The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) celebrated its 41st year with its annual gala on June 15. Hosted by Eda Davidman and Melissa Sage Fadim, the co-chairs welcomed a sold-out crowd of 445 guests, raising over $410,000. Proceeds benefit the film programming and educational initiatives of the Gene Siskel Film Center.

Adorned in a striking, white Alexander McQueen dress and Pomellato jewelry, Ms. Paltrow is a pulchritudinous women – stunning, elegant and gracious. Aside from a successful acting career, Ms. Paltrow has modeled for Calvin Klein, Estée Lauder, Tod’s, Coach, Hugo Boss’s new scent “Boss Jour Pour Femme,” and was voted People magazine’s ‘Most Beautiful Woman” this year. There’s no question she deserves it all. Not just another beautiful face, Ms. Paltrow recently published her third cookbook and manages her lifestyle website goop.com. Yes, some women have it all…

During the evening, Ellen Sandor, an alumna of the SAIC and 10-year member of the Gene Siskel Film Center’s Advisory Board, was honored for her leadership and major contributions to the film center. An honorable mention was also bestowed upon the late Roger Ebert and his legacy.

“It’s a privilege to honor Ms. Paltrow, one of the most versatile actresses working today, with the Gene Siskel Film Center’s award,” says Gene Siskel Film Center of the SAIC Executive Director Jean de St. Aubin. “The diversity of characters she has portrayed on the screen, from the deft romance and comedy of Shakespeare in Love and Sliding Doors, to her heart-rending performances in Proof and Contagion, is truly impressive. Audiences have come to know Ms. Paltrow from the honesty and intelligence she exudes, and we look forward to hearing about her inspirations and favorite memories when we celebrate her many accomplishments.”

Prior to the dinner, I chatted with Ms. Paltrow. On discussing what’s more challenging, her acting career or role as a mom, Ms. Paltrow shares, “They have different challenges. I think being a mother is challenging in a different way than doing ‘work work.’ I feel more personally challenged being a mother. It has offered me incredible opportunities to look at my own stuff and my own damage and to really try to parent consciously. Being a mom is exhausting; it’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I adore my children [Apple, 9, and Moses, 7].”

Ms. Paltrow wasn’t the only star on hand. Guests were also graced with the presence of Amanda de Cadenet, British host and co-producer of The Conversation on Lifetime television, and acclaimed photographer. Ms. Paltrow and Ms. de Cadenet are friends in London with a lot in common. Both women have two children each around the same age, and each woman married a rock star.

On her TV show, Ms. de Cadenet has conducted interviews with Chelsea Handler, Jane Fonda, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Diane von Furstenberg, among others. On who’d be the ultimate female interview for The Conversation, Ms. de Cadenet shares, “Hillary Clinton. I love Hillary. I want to introduce her to a generation of women that aren’t so familiar with her – other than being Bill Clinton’s wife.”

How does Ms. de Cadenet balance her career with being a mom? “Being a mom to twins is really hard. I always ask people who have twins if they are either crazy or insane? Having two children at once is difficult, however, they always have each other for playdates.” On having a career and being a mom, “The combination is what’s hard. If I was just raising children, that is a really tough job. But raising children and having a career is a juggling act. It’s always a question of someone suffering and it is generally me. Not many breaks in between.”

Before dinner, a congratulatory video was shown from Ms. Paltrow’s Iron Man series co-star, Robert Downey Jr., appearing with his wife Susan Downey, advisory board member of the Gene Siskel Film Center. The delectable dinner was inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbooks My Father’s Daughter and It’s All Good. A creative combination of items from the cookbooks were tagged with movie titles from films that Ms. Paltrow has appeared in, including the main entree: “The Talented Mr. Ripley and Marge Sherwood Duo,” which consisted of seared beef tenderloin, chimichuri sauce and slow cooked wild halibut with tomato fondue, accompanied by roasted tri-colour carrots and lentil du puy.

Following dinner, Ms. de Cadenet conducted a Q&A with Ms. Paltrow while viewing clips from her extensive acting career. Ms. Paltrow discussed why how she chose film roles throughout the years, while turning down others. At the end of the evening, SAIC President Walter E. Massey presented Ms. Paltrow with the Renaissance Award while praising her as an accomplished actress, cookbook author and founder of lifestyle website goop.com.

