Showing posts with label #Epic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Epic. Show all posts

Friday, September 25, 2015

A long summer's day...

TGIF peeps!  I don't know about you, but this week in particular felt super long.  To make matters worse, it's getting dark pretty early.  Yet another reminder that fall is officially here.  Luckily the weather has been sweet so far, so it hasn't hit me yet that it's time to dust off the sweaters.  I'm hoping we'll have a warm Halloween for a change.  Last year the weather was cold and rainy!  YIKES!
Back in June, one of the most anticipated neighborhood festivals fell on a warm Saturday.  The Old Town Art Fest started off cloudy with the chance of showers, and if you know Chicago weather, it usually means storms.  Luckily it seemed the clouds were passing, (as so you thought).  I made my way down to join my friends for some afternoon action.  Artists showcase their work in a trendy locale ready for anyone whose interested in finding unique pieces.  There's even live music for entertainment.  I wore a white linen button down and my rag & bone jeggings with flat sandals.  Since I'm transitioning to summer weather, wearing breathable fabrics is a must.  Me and my friends had a good time before we all headed to other places we needed to be.  I had to head out to a family bbq while my other friends had a graduation dinner to attend.  We all agreed to meet up later on.
I hurried to my uncle's place to for the bbq.  A family friend had hired a Brazilian band for some music, but guess what came creeping up on us??  That's right, a storm.  It started to get very dark.  I think we were all hoping they were some passing clouds, but no such luck.  It started to pour on us.  We all scrambled to move the food inside and the poor band quickly covered up their equipment.  My uncle had a tarp so he grabbed a couple of guys to help him put it up.  I guess he could have done this beforehand, but these rain clouds came out of nowhere!  Once he got the tarp on, the party continued.  We danced the night away until the storm passed us by.  I loved the fact that we made the most of the night, despite our weather malfunction.  What else can you do?
We left around 11pm, where I quickly went home and changed to go back out.  Looks like the graduation party was heading out on the town and I wanted to catch up to them.  We met at Hubbard Inn for some drinks and then decided to go to another spot when we got a rude awakening.  Yup, you guessed it.  It was storming again.  We took refuge at Epic restaurant next door and stayed there the whole night.  The rain would not go away this time.  It did not stop raining hard til the next day.  I was pretty much done with the weather and headed home while my friends cabbed it to another spot.  They were determined to have some fun.  I on the other hand knew better.  No matter where they ended up, the weather was going to put a damper on attendance.  I knew I wasn't going to miss much.  lol.  Lesson learned from all the years I've lived here.  Sometimes it's better to quit while you're ahead...
Old Town Art Fest fun!

Look the sun's out!

Family bbq fun

Enjoying the music despite the weather..

My mom is still a little quiet around the family.  I think she's really missing her husband here.

Later on at Hubbard Inn for the graduation party.  We had a blast as usual...

Friday, August 14, 2015

Cinco de Mayo bar crawl!!!

This definitely was one of my highlights so far this year.  It was completely unexpected and in the end, I had a blast with new people checking out new places.  My friend needed a favor to help volunteer a bar crawl in River North.  I had no plans so off I went.  Luckily the weather warmed up pretty quickly now that we entered May.  But Chicago was busy that day.  The NFL draft was being held in downtown, the Kentucky Derby and the Pacquio vs Mayweather boxing match was being televised, along with our Cinco de Mayo bar crawl.  There was traffic everywhere!  We made our way down to meet the people we were working with.  Everyone had a pretty good vibe we were going to have a successful event.  I've never done this type of thing, so I was excited to help in anyway I could.  We were stationed at Hubbard Inn to check the patrons in. 
First of all, I had no idea what goes on organizing an event like this!  It was an eye-opening experience for me, because I love to go out and have fun.  But there's a lot of hard work behind the scenes.  This is a business based off  making sure everyone is enjoying themselves.  I loved meeting the people who participated in the crawl.  A lot of them where out-of-towners who were visiting Chicago for the first time.  For the most part, my friend and I gave out drink tickets and checked off names; pretty simple stuff.  Yet the smiles we encountered made this worthwhile experience for me.  What a great Saturday I had! 
Hubbard Inn's complimentary tequila sunrise cocktail (with drink ticket).

They even had a mariachi band!

Next stop on the crawl, Municipal Bar!

Shay had a Kentucky Derby party!

Last spot, Epic's rooftop!

Good times with the bar crawl crew!