My Last Week in Chicago (6/18/07)

Much of my last week was spent organizing my stuff for the movers and packing for my trips, but I definitely also managed to get in a fair amount of fun.

Monday ::: I got in a solid few hours of pool time in the morning and then set off for the Boom Boom Room party at Green Dolphin, a great indoor/outdoor venue on North Ashland in Lincoln Park. I had been hearing about this Monday night party for the better part of two years, but somehow managed to avoid it until this week. I'm so glad I made it out - what a great venue and awesome crowd. Finally a super mixed crowd in Chicago - music heads, trannies, b-boys, freaks - a little bit of everything! And the a$$ on that one - dayum, Gina! It was a total blast and the music from Jeff Craven and Julius Papp of the Large Music crew was solid. Our fun posse rocked it out until the bitter end and then made the trek back to Evanston (I'm so not going to miss the commute!)

Tuesday ::: Dan, Evan and I cruised downtown in the early afternoon to spend a few precious hours enjoying the Chicago summer the way it was meant to be enjoyed - on the North Avenue beach! Michal joined us just in time to head to Castaways, an open air bar/restaurant in a beached blue and white steamboat. The four of us sat at the table with huge grins on our faces, ordering every frozen cocktail on the menu. KJ and co. as well as Sunil and Lisa joined us around 7pm, just in time to eat some dinner and take in the gorgeous Chicago night. Ahh, life is good! After 7+ hours at the beach, we once again made the commute home... KJ's last night, so sad!



Wednesday ::: Boring packing and errands day.

Thursday ::: My movers came first thing in the morning and packed my stuff and hauled it away. I checked out of McManus and moved over to Nicole and Ganesh's place in Optima Whatever. That night, I met up with a bunch of people for one final group dinner at Cozy Noodles, which happens to be a BYOB joint. Normally that is trouble enough, but this time everyone was cleaning out their liquor supply which meant we had enough beer, wine and champagne on the table to drown a small country. At the strong urging of Cara and Emily, I got drunk and made my way with the crew over to Bar Louie. On the way I got spanked and spanked, flashed my butt... you know, the usual. Once we arrived at Bar Louie, three of us ladies got into a very interesting conversation about well... ummm... some stuff (-: And then the group got into a heated game of Catchphrase. I'm not sure how or why, but the three lone soldiers - me, Cara and Joe somehow landed at The Keg. It was only my third time there all year, but I put in a strong performance giving equal dancing time to the 20 and 50 year olds in the house.

Friday ::: I started the night off at a Pride Weekend Kickoff Party at the Center on Halsted, where I randomly bumped into a Princeton Softball blast from the past. After catching up and hanging out at the party for a bit, we made our way across the street to the Kit Kat Club to meet up with yet another of our teammates and to enjoy exotic martinis. After that, I split off from the Pride contingent and made one final pilgrimage to Smartbar to catch Josh Wink on his tour in support of Profound Sounds, Vol 3. I met Sunil there just before 1am and got to hear the last half of the opening set by theDEVIOUSone... which was interesting. Homeboy was banging the shit out of the Funktion One to a half empty room. I'm not quite sure what the hell he was thinking, but it was totally inappropriate. You could tell Josh agreed because when he stepped up to take things over, he quickly changed the pace and pretty much started from scratch. Being the consummate professional that he is, he was quickly able to erase the opener's lack of discretion and got things back on track. He played a wider range of sounds than I've heard from him in the past and never really cranked it up, but overall gave the crowd a really nice set. I spotted Hay Consuelo by Pier Bucci and the track that seems to get played everywhere these days, RU OK by Ambivalent (although it was a version I have not yet heard!). I caught a tiny snip it of one of the lyrics before it was even really recognizable and walked right up to Josh and said, "RU OK?" to which he responded, "what?". When I repeated myself he said, "Oh! Damn you're good!" I knew Kevin would be proud. Sunil and I stuck around until last call and then made the obligatory stop at Wrigleyville hot dogs before making our way (one last time) back to Evanston.

Josh Wink @ Smartbar:


Reunited with the girls:

Saturday ::: BK aka The Waver gets hitched! Let the wedding day boozing begin (-:


Sunday ::: 10am flight to New York. Goodbye, Chicago!

