

This year’s theme reflects the concept “Thinking Big,” as it surveys the history and future of politics, architecture and global cities. Other disciplines featured include visual arts, literature, film, music, philosophy, cultural criticism, science, and performance. Logon to chifestival.org to sign up for events. Tickets are purchased on an event by event basis and range from $5 to $10 (students and educators are free). Events are hosted in 25 different venues around town by authors, professors, performers, musicians and more.

On November 1, be sure to check out “Rome the Monumental” at Northwestern University in partnership with the Instituto Italiana di Cultura. The event explores Rome‘s historic ingenuity and architecture. The Newberry Library is also hosting the exhibition, Artifacts of Childhood: 700 Years of Children’s Books. Historians and critics Leonard Marcus and Donna Seaman will discuss the leaders that influenced and shaped American Children’s Literature and Audrey Niffenegger, a professor at Colombia College’s Center for Book and Paper Arts will also be there. She will discuss her book, The Time Traveler’s Wife.

The Chicago Humanities Festival is one of the unique cultural experiences this city has to offer. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Schedule your events today!