O, the places you'll go

BUY THE BOOK Robyn Okrant cuddles up with Oprah-recommended reads at the Book Cellar.

On New Year’s Day in 2008, Robyn Okrant didn’t resolve to lose weight, eat better or spend more time with loved ones. Instead, she opted to do it all—and then some—Oprah-style. The Lincoln Square resident spent a year trying out all of Oprah’s “must-haves” and “gotta try thises” to achieve the elusive “Best Life” touted by the talk-show maven. The yoga instructor spent a year far beyond her comfort zone, buying Oprah-recommended leopard-print flats and fireplaces and coming to terms with frequently unattainable Oprah-espoused goals (accepting cellulite? Fat chance) on her blog, livingoprah.com, and just-released book, Living Oprah (Center Street, $24.99).

We asked Okrant how O would want us to live out her show’s final days in Chicago.

OPRAH’S FAVORITE THING
Do a 21-day vegan cleanse.
OKRANT’S ADVICE When Oprah asked her audience to join her in living three weeks sans animal products, gluten, sugar, alcohol and caffeine, the already health-conscious Okrant felt her head hurt at the mention of going without her green tea. She sucked it up and frequented the Chicago Diner (3411 N Halsted St, 773-935-6696, veggiediner.com), favoring the raw bacon cheeseburger, with no bacon, cheese or burger. “It was so good, I could’ve lived on them,” Okrant says. For her vegan grocery supply, Okrant turned to Whole Foods’ (3300 N Ashland Ave, 773-244-4200) gluten-free flours and herbal tea. Everything else she found at grocer HarvesTime Foods (2632 W Lawrence Ave, 773-989-4400). “I almost don’t want to tell people about it because it’s such a gem,” says Okrant, who credits the cleanse for helping her become more aware of what she eats.

OPRAH’S FAVORITE THING
Decorate with a chair, non-art and a fire pit.
OKRANT’S ADVICE When Oprah suggested her fans place a fabulous chair in each room and hang up art that’s not art (plates in Okrant’s case), Okrant and her husband, Jim, turned to Penn Dutchman Antiques (4912 N Western Ave, 773-294-0633). “You have to be patient, and you can’t be in a hurry when you’re there,” says Okrant about the large store. And when Her Majesty demanded everyone get a fire pit ($59), they headed out to Lowe’s (7971 S Cicero Ave, 773-306-7100, lowes.com) on the South Side because their neighborhood Lowe’s didn’t have one. “People must have gone out to get it when she told people,” speculates Okrant. The couple haven’t used it for its intended purpose—an outdoor pit—for their lack of backyard, but their cats, Wasabi and Selma, seem to enjoy it.

OPRAH’S FAVORITE THING
Read 20 books.
OKRANT’S ADVICE With Oprah comes a lot of books, like Barbara Walters’s Audition, David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. Okrant purchased many of the reads at the Book Cellar (4736 N Lincoln Ave, 773-293-2665, bookcellarinc.com). “It’s a small place but you can spend an hour there,” says Okrant of the comfy café and well-curated stock. “Everyone’s really helpful and friendly.”

OPRAH’S FAVORITE THING
Exercise more than four days a week and don’t eat two–three hours before going to bed .
OKRANT’S ADVICE Okrant, already a fit yoga instructor, joined North Side gym Galter LifeCenter (5157 N Francisco Ave, 773-878-9936), making sure to fulfill Oprah’s minimum requirement of 80 minutes a week. “I think it’s the best gym in the world. It’s clean and it’s open,” she says of the luxe workout facility. Okrant suffers from scoliosis, and when Dr. Oz told Oprah viewers with back asymmetry to check out rolfing, a deep, realigning massage, Okrant discovered Donald Soule (847-275-8825, rolfchicago.com). “I think that he’s a miracle worker,” she says.

OPRAH’S FAVORITE THING
Follow Oprah’s Big Give, a philanthropic reality series that lasted one season.
OKRANT’S ADVICE Oprah asked her fans to follow the series and organize a project of their own, so Okrant collected books from friends and family and donated them to an organization called Chicago Books to Women in Prison (4001 N Ravenswood Ave, 773-530-1579). “They’re a great organization and they have the nicest, kindest volunteers.” As for everything else deemed unnecessary clutter by Oprah and her organizer-to-the-stars, Peter Walsh, she donated it to the Brown Elephant (3651 N Halsted St, 773-549-5943). Okrant’s favorite challenge was when Oprah sent viewers out to rescue a pet from a reputable animal shelter. At Tree House Humane Society (1212 W Carmen Ave, 773-784-5488), Okrant found her beloved cat Selma.

OPRAH’S FAVORITE THING
Buy animal-print flats.
OKRANT’S ADVICE Okrant cringed when Oprah and her team of stylists recommended every woman own a pair of flats—not Okrant’s style—preferably animal-print. She discovered hers, which she begrudgingly wore for a year and on the cover of her book, for $7 at Marshalls (3131 N Clark St, 773-327-2711). Although she believes they make her look as if she has cankles, Okrant says the flats are a memory-evoking memento—one of the few O-recommended buys she kept— she holds close to her heart after her year of living Oprah.

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