And finally... Graduation! (6/16/07)

My Mom got into town on Friday and we went straight to Wrigley to watch the Cubs actually win a game (vs. the Padres)! That night we met up with the GLMA-ers and their parents, ate a yummy Mexican meal and then went to bed nice and early to be ready for the big day. Graduation was on Saturday - it was 90° and the ceremony was held indoors without air conditioning. Lovely. Thank god my Mom actually loves me enough to come from New York and sit through hellish conditions to watch the ceremony. Holy sh*t it was stifling! Lucky for the rest of the graduates with the last name beginning with the letter "H", I came prepared with The Wiz and balloons for entertainment purposes. I thought about pulling yet another stunt when I received my diploma, but figured for once I could have a serious moment. Cherish it, Mom!

After the ceremony, we went to Quince in Evanston for a fine meal including: 1) seared foie gras with roasted shallots, bleu crostini & blackberry 2) red wine braised short ribs with roquefort risotto & sweet and sour carrots and 3) mahi-mahi with forbidden black rice, hearts of palm & basil cream. We topped the feast off with a trip to Cold Stone Creamery. I had hopes of getting to The Keg for one last night out in Evanston, but after that meal there was nothing to do but crawl into bed. We woke up bright and early Sunday and made our way downtown for a lake and river cruise before heading over to Millennium Park. My mom made her way home to NY via O'Hare, I went home and napped and prepared for yet another Sunday night out on the town. Off to the Aragon Ballroom with a few friends from school for Manu Chao, a French-Spanish language singer from Northern Spain. The Aragon was rockin! And people were shedding pounds in the extreme heat. KJ and I bolted a bit early in favor of cooling down before our respective nightcaps (-;

Grad Week 2007 - Part II - Prom & Section Night Out

Wednesday ::: I ran around all day doing last minute errands - new shoes, new phone and some cruising in KJ's BMW convertible. I only drive about twice per year, but now I know why people actually enjoy driving! Top down, sun shining, hair in the wind and bumpin beats coming from the speakers... driving that car is fun!! After that it was time to get ready for my business school graduation formal on Navy Pier in downtown Chicago.

I actually hadn't been to a formal since the very first one after orientation week in the fall of 2005. I spent the last two years setting expectations really low so when everyone finally saw me in a saucy dress they'd be blown away. If there's one thing I've learned in business school, it's under promise and over deliver and that's exactly what I did (-; The prom (let's be honest, that's what it really is) was pretty typical... buffet, booze, dresses, shirts, ties and of course CHEESY music. I knew the event would probably need to be infused with a little crazy, so I devised a plan two days earlier. As most people know, I was an uber-jock in high school and wore dresses *even less* back then. I never got to be Homecoming or Prom Queen and when it hit me that this would truly be my last prom, I decided to take things into my own hands. Sometime around 11pm, Beth and I approached the DJ and told her that we needed her to announce this year's Prom Queen in 10 minutes. I hid around the corner and put on a homemade Kellogg Prom Queen sash and tiara and got ready for my big moment. The DJ came on the microphone and announced me as the 2007 Prom Queen. I took Blee and Sunil by the arms and walked up the stairs and on to the gigantic stage as "Like a Virgin" blared in the background. I did my best Miss America wave and then started werking the stage like a runway, doing the forbidden dance with my kings and freaking the speaker stand. I looked up to a room full of my classmates clapping and snapping photos... some laughing, some in disbelief and I'm sure some too drunk to notice the commotion. I grabbed the 6 foot female DJ and twirled her around a bit, danced some more and then took one final bow at the end of my song. I was greeted with hugs, lots of of laughing, smiling faces and of course... photo requests. Finally after all these years, me... the PQ!!



The prom ended at midnight and after a total clusterf*%k of people looking at each other and trying to decide where to go, me, Gal and Dan decided to head to Funky Buddha Lounge with a fairly sizable crew. Before we got to the cab, Dan and I jumped (illegally) on one of the ships parked along the pier. Dan climbed the rope ladder ala Captain Jack Sparrow while I stood on the front of the ship yelling "Iceberg right ahead!" Unfortunately Gal was too busy with his beloved Blackberry to get any good photos. After an hour or two of drinking kamikaze shots and grinding to hip hop at Funky Buddha we went to Rino, a swank lounge in River North for more hip hop grinding. We hung around for awhile, but then I finally decided to call it quits when I noticed that Dan was sleeping standing up in the middle of the club. KJ, Dan and Gal all snored on the cab ride home... and for the first time in a LONG time, I actually didn't go to BK Lounge before going to sleep.

