This Valentine's Day, check out the places and events we're wild about

Looking for a place to take your love this Valentine's Day weekend? You're not alone.

Or maybe you are.

No matter. Whether you've mated for life, are just getting to know somebody or are happily single, we've found venues and fun things to do that make our hearts flutter. Let's hope they stir your passion as well.

Consumed by confections

Opening the door of the Long Grove Confectionery Company in downtown Long Grove, I am suddenly Dorothy Gale stepping out into the amazing and colorful land of Oz - only I'm entering a chocolate wonderland.

The warm, rich smell of chocolate envelopes my senses, and my eyes begin to scan shelf upon shelf of handmade sweet confections.

Butter creams are stacked high in a case. Peanut butter cups, the size of coasters, sit under taffy apples, dripping in chocolate and caramel.

Nearby, fellow customers press their noses against a glass viewing window, watching bakers hand cover giant strawberries in milk chocolate.

For 34 years, the Long Grove Confectionery has provided its customers with everything from English toffee to chocolate tool kits - all year round.

But as Valentine's Day approaches, it becomes one of the shop's busiest times of the year, said Jodi Hutch, director of retail and tour facilities for the Long Grove Confectionery.

Hutch said that during the several days preceding Valentine's Day, store favorites fly out the door. She said the top three sellers are myrtles, with their handmade caramel and fresh pecans, English toffee and (of course) those famous chocolate-covered strawberries.

"Over the two days of Feb. 13 and 14, the Long Grove store will cover approximately 500 pounds of ripe strawberries - that we fly in from California - in chocolate," Hutch said.

Many customers like to create their own baskets of treats, picking and choosing from the bountiful shelves, Hutch said.

"On Valentine's Day, the men really take the time to do that - they love to hand pack a box of their loved one's favorites - whether it's truffles or creams or meltaways. We even have sugar-free chocolate," Hutch said.

The Long Grove Confectionery is located at 220 Robert Parker Coffin Road in historic downtown Long Grove, (847) 634-0080. The confectionery has another retail store in Wilmette at Plaza Del Lago, 1515 Sheridan Road, (847) 251-7400, and a factory/store in Buffalo Grove at 333 Lexington Drive, (847) 459-0269. Factory tours are offered at the Buffalo Grove facility. Visit longgroveonline.com.

- Laura Stewart

Ardent about art deco

Going out for a night of entertainment in the suburbs can be an architecturally charmless experience.

There are lots of indistinguishable, cookie-cutter movie multiplexes (frequently with sticky floors). Or if you want a live experience, some modern performing arts centers either try too hard to be classy (Drury Lane Oak Brook) or are just drably utilitarian (Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire).

While the quality of the show should be of the utmost importance, seeing it in a chic and glamorous theater certainly helps make it feel more like an occasion. Which is why I'm such a fan of the Paramount Theatre, located at 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.

Built originally in 1931 with a major restoration in 1976 and a major lobby renovation in 2006, the Paramount Theatre is an art deco dreamscape. Gazing at the Paramount's Venetian-inspired decor of sleek streamlining in the auditorium, you half expect Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to fox trot next to you in the aisle.

My first trip to the Paramount was to see German crooner Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester. Done up in white-tie tuxedos and performing romantic song standards from the 1920s and '30s, Raabe and the Palast provided a performance that was perfect for its period surroundings.

While I can't vouch for shows playing at the Paramount this Valentine's Day weekend, you're at least guaranteed to have the luster of its luscious surroundings to help spur the potential for romance.

Las Vegas lovers should check out "Direct From Vegas: The Rat Pack." You'll get an evening of imitators crooning the hits of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14 ($25.50-$40.50).

Or if you're in the mood for a comedy about a longtime marriage, catch a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Feb. 15, of the 2001 Broadway show "If You Ever Leave Me ... I'm Going With You!" ($47.50-$57.50). It's written by and stars real-life husband-and-wife team Joe Bologna ("My Favorite Year") and Renee Taylor ("The Nanny").

Call (630) 896-6666 or visit ParamountAurora.com for more information.

- Scott Morgan

Carried away by creme brulee

Cracking the golden topping is like foreplay. The spoon teases me as it dips slightly beneath the sugary crust and resurfaces with a bit of custard clinging to it. Sweet anticipation. Will it be silky smooth? Infused with lavendar or mango? Speckled with vanilla bean or espresso flakes? Licking the spoon, the pleasure is all mine. What a wonderfully, selfless partner.

If you're in the mood for some sweetness this Valentine's Day weekend, here are places sure to satisfy your craving. For traditional vanilla creme brulee, head to Cafe Pyrnesss, 1762 N. Milwaukee Road, Libertyville, (847) 362-2233, or Le Titi de Paris, 1015 W. Dundee Road, Arlington Heights, (847) 506-0222. When you want something a little more adventurous - and don't we all sometimes? - try the ginger creme brulee at Karma, 510 E. Route 83, Mundelein, (847) 970-6900, or a bittersweet chocolate version at Cab's Wine Bar Bistro, 430 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn, (630) 942-9463.

- Deborah Pankey

Animal attraction

The zoo is a blast any day of the year, but there's something about the calm that settles over it in the dead of winter. It's cold and crisp and, best of all, of course, it's not crowded. Sure, the festive hurly-burly of midsummer is what one typically associates with the zoo - it's what they're selling - but that's what makes the winter so distinctive. It transforms the zoo into a completely different place.

