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The government’s much-anticipated tax rebates, or "stimulus payments," as the IRS calls them, started popping up by direct deposit in bank accounts this week. Paper checks are set to hit the mail as early as Friday. If you’re among the 130 million-plus taxpayers who’ll get a payment this month, heed our advice: Don’t squirrel your $600 windfall away. It’s your patriotic duty to spend! Read on for our decadent plan to help you do your part.
$140
Dinner. Put former Alinea chef de cuisine Curtis Duffy through his paces at his new gig at Avenues, where the top tier of three prix-fixe menus, a 15-course tasting, goes for $140. The salad alone has 15 kinds of lettuce—tres decadent! Duffy keeps things speeding along—the whole service is only about two-and-half hours long, practically light speed in gastronomy circles.
$215
Punch. Go big or go home when you hit the Trump Tower’s Rebar. Spoil your group with an enormous $215 punch bowl of Dreams, made with P.I.N.K. caffeine-and-guarana-infused vodka muddled with strawberries and lime, all topped off with rosé champagne.
$75
Manicure. When, exactly, can you justify blowing $75 on a manicure? When it’s a full hour long and features a pricey scrub and serum made from crushed sweet-water pearls, like the Biopearl Hand Treatment at the recently opened, extravagance-laden Spa at Trump. And when you’ve got $600 to blow, of course.
$48
Burger, fries and a drink. With that chunk of change in your pocket, you can forget the McDonald’s Extra Value Meal. Live large at River North’s Brasserie Ruhlmann, where Le Burger Ruhlmann—a 10-ounce Black Angus patty with two ounces of flatiron steak braised in red wine, topped with caramelized shallots and griotte marmalade—will run you $19. Want extra fries with that? An order of pommes frites will put you out $7. Wash it down with a $22 glass of 2004 Chateau Behere Pauillac and you’ve got a burger, fries and a drink for $48.
$25
Gelato. Ever notice how gelaterias scoop their precious sweet stuff out like its frozen gold? Nuts to that! Now that you’re flush, buy the whole damn quart at one of our favorite spots, Pasticceria Natalina, the uber-authentic Italian pastry shop in Andersonville. Most of the fruit flavors will set you back $20 a quart, but we suggest holding out for the pricier pistachio ($25), which makes an occasional appearance in the cooler.
$96.99
Dog collar. Don’t leave Fido out of all the pampering. Personalize a reversible leather collar by Pup-Pup Designs with sparkly baubles, your dog’s name or phrases like "Only Child" and "Drama Queen" at Dog-a-holics (locations on Armitage and Southport). Basic collars go for $49.99 ($44.99 for small dogs) and decorations run $5.50-$12. Decorate with your dog’s initials ($5.50 per letter) and just a few top-of-the-line accents ($12 each) and you’ll be pushing $100 in no time.
GRAND TOTAL: $599.99
BLOW IT ALL
Why shop around when you can blow your rebate in one fell swoop? Drop it on one of these mega-purchases.
$585
Lollapalooza for three. Get advance three-day passes ($190 each) to the annual blowout in Grant Park (Aug. 1-3) for you and two of your music-loving friends and three Be Green Fan Tags ($5 each) to help offset carbon emissions. You’ll still have $15 left over for beer. Click here for details.
$601.80
A spa day. The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago has a menu of new Hawaiian-inspired treatments just waiting for you to indulge. A Lomi Lomi massage (left), Ka nani facial and pineapple body polish ring in at $510. Throw in an 18 percent tip on your combined 210 minutes of tropical bliss, and you’ve just topped $600.
$800
You. Fear you’ll never be famous enough for Mattel to create a Barbie in your likeness? For $800, immortalize yourself as a doll—or, ahem, action figure—courtesy of North Shore artist Cyndi Safstrom. Sure, it’ll cost you your rebate and then some, but isn’t the exposure worth it? beadoll.shorturl.com
[ Lisa Arnett, Karen Budell, Chris LaMorte, Matt Pais, Rebecca Palmore and M. Kathleen Pratt, Metromix producers. ]
metromix@tribune.com
