The North Shore Weekend, January 7th, 2023

Photography by Katrina Wittkamp

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

1060 Saxony Drive* Highland Park $1,360,000

339 Lakeside Place* Highland Park $1,000,000

410 Blue Ash Drive Buffalo Grove $849,000

1401 Oakwood Avenue* Highland Park $845,000

1661 Hickory Street Highland Park $842,000

543 Lavergne Avenue* Wilmette $759,700

881 Marion Avenue Highland Park $720,000

267 Leslee Lane Highland Park $699,900

365 Lakeside Place Highland Park $600,000

815 Laurel Ave, Unit 103 Highland Park $555,000

261 Leslee Lane Highland Park $525,000

1338 McDaniels Avenue Highland Park $510,000

815 Laurel Ave, Unit 106 Highland Park $450,000

1462 Saint Tropez Court* Highland Park $356,000

815 Laurel Ave, Unit 203 Highland Park $305,000

702 Marion Avenue Highland Park $225,000

815 Laurel Ave, Unit 205 Highland Park $219,000

815 Laurel Ave, Unit 105 Highland Park $195,000

9242 Gross Point Rd, #211 Skokie $185,000

FOR

SOUTH

343

731

328

1170

Per Month Per Month Per Month COMINGSOON

2024 SAINT JOHNS AVE, #202, HIGHLAND PARK - $250,000 REPRESENTED THE BUYER 2066 SAINT JOHNS AVE, #408, HIGHLAND PARK - $235,000 REPRESENTED THE BUYER 886 WILLOW ROAD, WINNETKA - $8,000 384 HASTINGS AVENUE, HIGHLAND PARK - $5,000 REPRESENTED THE TENANT 531 MALLARD LANE, DEERFIELD - $3,200 REPRESENTED THE TENANT 913 GREEN BAY ROAD #2N, WINNETKA

Brigitte Nettesheim was just the third student from her high school—in Warsaw, a small West Central Illinois town—to be accepted to West Point, the United States Military Academy. Her guidance counselor, a mentor to Nettesheim throughout her four years of high school, had a son at West Point and was familiar with the application process and overall experience. She encouraged her to apply.

“I felt the burden of not wanting my family to have to pay for college and knew I needed a scholarship,” recalls Nettesheim. “It was maybe happenstance, maybe fate, that my guidance counselor steered me toward West Point.”

She attended a summer academic enrichment program at West Point before senior year and was “sold,” she says. “The academic rigor and physical discipline were intimidating for a 17-year-old, but I was attracted to the teamwork approach, camaraderie, and rich history of building leaders who served our country. No civilian undergraduate institution could provide that same experience.”

Having grown up on a farm, Nettesheim says the values of hard work and teamwork were instilled in her from a young age. The Warsaw community helped shape her mindset, too; she recalls someone saying to her, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

For Nettesheim, that translated to serving others.

She spent five years on active duty in the United States Army, primarily in the Aviation and Finance branches, stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. Even though she never deployed—she describes her stint as one during the Clinton peacetime era between the two gulf wars—Nettesheim resigned as a Captain after becoming a mom. “I couldn’t imagine being the mom I wanted to be and be deployable at any given moment,” explains Nettesheim. “It was a family decision.”

Still, she felt called to serve post-Army and joined the private healthcare sector, a space in which she felt a difference could be made. And, of course, healthcare is an industry with no shortage of government influence, which helped combine her experience with her passion. She spent two years at Caremark, CVS’ prescription benefit management subsidiary, in pharmacy services in business development before pursuing an MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. There, she focused in healthcare industry management.

“I remember a class where we talked about game theory,” says Nettesheim. “I sort of scratched my head that anyone would struggle with this. It was already ingrained in how I thought about situations because of my military training. What would I do if I were the enemy? What variables would influence my action? I found bringing that

into the business world to be a relatively easy transition. The hardest part is understanding who my enemies and friends are now. It’s a bit of a frenemy game in healthcare.”

That said, Nettesheim struggled to acclimate, too. She called women who had graduated West Point ahead of her and asked what she should wear to work, having been used to donning a uniform every day. It also took time to understand what Nettesheim calls “business speak,” and the ebb and flow

of how employees interact with each other, which is different than in the military.