What a memorable night!

Bob Carl Photograph

Named for its main town, Toro is perched on a cliff overlooking the Duero River, which becomes the Douro in Portugal just 90 kilometres further west. The picturesque skyline is dominated by the lovely collegiate church of Santa Maria la Mayo. For as long as records exist, this place has been renown for big red wines that deliver rich, concentrated fruit and hefty tannins.

The event here in Chicago featured an in-depth seminar on DO Toro wines by sommelier, author and wine educator Marnie Old, an afternoon walk-around trade and media-only tasting.

While many of these wines are still awaiting distribution in the U.S., I’ve included shots of a few of my favorite labels. Look out for them soon at your local retailer but in the meantime, experiment with those Toro Wines currently stocked at your local shop. You’ll enjoy the big fruity juiciness of these fun red wines and appreciate the reasonable price points, as well.

When I was a child, my father actually asked for ‘alone time’ he liked resting in a hammock under a shade tree drinking his favorite beer. Easy enough right? Over the years I’ve enjoyed thinking of gifts that dad wouldn’t normally do for himself like an outing, organizing his garage or planning a BBQ and handling all of the prep work but then letting him master the grill.

I was in the green room of a local television station recently with a client when I ran into someone wearing ‘I’m the Daddy’ scrubs. Intrigued I asked him if he was a doctor, a father or both? He had a very interesting story that I just couldn’t resist sharing here on Play Dates and Power Lunches.

And his story reminded me of my own….When my oldest daughter was born, the doctor asked her father if he would like to cut the umbilical cord, and like a lot of proud fathers he obliged. Seconds later blood splattered all over his shirt. If only he had been introduced to DaddyScubs, he would have saved his shirt, and from the looks of the daddy duds, he would have looked cool and comfortable too.

DaddyScrubs was created by Robert Nickell, who fathered his first four children more than 20 years ago. In fact his oldest daughter work with him in sunny California. Robert remarried in 2007 and discovered he was about to be a father all over again in the fall of 2009.

It was his second go around, and he has a day job as a pharmacist not to mention fathering seven children all played a part in his invention of DaddyScrubs. “Not wanting to endure the pains of wearing uncomfortable street clothes while comforting my laboring wife, I came up with the idea of the doctor-like scrubs,” says Mr. Nickell.

Dean McDermott, Mario Lopez, Ian Ziering, JR Martinez, Evan Handler and Joey Lawernce are just a few celebrity daddy’s sporting these daddy duds. Check out this video to see the latest endorsement…

Mr. Nickell also offers up advice to dads with his blog, and books. He also created the Big Daddy Gift Set which he designed to help dads everywhere have answers and be prepared for anything life or your kids throw at you. I found the set quite interesting. While raising my four girls, I was the one with the diaper bag and the blame if we were a diaper short, ran out of wipes or didn’t have enough entertainment to keep my little ones at bay. This Big Daddy Gift Set helps ensure that Daddy’s comfortable at the beach, picnic in the park, on a bike ride or daddy playdate. The set includes essentials such as: Vintage Blue hat, DaddyBear Gift Set, DaddyDuck Gift Set, I’m the Daddy Bottle Sleeve, I’m the Daddy Water Bottle, Big Daddy Hook, I’m the Daddy Sunglasses, Bug Spray from daddy’s naturals line and you can never forget your Sunblock also from daddy’s naturals line.

Next time you are shopping for a baby shower, think of the dad too! And once you take a glance at this website you’ll see that they offer more than scrubs but t-shirts, hats, ties and sweatshirts to celebrate and clearly make it known who’s the dad!

And to celebrate Father’s Day, which those at the DaddyScrubs company affectionately call Daddy’s Day, the company would like to give-away some Daddy duds…All you have to do is visit the Plan It PR Facebook page and post why you or your loved one deserves some fashionable swag from DaddyScrubs and whoever has the most LIKES will win! It’s that simple!!

While we can help in the gifting department, your planning for the actual day of allowing dad to rest, organizing his ‘man cave’ or preparing for a BBQ of any mans dreams is up to you.

