What the Deck, show us some Love!

Click here for their Facebook Fanpage and more details!

Are you excited about summer, but dreading the thought of having to work all weekend on your weather beaten deck?

Mother nature can be harsh, but do not fret – call Deck Love!

Deck Love is a premium deck and fence care service that specializes in cleaning and staining decks and fences and will even make your children’s wooden playset look as good as new.

Call today for a free estimate.  708-218-8841.

Deck Love wants you to relax, enjoy your weekend, and love your deck.

Cemetery of Forgotten Books...in Crest Hill!

I found it! Yes, I found the holy grail of used book stores. The Book Marketplace in Crest Hill off of Rt. 30!

Walking in you are immediately greeted with that distinct smell of old words on yellowed pages.  There are stacks and stacks of books all over the place! The building is literally bursting at its seams with books.  I found some that I had as a child, I found ones that I'm going to trade in some of my used soft-covers for.  This is a bibliophile's Walt Disney World!

The clerk was the nicest lady, very helpful and cheerful. I wonder what her story is... 

If you are wanting to experience your own Cemetery of Forgotten Books [Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon] I suggest a trip to The Book Marketplace.

There is a book in there that was calling for me...I'll be sure to go back and save it!

Huffington Post: Take A Stand With Your Savings And 'Bank Local'

 

		Take A Stand With Your Savings And 'Bank Local'
	First we had 'eat local.' Then 'buy local.' Is it time to bank local as well?...

 

Sent from my iPhone

A picture says a thousand words...

“Preserving all your memories of today......for all their tomorrows"



This is what Sara does, and does better than any photographer I have come across.

She takes a personalized approach to every client, and gives complete attention to what that person desires for their outcome. Once you have viewed her photos, you will want to have her capture your important moments too. She recently did my nephew’s senior photos…he wanted outdoor pictures, with his tractor and in front of the cornfield. No problem, Sara will come to you. Not only did she travel to the farm, but she spent extra time – taking multiple different and creative shots – desiring to ensure that Steven got exactly the outcome he was hoping for. She more than succeeded. The photos were amazing!! And….the photo session itself was fun – it’s more than clear that Sara loves what she does, and truly cares about providing what the customer wants. She does have a studio in her home, for those who prefer a more traditional backdrop, but she will also travel to the location of your choosing, in order to allow that personalized touch that makes the memory really “yours.”

Don’t hesitate – call Sara today to book your next important photographic moment.

(630) 200-3614
fontanezphotography@comcast.net

Show your love by shopping local. Happy Valentine's Day!

You still have time to show love for your local businesses and your loved- ones!

It's that time of year to show those you admire how much you really do! Buy some chocolates and other confections to show you really care.

Here are a couple local candy companies that have retail stores in the area as well as offer on-line purchasing. Show your love by shopping local!

Dan's Homemade Candies Since 1919
229 E. Cass St., Joliet, Il. 60432 (815)723-3844
1003 Plainfield Rd., Joliet, Il. 60435 (815)722-0712

Since I was a little girl, Dan's Homemade Candy has been a huge part of my life for all holidays and special occasions. I could always count on getting a box of my favorites - Dan's caramels and when in season, Dan's caramel apples!

I have yet to find something comparable. A few times a year, my husband and I make a pilgrimage there and hardly ever have the car started before eating the first piece. I'm looking forward to this upcoming apple season to give my little girl her first caramel apple! Being part of Joliet for as long as they have been, they are a tradition for many families. Even my diabetic grandmother swore that they had the best sugarless candy and counted on a box every Easter.

If you haven't been there, you're missing out on a great local establishment.--Michelle M.

Hollingworth Candies, Inc. Established 1985
922 S. State Street, Lockport, IL 60441
Phone: (815) 838 2275 Fax: (815) 838 4337

If you know of any more local confectioners that you'd like to support, let us know and we'll add them to the list!

Spring is coming, time to Renovate!

Herman & McCarrin Construction

14337 Spring Creek Dr.

Homer Glen, IL 60491

Phone: 708.301.4422

Fax: 708.301.4422

Email to get your project started today!

Attention WAHMs & SAHMs!