“I had an amazing boss and mentor who had hired junior military officers before,” Nettesheim remembers. “I still credit him for teaching me Excel and turning me into a modeling nerd. And I always remind myself in stressful situations that there are no live bullets flying at us. That helps me stay calm and thoughtful.”

Nettesheim has repaid the favor, actively

striving to recruit, mentor, sponsor, and retain veterans in her current role as President, North Central Region & Joint Ventures at Aetna, a CVS Health Company. Building an organization with a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, thought processes, ethnicities, and genders has been a highlight of her career, she says.

“When you’re in the military, you learn to build teams that trust each other,” explains Nettesheim. “You’re responsible for each other’s lives. I bring that to work every single day. Military strategy and planning have a lot of parallels in my work life today, especially in healthcare. It takes all types to win wars.”

She’s been with Aetna for more than 15 years, working across multiple aspects of the business but mostly focused on improving the affordability of healthcare and on improving health equity. She’s stayed in the CVS Health family because she says, they believe the same thing she does: the current healthcare system is too inaccessible, costly, and complex. The goal? To develop healthcare solutions that enable individuals and families to receive higher quality care without overpaying.

Nettesheim is currently working to design benefit solutions with larger employers. She is most proud of the contribution she makes to a nationwide project through the CVS Health Foundation—which supports communities CVS serves through in-kind donations, employee giving, and fundraising—to provide for underserved communities. Thanks to this initiative, CVS Health Foundation has announced an investment of tens of millions of dollars to build supportive housing units for underserved populations in Cleveland, Denver, and Anchorage just to name a few. Nettesheim and the team have their sights set on Chicago next.

“I want to push the boundaries of healthcare status quo,” says Nettesheim. “The only way to advance health equity is by addressing the social determinants of health at a hyperlocal level. This is why I do what I do—so we can invest in initiatives like this.”

That’s probably why she’s also on the executive committee of the Community AntiDrug Coalitions of America (CADCA), a nonprofit organization that is committed to creating safe, healthy, and drug-free communities globally. The CEO of CADCA is a retired general who was a professor of military science while Nettesheim studied at West Point. He inspired her to become involved.

And that same military network transcends Nettesheim’s professional life. She has a close-knit group of friends on the North Shore who graduated from West Point around the same time she did. All four West Point graduates who live in Kenilworth have a child who attended the same grade at Joseph Sears School together. Nettesheim is mom to Tori (24), Elisa (22), and Alex (15).

“The North Shore is an amazing place to raise children,” she says. “And my military experience definitely influenced how I parent. I just hope to raise young adults with strong values.”

Like mother, like children.

Military strategy and planning have a lot of parallels in my work life today, especially in healthcare. It takes all types to win wars.

Brigitte Nettesheim

Photography by Katrina Wittkamp

TANDEM TRAVELS

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Eighteen years ago, Diane Deemer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Deemer had been a marathoner and triathlete, and while she’s had to give up some of those pursuits since her diagnosis, she has stayed active with the help of her husband and caregiver, Phil, and support from the Lake Forest community.

“For Parkinson’s, exercise is one of the biggest treatments there is. Sure, there’s lots of medicine Diane takes, but there is a very active Parkinson’s community in Lake Forest, partly centered around the Lake Forest Health and Fitness Club,” Phil Deemer says. “There are classes there specifically for Parkinson’s patients that they’ve had for three or four years now. They include things like boxing and spin and strength and balance. They say to keep moving is a big element of working with Parkinson’s.”

The Deemers started tandem bicycling when they first met in the mid-90s as a way to cycle together. They took their tandem bike with them on the honeymoon to Italy in 1999 and since Diane’s diagnosis, tandem cycling has become central to their lives.

They have a deal.

“When I pedal, she has to pedal,” Phil explains.

trails around the country.

“We love bicycling on the lakefront trail in downtown Chicago. We’ve been all over the world and have lived all over the world and that trail in downtown Chicago is one of the prettiest and best trails there is for bicycling,” Phil says. “We go there all the time. We also love the local bike trails here in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff and on the rest of the North Shore.”

An annual tradition for the couple is the Door County Century bicycle ride in September in Wisconsin. They started the tradition before they were married, and Phil estimates they’ve participated in the race at least 20 times.

