Follow Evanston Newbie on Pinterest!

Are you looking for less words and more images from this blog? Well look no further as Evanston Newbie is on Pinterest!

Pinterest (one of the hottest new things in social media) is a place to organize and share online images that you find interesting or inspiring and as you know, I find Evanston extremely inspiring and want to share it with YOU!

Look for great images of Evanston from a newbie's (mine) eyes at pinterest.com/EvanstonNewbie. If you don't already have a Pinterest account, send me your email address (thelisadshow@gmail.com) and I'll send you an invite.

What you can look forward to on the Evanston Newbie Pinterest board is images of wildlife, street fashion, things I eat, Lake Michigan and pretty much anything else in Evanston that inspires me, like heart-shaped pizza.

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Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni

Postcard from Camilo

Today a very special note arrived in the mail! Our good friend Camilo sent us this handy map of the Native American Indian Tribes.

What I'm Reading: Leaked insider memos, the future of Patch and media and Jim Romenesko's blog

After leaving a town (El Paso) where I wrote and edited a snarky/gossipy/newsy "Media Watch" column (for a period of time, click here to read an archive), I was worried that that gap just wouldn't get filled and I would be left without an outlet for my snarky, gossipy, media appetite. Luckily the gap has been filled (although I have no part in it) by Jim Romenesko's amazing blog on "Media and other things" he's interested in, www.jimromenesko.com.

Romenesko is an Evanston, IL, native and a very important, smart, prolific journalist. (If you are under 30 and have no idea what I'm talking about, see Wiki page here.) His latest career incarnation, after a long run at the Poynter Institute, is www.jimromenesko.com, a blog about all things media. (What a fantastic time to be covering media!) Media, an institution as old as car manufacturing, pretty much has its hair on fire, is losing and laying off talent and finds itself facing a forced reinvention thanks to smart phones. Like Kodak, media will either change or die and Romenesko is on the front lines, reporting it all.

One of the most exciting media projects is AOL's Patch project, which has a "news" outlet in cities across America and is experiencing painful and highly visible change. Most recently a memo was sent (and subsequently leaked) to staff about upcoming staff reductions and editorial policy changes. Romenesko got a hold of the memo, published it, continued to publish more leaked memos and it's been more than entertaining to watch the fallout. (The fallout includes posts and direct memos to Romenesko from Patch staffers, which by far are my favorite.)

In addition to how fun it is reading leaked memos, reading through more than 33 comments, some from Patch employees is better than reality TV for an insider news junkie like me. And it reminds me of the :15 minute meetings where our news team decided if we should or should not post the information about a local anchor's pending buy out package.

It's a tricky territory Romenesko is in, he's reporting on potential employers or coworkers but you wouldn't know it reading his coverage, which makes it all the more rewarding. I love that kind of blog and am thrilled it's produced in Evanston.

Must read: PATCH’S PLAN TO REDUCE STAFF, CHANGE EDITORIAL FOCUS, followed by ‘THERE ARE NO LAYOFFS PLANNED,’ SAYS PATCH, www.jimromenesko.com, Feb. 9

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Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni

Valentine's Day is lame, but gifting a heart-shaped pizza is awesome.

To know me is to love me and to love me is to know that I hate Valentine's Day mainly because it makes single people feel like they suck, and that's not right Hallmark!

But when I heard that Lou Malnati's Pizza of Chicago had heart-shaped pizzas for sale, I got a warm feeling inside (mostly from my stomach, but still) and that gave me hope for the most-hated holiday, Valentine's Day.

Spread the love and place your order today:

Heart Shaped Cookie & Heart Shaped Pizza
Two hearts are better than one, especially when they are sent from Chicago with love. This package includes a Lou Malnati's heart-shaped pizza (cheese or sausage), and a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie. This is the same recipe as the famous chocolate chip cookie pizza served in the Lou Malnati's pizzerias.

Price Including Shipping: $49.99

Only available to ship between Jan. 19th through Feb. 15th

Visit www.tastesofchicago.com and place your order today! ***

Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni

What I'm Reading: 'Treasure Island!!!' by Sara Levine (she's an Evanston resident)

Now that I'm totally "in" with several Evanston moms, I've been doing "my babysitter cancelled, can you watch my kids?" engagements. It sounds daunting, but for a newbie it means acceptance and victory.

As I plunked down on my friend Kindon's couch, about to babysit her napping baby, she tossed a copy of 'Treasure Island!!!' by Sara Levine on my lap and said "Here, read this while you're babysitting." (Kindon is very bossy and it's one of the main reasons I like her so much because she reminds me of me.)