Happy Father’s Day!

“She is a real heroine in the truest sense of the word,” says Alisa Roadcup about a special guest whom Heshima Kenya, the organization for which Ms. Roadcup serves as Director of US Advocacy and Development, recently hosted for an intimate discussion in Chicago.

That guest was Dr. Hawa Abdi, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author of Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman: 90,000 Lives Changed. The 90,000 lives referenced in the subhead are the displaced people, primarily women and children, whom have been sheltered by the rural camp founded by Dr. Abdi in Somalia in the early 1990s. One of the world’s worst humanitarian crises serves as the backdrop Dr. Hawa’s work; that camp encompasses a hospital (originally founded in 1983 before the collapse of the Somali government) with over 400 beds, a school and 1,300 acres of farmland.

On a spring afternoon in a serene condo on Lake Shore Drive, Dr. Hawa shared her story while framed on either side by two important players in her story. On her right sat her daughter, Dr. Deqo Mohamed; while Dr. Hawa was one of the first women in Somalia to become a gynecologist, both of her daughters have since become doctors themselves to aid in the now cross-generational work. On her left sat Sarah Robbins, the co-author of Keeping Hope Alive. Ms. Robbins first met Dr. Hawa while her story was being covered for Glamour magazine’s 2010 Woman of the Year Awards.

Together, the three women recounted the tale not just of Dr. Hawa’s incredible journey, but also the process of coaxing out the details from a woman whom, they recounted with laughter, initially hung up the phone on the Glamour editor who called to tell her about the 2010 award.

While Dr. Hawa and her daughters are often asked how they achieved something so massive in scale, they never thought about the numbers, the future growth, their long-term strategy; they were too immersed in the work and moving to meet the needs directly in front of them to either look ahead or reflect back. The process of reflecting on her journey with Ms. Robbins for the book – a give-and-take relationship that required her to sometimes tell a piece of her story multiple times – was emotional and overwhelming. In the end, though, she noted that she now considers Ms. Robbins a third daughter, a beautiful testament to the bond formed between the women over the writing process.

All of which is good news for the public, who can now read about Dr. Hawa’s incredible strength and resolve for themselves in the long-form format it deserves. 

“Dr. Hawa has literally stared down the barrels of militia guns and still refused to surrender her camp to militants, claiming they must take her life first,” notes Ms. Roadcup. “Her visit was important for Chicagoans so that we can remain well-informed and engaged on the issues affecting women and girls around the world.” She continues, “Dr. Hawa’s story inspires me because she beautifully balances the tension of being traditional and subversive at the same time. Deeply devout about her Muslim faith, she exudes humility and an ethic of service to her people. Yet much of her life has been spent overturning traditional gender roles, speaking truth to power and breaking through educational barriers.”

Pictured: Dr. Deqo Mohamed, Dr. Hawa Abdi and Sarah Robbins

Watch the videos here to meet:

- Arabel Alva Rosales, AAR & Associates, LTD., Child Care Champion Award Winner

- Lindsay Cochrane, representing Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Friend of Child Care Award Winner

- Peg Dunne Pavelec, Little Inspirations, Fast Track Award Winner

- Teresa Gomez, Wonderland Day Care Center & Wonderland Home Day Care, Unsung Hero Award Winner

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And here’s a rundown of the inspirational and educational day:

 Did you experience the Expo with us?  Do you have any questions that didn’t get answered at one of the workshops? Ask them below!

To see more pictures from the event, check out the WBDC Facebook page.

STYLE: Southwestern style is generally characterized by earth-tone colors, rough textures, crafted objects, brightly colored woven fabrics, an abundance of terra cotta and clay tile roofs. It’s known for its relaxed, casual and rustic feel. A Southwestern home makes a person feel they’re still outdoors even when they ‘ve walked inside.

COLORS: Select a Southwestern color palette by watching a desert sunrise or sunset. Dozens of colors can be used in the home to reflect this style. Use colors of auburn, blood-red, cactus green, deep purples, sage green, adobe red, orange, salmon pink, turquoise and desert-toned neutral hues such as beige and brown. You can also add in bright yellow, light blue and teal.