Then there are the trips abroad. “Italy is just one of those magnets for bicycling, and we’ve done a number of trips in Italy in Tuscany and Puglia. A recent trip we took was to Croatia along the Adriatic Sea, and we

went to Montenegro and Slovenia,” Phil says. “Last year we went to French Polynesia, where a boat let us off on a different island each day. That was one of those unforgettable trips.”

Upcoming trips are scheduled for Japan in Spring 2023, the Columbia River Valley in summer, and a ride along the Columbia River from the east part of Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. In January 2024, they plan to go to New Zealand.

The trips are programmed through an adventure company, Santana Adventures, and many tandem bicyclists participate so there’s a lot of support and camaraderie.

“Diane gets a lot of attention. She’s usually the only one that has Parkinson’s doing this kind of stuff. We feel good being in the company of people who can help us if we need it,” Phil says. “We just enjoy traveling all over with our bicycle. Every now and then we’ll go to a beach in Maui but for the most part we like these trips where we can stay active. We’re going to keep doing them as long as we can.”

He says for the past 15 years Diane has not been able to ride a single bike because of balance problems so they’ve kept up the tandem and that’s been the primary way for them to get exercise. Diane can ride the tandem better than she can walk, even though she was a very strong runner prior to her diagnosis.

The two met through the Lake Forest Running Club after they both moved to Lake Forest in 1990 from different places. They regularly tandem cycle local trails as well as

Lake Forest residents Phil and Diane Deemer travel the country and world with their tandem bike, both for fun and for healing.

Bess Bower Dunn Museum in Libertyville kicked off the new year with its 8th annual Lake County History Symposium, two days of free online-only events that explore the history of food and hospitality in our communities.

This annual gathering of people interested in the history of Lake County features professional, amateur, and student historians. These specially selected guests give presentations based on their original historical research, using primary and secondary sources.

The first of the “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry” symposiums was presented via Zoom on January 5, but Day Two is slated for 7 p.m. next Thursday, January 19. Admission is free but space is limited so register as soon as possible.

The three presentations next week include:

“ STAY: THE HISTORY OF LIBERTYVILLE HOTELS ,” presented by Jenny Barry, explores the history of traveler accommodations in Libertyville, which has the unique distinction of being a stopping point for visitors since the mid-1800s. Barry, a local history librarian with the Libertyville Historical Society, introduces a few of these early hotels and stories of some notable guests.

“FLORA AND FAUNA” presented by Nancy Webster, features recipes collected orally by Native Americans and written by local pioneer settlers that demonstrate sustenance and diet using native flora and fauna. This fascinating glimpse of our local history will be illustrated using glass slides.

“EATING WILD IN DEERFIELD,” presented by Donna-Marie Stupple, takes a look at the history of Wild Game fund-raising dinners in the area, including one in which the main dish was local raccoons.

The Dunn Museum is dedicated to sharing the entwined stories of people, events, and nature through exhibitions, education, and community engagement— exploring history as a vibrant force that connects us all through time.

For more information about the museum’s permanent exhibitions, visit lcfpd.org/museum/. To register for the free symposium via Zoom, visit lcfpd.org/2023-lake-countyhistory-symposium/day2/

INSPIRING WOMEN

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Why ask why when you can ask why not?

That’s what six women leaders will be doing at the annual 2023 TEDxWilmette event which will be held on April 22 at Baker Demonstration School on Sheridan Road in Wilmette. Through a series of brief talks, the six speakers seek to challenge norms and break boundaries.

TEDx is a local, self-organized offshoot of TED talks, a four-day event launched in San Francisco nearly three decades ago. TEDx events are held in communities across the country in the spirit of ideas worth spreading. The original TEDx Wilmette, at the time called TEDxWilmetteWomen, was held in 2019, making this year’s series

ber and was so energized by what I heard and saw that I approached a board member and asked to help,” Merk says. “My first year in a volunteer role was in 2021working on audience experience and figuring out the best way to connect with our audience.”

Merk says the work was both interesting and challenging because organizers wanted to make the event as interactive and uplifting as possible, particularly because it was virtual due to COVID-19. They offered the talks virtually with salon-style speaker engagement events the next day. She says it was a lot of work but worth the effort.

