Do you wish that you could take your sweetheart to exotic foreign places? Do you dream about sharing coffee and cake in Vienna, Russian tea in St. Petersburg or Thai iced tea in Bangkok? Then, do you wake up and realize that you can’t afford to leave the city?

Yeah, me too.

At times like this, I take my date to Kopi Cafe, on Clark Street and Berwyn in Andersonville. Billing itself as “a café for travelers,” Kopi brews a wider selection of tea and coffee than any café I’ve encountered. The affordable, tasty menu spans several continents and breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. Clocks on the wall tell you the time in Katmandu and Tokyo as Jalan Jalan Boutique sells clothes, jewelry, bags, incense and travel books in the back of the shop. Stop in for a cup of tea or coffee or enjoy a full meal, most for less than $10 per person.

Taking its name from an Indonesian word for “coffee”, Kopi Café serves up coffee in all its forms - from simple espresso to fluffy Viennese coffee, Thai iced coffee and frozen espresso treats. Traditional and trendy teas abound here: Darjeeling, red roobios, gunpowder green, anti-oxidant rich white tea, and many healing herbals like Women’s Libertea with dong quai and licorice root. My favorites are white teas with blueberry, strong black Russian tea with sour cherry preserves and yerba mate, a naturally caffeinated South American herb tea. The ultimate shippable indulgence here is Thick.Hot.Sipping,Chocolate, a melted dark chocolate indulgence like a French chocolate pot or the cioccolata I lived on as a student in Florence.

Brunch gets crowded and noisy at Kopi, but with good reason. Brunch items range from old-fashioned croissants, scones, eggs and lox to experimental dishes like Breakfast Pizza of the Future, topped with scrambled eggs, vegetarian sausage and cheese. Crepes and healthy fruit smoothies, including the lychee mangosteen start your day off right or help you recharge after a late night out. No matter how busy brunch gets, servers stay friendly and keep the tables and floor spotless.

The lunch and dinner menu features Greek, Italian, French, Mexican and American inspired soups, salads and sandwiches, making Kopi a good pick if you and your date each want a different cuisine. If you like cheese, split a cheese platter or enjoy the Chevre Chaud salad with crisp goat cheese baguette toasts on a big bed of mixed greens and tomatoes. A unique Greek salad includes a block of feta and tomato pesto with olives and greens. Sandwiches range from Black Forest ham and smoked salmon to Tofurkey sausage and black bean burgers. Panini selections include Caprese Pesto and The Elvis, a fried peanut butter and bananas sandwich.

If you have room for dessert, check the glass cake cases for flourless chocolate cake, carrot cake, fresh cookies and brownies, and puffy yellow Lemon Blossom cookies. You can start or end a date pleasantly at Kopi, which stays open late, or relax in the afternoon on the cushions by the low tables in the front. Peruse the travel books from Jalan Jalan and imagine your next trip to Australia, Brazil, Belgium or Vietnam. Even if you’re on a budget, maybe saving up for your next journey, Kopi encourages you to try new flavors and dream big.

So you think you're playing it safe by buying flowers for the mom in your life? Not necessarily! You're not five years old anymore, and pulling dandelions out from the back yard just isn't going to cut it, and neither is grabbing a five dollar bouquet from the convenience or chain drug store. Even if you are one heck of a landscaper and can cut the perfect arrangement from your patio, you just might want to kick it up a notch and present it in a nice vase, with a card, of course!

Here's some fantastic places to shop that can make her forget all about the teen angst grief you gave her as a kid!

Fleur: Hands down, this place is the BEST in Chicago when it comes to beautiful arrangements, fantastic prices and wonderful, caring staff. If you tell them no carnations, they will oblige. If you just want a single, long stemmed rose, they will treat you just as well as they do for their big weddings. What I like is they stick with the seasons, so you always know what you order will be fresh, long lasting and treasured.

I recommend you visit the store instead of calling your order in, because you will find a lot of nice additions here you won't find anyplace else, like unique and locally made jewelry, soaps and purses. Besides, when it comes to Mother's Day, you really should be doing the delivery yourself. Like I said, this place is the BEST!

Cattails in Wicker Park is my second favorite place for all of the reasons above. I love working with the independent shops for things like this, because they genuinely seem to care and not treat you like a number. And wow - when you walk in, you feel like you have just stepped into paradise, with all the sights and smells of the most vivid romance or fantasy film ever created.