FABRICS: Usually woven fabrics, suede or leather. Geometric patterns or images of animals such as eagles or rabbits are characteristic. Fabric designs can be found in throw pillows, bedspreads, blankets, tapestries and area rugs.

FURNITURE: For furniture that is not upholstered, such as chairs and tables, wood is the most common material. Wood used is usually rustic pine in a distressed finish instead of clean lines. Furniture may also be a combination of materials such as wrought iron, wood and leather. Tables are usually large and rectangular shaped and may be carved. Southwestern furniture is also known for its metal accents, especially the use of decorative nails.

ACCESSORIES: Highlight the room with American Indian handmade painted terra cotta pottery or weaving from the Pueblo and Navajo people. Woven baskets, colorful tiles, wrought iron candelabras and wall art or the use of rawhide lampshades add a touch of the Southwest in your home. A cactus garden placed anywhere immediately gives a southwest feeling.

VAULTED CEILINGS AND ARCHWAYS: You can showcase a space by opening it with an archway to create a large area. Or open your indoor space to the outdoors with a wide archway for a dramatic entry. Consider white or stonework columns to support the arches.

Let’s take the case of Penny Pritzker. A recent Chicago Tribune article outlines some of Ms. Pritzker’s investments. It turns out many of the investments cited in the article are available to the average investor.

These include two fixed-income mutual funds run by the legendary Jeffrey Gundlach called the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund and the DoubleLine Low Duration Bond Fund. Both have excellent performance records. These funds have two ‘classes’ of shares, which depend on how you buy the funds and how much you invest. For Pritzker, she paid just pennies in management fees: 0.49 percent and 0.48 percent of assets, respectively. For someone coming into the funds with $35,000, however, the management fee would be approximately 50 percent higher.

The Templeton Global Bond Advantage Fund is also available and carries a five-star rating from Morningstar. (Note: I am not affiliated with Templeton.)

The only fund in which Ms. Pritzker invests that is not accessible to the average investor is the GMO Quality Fund because of its minimum investment requirement of $300 million. However, if it makes you feel any better, for the last year (ending June 5, 2013), you would have been better off investing in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 index, which has returned 26.19 percent versus the GMO Quality Fund at 23.01 percent.

The wealthy do have the ability to access investments that the average investor cannot in real estate. Average investors can also invest in individual real estate holdings, but the downside involves a lack of diversification, lack of market knowledge, and the extensive amount of time required for management. Individual investors do have access to REITs (real estate investment trusts), and REITs have certainly performed well, but the fees and expenses can inhibit the returns, so someone like Ms. Pritzker may choose to do it on her own.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and should not be interpreted as individualized investment advice. Investment objectives, risk tolerances and the financial situation of individual investors may vary. Please consult your financial and tax advisors before investing.

The following is one process you can use to release negative emotions once and for all. I have included two books that I think are great for lay people and self-help fanatics at the end of the blog. I do encourage those who are looking to be focused and speedy in their results or have trauma/abuse as part of their history to use the books in conjunction with psychotherapy or hypnotherapy.

1. Allow the emotion to arise. Do not judge it, allow it to be and observe it. It will usually go away on its own at the end of the process.
2. Accept responsibility for how you feel. If you have a difficult time accepting responsibility, ask yourself: “What is the payoff I receive for feeling this way? Who am I blaming for this feeling or circumstance?” If you still have a difficult time, then question everything. Question where the feeling came from, why it is there, et cetera.
3. Identify one of the first times you felt this way. Feelings are associated with other life events; try to identify some of those events and explore the meaning you attached to them regarding who you are – for example: do you feel unworthy or invisible.
4. Change the context of the event. What would you have liked to feel instead? For example, would you have liked to feel brave, special or something else?
5. Allow yourself to feel this positive emotion completely.
6. Go back and identify the lessons from this chapter in your story. What did that teach you or help you learn? For example, if you realized that your feeling of anger is tied to being put down by your brother your entire life every time you attempted something new, perhaps you learned not to give up, to try harder and learn as much as you can about a topic in which you are interested.
7. Embrace your pain and joy because they are part of your story. Every part of our life has prepared us to bring our unique gifts to the world. If you try to eliminate or deny a part of your life, you negate the power of your story and ability to create a life that reflects who you truly are.