“I had a lot of fun with that working on the imaging and messaging and communication, as well as helping create the general ethos of the event,” she says. “I was

chair, Amy Campbell handles the speakers and relationships with sponsors.

“We divide responsibilities between us,” explains Blunk,” and another co-organizer, Heather Hehman, is still super involved from an oversight and a visionary perspective.”

In addition to the main event which includes the six talks, the organizers are also looking at other opportunities to expand the audience for the ideas presented. They’ll be hosting coffees and interacting on social media networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn and holding salons during which they can focus on one speaker and have more of a conversation.

“We've been trying to find additional ways to use our platform and our network of speakers to spread good

of talks the organization’s fourth annual.

Among the speakers in 2023 are Lizzy Appleby, an educator and therapist with a passion for helping youths and adults create a more welcoming and inclusive world; Cindy Halvorson, currently an executive sales coach at Google; and Michelle Weldon, an award-winning author and journalist and emerita faculty at Northwestern University.

Premier sponsor of the event is Compass Realty and other sponsors include North Shore Community Bank, Madison Street Search, Practice HORA, and Wilmette Public Library.

Kristen Merk, who sits on the Executive Board of TEDxWilmette and serves as a 2023 Speaker Co-Chair, participated in the first event in 2019 and says she was so inspired by the talks she wanted to get more deeply involved with the organization.

“I participated in the first event as an audience mem -

surrounded by really brilliant, supportive women, which was helpful for me stepping back into life a little bit after having my children.”

As the speakers co-chair this year, Merk says she’s excited to be involved with delivering content—the big ideas and what’s really the heart of the matter for TEDxWilmette.

“It's somewhat defined in our mission by our original founders, who are two powerful women from Wilmette with a love of our community,” she says. “Their mission statement was to connect women to each other and elevate ideas that really support the greater good of our communities and the world.”

Marci Blunk is the one of the co-organizers for this year’s TEDxWilmette and she says that in 2023 the event will once again focus on audience engagement. Her role includes focusing on the production of the talks, creating videos, and planning on-site production. Her fellow co-

ideas and build community,” Blunk adds, noting that TEDxWilmette isn’t just for women.

Thirty to 40 percent of some their events have been attended by men. It’s really all about the surrounding community.

“We decided to stay with women as speakers and also to keep it local. We had about 50 applications to speak this year and maybe half of them were not from the greater Chicago area,” she says. “That's really not what we want. We want our mission to stay focused more locally.”

“Our vision is a community of fearless women who deliberately elevate ideas that support the greater good of our communities and the world.”

TEDxWilmette 2023 will take place on April 22. For more information or to buy tickets, visit tedxwilmette. com.

TEDxWilmette, one of few events of its kind to exclusively feature women speakers, announces its lineup for 2023.

Left to Right: Lizzy Appleby, Lindsay Fleming, Cindy Halverson, Karyn Kerr Pettigrew, Jen Walling, and Michele Weldon will be the featured speakers at TEDxWilmette 2023.

TÁR

Not even an amazing Cate Blanchett performance can save this beautiful-to-look-at but very flawed film.

RUNNING TIME: 158 minutes

RATING: 2 stars

BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Cate Blanchett won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her trenchant, offbeat portrayal of fictional composerconductor Lydia Tár in the unconventional biopic Tár

The praise for her tour de force performance is entirely justified. Watching her chew the scenery for almost three hours is a revelation. Watching her do it in a film of such relentless incoherence is an exhausting ordeal that faces dubious success at the box office.

Rarely have I seen a movie so simultaneously beautiful to look at yet audience-resistant, populated by polished professionals searching for truth in the one-dimensional characters they play, or one written with such enormous precision that turns out to be such an empty, incomprehensible bore.

Tár is the first film in 16 years written, produced and directed by Todd Field. From his debut feature in 2001, the brilliant and sobering domestic drama In the Bedroom, with Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, his work has been sporadic but his films have been astonishing, heartbreaking and unforgettable. Not this one.

So much passion has been distilled in the character of Lydia Tár that you want to like her more, and Blanchett milks the character’s contrasting quirks bone dry, but without a worthy script, she’s pretty much on her own.