Now granted, they seem to run on the pricey side, but if you go in and chat it up with the staff, they can most assuredly assist you within your budget and not have you walk out feeling like a cheap skate.

Gethsemane Garden Center: Now if you're looking for guaranteed organic cut flowers, your best bet is to hit up your neighborhood WF. However, if you're going that route, I would suggest taking it a step further and tapping this local, indie nursery. Buy a couple flats for mom to plant in her garden (after the 15th, of course!) and decorate them in an open, gift wrapped box, lined to prevent water seepage. Go perennial if you can, so she can cherish the blooms year after year!

This place isn't cheap by any stretch, but you get what you pay for, and you just might end up calling it even when you count the gas and headache you save from heading out to the 'burbs to wheel n' deal with the chains. And hey - they're just plain sweet and helpful!

Whatever you like to call it, many South Siders prefer to call the park where the White Sox play their home away from home during the baseball season. There’s no denying this ball park houses some winners, because if the fact that these guys won the World Series not too long ago escapes your memory, anyone driving by on the Dan Ryan or riding the Red Line can see that the home run fireworks never seem to stop! And of course, even though the original grounds are no more, it’s still the place that houses legends, including the landmark where Disco came to a bitter end.

Besides the fireworks, there are just so many cool features this modern park has to offer that really deserves mention. For one thing, you aren’t confined to either your seat or the bleacher spot you have to defend with dear life – you can actually move about! Go down to under the right field stands and grab a beer at the bar: you can sit down at a picnic table and watch the game! If you came with the kids and they’re starting to get antsy, take them down to see some of the attractions, like the Sox Hall of Fame, the baseball card booth, the speed pitch booths and the baseball skills area. Another thing that’s good is the food – no matter what you’re craving, this place probably has it, from dogs, to ribs and just about everything snacky. Even die hard vegans won’t go hungry here!

Now when the Sox play against the Cubs for the Cross Town Classic, fans can easily get to either park by simply riding the Red Line El. Believe me, this is one heck of a party train, so while it can get pretty crowded, it does so in a good way! Now it’s true Wrigley Field is a much prettier park with a lot more character (and is located in a much better neighborhood!), Sox Park is much less expensive, is much bigger, has more amenities and the bulk of the fans in attendance are genuinely there to see the game – the park is corporate, but the butts in the seats are certainly not. And hey – for $15, you can be rest assured you WILL find parking! To be honest, I like both ball parks about the same, but for the obviously very different reasons. I say, let the die hard fans duke it out for themselves, and let us fair weather fans have our cake and eat it, too!

Now that spring is finally here, we all are just itching to break our cabin fever! Here's my top picks for driving out of the city for a couple nights and snuggle with your bunny!

Wisconsin Dells: Sure it has been transformed into Tourist Trap Central over the last decade or so, but there are still plenty of those classic nooks and crannies that are the real draws of the land. And because the kids are still in school, most of the craziness is still subdued for a good month or so! Not only that, but you can score some really sweet room rates at some of the most luxurious hotels in town!

If you go here, you got to have breakfast at Paul Bunyan's, ride the Ducks and explore the wilderness, be it by foot or horse! Also, the Deer Park is just so magical, and the hey - you can hit the slots, too!

Starved Rock State Park: Even with rush hour traffic, it only takes a couple hours to get from the urban jungle to the unspoiled wilderness. Be sure to pack your walking shoes and go on a marvelous hike to see the waterfalls and the budding greenery. There is truly no other place I like to escape to more when I just want to be, especially when I go with my snuggle bunny!

Lake Geneva: Crossing the Wisconsin border once again to what many have begun referring to it as "Illinois' Playground", this picturesque town is the perfect location when a bed and breakfast is definitely in order. Sure, there's plenty to do on the water and a romantic horse drawn carriage ride is truly memorable, but if you really want to see everything all at once, why not take a ride through the air - by plane, helicopter or even hot air balloon!

Indiana Dunes and more: Most of us born and bred Chicagoans know the experience well, that jumping on the Skyway means we're going someplace special. So why not relive that childhood thrill? Whether you want to lay out on the beach at the Dunes, go horseback riding or antiquing, there is just so many things here to fill up a weekend. And hey! Indiana's sales tax is a whole lot less too, so be sure to get some shopping in!

