My husband Steve encouraged me to renew our subscription to the Marriott Theatre. It just makes sense since with a subscription - there's a savings, it's close by, no parking fee and we get 5 Sunday night dates a year. What's not to like? We love the choice of restaurants in Lincolnshire and can enjoy an early dinner.

I had already seen "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in chicago which featured Donny Osmond. Therefore, I was prepared for a difference experience in an intimate sitting. I like that we have to use our imagination since there are few props. The show is short - great for kids. The intermission came after 40 minutes and the entire show is an hour and a half. I've noticed that the theatre's talent just keeps getting better. "Joseph" was great, as was the "Narrator". My favorite character was the "Pharoah". He looked like Elvis, sang like Elvis and rode around on stage on a segway. I would consider driving that machine on stage, an extra talent!

The story's theme about following yoru dreams event though others don't believe in you is encouraging. The music is catchy, costumes are colorful and the story is right out of classic Sunday School. Did I miss Donny and the Chicago Theatre, maybe just a bit. But by the end, we were all standing, clapping and saying, "Go, Go, Go Joseph"! Even my husband Steve enjoyed it. He can't wait until they make a musical out of "The Dirty Dozen". Looks like we'll be renewing our subscription for awhile.

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We went out for St. Patrick’s Day a little early this year, but LUCKY for you, you still have time tonight! McCarthy’s restaurant, located next to Macy’s in Hawthorn Mall (Vernon Hills) is in the midst of their St. Patrick’s Day Festival. It is one you won’t want to miss!


My mom used to really get into celebrating the holiday when I was young. She would make corned beef and cabbage, green mashed potatoes and we would even drink green milk (if you close your eyes…it tastes the same). We loved it. So…as we walked in, McCarthy’s had some big shoes to fill.


Sherri, our waitress, was fantastic! I would go back, just because she took care of us so well. First, she told us the specials and then took our drink order. All you can eat corned beef and cabbage, fish n chips and green beer were the specials for the evening – I’m in!


We started our dinner with an appetizer. Now as I said before, I love corned beef and cabbage so for me, you can never have too much. So when we saw corned beef and cabbage egg rolls on the menu I couldn’t order them fast enough. They were unbelievable!


We both ordered the all you can eat corned beef and cabbage dinners. It came with soup or salad and we chose the Baked French Onion soup. It was so yummy – they must have used the fresh baked bread as the croutons and lots of melted cheese. Again, I would go back just for another crock of soup, so good!


Then Sherri served the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. Red potatoes and carrots accompanied the entrée, but what kicked it up a notch? A thousand island mustard dressing for dipping. Yep, I was in heaven.


I think I said earlier that green beer was on the menu for the holiday too, right? Well, you can’t have a St. Patrick’s Day celebration without having a green beer, or at least I can’t, so I joined in on the fun. You would think I was Irish, wouldn’t you?


OK, that was the dinner…let’s not forget the entertainment. While we were there, Mike Madsen from radio station 102.3 was broadcasting live and there were Irish dancers. It was the perfect way to get us in the green spirit. The dancers were fantastic!


McCarthy’s has planned some special things for Tuesday as well. There will be live entertainment (Terry Spizzirri), Irish dancers and even bag pipers! Check out their website www.mccarthysrestaurant.com for more information on times, etc.


This was the best St. Patrick’s Day celebration that I have joined in on in years! I am so glad I found out about McCarthy’s through the calendar of events at the Lake County Visitors Bureau website. You have to keep checking back – there are always great ideas on what to do in the county AND often have coupons too. By the way, there is a coupon for McCarthy’s through the www.lakecounty.org website. Don’t miss out!

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Birthdays are a time to celebrate...however, after you hit a certain point sometimes they are not as fun anymore! This year, my husband Luke and daughter Reese took me to Tsukasa, one of my favorite restaurants in the area. Tsukasa is a Japanese Steakhouse where they cook the food right in front of you. I have to say; it made turning another year older a little more bearable!
In the past when we have gone to Tsukasa it's always been on a weekend night, this time we went on a Tuesday night so we were able to get a table right away which worked out nicely since bringing a 2 year old to dinner is already a challenge. We shared our table with another family with four young kids. It was fun to chit chat back and forth.

We ordered our food and waited a few minutes as the first course arrived. You start out with soup. It is a broth soup with a little bit of noodle, onion and mushroom. It is delicious, After the soup everyone gets salad as well. It is a simple salad, however, the ginger dressing they put on it is so good. I ate my salad and most of Luke's as well (he had to give in to me since it was my birthday)!

Once everyone had finished their soup and salad the chef arrived to start cooking our main courses. They put on a great show for both the adults and kids with lots of tricks to keep you interested. Our favorite part is when the chef is cooking the vegetables and gives everyone a try catching a piece of broccoli in their mouth. One by one he flings a piece of broccoli through the air towards you and everyone claps and laughs as you try to catch it in your mouth. After three try's the chef gave up on me.

For the main course, you can have white rice or fried rice. We ordered the fried rice, which in my opinion is the best part of the meal. They use a really sweet teriyaki sauce that makes it taste very unique. I ordered the Sesame Scallops and Luke ordered the Hibachi Steak. You also get a big serving of mixed vegetables as well. The sauces they give you to dip the meat and vegetables in are really good too. They give you ginger sauce, a mustard sauce and you can also get teriyaki sauce.

The food was amazing, it doesn't get much fresher than that, right off the grill onto your place and the show was fun. It definitely kep Reese entertained throughout our entire dinner which made it a lot easier.

Luke discretely mentioned to our waitress that it was my birthday, so shortly after dinner, all of the staff came over to the table with a big pineapple dessert and sang Happy Birthday to me in Japanese. They also took a picture for you to take home with you.

I have to say it was a great birthday and a great experience at Tsukasa. Not only is the food wonderful and the service great, but getting to see the chef cook right in front of you and entertain you makes it a fun experience for all. I can't wait to go back again soon!

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There was good reason to whine about winter on Saturday with all the snow that was falling. But the streets and stores of downtown Libertyville were crowded as Mainstreet Libertyville held its second annual “Let’s WINE About Winter” event on February 22. Despite, or perhaps because of the economic times, the turnout was bigger than last year’s successful inaugural event. 28 of Downtown Libertyville’s businesses participated in this year’s event by offering wine tastings/refreshments and having a local artist exhibit their works in their stores. Participants (21 and over) purchased an etched commemorative wine glass for $5 from any of the participating businesses, and then could use the glass to sample the tasting at any of the stores. The event started at 1 pm and went until 5pm. Although I know at least one store the stayed open until 6:30 just to handle the customers that were in the store at 5pm! Downtown Libertyville is no stranger to having shoppers walking the streets from store to store, but this event brings out many more people than a typical Saturday in February. Not only was this an enjoyable experience for participants (who wouldn’t like going from store to store when you get a wine tasting and refreshments at each one!), but a great way for businesses to welcome many new customers who may never had visited them otherwise. I know I met some very nice people as well as seeing several friends. What a great way to spend a snowy Saturday in February!

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