In order to live a full life, you need to own who you are, the good and bad. Do not run from your negative emotions. Embrace them and allow them to teach you the lessons you have yet to learn. Transform them into high-level emotions like love, joy, acceptance and courage. The process is hard and the specifics look different for each person but it is completely doable! If you feel that you are stuck or struggling, you may want to consult a reputable psychotherapist. 

The names of the two books that I think are helpful in dealing with negative emotions are:  The Secret of the Shadow by Debbie Ford and Letting Go, The Pathway of Surrender by David Hawkins.

I hope you found this helpful. If you are looking for additional resources, click here. As always, leave any comments below or contact me with personal questions.  Pleasant journeys!

Guests can enjoy bidding on fabulous silent auction items while sipping cocktails and noshing on hors d’ oeuvres. All proceeds will benefit the RVA and its programs.

Tickets are available here or by calling Linda at 312.443.9603.

RVA is an Illinois not-for-profit organization made up of individuals with two primary goals: to assure that survivors of sexual assault are treated with dignity and compassion; and to affect changes in the way the legal system, medical institutions and society as a whole respond to survivors.

There’s nothing like having visitors come to town – especially those who’ve had to cross oceans or continents to get here – to help us remind us of what’s so special about sweet home Chicago.

A food and hotel industry acquaintance my dad and I met during a week-long travel writing trip to Costa Rica three years ago was in town last month for the National Restaurant Association show at McCormick Place. He’d visited the city briefly last September, loved it and hoped to return. So when work brought him here, he added a weekend to experience what makes the Windy City so great.

He hit Navy Pier in search of Cubs gear. He made sure to purchase tickets to an afternoon game at Wrigley Field, having been introduced to both Chicago and the Cubs through ‘Chicago’s Very Own’ WGN, one of the first American TV stations he remembers being regularly broadcast into Costa Rican homes. That afternoon he spent hanging out in the friendly confines provided him with memories that’ll probably last a lifetime.

Just a couple weekends ago, my wonderful French teacher from the year I spent in living in Samois-sur-Seine, France, and her husband were in town on a company-sponsored trip. Thankfully, we were having one of our brief stretches of sunny, rain-free days – and from the time they arrived at their Streeterville hotel, they took to our streets. They walked for miles, taking in Millennium Park and making mental notes of which museums they wanted to check out during their brief stay. They marveled, oohed and aahed at the city’s incredible structures, which they experienced during an incomparable Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise. (Okay, local folks…if you haven’t done this, either borrow some tourists or buy a ticket on your own. Accept no substitutes! These docent-led 90-minute tours are worth every cent and will give you an appreciation of Chicago you’ll never get from street level.)

My French friends wanted to sample cuisine that’s hard if not impossible to find back home, even in fabulous Paris. Long waits kept us walking and looking at different spots – but what an embarrassment of culinary riches. We tried Weber Grill Restaurant for charcoal-cooked barbecue, Heaven on Seven for Cajun-with-a-kick cuisine and sophisticated Mexican at Cantina Laredo. After wandering through downtown, we ended up happily settling for sushi and Japanese food at Oysy on East Grand.

They also wanted to take in real Chicago blues, something else that’s incredibly rare in France. I recommended Buddy Guy’s Legends, a great music space owned by the multiple Grammy Award-winning blues guitarist that’s just a few short blocks from my home. My friends absolutely loved it – the sounds, the atmosphere – and even sampled the fried catfish and collard greens I ordered, wanting them to experience a bit of Southern soul while on this side of the Atlantic. They fell hard for Chicago, would love to come back here for a longer stay.

But why do we wait until visitors come to town to take those boat cruises, to stroll through museums, to admire the incredible architecture, to visit massive downtown parks and to marvel at thoughtful urban design? Despite all its real challenges and problems, Chicago’s still a world-class city with loads to offer those of us whose tax dollars help make it so special. Why not fall back in love with our first love? I’ve promised myself I’ll try to do that before the summer’s through.