"Livin on a Prayer" ... one last time!







Thursday ::: Got up late, ate some Pita Pete's with Vovers and Blee and then hit the Evanston Place pool (again) to catch some sun and take a dip. By the time I left the pool, the day was already over and I had to get ready for one last cross-section night out with the Big Dogs and the Poets, this time at the Wilmette Bowling Center. I bowled a whopping 127 in the first game and then midway through game number two, figured it was time to bust out my secret moves - "the two baller", "the double windmill" and crowd favorite, the "windmill-behind-the-back-through-the-legs- supreme." Oddly enough, my ball went much more straight with the trick shots! After a solid two hours of open bowl and bottomless Miller Lites, a small crew took to the roof of 1500 Chicago for a few more beers under the summer night sky. Next stop, graduation!

The "windmill-behind-the-back-through-the-legs-supreme":

Grad Week 2007 - Part I - North Beach Club & Cubs Game

Monday ::: Day one of grad week started off as a continuation from the night before (Richie Hawtin at Smartbar) then I snagged 2.5 hours of sleep before heading back to the beach to meet up for a reunion with everyone from my trip to Machu Picchu, Peru in September of 2005. We actually all went *day camping* together in Wisconsin last year where Sanem and Ryan introduced us to an incredibly fun lawn game called Kubb. We decided the last reunion would have to be a match to the death! Kubb (pronounced koob) is a popular Swedish, viking game that can be played on any surface. The basic premise is to tip all of the other teams Kubbs by tossing wooden batons across the playing field. I'd imagine the game is normally quite civilized; however as with most things, I like to add my own unique flare to the game - shaking my money maker, yelling "suck it" or any number of other distracting tactics. My team scored an early victory but then threw a record number of out of bounds in the championship match, setting us up for some dramatic behind-the-king throws, but sealing our (loser) fate.

Later that afternoon, a big chunk of the graduating class went downtown to North Beach Club which to everyone's surprise was nowhere near the beach. In fact, it didn't have an outdoor space or even a window. It was like a giant, lame adult wonderland. The biggest excitement was that it is attached to Hogs'n Honey's, the scene of the bachelorette party crimes a few weeks ago. I spent three hours watching drunk people ride the mechanical bull. Thrilling. After getting a beer spilled down my back, I decided to call it a night and head home despite chants for "The Keg" on the school bus ride back to Evanston.


Tuesday ::: Day two was another tough day spent running errands, sun bathing and preparing for a night out at Wrigley. The 28-35 Cubs took on the 35-26 Mariners in a fairly entertaining battle of mediocrity. Derrek Lee went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored the game-tying run in the eighth, an inning in which the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs and were unable to take the lead. In fact, none of the three outs even made it past the pitcher. The Mariners wound up winning in the 13th although we left at the end of the 9th in order to rendezvous with Zeb and Eric in Boystown.

"Take me out to the ballgame!" @ Wrigley Field


I decided not to drink at the game, but that decision was quickly nullified when we got to Roscoe's and the pitchers of cosmopolitans started flowing. The bartender admitted they were crack-like, but kept refilling them and watching us slide downhill in a hurry. In the meantime, we watched drag queen, Frida Lay, host a fairly talentless group of contestants on "Wheel of American Idols." Zeb ordered graduation shots, Frida-Lay congratulated us and the night started to get a little fuzzy. I did however, find my brother from another mother (who was wearing a zebra shirt!!) After a few hours, we made the inevitable move to Hydrate for 80s night and on the way over I started climbing the famous street signs on North Halsted. We danced long and hard, the boys' shirts came flyin off and the stage got werked! At some unknown time, I decided enough was enough and managed to convince the party train to head home. Zeb provided entertainment to the very end, yelling "boo-kaaaaay" the entire ride home and throughout our fine meal at Burger King. Some random sleeping dude also got a flash of my butt, which I'm sure was the highlight of his life. And, before we left BK, we realized that Zeb was not wearing the shirt he wore out that night. Ha! Two grad week nights down, two to go!