Brown County: What? Did someone mention antiquing? Well, if you don't mind a little more driving, keep heading due south and tap one of the most gorgeous regions in the Midwest! Down here, you can taste some truly incredible wine, relish in a much warmer climate and bask in the all the quaint, simple pleasures of the countryside. I've even found some incredible folk art down here that now sits prominently in my home.

Honky Tonk Barbecue is a delicious, no-frills barbecue joint, which upgraded from a portable smoker and catering service. I would recommend it for a date because of its excellent food, relaxed atmosphere and frequent live music.

Don’t be put off by the plain metal doorway at 18th and Racine, the interior is bright and comfy with light wood tables, swinging shutter doors and local art on the walls. Two types of barbecue sauce - smoky and sweet - bring out the best in the beef brisket and pulled pork. My favorite meal here is the half chicken (whole ones are also available) fresh - never frozen - and succulent. All chicken here is free-range; owner Willie Wagner prides himself on natural meat and Memphis-style barbecue. Free-range doesn’t mean high-priced here; most menu items are under ten dollars with your choice of two side dishes.

The side dishes include baked beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob and Mexican style cornbread with a few kernels baked in. The salad of jicama, walnuts and mixed greens calls itself “What Your Girlfriend Wants.” If you and your date like beer with your barbecue, you’re in luck; Honky Tonk is BYOB. Some regulars were sharing a bottle of wine when I visited, but the two dining rooms weren’t overcrowded or too loud. The restaurant seats 60. Menu items, such as salads and sides sometimes rotate and all are house-made. The applewood-smoked pork spare ribs never disappoint. Bratwurst, hamburgers and cheeseburgers and pulled pork and brisket sandwiches arrive on fresh rolls with your choice of sauces.

Local country, blues and jazz bands play here a few nights a week. Every Friday night you can hear the Northside Southpaws, John Hasbrouck and Matt Gandurski, a left-handed duo playing “archaic country and obsolete ragtime” on a steel guitar and mandolin. Their mellow waltzes and fun folk songs mix well with the delicious old-fashioned meals. A row of old theater seats provides extra spots for watching shows.

If you or your date live near Honky Tonk, call for delivery. Catering remains available for special events. No matter how many take-out and delivery orders people call for, servers are smiling and friendly.

With the weather finally cooperating and the date is drawing ever nearer, many of you are considering doing something for Earth Day this year. After all, anything that provides a glimmer of hope to lowering the price of gas while making you feel good about yourself and helps to improve the health of you and yours is always a good thing! Here’s a list of events around the city you just might want to check out!

Green Scene Earth Day Festival - Saturday, April 19th, noon to 5pm: Head up north to North Side Prep for this second annual fest, featuring vendors, informational booths, hands-on activities and kids’ crafts that highlight all the different aspects of leading an environmentally friendly lifestyle, such as organic food, fair-trade products, green energy sources, and recycling and conservation programs.

Sell used books, movies and music at Half Price Books and gently used brand name clothing and accessories for young adults at Plato's Closet. Also, bring old computers, cell phones and ink cartridges to recycle.

Participating Vendors:

• Chicago Fair Trade
• Ethical Planet
• Urban Habitat Chicago
• Temptation Vegan Ice Cream
• Green Wise Organic Lawn Care
• Sparkle Queen
• Consolidated Printing Company
• PoopBags.com
• Bower Natural Bedding
• Supporting Hands
• Bean Products
• Independent Mechanical Industries
• Choose Kindness
• Cartridge World
• Plato's Closet
• Half Price Books
• Soul Vegetarian East
• ecoLogical Home Ideas
• Wagner Farm Rescue Fund
• Department of Environment
• Roger Rickshaw
• I-GO Car Sharing
• Greenheart
• Lillstreet Art Center
• Renewal by Andersen
• Mercy for Animals
• Notice
• Tink Tinks
• The Leash We Can Do!
• Hannah's Bretzel
• Green Bag Lunch
• Chiro One Wellness Center
• SenTeaMental Moods
• Environmentally Sustainable Design

Lincoln Park Zoo - April 18th – 20th: Three days of fun and information for the whole family, with a day-long concert and speaking engagements on Sunday!

