Fresh Finds

A look at Mama Poppins, the drop-in childcare service at Fox Valley Mall — and what mall-based babysitting says about how suburban families live now.

Hit a fitness plateau? Progressive overload, cross-training, and real recovery — not more of the same — are what restart progress and redefine exercise.

Five Star Tennis in Plainfield runs a summer camp for junior players of all levels — our find of the week for Naperville-area tennis families.

This week's local find: Bobbie Lee's Scrap & Craft Workshop in Chicago's western suburbs — small, hands-on craft classes for kids ages 7 to 12.

Naperville's 2011 Festival of Colors brought Holi to Chicago's western suburbs — giving diaspora kids the one thing explanations can't: the real thing.

Karen Fakroddin M.Ed, RYT — a Naperville special-needs yoga instructor teaching kids and adults with autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. This week's find.

This week's pick: Gary L. Anderson, CPA, a Chicago-area tax preparer our editors turned to for cross-border tax questions.

In 2010 the internet's best promise was unglamorous: skilled amateurs finding audiences that print's gatekeepers never anticipated.

Skip the before-and-after hype. The most useful fitness wisdom of 2010 was boring: gradual change, behavioral honesty, and moderation over willpower.

Rangsutra, founded by Sumita Ghose, turned 2,000 rural artisans into shareholders. The craft social enterprise shows fair trade can be good business.