Lauren Sieben

If you imagined 2020 was the year you would finally list your house for sale, you may have hit the brakes on those plans when the coronavirus pandemic arrived.
But now, we’re more than six months into the COVID-19 era with no clear end in sight. As many people continue working and logging in to school from home, the real estate market is again heating up with buyers eager to upgrade to a new home.
So stop putting it off: Now is the time to step on the gas in preparing your home to sell. We ta...

When it comes to protecting your home from criminals, the stakes can be high. Burglaries at residential properties make up more than 70% of all theft, according to the FBI, and the average loss per burglary tops $2,000.
But there are also plenty of myths circulating in the world of home security. If you have the wrong idea about how to keep yourself safe, you could be making your house an awfully attractive target for criminals.
We talked to experts to learn the most common myths about home s...

The largest (and newest!) aerial adventure park in the country sits in the burbs, just 30 miles southwest of Chicago. The Forge opened this summer and features a sprawling outdoor ropes course. Traverse five towers connected by two miles of ziplines, including over-water zips and multiple rappelling stations. Don’t miss the Skyscraper Tower, which offers panoramic views of the Chicago skyline from more than 120 feet in the air.
Little adventurers can explore the kids’ activity area with climb...

Kick off the season with a stroll through the apple orchard, then stock up on seasonal favorites like gourds, cornstalks and maple syrup. On weekends, you can purchase made-from-scratch pumpkin or apple pie.
Wander among more than 17,000 apple trees with dozens of apple varieties or let yourself get lost in the 1.5-mile apple tree maze. Sample fresh cider doughnuts at the bakery and let kids ride the train or carousel.
This third-generation orchard has been owned and operated by the Zellerman...

The last time I went in for a routine physical, I decided to be honest with my doctor about my drinking habits.
I’ve read the guidelines; I know the CDC says women should consume no more than seven alcoholic drinks per week. Nonetheless, my weekly number often falls a few drinks higher, especially if I’m on vacation or attending lots of social events.
When I admitted this to my doctor, I was ready for a raised eyebrow and a reminder to keep my revelry in check. Instead, her reaction was explo...

When the mercury is rising, it should be an easy decision: Do you run the air conditioning or open the windows?
In reality, the choice isn’t always so obvious. You may think open windows are the more economical choice, but constantly starting and stopping your central AC or window unit can be inefficient and costly. And if you have environmental allergies, do you really need to run the AC even on mild days?
To help you decide, we talked to heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning experts ab...

After months of virtual meetings, classes, conferences, and happy hours, many of us are wondering when it will be safe to return to in-person events.
The answer? It’s complicated.

DIY home improvements can be great feel-good projects. You get to learn a new skill, use your hands, and take pride in something you create yourself.
But let’s face it: Your DIY project doesn’t make sense if it won’t make cents. In other words, it needs to pay off when it comes time to sell your home.
“The key to winning the ROI game with home improvement is to take a less-is-more approach,” says Dan DiClerico, home expert at HomeAdvisor.
If your goal is to earn a return on your DIY investmen...

You’re in a public bathroom when you see it: A bar of soap next to the sink, just to the right of the faucet, still sudsy from the last person to use it. Yuck.
Is it really possible to get clean from rubbing your hands with a communal bar of soap? Wouldn’t it be more sanitary to use liquid soap? And sure, public bathrooms are gross by nature, but is your bar of soap at home really any better?
And what better time to answer these questions than during a pandemic, when we're all (hopefully) bei...

With most of us cooped up in our apartments or houses, it may be tempting to pull the trigger and finally purchase the vacation home you've always dreamed about.
After all, mortgage rates are hitting record lows, and a change of scenery sounds awfully sweet right about now. If you can swing it, why not?
Reality check: We’re also living through a time of economic uncertainty. You could lose your job or find yourself up against a major financial challenge in the weeks or months to come.
Then, w...

How the diversity of a liberal arts curriculum informs the human spirit for a career in medicine.
By Lauren Sieben
Eduardo Dolhun, M.D., Arts ’88, arrived at Marquette as a freshman with plans to study biology. His goal: to become a marine biologist, following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Jacques Cousteau.
“Over the course of my first and second year, I fell in love with humanities and the questions that they asked,” he says.
So Dolhun switched gears, changing his majors to philoso...

Mere days from when the first guests will check in at the Dubbel Dutch Hotel, a freshly restored 1898 mansion up the street from the Northwestern Mutual tower and blocks from the Lake Michigan shore, it’s crunch time.
A worker carries a windowpane through the front door and a team of men hoists a sofa bed up an ornately paneled (and precariously narrow) staircase. Floors need to be refinished, walls need to be painted, and 17 guest rooms’ worth of furniture has yet to be delivered and arrange...

Many of us are hanging out at home more than ever, and all that extra time in your backyard may set you daydreaming about having your very own outdoor kitchen.
If so, you aren’t alone. According to a recent survey by Fixr, 41% of construction industry experts expect clients to invest in outdoor kitchens this year.
“With COVID, people are cooking at home more,” says Jennifer Robbins, owner/operator of Backyard Specialist in Wilmington, NC.
“The rise in sales for outdoor kitchens has just gone ...

Many of us are spending more time at home than ever before. While this comes with some silver linings—um, more time to bake bread?—it also means we’re seeing (and hearing) our neighbors more than usual. And this leads to all kinds of discoveries. Did you really need to know all about your upstairs neighbor’s love of high-impact workouts?
“Being home more under such stressful times, there has been increased day-to-day contact, which isn't always easy,” says Myka Meier, author of “Modern Etique...