Lydia Tár is a world-famous musical prodigy and rare EGOT winner—Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards—who travels back and forth between New York, where she teaches at Juilliard, and Germany, where she conducts the Berlin Philharmonic and lives in a palatial apartment with her lover Sharon (Nina Hoss), the orchestra’s first violinist, and their adopted daughter Olive. Olive is being bullied at school, where Lydia menaces and threatens her daughter’s bully. She calls herself a “U-Haul lesbian,” but we have no idea where Lydia’s child came from or what she means to the emotionless, indifferent Lydia.

Balancing gender equality with sexual misconduct in the age of social media, Lydia epitomizes the fame and accomplishments of a woman conductor in a man’s profession. She has a Porsche, a private plane, homes on two continents, and an addiction to Mahler that is on the verge of renewed international attention as she plans the release of her long-anticipated recording of his Fifth Symphony.

Her story unfolds with desperate slowness as she rehearses her

musicians, fires a long-time cellist who she feels has outlived his importance, and holds meetings in posh restaurants and cocktail lounges with other musicians, prattling on about Mahler’s symphonies, Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor and Bach’s Mass in D Minor like she’s exchanging opinions about karaoke. There’s never a dull moment with Blanchett’s measured performance to keep you focused. It’s impressive to a point, but too many loose ends deny the star a rational thread to hang onto.

Tár is a musical marvel, changing moods as often as fashionable people change their shoes. But while she has power and influence, none of her accomplishments satisfy her ego or give her inner peace. She’s a sadist, humiliating men and manipulating women without any real feelings. Her love affair with Sharon is a shambles of eroded affection. Her assistant Francesca (Noemie Merlant), who has musical ambitions of her own, regards her boss with adoration, fury, and resentment, eventually disappearing after Tár refuses to advance her career when a new position opens in the orchestra. Instead, Lydia succumbs to the charms of Olga (Sophie Kauer), the Russian cellist she hires for the string section over the disillusioned Francesca as much for the sexy allure of her blue suede boots as for her talent—signaling both a future threat and potential new love affair.

As Lydia embarks on a worldwide book launch and concert tour, a new crisis erupts with the suicide of a writer on the eve of publishing a scathing article aimed at destroying the conductor’s reputation. Just when the film is beginning to come alive somewhere besides the concert stage, the writing and direction trail off into oblivion, stranding Ms. Blanchett in mid-trajectory. To make matters even worse, the dialogue is often so muted it’s incomprehensible.

Whole scenes pass through the truncated narrative like toothpicks through the holes in a wheel of Swiss cheese. As the film progresses to a blank conclusion, so does Lydia Tár’s mental disintegration. Her ultimate collapse, when she physically attacks her own orchestra onstage, is especially harrowing.

Her conducting is savage (her mentor was Leonard Bernstein), and Blanchett plays her own piano and speaks fluent German, both astonishingly well. My unquenchable dedication to her intelligence, maturity, and control of craft remains undaunted, but so much of the plot is missing that her colossal histrionics lack the dramatic impact they deserve.

It’s an abstract work about the dichotomy of genius and the corruption of power, but it’s so vague about Lydia’s split personality (monster or humanitarian?) that it fails to provide even a simple denouement.

Illustration by Tom Bachtell

Famed film critic Rex Reed weighs in on Tár.

#HASHTAG

EDITED BY DUSTIN O’REGAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

After many years working in investment management, Adriane McKnight of Wilmette felt the urge to step away from her desk and get her hands dirty doing something creative. She did just that, founding Green With Ivy in 2019, a custom four-season container gardening service for clients on the North Shore. Opening her own business allowed her to combine her enjoyment of working with clients with losing herself in designing unique arrangements for containers, a skill she honed working under her mentor, Bridget Schroeder, of the Contained Garden. A busy wife and mother of two teens, Adriane particularly enjoys the flexibility the seasonal work provides. Along with family time, Adriane devotes her energy to the community. She and her faithful golden, Ollie, are certified volunteers with Paws for Patrick, an organization dedicated to helping kids and teens with depression and anxiety. Whether it’s visiting schools and therapy centers with Ollie, or designing one-of-a-kind arrangements for her delighted clients, nothing gives Adriane greater happiness than bringing others joy.

You can follow Adriane on Instagram @green.with.ivy.

