For price-conscious consumers, it can pay to go after a foreclosed home. Real estate number-cruncher RealtyTrac ranked Illinois 10th in a list of the top 20 metro areas for foreclosure deals earlier this year, with homes selling at a whopping 46 percent discount when compared to non-distressed properties.  And the site’s first quarter 2013 stats show that the Illinois foreclosure rate is third highest in the nation.

1. Gratitude: For the past year, I have been practicing gratitude for both things I have and for things I don’t have. When I am able to stay in this headspace of feeling grateful, great things happen. Example: “I’m so grateful I have a job so I can save money to move into a house with a pool, versus: “I don’t have enough money to buy a house with a pool, so I’ll never get one.” Wishes come true when you are first grateful for what you currently have.

The local craft spirits scene is overflowing thanks to these three artisan distillers.

Candace Jordan was honored for her contributions to charities and fashion in Chicago at the Stanley Paul —Raelene Mittelman Scholarship Benefit. Almost 400 people attended, including Bill Zwecker, Tom Dreesen, Rhonda Sanderson and Helen Hall Melchior.

This past November I turned the big 4-0, and you know what, you guys? I have embraced it. I love this new decade I’ve entered into and look forward to all of the wisdom it will bring to me. It’s time to stop focusing on the negative connotation that the 40s have and embrace all of the goodness. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I have been very single since my birthday — and I kind of love it. There is a certain self-realization and confidence that has come with this decade and I have been using it to the fullest extent.

Ellen Flood and Chris Hagale met at the wedding of their college roommates in 2007, but didn’t hit it off romantically until he invited her to his law school prom in 2010. Six years, one University of Chicago law degree (Hagale’s) and one jewelry company launch (Flood’s) later, things came full circle for the couple as they celebrated their own nuptials April 6 in New Orleans. The pair selected the city to commemorate the time Hagale spent there during their courtship — he lived in New Orleans for one year while completing his clerkship after law school. “New Orleans is filled with happy, smitten memories for us,” says Flood.

Self-proclaimed born-again virgin Sean Lowe and fiancee Catherine Giudici (above) are leading very separate lives these days. 

This week: Shalini Sharma’s dresses, 25 Degrees milkshakes and more.

We spy: Spa Nordstrom, Cityblue Apparel and Denim, Sephora and Katelyn Pankoke’s new bridal line.

‘Women have love affairs with their handbags,” says designer Rebecca Minkoff. “To us, buying a handbag represents an experience: ‘I’m going on a date, so I need a new bag,’ ‘I just got divorced, I deserve a new bag.’ And as women, we really connect with every experience that we have.”