2008 Earth Day Network/Green Apple Festival Free Line-up for Sunday:

• Derek Trucks Band
• Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• Meshell Ndegeocello
• Chicago Afrobeat Orchestra
• Miss Lori Holton Nash
• The Gwalla Gwallas
• Event MC- Kyle Orton - Chicago Bears

And remember, even when it’s not Earth Day, see what you can do at home. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

The Hideout, Chicago’s favorite alternative country bar, makes a great date spot. Popular, but not overcrowded, the Hideout offers all kinds of entertainment and bargain price drinks. It’s fun, unpretentious, and feels like drinking at a friend’s house.

Best known for its alternative country music, the Hideout also offers blues, rock, dance mixes, metal and reggae. Last year, I saw Delta Bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards there, still sounding great at 92. Every Tuesday the house band, Devil in A Woodpile, plays ragtime and bluegrass with piano, string bass, jug and washboard. D.J. Bald Eagle and Mother Hubbard host a dance party every other Saturday night, starting at 11. The Hideout also throws block parties with food and music outdoors in the adjoining lots. Last summer’s Hideout Block Party included rock and roll choir Blue Ribbon Glee Club and post-modern marching band Mucca Pazza. An April 4 show called “The Hideout Gets Heavier” featured Yakuza, Rabid Rabbit and Kommandant. No matter what your date’s musical taste, you can find something to impress them at the Hideout. It’s a fun place to dance or just sit back and watch a show.

If you and your date prefer comedy or film, check out the Chicago Short Film Brigade or the Interview Show. Once a month, the Chicago Short Film Brigade shows serious and funny short films, with popcorn and sometimes pie for concessions. The Interview Show follows a Jay Leno/David Letterman format with host Mark Bazer bringing in local musicians, comedians and filmmakers. Covers for these entertaining shows are $5 to $10, less than a movie.

Drinks at the Hideout are also reasonably priced. My favorite beer there is the Berghoff Red for $2.50 a bottle. Goose Island, Red Seal and Newcastle Brown Ale are also on tap and the full bar serves cocktails like the house special “Wooden Leg” with rye. Note that there is no food except snacks, like the popcorn on movie nights and the bar is cash only, but there is an ATM.

True to its name, the Hideout is isolated from the rest of Wicker Park and somewhat hard to find. Industrial lots surround the Hideout, so there’s plenty of parking nearby. The Hideout is close to North Avenue and Elston. You can walk there from the Damen Blue Line El Stop, going east on North Avenue and north on Ada. Look for the Old Style beer sign.

The Hideout’s building is a two-story wood house with a big patio out front. Inside, it has stuffed deer heads and swordfish on the walls and yellow Christmas lights strung up from the ceiling. Its relaxed kitsch welcomes all visitors and the chalkboard above the bar reads “Drinking unites; sobriety divides.”

Welcome to the Friendly Confines! This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful ball parks in the country, and probably also the smallest. And yeah, it has a tendency to fill up with a bunch of yuppies and suburbanites, but if you’re a longtime local like me, you know how to wing this place pretty well. After all, baseball is for everyone, and whether they win or lose (which is often), you can ensure you can have a great time here. While I prefer the Sox as a team, Wrigley Field is hands down a much better park!

The first rule of thumb is to leave the car at home! Seriously! There is hardly anywhere to park, and even if you *do* find parking, you’ll be sitting in traffic for an hour or two before you make your way out! The L train right behind the place is leads to just about anywhere you want to go, so do that instead.

Second – if you’re having trouble getting tickets before you go, there is always somebody selling theirs outside. While it’s true scalping is illegal, the cops tend to look the other way. Just walk around with your fingers in the air of how many you want and someone will approach you. Just keep it on the down low! That is of course, if you don’t want to hit the ticket brokers nearby so you can use a credit card.

Third – be a Bleacher Bum! Scoring pricey home plate seats are for corporate types trying to impress clients. And suburbanites. And basically all the people who go to be seen than to actually see the game, as well as transplants and other non locals. Besides, the real party is up by the score board anyway. Think the scene in “Titanic” and you’ll know where I’m going with this. Just remember anytime before mid June to dress for 40F weather, because that shade and lake breeze can be pretty brutal! However, in late August, you’ll be more than happy with the temperature difference!

The fourth rule is to never EVER keep a home run ball from the opposing team! Throw it back! I don’t care how much you can get off eBay with it – it just ain’t worth it! Also, never reach out for a ball! Have we not learned the Bartman lesson yet, people?

