The Lisa D Show is Back!

Hello Evanston Newbie Blog that I haven't posted on in forever, here's what I'm up to these days. Hope you are all doing fabulous!

Since 2011 I've been "radio silent" and not doing anything in front of a microphone. Today I am excited to announce that "The Lisa D Show" is BACK in the form of a weekly podcast. 

For those of you meeting me for the first time, I'm a former radio talk show host. My work as a radio personality in El Paso, Texas, from 2005- 2011, was beyond enjoyable and rewarding; I was paid to talk to humans for 1-3 hours a day on live, call-in radio. My radio shows took many forms; political talk show host on a call-in station, lifestyle talk radio host for "Charlando con La Gringa" (translation: chit chat with the white girl) on airwaves out of Juarez, Mexico, and host of "The Lisa D Show" a weekday call-in talk radio show featuring guest interviews and cultural news of the day. "The Lisa D Show" was my longest run as a talk radio show host, honoring me with a slick logo!

When my family left El Paso, TX, for Evanston, IL, in 2011, I had intentions of setting up shop on a new platform ... it took me 6 years! Thank you returning fans for waiting for my voice to reappear and welcome new fans to my podcast, "The Lisa D Show." You can look forward to conversations with creatives, roughly 20 minutes in duration, posted on a weekly basis. I believe creatives (of all kinds) make our planet a more connected, interesting and beautiful place to live. My energy and enthusiasm for my guests will be consistent, I don't invite guests whose work I don't admire. This podcast will 100% FOTP (Focus on the Positive) and isn't a criticism-based platform. Don't be afraid to request to be on the show, email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com.

"The Lisa D Show" will be recorded in a former Polish Grocery Store at 1100 Florence Ave. in Evanston, IL. We welcome a live audience and will announce podcast recordings and guests using Facebook Live so you can stop by and see the podcast in action.

We will post new podcasts on thelisadshow.blogspot.com or you can listen on Sound Cloud

Before I forget I want to thank my supportive husband Dave Ford for nudging this project along and helping get me back in front of a microphone. Dave is very familiar with my love of conversating and thinks I do it very well, his enthusiasm is much appreciated! 

What a Year It's Been! What a Year It Will Be!

Portrait by Annette Kerstin Patko of Bordeaux Studio

Hi Everyone,

This is the ONLY blog post I will publish in the month of December, which is totally illegal, I should never go radio silent for that long. BUT it's been a really busy year and I've got projects that have consumed me in fantastic ways.

As you know, I'm a gypsy by nature, lover of shiny keys and all things new, so I'm very aware of cities and what they offer - Evanston so far has offered me the moon and I'm so grateful.

When we moved here in 2011, I told my husband Dave Ford it would take us five years to rebuild our lives - financially, socially, etc. - after moving from El Paso, Texas. Summer of 2016 is our 5-year anniversary, stay tuned.

Here is what I managed to create in terms of "the life I wanted in Evanston" in 2015:

1. Evanston's annual Open Studio Artist Tour will celebrate its 3rd year anniversary and will get a new name so we can stop confusing the annual event with the non-profit Open Studio Project! Stay tuned.

2. My new role at Evanston Magazine as Editor-at-Large, requires great story ideas for each issue that help tell Evanston's unique story. Send ideas to lisa@jwcmedia.com

3. My new role as Engagement Director at Hackstudio, requires I help grow a successful new endeavor in this market and I'm so inspired to do so. Hackstudio's focus is to help people connect with who they are and connect who they are with the world! 

4. I'm proud to be the returning Evanston Arts Council Co-Chair with my colleague in the arts, Dino Robinson. Join us and get the arts funded and celebrated in Evanston!

Additionally, I will continue to work on raising smart and giving citizens of the world (Miles & Louie) and providing shelter for ONE angry bunny. 

Thank you for your continued support and love for all my endeavors. Let me know if we can work together in any of these buckets!

Happy New Year, y'all! 

Lisa 

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My first blog post from Monday, June 27, 2011 - We Have Arrived!

Today is My One Year Anniversary at Acquirent

 

Today is my one year anniversary at Acquirent and it's a huge deal on so many levels. One year in "Lisa D" years is very comparable to dog years, it's like seven. 

Several ACQ teammates call me Ping Pong Sally because my resume has so very many jobs listed (I took off most of New York publishing jobs like at Vogue, Cosmopolitan, New York Magazine....) it's a huge feat I'm still here after 12 months. 

I think I'm a great fit for Acquirent culturally and I'm going to learn a ton about sales and selling myself (in the positive sense) which will be useful when I finally figure out what I am going to be when I grow up.

When I turned 40 (two years ago I turned 40 and yes I was featured in a New York Times article on making friends after 40) I took on the task of totally reconstructing my life - no more chasing my media "career", no more uprooting my family and moving every chance I got across city and state and county lines, I had to learn to live and work and love and play in the SAME city and lastly, but not leastly the MOST important...no more commuting in a car or train to work ever again in my whole entire life (I even documented my last day commuting on the CTA with this no make up selfie), only walking and biking distances to work allowed. Acquirent is six blocks from my house in Evanston. 

So happy anniversary to me as it marks the final step in a life restructuring process that took several years. 

*That photo is of me and boss Joe Flanagan as we try to snap a photo of our entire team to celebrate winning the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies award for the third year in a row. I know how to pick them!

And a special thanks goes to Erika, Maggie and Brooke for helping me get this job!

Evanston Ranked Among Top 25 Bike-to-Work Cities in the Nation

Evanston is one of the nation’s top 25 cities for biking to work, according to a recent Bloomberg News report utilizing U.S. Census data.

With 5.3 percent of commuters pedaling to their jobs, Evanston ranks as number 15 on Bloomberg’s list. It is the only city in Illinois to make the top 25.

Other top bike-to-work cities include first-ranked Davis, California; Boulder, Colorado (2); Madison, Wisconsin (9); Minneapolis, Minnesota (20); and Bloomington, Indiana (25).

Click here to read the full list.

There is no other deli sandwich worth your time like the one waiting for you now at Al's Deli in Evanston

Who pours homemade blue cheese dressing on a roast beef sandwich? Al and his brother. Go there now  and order it, it's the best deli sandwich you'll have in years. Served on a fresh baguette it's definitely huge enough to share.

If you don't like roast beef try the turkey with gruyere on a baguette, you'll be so happy with your purchase. Pictured right is the turkey, above is the roast beef with the blue cheese dressing pouring out all over the place. Amazingly delicious.

Finish the meal with a larger than normal salted caramel macaroon. Then plan your sandwiches for the rest of the month accordingly as the variety is impressive - pate, smoked salmon, veggie, etc. 

Lastly, make the time to wait in line and have your sandwich made with care by a guy who's been doing this for a long time. 

Al's Deli
914 Noyes St, Evanston, IL 60201
Phone:(847) 475-9400
Prices:$$$$
Hours: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Mabel Catherine the Gypsy Cabbage Patch Doll Moves on

Recently I had to part with an object I had been lugging around for far too many years, a Cabbage Patch Doll named Mabel Catherine that I had been given as a gift in 6th grade in 1984. I'm 41.

Mabel has moved with me from California to New York, to Colorado to Texas and to Illinois and in each new house or apartment she's lived in a box with her clothes and blankies in the dark, never to be unpacked or played with. That's no way for an adorable Cabbage Patch Doll to live. My husband told me (a year ago) that I should really give Mabel to someone who would play with her, that I should get "rid of that doll."

As a mother of two boys I couldn't pass Mabel on to my sons, so I searched around for friend's with daughters. Mabel went to a close home for a bit, but the little girl soon tired of her and I found Mabel back in my possession. Were we meant to be together forever? No, I would just have to expand my search.

Then several months ago another friend with a young daughter was on the lookout for baby clothes. I offered up the clothes WITH Mabel as part of the package. Both or nothing. She bit.

On a cold December rainy night I drove Mabel Catherine and her box of clothes and shoes and blankies to my friend's house. I took a quick photo in the car outside, one last look at my old pal. And then handed her off.

It's very possible this little girl who gets Mabel Catherine for Christmas will soon tire of the doll and I will find Mabel back in my arms, a little more used and bruised and that's fine.

It's occurred to me that one of the best parts of having possessions is giving them away when you are done with them, to grateful new owners. I took an inventory of what I possessed at 41 to bequeath friends and family - a Cabbage Patch Doll, and antique rocking chair for a child, some jewels. I'm going to work on giving away more and getting lighter like that guy on Craigs List who gave away all his possessions - that sounds fun and gypsy-like.

For now I hope Mabel Catherine is excited for her new adventures out of the box and into someone's life, she's been waiting so long for it!

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with the City of Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Creative Coworking Draws Downtown Evanston Lunch Map

I now work in Downtown Evanston (it's like I'm a newbie all over again)! I now can eat lunch at more than 35 restaurants, in walking distance from my desk. You gotta be kidding me!

Thanks to the team over at Creative Coworking anyone who rents their space gets this nifty map. Click here for the original source and visit http://creativecoworking.com to learn more about Creative Coworking.

I'm going to talk to my friend Paul in the Economic Development Offices at the City of Evanston about creating a Dining Passport Rewards program where people get points every time they dine at one of these places or something fun like that! And if Paul doesn't like that idea I'm going to talk to my other friend Carolyn at the Downtown Evanston offices! She'll probably point me to an App that already exists! I LOVE this town.

Happy Dining!

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with the City of Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

House for Sale: Move to Evanston and Live in the Sixteen Candles Movie Set

My kids are getting older and a little bit closer to being able to watch some of the classics like Jaws, Halloween, Sixteen Candles, etc.

We tried to watch Sixteen Candles the other night as a family but had to shut her down during the naked shower scene, not because of the naked lady but because of the dialogue about the sex the naked lady would later be having. I'm not explaining any of that to the kids yet.

I ended up watching Sixteen Candles later that night which is a shame because #1 I've seen it more than 10 times, more than 10 years ago and #2 I've seen like three movies in my life (Harold and Maude, Karate Kid and Das Boat!) and cannot waste valuable movie-watching time on repeat viewings. But really besides all that, the movie is fantastic, a total classic and Jake Ryan is still the HOTTEST man ever born on planet Earth.

The best part of the movie? Location, location, location! It's filmed around here on the Northshore of Chicago! And when I was walking to a friend's house this weekend, I couldn't help but be reminded every 15 feet how brilliant John Hughes was to film in such a lovely area.

The house pictured here is so Sixteen Candles to me and is for sale down on Forest Ave., just blocks from the lake. I'm sure it's a bajillion dollars but if you bought it and moved in you could be my neighbor and feel like you lived on the Sixteen Candles movie set every time you were home!

Today at Naf Naf Grill in Evanston: Humans Stand in Line in 30 Degree Weather, get Free Tee Shirt and Food

This is my third winter in Evanston and I am still consistently impressed (often blown away) with the absolute and total disregard the locals seem to have for weather. Today's high was 34 degrees and people were strolling about town without hats or bedspreads!

Pictured here are a bunch of people standing in line in today's frigid weather waiting for a free tee shirt and falafel which Naf Naf Grill was giving away until they ran out in celebration of their grand opening. And people waited in line, in really cold weather and no one was mad about it, of course except for me! I couldn't wait in line and instead snapped a photo and ran to the nearest furnace.

So Naf Naf Grill opened today in Downtown Evanston and everyone is really excited because the food is supposed to be amazing - hence the locations all over Chicagoland. I'll try it soon and get back to you, but there was no way I was going to stand in that line! Mad props to all you crazies who did!

www.nafnafgrill.com

Naf Naf Grill is an award winning Chicago Mediterranean Restaurant. 

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with the City of Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Evanston Stylewatch: Ebony rocks leg warmers!

This young lady is probably one of the best dressed Evanstonians I've seen since moving to this fine city. It's not just the matching above the boot leg warmers and handbag or the crazy fun vintage frames that caught my eye. Ebony was more than willing to strike a pose outside of the library for some lady with a smart phone who claimed she took fashion photos! Thanks Ebony, you made the world a more beautiful place that day and this blog too!

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with the City of Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Temperance Beer Company Launch Party at Prairie Moon

It doesn't get my more hyperlocal than this! Last night I was served a locally brewed beer at a locally owned bar, walking distance from my house - did I mention just how much I love Evanston?! This strapping young bartender served me my first pint of Temperance Beer, brewed by Brewster Claudia Jenron.

Temperance Beer Company was started by Josh Gilbert, Evanston native and retired architect, and will provide four types of beer, wholesale only, to bars and stores in the region. The tap room and brewery is located at 2000 Dempster Street and will host tastings on special nights - soon, but not yet.

Last night at the Moon, the joint was packed with well wishers (most of whom were boys wearing Trucker hats with the Temperance logo, like the bartender photographed here) and people happy to drink locally brewed beer.

Given that Evanston was dry until 1971, this is a huge milestone for the alcohol world which celebrated the first distillery a year ago with FEW Spirits. Both booze brands embraced Evanston's dry past in their names - FEW Distillery - Frances E. Willard's initials and Temperance Beer - a nod to the Temperance movement.

What did the beer taste like? Don't ask me, I'm no expert in the beer tasting department. All I know is that my pint has berry in  it and it was yummy and refreshing! How's that for a beer tasting review?!

Congrats to Josh  and the Claudia and all the other Temperance Beer people who made this launch happen!

Visit http://temperancebeer.com for more information.

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with the City of Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Evanston Stylewatch: Knee Socks and Ferrets at the Pet Store

WOW! How great do these striped socks look on this girl? And here you were, worried that Evanston wouldn't provide me enough eye candy to keep the fun images of shoes and fashion going!

This knee sock wearing girl is looking at a cage full of sleeping ferrets at Thee Fish Bowl pet shop on Dempster. Awwww....how cute! But ferrets are not cuter than these striped knee socks worn with sandals!

Love that I'll be shooting in Evanston every single day of the week starting Sept. 23!

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with the City of Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Evanston Flower Porn

Look at this gorgeous flower I found in someone's front yard on Lake Street! Evanston has the most beautiful blooming flowers even in September! Please feel free to steal this and make stationary!

P.S. This post is the first post EVER on this blog to have three sentences followed by an exclamation point! That is exciting!

Aug. 17: Duck Race and Pluck at Dawes Park Lagoon

From the City of Evanston website:

The annual Duck Race and Pluck is a "fun-raiser" for theEvanston Environmental Association, which supports the City of Evanston's Ecology Center. Rubber ducks travel around the Arrington Lagoon in Dawes Park on waves created by volunteers with paddles. Funds raised from the event go towards the Evanston Ecology Center’s resident "critters."

Sponsor one duck for $10 or a “Quack Pack” of three for $25. The fastest ducks and those lucky ducks plucked from the brace will win prizes for their sponsors. You may take your ducky home after the race. For more info. or to reserve your duck(s), please call 847/448-8256.
Location: Dawes Park, Sheridan Rd. at Church St., 1700 Sheridan Rd.
Day/Date/Time: Sat., Aug. 17, 3-5pm
Fee: see above for duck sponsorship; free admission
Age Level: All ages

Top 5 Evanston Newbie Posts of All Time

You know how much I LOVE lists, so I put one together for you, Faithful Reader. 

Here's the Top 5 Evanston Newbie Posts - EVER! And if you can't read these on your tablet at the beach, print them out and leave them in your bathroom for house guests!

Top 5 Evanston Newbie Posts - EVER! 

#1 

Evanston Newbie Anniversary Series: 40 Lessons Learned Moving from El Paso, TX to Evanston, IL

#2 

Summer Popsicle Recipe: Coconut Milk and Mexican Chocolate

#3 

Evanston Newbie and Family take the $100 Whole Foods Healthy Eating Challenge

#4

Manifesto for the underemployed, not wanting it all and other thoughts on doing very little with your time

#5 

Warning: There is a whiskey distillery less than a mile from my home

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Thursday: Food Truck Festival & Free Concert

From the City of Evanston website:

The City of Evanston’s annual Food Truck Fest and Starlight Concert comes to Brummel Park on Thursday, July 25 with delectable food truck delights and the music of The Congregation - classic soul meets rock and roll in this dynamic eight-piece collective from Chicago.

Come early and come hungry to experience a variety of food trucks! Starting at 5:30 p.m., Evanston's first and only food truck, Hummingbird Kitchen, will be joined by The Tamale Spaceship, Sweet Ride, Taquero Fusion, 5411: Gourmet Empanadas, and new for 2013: Babycakes Gourmet and Curried.

Click here for more info.