#ON MY NIGHTSTAND

I prefer something light during the busy planting seasons. The new book by Clare Pooley, Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, is fun and endearing. Iona, the protagonist, demonstrates how talking to strangers on a morning commute might be what we all need to do. It’s a quick and sometimes cheesy read is the best way possible—a perfect escape to enjoy in front of a crackling fire. When I was contemplating starting Green With Ivy, a friend recommended Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelley. It’s a terrific guide for those who haven’t quite unearthed their creative force.

#IN MY EARBUDS

I’m a fan of many music genres, but a sucker for pop. No, my daughter Madelyn and I didn’t score tickets to Taylor Swift, but we certainly tried! While doing winter installs this year, I found myself singing Meghan Trainor’s “Made You Look.” Not only did the off-key singing drive my employees nuts, it also was ironic since we were all wearing snow pants, winter caps, neck warmers, and kneehigh wool socks—a far cry from Gucci or Louis Vuitton! We switched to more nostalgic Christmas music like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and instantly felt inspired by the warmth of the holiday season.

#ON MY MOBILE

No matter how busy I am, I don’t get out of bed in the mornings without first reading the Daily Skimm, which keeps me up to date on the happenings in the world. I always sneak a quick peak at Instagram to see what’s trending with my fellow gardeners. My favorite locals: @thecontainedgarden (of course!), @plantparenting, @ urbanoasiscontainers, and @homegrowncontianerco. I love this talented and supportive community of gardeners, who never fail to inspire!

Wilmette resident and small business owner Adriane McKnight shares what’s currently trending in her life as we welcome 2023.

MATERIAL PURSUITS

This weekend’s curated luxury trends.

THE NEW LAMBORGHINI URUS S

Automobili Lamborghini recently announced the Urus S, the successor to the original Urus that established a new Super SUV niche in the luxury segment. The Urus S delivers increased power combined with luxurious versatility and presence to confirm its status as the ultimate lifestyle Lamborghini Super SUV. “The Urus has proven its appeal for those seeking the decisive combination of the sportiest SUV and a Lamborghini to drive everyday. The Urus S sits perfectly alongside the new Urus Performante, for those choosing the purest sublimation of performance, luxury, and versatility,” says Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. Prices start at $229,495. For more information, visit lamborghini.com.

EXPERIENCE LUXURY HOMES WORLDWIDE

HomeExchange, the global leader in home exchange vacations for over 30 years, has launched HomeExchange Collection, an exclusive community for like-minded travelers to meet, share, and exchange their luxury homes. One of the real luxuries for members of the HomeExchange Collection is the possibility to feel at home anywhere in the world in luxury homes with character. HomeExchange Collection now features homes in over 35 different countries, from Argentina to Indonesia, ranging from penthouses in global cities and centuries-old castles to wilderness retreats. Another superior benefit to other home exchange programs is the possibility to uncover unique local culture and customs from host members who offer unparalleled pre-arrival advice for authentic travel experiences. Members, who number notable sustainable fashion designers, international consultants, interior designers, scientists, architects, artists, and engineers among their ranks, are dedicated to sharing their homes and providing insider recommendations on the destinations. For more information, visit homeexchange.com/collection.

CONNECTING YOU TO YOUR INNER BEAUTY

Built on the foundation of personalized skin wellness, Nova Skin Facial Spa in Barrington aims to elevate the way you approach skin care. Taking a holistic approach to facial services by focusing on improving your skin not only with advanced treatments and pharmaceutical grade products but also by personalizing your experience based on your individual needs and mood. Every facial includes a neck and shoulder massage, aromatherapy, beverage, and hand treatment. Their simplified process allows every aspect to be addressed that could be causing your issues and customize your treatments based what you need in order to help you achieve beautiful skin from the inside out. For more information, and to book an appointment, visit novaskinfacialspa.com.

PROSECCO FRAMBOISE COCKTAIL

Light and effervescent, this Prosecco Framboise Cocktail is perfect for a celebratory brunch. Framboise, or crème de framboise, is a widely available raspberry liqueur. Serves one

BY WENDY FRANZEN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

BANISH COOKING FATIGUE

BY WENDY FRANZEN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

January inevitably brings the desire for clean, delicious, healthy food, traditionally requiring serious kitchen time. And let’s be honest, we have all spent more than our fair share of time making meals since COVID-19 hit so many months ago. Chicago-based Eat Purely is the tasty, nourishing answer to cooking and the sometimes not-so-healthy carry-out fatigue.