Like baseball players early in spring training, the animals seem to appreciate the understated mood as well. I remember one cold winter day at Brookfield Zoo, we were watching the lions through the viewing window, and one lioness came right up to the glass. Our older daughter began to caper back and forth with excitement, and the lioness danced back and forth with her. Sure, she was probably dreaming of some midwinter snack, but from the safety of the other side of the glass that didn't make it any less darling - to us or our daughter. It remains a cherished family memory. Try getting the same sort of rise out of the lions in summer, when they tend to look right through the throngs at the window and along the sidewalk railings.

Still, there's no denying, it's not as comfortable to walk the zoo as it is the rest of the year, but Brookfield is working all the harder to draw people out in the off-season. Valentine's Day weekend is an especially great time to go, because admission is free on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through the end of February (a significant saving to families over the usual $12 for adults and $8 for each child), and there are free shuttle rides from building to building for those averse to the cold. Parking is still $8, but find a place in the sun and the family car should enjoy the trip out as well.

Brookfield Zoo is located at First Avenue and 31st Street. The guest line is (708) 688-8000, or visit brookfieldzoo.org.

- Ted Cox

We'll always have Woodridge

For legal reasons, it's called "The Coconut Grove Auditorium," but I like to refer to it as the Casablanca Room. Because it looks like a giant set from the 1942 classic movie. In color.

The Casablanca Room opened in November along with two other new auditoriums at Hollywood Bvld. theaters, located at 1001 W. 75th St. in Woodridge. I could describe this moviegoer's haven, but not as well as the man who actually built it, Ted Bulthaup, who's also the owner of Hollywood Bvld.

"One enters the Coconut Grove Auditorium by climbing the long, twisting stairs of the Kasbah's fortress-like tower, decorated with large movie posters from films like 'Morocco,' 'Lawrence of Arabia,''Khartoum,''Beau Geste' and, of course, 'Casablanca,' along with Arabic flags, scimitars, lances and actual 200-year-old Berber flintlock muskets."

That's not all.

"The auditorium is a replica of a Moroccan village plaza with a starry night sky made from 1,500 fiber-optic stars and a backlit moon. The 11-building, two-story-tall facades are made with almost 100 pieces of Middle Eastern woodwork. Five arches measure 12 feet tall by 40 feet wide. Two columns feature hand-carved, spiraled feathers from top to bottom, two Berber windows intricately carved from red sandstone and a 150-year-old door carved with deep relief Arab calligraphy highlighted in blue."

Wait! There's more!

"There is a replica of the Vichy billboard from the 'Casablanca' opening, a replica of the plane from the end of the movie flying off into our night sky, the front of Bogart's nightclub 'Rick's' and of Sidney Greenstreet's bar 'The Blue Parrot.'"

That doesn't even cover the parrots, scorpions, lizards and nine skulking vultures that watch over the audience. Or the storks on a huge crow's nest Bulthaup found in a tree last winter.

So if you're thinking of heading out to a movie this Valentine's Day weekend, check out the Casablanca Room. Oops, I mean the Coconut Grove Auditorium. You might even want to play it again. Go to atriptothemovies.com or call (630) 427-1880.

- Dann Gire

Driven by autos (and boats)

The colder the winter wind stings, the more we have to warm ourselves with thoughts of summer's pleasures.

This Valentine's Day weekend, cruise with the windows down at the Chicago Auto Show, or dream of splashing through the surf at the Schaumburg Boat & Sportshow.

If you're in the market or just wishing for a new car, the auto show is the place to do comparison shopping, with nearly 1,000 cars from more than 40 manufacturers. Best of all, it's indoors, including a Dodge Jeep Chrysler test track to ride with professional drivers.

Practical choices on display include the new Toyota Camry hybrid, with 70 percent fewer smog-forming emissions than the average new car, or the Honda Insight Hybrid, to be priced below the Civic.

If you prefer to dream big, pick out a new BMW Z4 hardtop convertible, or a Lincoln MKS luxury sedan, built in Chicago.

Looking into the future, concept cars include the Chevrolet Orlando, which attempts to combine a wagon, an SUV and a family van, and Chrysler's 200C EV, an electric car with a "teen setting" to limit speed and a laptop computer stored in the dash.

The Chicago Auto Show runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily today through Sunday, Feb. 22, but closes early at 8 p.m. on the last night, at McCormick Place, on Lake Shore Drive at 23rd Street in Chicago.

The show costs $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 62 and older or children ages 7-12, with children 6 and younger getting in for free. Half-price adult weekday tickets are available from participating new car dealers and Shell stations.

CTA and Metra trains connect to the show by bus, and Pace will offer buses from the suburbs to the show daily. Parking costs $17.

For information, see chicagoautoshow.com.

If your tastes run more aquatic, head to the Boat & Sportshow, featuring more than 200 boats, plus the latest fishing and marine gear and seminars, a historical fishing gear display, free fishing at a stocked trout pond for kids 12 and younger, and a passport application processing station for those planning to fish in other countries.

The show runs from 1 to 9 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, at the Schaumburg Convention Center, 1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg.

Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors 65 and older, $4 for children ages 13-15, and free for children 12 and younger. Parking is free.

For information, see schaumburgsportshow.com or call (312) 946-6200.

- Robert McCoppin