I'm coming to Chicago this weekend. Moving from upstate New York. My husband is already there, but we're both from the south and newbies to Chicago. I'll be driving in with 2 dogs with a stopover in PA to visit a friend. I'm looking for recommendations.

We have survived an upstate NY winter or 2, so we're not completely uninitiated to the cold. So we got that going for us, which is nice.

We have 2 cars, which I suspect is overkill but because per his contract, we have to live in the city limits. We have 2 larger dogs (40# and 75#), but they're old and his landlord has agreed to let them stay while we look for a place.

We're looking for places mostly on the NW side now.

I would love local recommendations for several things: 1. Stuff we need to do. 2. A good veterinarian. 3. A hairstylist that is good with curly hair. 4. Good cold weather boots that aren't ugly but I didn't really need those here because we had a garage and zero public transportation. 5. A good dog walker. 6. A good dentist. 7. Local/community theaters that want volunteers. 8. Anything else that you want to share or think I should know.

PS. We probably won't make it down South for Thanksgiving this year, but I'm a helluva good southern cook and can probably host 4 or so if anyone needs a friendsgiving.

Also, moving to NY was very lonely for me. I don't want to recreate that in Chicago. If you want a coffee or something, I'm probably down.