In 2015, Eat Purely set out to make delicious, nutritious food more accessible to more people, in the most convenient way possible. Its founders sought to create an experience that made life easier for people—healthy meals that actually tasted good, delivered to your door —no shopping, no chopping, no dishes. From there, Eat Purely was born.

With high food and business standards from the beginning, they sourced ingredients from local farms, teaming up with talented chefs to bring delicious recipes to life every week. They began delivering meals to family members, then friends, then neighbors. Now Eat Purely serves the entire Chicagoland area.

Eat Purely’s meals are created daily with the freshest, intentionally-sourced ingredients, never containing any hormones or artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives—simple, real ingredients. When crafting recipes, the staff considers what ingredients are seasonally available and what foods are both delicious and nutritious, allowing them to harness nature’s current and freshest

outputs while providing the nutritional support our bodies need. These thoughtful meals cater to all types of eaters and are inspired by global cuisines.

Our goal of zero food waste is supported by our trained staff, meticulous inventory systems, and proactive menu planning.

Giving back to local communities is also in Eat Purely’s DNA. Since its inception, the company has donated meals to people in need. Whether it be the Chicago Public Schools system, the Greater Chicago Food Depository, or our local health care system, the staff continually engages with community leaders to determine how they can help provide access to healthy meals for those in need. All unsold meals are donated, which serves the community and aids in the company’s mission of zero food waste.

A subscription is not needed (hallelujah!) and a wide variety of meals—including breakfasts and lunches—are available through their easy to use website and app. Family style meals, kids’ meals, single entrees, sides, and desserts from a weekly rotating menu can be pre-ordered and a delivery time may be chosen up to a week ahead of time. The best part is, Eat Purely meals are never frozen, and can be reheated in an oven or microwave.

To learn more about Eat Purely or to place an order, visit eatpurely.com or download the Eat Purely app.

THE TWO JAKES

let filmmaker Jake Jarvi’s passion for slasher flicks scare you. There’s another side to the Lake Bluff native that will warm your intact heart.

BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

Stephen King, Wes Craven … Jake Jarvi. I can hear a giggling Jarvi, humble and stunned, now: My name, next to those names? Please. You’re kidding! Why?

Because it’s warranted. The 42-year-old Jarvi, who grew up in Lake Bluff and donned a Lake Forest High School cap and gown in 1999, loves to be frightened out of his wits and socks and truly adores gore in horror flicks.

“Someone asked Stephen King, ‘What happened to you?’” Jarvi says, adding the inquisitor had sought to shed a whit of light on the origins of the prolific horror novelist’s seemingly dark side. “The interviewer then asked, ‘Something awful must have happened to you at a young age.’ Stephen responded, ‘Nothing happened. I’m just this way.’

“That’s my answer, too. I’ve been super interested in horror since leaving my childhood house after high school. Horror is fun. I love all types of the genre, from high-class horror to cheesy horror.”

The late film director Wes Craven—dubbed “Guru of Gore” and “Master of Horror” and the frightening force behind the movies Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream—viewed episodes of Jarvi’s award-winning, 10-episode web series, The Platoon of Power Squadron (2009-2017). Jarvi served as the project’s creator, writer, editor, and sound editor, as well as a co-producer and “SFX guy.”

Craven, on Jarvi’s work: “Slick in the best sense of the word. Very well-conceived. Very powerful and unsettling.”

Craven uttering “unsettling” is akin to Pavarotti bellowing “Bravo!”

Too bad Craven, who died in 2015, won’t eyeball Jarvi’s latest work, Haunt Season, a featurelength horror film shot mostly at the Realm of Terror Haunted House in Round Lake Beach last summer and fall. It’s about a costumed killer who picks off members of a Halloween haunt attraction, bringing their gory fake injuries to life.

It’ll be a must-see for horror fans and a must-cover-your-eyes for other popcorn-tub moviegoers.