And finally – it’s Old Style or nuttin! There is just no replacing that taste of cheap domestic beer with those waxed paper cups. Is it a chemical thing? I don’t know, just if you want to party with the Big Boys, this is what you order – and plenty of it!

Sometimes it’s relaxing just to wander about all by yourself. One Friday night I was wandering around lovely Forest Park, the city that boasts small town charm amidst a big city atmosphere. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I stumbled across a few little treasures that revived my once-dead belief that the suburbs can be home to interesting places, too.

Not sure of what I’d find inside, I walked into Madison Street’s Priya Grocery. From the outside, it just looks like an old Mom and Pop corner store. But when you walk in, you see it’s much more than that. Priya Grocery stocks their shelves with Indian groceries, specialties and treats, as well as common staples to help you get through the week. In the cooler, you’ll find freshly made foods from local Indian restaurants. As you head farther back down the long, narrow aisles, the food becomes more and more authentic, and if you were going to prepare a delicious Indian meal, you’d probably want to stop here first.

As I approached the counter, I chatted with a young girl who was helping tend the cash register. She mentioned that she did Henna designs for $5.00. Thinking back to high school when my best friend and I would get elaborate Henna tattoos on our hands, I couldn’t resist the urge to take a few minutes and let her try her artistic skills out on me. She opened a tube of the dye and went right to work. The smell is so relaxing and it gives of such a soothing aroma. Having it done sort of has the same feel as getting your nails done, so I felt very pampered.

When she was done, I held my hand out and admired her artwork. It was the kind of spur-of-the-moment thing that you never could have planned. As my hand dried, I strolled through the store checking out the unique inventory.

The great thing about Priya is that it carries items you’d never find in say, Jewel or Dominick’s. I spotted a huge bag of loose tea and picked it up, holding it to my nose. The smell was terrific! Way in the back, in the freezer, there was all kinds of prepared foods that just needed heating up. I grabbed a few things from the freezer and from the cooler in the front. There was no way I was going to settle for McDonald’s tonight—I wanted to cook myself a real meal.

And as I stood in line to pay, my eyes wandered over the titles of hundreds of Indian movies, which the owners rent out as well. A grocery store and a video store all in one! Talk about dinner and a movie.

Chicagoland has tons of hidden treasures and I think I found one of my favorites. Keep your mind open and you might come across some rare gems yourself.

Remember when you lived at home and your income was yours to spend as you liked? Remember back when you two were jealously referred to as DINKs by your straddled coworkers and clothes shopping was considered to be a leisurely pastime? Remember all those beautiful designer shoes your closet used to be loaded with but you can no longer afford to shop for? Well buck up! This is the best time of the year for getting a new wardrobe, for you and even your kids, and your wallet won’t even complain!

First off, the department stores are all trying to lure you in with their various sales, because they know many of you have your tax returns on hand, and you also need to start stocking up on a lot less layering. If you want to go that route, Carsons should be your first stop, because they’re having their annual Goodwill sale. For every item you donate, you get a coupon for a new item for 20% off, even if it’s on sale, and of which there is a lot of! You do good for someone else, and you get treated for it. Not bad! The other stores of its caliper, like Macy’s and Kohl's, are also having big sales right now, so you might want to explore all three.

Now if you’re like me and want to go vintage and retro, your first stop should be the Village Discount Outlet, especially if you’ve never tapped a store like this before. Hey! You there! Stop your moaning and eye rolling! Yes, thrift store clothes are used, and yes they have that weird smell to everything, but they’re also fun, cool places to shop and have really nice stuff if you know where to go! I like the one on Elston when driving, and the one by Diversey and Halsted has some pretty high end stuff to check out.

Now, once you get broken in to how the system works, you might just be ready for the smaller boutiques and theme shops. Shangrila Vintage in Roscoe Village is just so fun to check out, and the people working there are awesome! A Ragstock location is another place you’ll want to check out if you’re of the 20-30 year old persuasion, because they always have a sale going on, the stuff is so friggin’ cool, and they’re even a happy medium between new and used. I like the store on Belmont the best, even though the parking is pretty scarce.

So definitely get your shopping freak on and enjoy your new duds! Just remember to bring cash to the vintage joints!