"I Love Rock'n Roll" @ Hydrate

Richie Hawtin @ Smartbar (6/10/07)

The last time I heard Richie play was at DC10 during a 6 hour tag team set with Ricardo Villalobos last September. I didn't catch him in Detroit, but had 6/10 circled on the calendar as a big night out - a Sunday night at Smartbar after finals week - you knew this was going to be trouble. We rounded up an awesome crew - me, KJ, Gal, Evan, Guido, Jen, Chris, Marcel, Eli and Sunil and got ready to MAKE [M-nus] PARTY! We arrived at the club just before midnight and got to hear about an hour of Brad Owen who was banging the hell out of the Funktion One! He was playing some serious techno and really got the energy up before handing it off to Richie around 1am. I'm not sure if it was the tone of the opening set or if Richie was just in one of those moods, but he didn't waste anytime hitting up the Smartbar crowd with a solid hour and a half of MAXimal beats. Richie really cranked it up for the Sunday night punters - anyone who talks sh*t about him is really off the mark. He is as good as ever.

The venue was comfortably crowded and rockin hard like I haven't seen it in awhile (on a Sunday no less!). The only venue issue was the complete lack of air conditioning, which meant the dance floor conditions were EXTREME. After awhile, just about everyone realized there was nothing we could do and that we were all going to be 'sweatin to the oldies' all night long. Seriously, I have never been on a sweatier dance floor, but everyone hung in like champs and rocked that place hard until the lights came on. Richie dropped the tempo about midway through the set and played some more heady tracks, but then ended things on the deep and dirty tip... just the way I like it! He also played Ambivalent's RU OK, which sounded incredible on that system and had me and the rest of the dance floor going bonkers. Definitely a Top 3 night out in Chicago for me - amazing beats, wicked vibe, good friends and a proper afterhours...

After Richie finished things up, we gathered the crew for some late night eats at Wrigleyville hot dogs, then made our way back to Evanston for a sunrise session on the beach. The last five standing - me, KJ, Guido, Gal and Jen - grabbed a bucket of beer, wine and cava and set out for the 5:15am sunrise on the Clark Street beach in Evanston. We successfully evaded the police on the walk to the beach and then planted ourselves right near the water to watch an INCREDIBLE SUNRISE. After a few hours on the beach, we went to Clark's for breakfast and secretly made our own cava mimosas and laughed about the antics of the morning. This session had it all - a sunrise, booze, the rabbit, Preachy, a photo shoot, Guido's hysterical commentary and a run-in with a car full of first years on their way to their first day at work! We also gave Nir a call and caught him on the bus to work in NYC - we just had to rub it in, sorry my friend!

Richie closes it out with some dirty dirty techno:


The crowd begs for one last song and Richie tosses out a few records:

Andersonville Midsommarfest (6/9/07)

Me, Gal, Flavio and Julie decided on a whim to head down to the 42nd Annual Midsommarfest in Andersonville, a great neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. Born out of Andersonville´s Swedish heritage, Midsommarfest includes everything from old−world Swedish traditions like a dance around the Maypole to all of the normal stuff you'd expect out of a street fair. We drank pina coladas out of pineapples, watched gay boys twirl wooden rifles and even dined on overpriced and nasty corn dogs. After eating the greatest corn dogs of all time in Detroit a few weeks ago, I couldn't stop thinking about my next one. Thank god this one was awful - I think I've been cured!

Oh and here's one more picture from outside Joie de Vine in Andersonville a few days earlier...

We Came to Make Party™ @ Fizz (6/7/07)

The We Came to Make Party™ brand name was born in October '05 and after a year and half, we finally, *officially* made party. And what a better time than a week before my business school graduation, on a random 85°F Thursday afternoon. I gathered the Kellogg crew to Fizz in Lakeview to enjoy some fun in the sun and the beats of good friends and fellow graduates, DJs Sunil Kapadia, Ram Jagannath and Danny Sanchez. Things started off slowly with some technical glitches, but we quickly got past that and the crowd settled in soon thereafter. I have no idea what the final numbers were for the day, but I was extremely happy with the turnout and the vibe. Lots of peeps from Kellogg, the law school, GSB and even a few random Chicago party peeps sprinkled in for good measure! All three DJs played really well - they definitely had that beer garden rockin. So much so that I even was able to earn a few extra dollars shakin my tail feather! Thanks so much to everyone who came out and made it such an incredible day to MAKE PARTY! Be on the lookout for We Came To Make Party™ merchandise available soon, a potential book and my summer party making World Tour with stops in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Egypt, Jordan and Israel.