“I did it. I finally made a real movie, a real horror movie, which is something I’d always, always wanted to make,” says an elated and relieved Jarvi, who somehow managed to make it while retaining his full-time job as head of video production and video editing of guitarist Rob Scallon’s YouTube channel. “The business of horror is much harder than I thought it would be. Making a movie with professionals, compared to making a web series with good friends … big difference.

“The lighting, for example,” he continues.

“The time it takes to get the lighting exactly right on set, especially for a gory scene, is truly insane. It has to be stylish, so that the movie will look like an actual movie. It took a half-day to shoot a decapitation scene and another half-day to shoot an arm being chopped off.”

But Jake Jarvi, the creative and scary-good and ghoulish filmmaker, morphs into Jake Jarvi, the proud husband and tenderhearted father, off set. He met his future wife, Eliza—head of youth services at Lake Bluff Public Library—at Center Video (R.I.P.) in Lake Bluff, or “Lake Bluff’s emotional epicenter for me,” Jake claims.

“Eliza is not a horror girl, but she was the true champion of this thing,” Jarvi adds. “She took care of the Haunt Season payroll and the catering (for 30 cast and crew members, plus extras), and she made and painted props. She liked figuring everything out.”

The couple’s daughter, Elinor, is 4.

Nothing melts Jake like the precious time he gets to spend with Elinor at home in Gurnee.

“She’s a doll, a total sweetheart,” he says. “I love hanging out with her, watching TV next to her on the couch, with her head resting on my arm.”

How touching. How sweet. And you thought a longtime horror buff adept at featuring dismemberments for the big screen couldn’t possibly be disarming.

Jarvi started writing the Haunt Season script in March 2020, when the number of people wondering about COVID-19 exhausted the world’s search engines. He later presented his undertaking on the crowdfunding service Wefunder, a “Kickstarter for investing,” with the initial goal of raising $80,000 to back the movie.

“We blew past that goal and then set a maxi-

mum goal ($106,999), which we reached (last July),” Jarvi says. “I couldn’t believe how many investors (151) we had attracted. It was like all the kids who grew up watching The Platoon of Power Squadron got jobs and invested in my movie.”

Jarvi’s team shot the flick at Realm of Terror in only 23 days last year, between the beginning of August and the end of October. Jarvi tapped Realm of Terror’s Steve Kristof, a hauntrepreneur since the age of 13, to co-produce it and named Alexander Lakin head of photography.

“All the people who work at Realm of Terror are sweethearts who love gross, creepy, dark stuff,” says Jarvi, who established his company, First Fright, LLC, last April. “We were thrilled, having free access to the haunted house.”

Haunt Season is in post-production. The next two steps: submit the final cut to festivals (South by Southwest and the Toronto International Film Festival, to name a couple) and wow a distributor.

“Ideally, my movie runs in theaters this Halloween,” Jarvi says. “If I have to wait until Halloween 2024, that would be fine. My biggest concern is that the movie makes money for its investors; I want them to be rewarded for supporting me.”

Jarvi’s yield?

Don’t look for a dollar sign.

“I learned that I can handle a lot, that I can perform well under intense pressure,” he says. “I kept the wheels on the road.”

Jarvi cut his teeth—make that, cut his fangs—in the horror-film industry during the making of Disgruntled in 2008, when he collaborated with its director, JWC Media Publisher John Conatser. Jarvi co-wrote and edited the 61-minute slasher film.

It was shot in Highland Park, in just 13 days. That’s not even a nanosecond in filmdom.

“It was a lot of fun, I had a blast, but it was really, really, stressful, mostly because of the time constraint,” Jarvi recalls.

Jarvi worked at North Shore-based JWC Media for 10 years as a magazine/newspaper feature writer and video editor for the company’s outlets. Before that he appeared as an extra in the movies Old School (2003) and Master and Commander (also 2003) and as Travis in an episode of the TV series Dr. Vegas (2005), among other actor credits.

Next up for Mr. Jarvi?

Nothing definitive, yet. Maybe something entirely different.

A rom-com?

“I'd like to do one someday, sure,” he says.

Rob Reiner, Cameron Crowe … Jake Jarvi?

Visit wefunder.com/first.fright.llc for more information about Haunt Season and the horror film’s team.

Don’t

The time it takes to get the lighting exactly right on set, especially for a gory scene, is truly insane.

Jake Jarvi