04/30/07

Timing is Everything

People always say that, when you least expect it, you'll fill in the blank: meet someone, fall in love, what have you. Or, in my case, have a great night.

I was in a bit of a funk last week and planned on staying in on Friday. Do you ever just get sick of your life? That's where my head's been lately. But at the end of the day on Friday, I shot off an IM to a FWP (Friend With Potential) to see what he was up to, and he invited me to join him at the Park West to see Antibalas, an Afro-beat band that fuses jazz and funk. It was right up my alley.

We met up with a group of mutual friends who had secured a couple of booths at the venue. Some of...

Posted at 05:39 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/26/07

15 Minutes With ... Jonathan Drubner

Who: Jonathan Drubner, 34, L.A.
Job: Stand-up comedian; TV writer, producer, and host
Status: Single

Despite feeling under the weather, I attended the Heineken Premium Light party Monday at Park West (hey, free beer). Open to nightlife industry folks only, the event attracted about 200 influencers, one of whom parked a DeLorean out front (the owner let me sit in it; I felt like I was in Back to the Future). But the night's real entertainment was the lineup of acts, including the local sketch comedy troupe Schadenfreude and the now-local DJ Toymaster.

Posted at 05:14 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/24/07

Canned Heat

I succumbed to peer pressure this weekend and tried Cocaine. Not the drug, of course: the new energy drink that has the nightlife industry buzzing. Stone Lotus hosted Cocaine's local launch party Friday, and despite plenty of negative buzz, the drink's appeal doesn't seem to have taken a hit. "If we lost five customers, we gained 20," says Brian Winshall, the exclusive Chicago distributor of Cocaine, which can be found at stores including Sam's Wine & Spirits and Gold Crown Liquor, as well as at bars including Stone Lotus, Plan B, and soon,

Posted at 04:23 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (2)

04/23/07

Tune in Tuesday

Sarah is feeling a bit under the weather today, but she's determined to make tonight's Park West event.

Check back tomorrow for more from our Last Girl Standing.

Posted at 03:44 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/19/07

15 Minutes With ... Brook Jay

Who: Brook Jay, "mid-30s," Humboldt Park
Job: Founder and co-president of All Terrain, a marketing agency
Status: Single, dating

Back in 1996, when Jay was working on a project for the Atlanta Olympics, she met her now-business partner Sarah Eck-Thompson; two years later, All Terrain was born. Today the company thrives with 15 full-time employees in a $650 billion industry. The pair's "experiential" - i.e., lifestyle - marketing agency focuses on putting clients' products in front of targeted consumers. Take, for example, last year's Heineken Premium Light launch. Jay was charged with selling bartenders - the people she calls the real...

Posted at 04:37 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/16/07

Happy Birthday to Me

I didn't want to make a big deal about my birthday this year. Like I said last week, approaching your mid-30s isn't necessarily an occasion to celebrate.

That said, I had the best birthday weekend this year, simply because I spent it with good friends and family. My pizza party at Piece was great; we had that bottom lounge-pit area reserved for about 40 or so people. It was a perfect mix of The Marrieds and The Singles - including my brother, Michael, and my sister-in-law, Kim, who were able to secure a babysitter for the night. Even one of my prego friends came; she appreciated the fact that Piece only allows smoking at the bar and we were far away from the second-hand fumes.

Posted at 04:17 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/12/07

The Dirty Thirties

Some of you may have noticed I haven't been blogging about my love life lately. That's because I actually have one right now, and I don't want to mess it up! What can I say; I guess I've learned some lessons along the way, especially from my very first post about the doctor - although I still have no concrete evidence he even read it (for the record, he did know I was writing about our date). But, hey, at least I'm evolving.

Maybe it's due to the whole turning-33 thing this weekend; it's a dirty double number, in my opinion. After all, women hit their sexual peak in their thirties - or rather, dirties, as I've come to think of them. But there's a flip side, too. I remember feeling bad for a girlfriend when...

Posted at 05:01 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/09/07

Garage Sale

Who says hanging out in a garage isn't cool anymore? Cortland's Garage (1645 W. Cortland St.) opened Friday night in the old Leopard Lounge space; the new bar bears only a minimal resemblance to the old 23-and-up hangout. Gone are the Bettie Page-esque pinups and leopard print; the fireplace is history, too, replaced by cube seating. And due to a city ordinance, the back patio has been enclosed, although management will open up the glass façade, garage door-style, during warmer months to let the outside in.

Another change comes via the new "urban garage-chic" décor, conceived by Todd Showalter of the firm Indica 22. Showalter is the creative mind behind nightlife haunts Moonshine,

Posted at 05:11 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (3)

04/05/07

Thursday is the New Friday

Industry insiders tend to think of Fridays and Saturdays as "amateur nights": Only the uninitiated, the masses, go out on weekend nights. The really good stuff usually happens on Thursdays. Since a few readers have asked for recommendations, here are some of tonight's top events, all of which are open to the public. This is just a sampling; post your own suggestions via the comment box below.

Cabaret: "Come celebrate the beginning of spring with Chicago's newest Thursday night, with host Aldo Bottalla," reads this event's e-mail invite. I don't know who Aldo Bottalla is (and Google isn't much help), but I do know it doesn't feel anything like spring outside. In any case, those who

Posted at 03:18 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/02/07

Queen of Clubs?

My target destination Friday night was the Crobar party toasting club owner Joey Vartanian's 25th anniversary in the biz, which I wrote about it in Thursday's post. Now, Crobar isn't my usual scene - I'm not really a club kid; never was - but I had to see what all the hype was about.

A couple of friends and I started off at Marc Bortz's sushi restaurant in the Weed Street District, Tokyo 21. Over a sushi sampler and a couple of bottles of hot sake at the bar, we made a new friend, Michael Laungani, 31, a Chicago-based consultant and contestant from season five of...

Posted at 05:19 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (3)