Are you a local WAHM with your own business? What about local SAHMs trying to get your wares to market? Tell us who you are and about your businesses so we can help get the word out!

Do you have a website? Send us the link and we'll add it to our site! Let's stimulate the economy both yours and the local communities's!

William Alexander

A hidden jewel in the town of locks! William Alexander Wine Studio- great wine, live entertainment, and good friends.

Established 2007, the most I did as with many locals is drive by and wonder what this place was all about.

How delighted we were when we walked in. Live music was playing, the staff was knowledgible and friendly, the patrons were many. I can't wait to go back again!












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hidden in Plain Sight

Where do you shop for the person who already has everything?

Try the Blue Orchid Studio in Yorkville. They carry a diverse selection of gifts that are not the “same-old, same-old” you find everywhere you shop. Located right off of Rt. 47 (101 E. Center St.) in Yorkville, you might easily drive past the store without realizing it’s there. Located in a renovated home, they create an experience from the minute you walk in the door of the shop. Everything is displayed to perfection, naturally leading you from one room to the next, and you quite rightly wonder, “what will I see next?” Don’t agonize over that hard-to-buy-for person on your list….head out to the Blue Orchid Studio; you won’t be disappointed! Check out their website too, but keep in mind, it is not all-inclusive; it merely gives you an idea of the merchandise they carry.


http://www.blue-orchidstudio.com/

Paint the Countryside beautiful!

Paint Solutions, Inc

5300 East Avenue

Countryside, IL, 60525

Phone: 708-482-0630

Paint Solutions Inc. is a local establishment that has been serving the Chicagoland area with quality service since 2002. They are a Full Auto Body Repair, Collision, and Painting shop that does custom painting, jetski & snowmobile repair, and Aluminum & Stainless Steel welding (which has included some pretty interesting projects: lamps, chairs and trailers).  

Free Estimates and all insurance  welcome.


For more information, click on their website: http://www.paintsolutionsinc.net/

Save Your Local Economy!

Last minute independent holiday shopping? You have plenty of time & options!

Struck pay dirt today! For those in "The City" needing those last minute gifts, go Local! 

Local First Chicago has posted it's Local First Chicago’s Independent Chicagoan Shopping Guide – 2009/2010 Holiday Season print it out and get shopping! Good luck!

Show your heart how much you Olive it

Submitted by Gina Raftery
This year I decided to live a healthier lifestyle. I started exercising, cutting down my portions and really looking at the foods I consume. One thing I noticed while reading various articles on living healthier was that almost all of them mentioned the health benefits of Olive Oil. Coming from a family that has a history of high blood pressure and heart disease I was particularly interested in this. (For more info. www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/AN01037)



Having grown up on vegetable oil and not being much of a cook, I found shopping for Olive Oil to be overwhelming. What do you chose pure, light, virgin, or extra virgin? From what country Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, and the list continue on. After having tried a couple types and brands without satisfaction, I stumbled across City Olive in Chicago


City Olive (in the Andersonville neighborhood) is the place to go to learn about the Olive Oil. This shop sells over 45 varieties of Extra Virgin Olive Oils from countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Turkey, Morocco, Chile, Portugal, Croatia, Australia, Argentina and United States (California)*. Along with over 25 different infused and flavored oils, including truffle, basil, garlic, basil–garlic, lemon, blood orange, tangerine, chili, thyme, mint, Meyer lemon, lime, grapefruit and rosemary*. The helpful and knowledgeable staff at City Olive, along with their sample bar makes shopping for Olive Oil an adventure. They also carry a variety of Vinegars, Seasonings & Spices, Teas, and Specialty Products.


City Olive also hosts events (Introduction to Olive Oil Class) throughout the year. Checkout their website for further information details: http://www.cityolive.com/.


Happy exploring and cooking!

City Olive 5408 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL (773)878-5408

A taste of Germany's largest federal-state...in Lisle, Illinois!

Submitted by Michelle Matzke

The Bavarian Lodge    

1800 Ogden Avenue

Lisle, IL 60532    

Phone: 630-241-7401

Their website says it best: Great Beer. Great Food. No Tubas. No Lederhosen. This is a great restaurant with a fun attitude (just read the house rules ).

Authentic German food with one of the greatest beer selections in Chicagoland. Be prepared to spend some time reading through their beer menu (which is larger than the food menu). This menu is ever changing, allowing you to try a plethora of great brews throughout the year.

If you are intimidated by the beer selection, don't be - the waitstaff is very knowledgable. They also have special beer events throughout the year.

Sign up and join their mailing list for all the event updates. If you are looking to try great imports & microbrews and eat awesome comfort food - this is your place!


For more information, click on their website: http://www.bavarian-lodge.com/

Pizza-the dinner of champions

Submitted by Kimberly Demetrio
Tonight we are ordering pizza for dinner. There are 2 pizza joints we frequent here in Lockport- Heritage Pizza and Mike Eez.  As I searched for other options, which there are a few, a common theme surfaced-the lack of on-line presence. 

Well, Heritage does have a website, http://www.heritagepizza.com/ and if you sign up on their site you get some awesome coupons!  We're getting a free order of hot wings to go along with our party pizza.  Yum!

Heritage Pizza  924 South State St. - Lockport, IL Phone (815) 838-4321

CNN - Job creation? Look to entrepreneurs

Job creation? Look to entrepreneurs

It's the oldest trick in the political playbook: Call together a "summit" of fancy people so you'll appear to be focused on work that must get done.


Thursday, the White House convened CEOs from companies such as Boeing, AT&T, Comcast and Dow Corning, top leaders of the United Steelworkers, United Food and Commercial Workers, American Federation of Teachers unions, Ivy League academics and a few small-business representatives to brainstorm how the country might generate much-needed jobs.


A schmooze-fest is nice, but the hard work of putting America back to work will be done by entrepreneurs, not the leaders of the biggest companies in the nation and the heads of big unions.


The mom-and-pop shops, garage start-ups and small businesses across the country will put Americans back on the payroll. According to the Census Bureau, nearly all net job creation in the U.S. since 1980 has been generated by firms operating less than five years.


This means that our job generators are likely not on the White House guest list. They are home working long hours to meet payrolls on tight deadlines and scraping by with limited resources. While others can advocate for the merits of entrepreneurship, and will hopefully do so, our job creators are strangely left out.


Innovators from Oregon to Tennessee are the ones who will generate new jobs. Commerce Department data show that small companies represent 99.1 percent of all employer firms (a firm is an aggregation of all establishments owned by a parent company, even in multiple locations.). They pay nearly 45 percent of U.S. private payroll and have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the past decade.


A few start-ups from the last century may be familiar: Disney, Burger King, Fed-Ex, CNN and Microsoft all started during a period of economic downturn. Today, each of these companies employs thousands of people in the U.S. and abroad.


Recent research shows that more than half of the 2009 Fortune 500 companies were launched during a recession or bear market. In 2002, when the tech bubble burst, I graduated from business school just a few miles from Google. The start-up was a mysterious algorithm-based business, little known and lesser understood. Today, Google employs 20,000 people worldwide.


So the question is how can we foster the next Google? Policy-makers can't predict breakthrough technologies, but they can create an environment that will encourage innovation. How to start?


First, provide further access to capital. Last week, two Small Business Administration stimulus provisions that helped to get millions of dollars to small-business owners ran out of funding. The provisions, passed as part of the Recovery Act, raised the maximum guarantee on SBA loans to 90 percent and reduced or eliminated fees associated with the loans, making it more attractive for banks to lend during the downturn. Access to capital is the lifeblood of small businesses. We must renew these provisions and provide even greater access to credit. Helping fledgling companies grow fuels the economy from the bottom up.


Second, welcome immigrants who are job generators. We are a country of immigrants, and yet in recent years, we have made it incredibly difficult for immigrants to launch companies in the U.S. Why not create a new visa for entrepreneurs? Increasingly venture capitalists, angel investors and innovators are advocating a "start-up visa" offered to immigrant entrepreneurs who want to start a company in the United States. In 2008, nearly 40 percent of technology company founders were foreign-born; 52 percent of Silicon Valley company founders were foreign-born, including the founders of Google, Yahoo, eBay and Intel, to name a few. Why chase these innovators away when we need jobs and should be hanging an "innovators wanted" sign on our front door?


Third, match funds for early investors. Early investors need incentives to put money behind companies that will create U.S. jobs. We have channeled billions of dollars to preserve "too big to fail" institutions. Why not make federal matching dollars available to catalyze smart investment in next generation businesses? Investors could keep their normal returns and a share of returns on federal matching funds could go back to the government to further revitalize our weakened economy. Instead of preserving outdated jobs, we need to fuel the creation of future employment prospects. Early-stage investors with a track record of success can help make this happen.


Obama came into office on an entrepreneurial platform. His campaign catalyzed involvement at the grassroots level. Tapping into new technologies such as YouTube, Facebook and other social networks, our president benefited from entrepreneurial advances.


It is time for the White House to return to its campaign roots. Since Obama's inauguration, our unemployment rate has risen from 7.6 percent to 10.2 percent. It is time to stop propping up outmoded and overleveraged institutions and start betting on the new men and women who offer hope for greater prosperity. Supporting entrepreneurs is change we can believe in.


The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Amy M. Wilkinson.

Love some place local? Be a Guest Reviewer!

As you read this blog have you caught yourself thinking about the local establishments you love? 

Have you just finished a brutal quest of researching a product and want to help others avoid the same pain?

If so, tell us about it and we'll get your "Guest Reviewer" submission up!  Just email us the review and we'll get to work on the post! 

Email us at rulikeus@yahoo.com

L-LO-Lockport! One stop shop for ALL your gifts! Go Porter Gift Shop!

Submitted by Kimberly Demetrio
In a not-so-pretty, small strip store center, Porter Plaza, which houses a cleaners, a psychic, and is anchored at one end by Kim's Hotdogs is Porter Gift Shop.  In days gone by my mother would send me in there to pay our electric bill and get our free lightbulbs but today I go there to check off all the gifts needed for the people on my list! It's small in comparison to the over-crowded supermarket/clothing/appliances/oil change stores but what it lacks in size it makes up tremendously in getting you to the point of being there in the first place: to get gifts and get home!

When you're on a mission with no time to be bombarded by flashy end-cap displays of cereal/motor oil/cat food--may I suggest a little Porter Pride?

Porter Gift Shop

(815) 838-0043

703 E 9th St, Lockport, IL 60441

Dale a tu cuerpo alegria, Macarena. Hey Macarena! (In Naperville)

Submitted by Michelle Matzke
Macarena Tapas Napeville: 618 South Route 59, Suite 120, Naperville, Illinois,USA 60540



This is one of the restaurants heavy on our rotation list - it's my favorite restaurant in Naperville. There are many good tapas restaurants in the area, but this one is something special. It is a hidden gem of a restaurant that once inside, you would never guess is located in a suburban strip mall. Macarena's fun but intimate setting is perfect for a date night or for hanging out with a group of friends. The varieties of tapas (meant to be shared) and pintoxs (individual) are always crowd pleasers. Between my husband and the many groups of friends we have taken here, we have pretty much tried everything on the main menu (a few times over) and look forward to the specials - never once have we ever been disappointed with our meals.


This restaurant revolves around the customer. The owners are always at the restaurant either cooking or serving tables getting to know their customers. In this case, the customers spoke and the owners listened.

Macarena hosts a variety of events thoughout the year, including Toy for Tots (if you bring in a new toy, they will give you a $10 gift certificate); New Years Eve specials; Lab days (where they let the customers decide if the tapa is good enough to be put on the menu); and cooking classes.

If you're in the mood for a quick bite to eat, a slow enjoyable meal, dancing to a dj on Salsa Fridays,  Macarena is your place! 

Hey Macarena! Hey!


Reservations are not necessary, but I have always made them when we go with a group of people of more than 4 - I've even called a few times earlier the same day.






For more information, click on their website: http://www.macarenatapasnaperville.com/


Specials and Events are also posted on FaceBook

Lockport's Best Kept Secret

"William Alexander is an intimate

Wine and Martini Bar, Wine Tasting Room,

and Home Decor gift store."

William Alexander

900 S. State Street

Lockport, IL 60441

815.834.WINE (9463)

http://www.winestudio900.com/Home_Page.php