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

My Summer Happiness Project Cost $26

Before my 40th birthday (in 2012), I read Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project book because I wanted my 40th decade to be focused on Happiness! If I was healthy enough to live a full life, I should be grateful and happy doing it. I turned to Gretchen's New York Times #1 Bestseller to put some framework around my personal Happiness Project and got working.

One thing that has always made me very happy is the beach and all that comes with it - collecting seashells, walking in the waves, waves, water, seagulls, sand. I love all those things. So part of living in Evanston and getting Happy meant spending as much time as possible at the beach! I aimed to be at the beach daily, day or night, even if for just a short walk. And most days, I come close to visiting the beach everyday!

Summer time beach visits are somewhat tricky as during certain hours a pass is needed to access the beach, which has become MY beach. Had I not read the Happiness Project, I might have allowed the need to pay to access the beach to make me mad or annoyed, but instead I chose to be grateful for the pass. See my logic below.

Thank you Gretchen Rubin and your great work! I now fully realize that "Happiness is choice, not the result of how life treats you."

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I bought my beach token before June 14 and it cost me $26.

So far this summer, I have gone to the beach at least 20 times. Over the entire summer, I will visit the beach at least 40 times putting my approximate cost per visit at around .65 cents.

What does the beach look like? See below. (And I walk to the beach, so there is no transportation cost.)

This beach makes me very happy, so does living in Evanston and so does buying a beach token and so does writing this blog and so does dark chocolate and so does eating fresh fruit from my garden....

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

This Weekend in Evanston: Ethnic Arts Festival

From the City of Evanston website:

Ethnic Arts Festival Transforms Evanston Lakefront into Global Village July 20-21

Experience the sounds, tastes, colors, and aromas of other cultures and distant continents at the Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival, a two-day trip “around the world” at Dawes Park in Evanston. Festival-goers will celebrate the diversity of our planet at this, the 28th annual event, which will be held from noon to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21. Dawes Park is located at Sheridan Road at Church Street.

Click here for more information

Dave the Sand Castle Builder Rocks Evanston Sand Castle Contest

Last night we went to Clark Street Beach to see the final results of the day's Sand Castle Building Contest. Local sand castle builder Dave and his family were there and clearly the winners with the masterful work pictured below. Everyone got an award (it's 2013 in Evanston y'all and we are all winners) with several other sand castle creations making for great sand art.

I met Dave last summer when he was building another amazing creation on the beach. Click here to read more about Dave and his sand castle building action. Originally I thought Evanston paid talent like Dave to spruce up the beaches but turns out that's just what Dave does, makes epic sand castles when he goes to the beach!

And as if that's not fun enough, Dave also has a huge bubble maker that creates gynormous bubbles. Pictured below is a group of kids trying to gently blow another bubble into the big bubble. Dave provided loads of fun last night at Clark Street Beach! Thanks Dave!

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Art Opening: Dave Ford (my husband), Hauling Graphite: Five Road Recordings at Packer Schopf Gallery

Granted this is a blog about my family's move from El Paso, TX, to Evanston, IL, every once in a while I go way off topic and post a non-Evanston event or food review. I'm dedicating today's post to my husband, visual artist Dave Ford. He's with Packer Schopf Gallery and has a show that opens this Friday that you really should try your best to attend. Below is why.

This Friday, 5-8p, at Packer Schopf Gallery on 942 W. Lake St., meet Dave Ford and see his Truck Drawings.

Dave Ford / Hauling Graphite: Five Road Recordings / graphite on paper
Lines accumulate as Ford drives a 12′ truck with 100 pencil-tipped water bottle pendulums dancing above the paper lined bed. On the road, he checks the drawing, often sharpening pencils, sometimes removing or adding a bottle depending on where he wants a specific quality of marks or textures. After fifteen years and several Truck Drawing projects later, ‘panels’ from separate trips will be shown together for the first time. The burst patterns created by the bottles as Ford drives across the country evoke a grace that simultaneously jars with the truck as medium and flows with the rhythm of travel.

5 Runs: Dallas to New York, El Paso to Falls Village, CT, San Francisco to Las Cruces, NM, Santa Fe to Chicago, and Chicago / Philadelphia round trip.

Click here for an archive of Truck Drawing blog posts on fordart.wordpress.com 

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!