I pretty much read 'Treasure Island!!!' for three hours straight. It's smart, fun, snarky, contemporary and worth reading and gifting AND I'm not saying this because Sara Levine lives in Evanston and I want her to be my new best friend - the book is fantastic. Don't believe me? Read the following reviews from The New York Times and O Magazine.

What's the book about?

From O Magazine: In this irreverent comic novel of self-empowerment, the narrator tries to pattern herself after the hero of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure classic.— Karen Holt

From Evanston Newbie: A self-absorbed, spoiled rotten jack ass of a main character becomes totally obsessed with Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island'. Her job, love life, friendships, etc. become road kill as she obsesses over the book. You hate the main character, so you're perfectly happy to see her life crash and burn. But I'm not done with the book, so maybe I'm wrong and her life turns out okay. (I like the idea of a mid-read book review. Maybe I'll keep this up. Ooooh, except that I only do book reviews of books written by people living in Evanston, so that might be a little tricky.)

If I only I knew about this book before the holidays of 2011, I could have gifted it. What I'll do is try and contact Sara and ask her to sign a few copies so I can have a stash of super cool Evanston-style gifts to give. Hey, maybe I'll try and profile Sara on this blog. Really, with a fantastic book like 'Treasure Island!!!' the possibilities are endless.

Photo credit: the photo above was taken at WORD of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where Sara Levine did a reading from her book 'Treasure Island!!!'. Click here to read more about the reading and WORD.

Info: 'Treasure Island!!!' was published in December 2011 by Alice Sebold’s Europa Editions imprint, www.europaeditions.com.

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Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni

Ecology Center hosts Evanston Farmers Market During the Winter

Here is some exciting news and information about Evanston's year-round Farmers Market winter location:

Ecology Center Market Debuts On December 3

We welcome the Ecology Center Market, a promising venture to bring local produce, dairy and meat to market throughout the winter months.

It will be located in the Ecology Center at 2024 McCormick Blvd. Evanston, Il 60201. The market will be every Saturday starting December 3, 2011 through April 28, 2012. The market will be closed December 24 and 31, 2011.

The purpose of this market is to extend the selling season for local fresh produce, and to provide local food artisans with a place to sell their products during the winter months. Click here for the full story, and a list of vendors.

From Huffington Post Chicago
Evanston Indoor Farmers Market
In its first year, the near north suburban market is organized by Friends of the Evanston Market and features many of the same vendors that make their summer market such a smash. Vendors sell an array of offerings including gourmet baklava (from Sheekar Delights), gargantuan mushrooms (River Valley Ranch) and even organic soaps and lotions (Green Envee), just to name a few examples.
Saturdays through April 28, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd. (Evanston)

Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets

Welcome to the Evanston Farmers Market website, brought to you by Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets!

Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets is an independent, non-profit organization of volunteers, acting as advocates for the Evanston Farmers Markets.

Our Mission

Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets (a 501c3 organization) educates the public about the benefits of eating fresh, locally grown foods, and advocates greater access to healthy food for all community members, regardless of means.

Please contact us for more information about Friends or to volunteer:

friends@evanstonfarmersmarkets.org

Visit http://www.evanstonfarmersmarkets.org for more information.

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Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni

Blog on Blog Love: Evanston Newbie featured on Refuse the Juice

"I used to be a radio talk show host" is a phrase that comes out of my mouth a lot these days (sigh) and one new Evanston friend recently confessed she thought I was "telling a story" when I told her that (thanks for believing in me, Kindon). Well that "story" is true and I used to be a host with a guy by the name of David K, a funny Republican.

Both David K and I left El Paso in 2011 (he moved to Washington DC to dabble in politics, I moved to Evanston to eat my way through Chicago) and sometimes we blog about our old stomping ground El Paso, he focuses on the political scene and I just whine about missing old friends.

Recently we both found ourselves getting snarky about Norma Chavez's blog. Chavez is a former El Paso elected official (a term equivalent to scout troop leader in El Paso as it's pretty easy to get elected to office in a town where less than 6% of the population votes), turned blogger and reading her blog and watching her career transition has been too fun to resist. Most recently David featured a review of Chavez's new blog, offering her tips on how to drive traffic to her site. What did he give me and my blog? Nothing! So I complained and David K finally featured ME and "Evanston Newbie" on his blog! My traffic is going to go through the roof! Thanks old buddy.

Click here to read the post and give yourself ample time to read it as he really gushes!

Mostly I'm grateful to David K for giving me the window in which to write "Blog on Blog Love" as a headline, it pretty much beats out all other phrases I've developed this week to include "website bling".

I miss you David K, but not that way!

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Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni