Tickets now on sale for the Andersonville Development Corp.’s annual benefit:

All About Andersonville

“Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!”

Wednesday, April 28, 2010
6:00-8:00pm

Hosted at Mary’s Attic, 5400 N Clark Street

Tickets: $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Click here to purchase.
Hors d’oeuvres and one free drink included

The evening will include:
* Cocktail music provided by Ellen Shepard and Drew Edwards *

* Bette Davis “hostesses” from your favorite eras! Featuring the fabulous Velicity Metropolis, Teri Yaki, Angelique Munroe, Debbie Fox *

* Quest Theater’s Jason Bowen emceeing *

And fantastic silent and live auction items* from your favorite Andersonville merchants and more! BUY TICKETS HERE.

Come enjoy a market in the heart of winter with cheese, natural meat and poultry, micro-greens, apples, soap, syrup, honey, wool, raw fibers, vinegars, dried fruits, milled flours, sauces and salsas, preserves, cider, and fresh produce as available.

A community breakfast and lunch with some seasonal and local ingredients from the participating farm vendors will be served during the market while quantities last.  This meal offers the opportunity to “taste and see” the products being sold at the market, provides the growers with sales before they even set up their market table, and gives members of the Andersonville community a chance to sit a spell and catch up with friends and neighbors over a tasty meal while contemplating their farmers market purchases.

Free childcare, music for children by Little Miss Ann, face painting by Lisa Gillis of My Corner Playroom, cooking demonstrations by Rene’ Rich of Learn Cook Eat and Cletus Friedman of City Provisions, wool spinning and more.

Contact: Kerri McClimen at 773-529-9250 for more information

It may seem hard to believe it, but we’re less than 4 months from Midsommarfest 2010! With the snow on the ground, June 12 & 13 seems very far away, so we’ve compiled some of the best pictures from Midsommarfest 2009 to get you dreaming about warm summer weekends spent shopping unique vendors, eating festival food, drinking cold beer, and listening to fun bands.  More photos after the jump!

See you on June 12 & 13!

It is two days until Christmas.  Is your shopping done yet?  If not, there is still time to pick up those last minute gifts in Andersonville.

And thus we come to the last store featured in the Andersonville Holiday Gift Guide, Equinox.  And what a fitting way to finish.  Equinox has long been a great destination for a wide variety of gifts, from beautiful lamps and pottery, to fun jewelry and accessories, to really silly gag gifts.  In fact there are so many options sometimes it is difficult to choose what exactly to buy!

Today’s featured item from the Gift Guide is something that Equinox is well known for:  holiday decorations.  These Chicago-Themed Holiday Ornaments ($10-$18) are a great gift for that hard core White Sox fan or the relatives who love visiting you in Chicago and would love a reminder of the City of Big Shoulders hanging on their Christmas tree.

And don’t forget to check out Equinox’s after-holiday sale, a great place to pick up holiday decorations at steep discounts.

Equinox, 5621 N. Clark, 773-878-5785.  Hours: Every day 10:00 am – 5:00  pm.

Long before Andersonville became so well known for its home and design stores, Cassona Home Furnishings owner Alma Gutierrez was on Clark Street selling stylish imported furniture at reasonable prices.  But what you may not know is that Cassona also offers a wide variety of gifts for the home and many different prices.  So if you don’t have the budget to by your loved one a new couch or wardrobe, you can still find things for a lot of people on your list.

Like for instance our Favorite Thing featured in the Andersonville Holiday Gift Guide, there great Enameled Leaf Frames ($14.95).  With room for a 4″x4″ pictures, these are a perfect small gift for a co-worker or office grab bag, or for that person with young kids who never seems to have enough frames to display all of the pictures they have.

Also featured from Cassona are Hoja Leaf Plates and Mini Echevaria Cacti.

Cassona, 5241 N. Clark, 773-506-7882.  Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Sunday 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm.

It’s the Monday of Christmas week!  Is your shopping done?  If not, don’t panic.  Many of the stores in Andersonville who normally are closed on Monday are open and ready to help you with your last-minute shopping needs.  Spend $20 and we will even pay for your parking or CTA fare.  Seriously.

Today’s Favorite Thing from the Andersonville Holiday Gift Guide is from a long-time neighborhood favorite, The Landmark of Andersonville.  While no longer in her iconic co-op space at the corner of Clark & Berwyn, neighborhood fixture Jan Baxter is just a few storefronts south of her original location.  With a distinctive collection of clothing, bath & beauty products, home accessories and jewelry made by American artists, The Landmark has long been a destination for great gifts.  And if you don’t know what exactly you want, Jan and her staff are an incredibly helpful resource for finding the right gift.

Pandora Jewelry is such a great gift because it is the one you can keep giving!  These modern day charm bracelets and necklaces feature a wide assortment of charms in every shape, in different metals and with precious and semi-precious stones.  I am lucky enough to have a few people in my life who wear Pandora, so if I am stumped on a gift I can always go pick out a new charm that reminds me of the person for whom I am buying.  It works for birthdays, seasonal holidays, romantic holidays both real and imagined (I’m looking at you Sweetest Day) and because there is such a wide variety to chose from you are always sure to put a smile on someone’s face!

Also featured from The Landmark of Andersonville are Lampe Berger Lamps and a wide assortment of Bath & Body Products.

The Landmark of Andersonville, 5245 N. Clark, 773-728-5301.  Hours: Monday-Thursday & Saturday, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm.  Friday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm.  Sunday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.

Less than a week left until Christmas!  Don’t panic, everyone loves getting jewelry.

Local designer Deana Rose has always had a great eye for mixing stones, pearls, crystals and glass and making incredibly beautiful necklaces, braclets and earrings.  Available in select local stores, Deana Rose also has a space at the Andersonville Galleria, where you can see a wide selection of her pieces on display.

Like the Ellie Necklace ($68), one of Our Favorite Things from the Andersonville Holiday Gift Guide.  A beautiful hand painted porcelain pendant features the image of a tree and is one of her most popular pieces.

Also featured in the Gift Guide are Simple Sterling Necklaces and Hand Hammered Brass Earrings.

Andersonville Galleria, 5247 N. Clark, 773-878-8570.  Holiday hours:  Tuesday-Thursday & Saturday, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Friday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm, Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm.  Closed Mondays, open Monday, December 21 from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm.

eco-Andersonville Green Gift Wrapping Bash TONIGHT!

Unleash your creativity  and Give the gift of GREEN!

Join us TONIGHT at George’s Ice Cream and Sweets located on 5306 N. Clark Street from 6-10 pm. We will supply re-purposed materials that make great gift wrap, plus crimpers, shredders, tape, glue, and lots more!! This event is free and there we also be FREE treats and drinks provided by George’s.

Tonight is Later Night Andersonville, another chance to shop late (until 10:00 pm) and get great discounts at some of your favorite Andersonville stores.  Plus caroling and holiday music from the Lakeside Pride Freedom Band, and a chance to wrap all of your gifts (for free!) in an ec0-friendly was at the Green Gift Wrapping Bash.  Oh yeah, and only one week until Christmas!

A few blocks from Clark Street is the charming Painted Light Photography & Framing Gallery at 1742 W. Balmoral (worth the walk!).  Owner Barb Laing shop features gift items from local and American artists, as well as her custom framing services.  Today’s favorite thing from the Andersonville Holiday Gift Guide is another service she offers, Photo Restoration.  With over 20 years of experience with photo restoration, she can take your old family photos and give them new life.  Imagine the joy on your family member’s face when you give them a beautiful new print of a photo they had long thought beyond repair.

Other items featured from Painted Light are Pear Candles and Posters.

Painted Light Photography & Framing Gallery, 1742 W. Balmoral.  773-275-4121  Holiday hours: Tuesdays-Thurday, 11:00 am -7:00 pm, Fridays 11:00 am-3:00 pm, Saturday 10:30 am-5:00 pm, Sunday, 10:30 am-4:00 pm, closed on Mondays.  Appointments available.