04/21/08

Music: Check. Photographer: Check. Flowers: Checkbook, Please.

Sitting on the couch and planning my wedding hasn't been all hearts and bonbons. First, pending reconstructive knee surgery this Wednesday, I'm barely mobile enough to go to the bathroom, much less meet with vendors; and second, now that I've had time to read every bridal magazine on the market, plus celebrity planner Mindy Weiss's new how-to guide, The Wedding Book, I'm sufficiently confused. Band versus DJ? Roses versus stephanotis? Sushi station versus passed apps? No wonder men don't get involved...

Posted at 05:58 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (10)

04/14/08

Eels, Pugs, and Other Lounge Lizard News

Just because I'll be stuck on the couch nursing an injured knee instead of a cocktail tomorrow on my birthday doesn't mean you can't raise a toast on April 15th. Yes, the Tax Man taketh away, but you can drinketh whatever's left. Read about new bar openings and tax day specials below; then, if you make it out to these or other spots, come back and post comments so that others (ahem, me) can benefit vicariously from your bar hopping...

Posted at 05:30 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/10/08

Last Girl Standing Takes a Seat (Temporarily)

LGS will be on the nightlife disabled list for the next few weeks with a torn ACL. She'll be scaling back on posting during her recovery, but keep those comments coming, and check in for bar news and wedding updates. (What better way to spend doctor-enforced couch time than planning her biggest party yet?)

Posted at 03:40 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (2)

04/07/08

The Accidental Bride is Full. Speed. Ahead.

We've set a date for the wedding: a Sunday next September. Yes, we're on what you'd call the marriage fast track. And no, I'm not pregnant, although a number of people—including my own brother—asked if I was when we told them our date was less than six months away.

That's one good thing about a Sunday-night wedding: If we had wanted to say our I dos on a Saturday, we would have had to wait at least a year. Most of the places we've looked into are booked for Saturdays well into 2009...

Posted at 12:54 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (19)

04/03/08

The Accidental Bride on Catering

You asked for it: New to Last Girl Standing, a few notes now and then on planning for my upcoming nuptials, along with regular communiqués from the nightlife front. Hey, I’m not settled down yet.

For a girl who's spent her adult years attending and writing about lavish openings and parties, you'd think this wedding planning stuff would come naturally.

Think again...

Posted at 07:17 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (3)

03/31/08

15 Minutes With ... Plain White T's frontman Tom Higgenson

At this point, the story behind the Chicago band Plain White T's 2007 breakout song "Hey There Delilah" is the stuff of local legend. I sat down with frontman Tom Higgenson—who was playing a mini acoustic set Friday night at a launch party for 24/7 Chicago, NBC-5's new local entertainment show hosted by Catie Keogh, Jamie Blyth (of The Bachelorette, circa Jen Schefft), and Billy Dec—to get the real dirt on...

Posted at 03:29 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

03/27/08

The Proposal

The Background
I've never pictured myself the typical bride. If and when I fantasized about the Big Day, I envisioned a kick-ass party with my family and friends—at a Vegas hotel, to be totally honest—but never was I wearing a pouffy white dress, and my hair definitely wasn't curled into ringlets. The groom was a faceless man, about six feet tall, and built like Clooney (who, in reality, is considerably shorter—hey, it's a fantasy). And I was walking down the aisle toward the rabbi to the tune of "Fool in the Rain" by Led Zeppelin.

Without too much psychoanalysis, let's just say I've always wanted the unattainable...

Posted at 01:14 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (18)

03/25/08

Hoops and—spoiler alert!—Rings: Where to Watch March Madness

The Fiancé (yes, we made it official last Friday; check back Thursday for a full report) forced me to fill out an NCAA tournament bracket over dinner last week. All I knew was to err on the side of loyalty and pick my alma mater, KU, to win the Big Dance—but I know plenty about bars. In preparation for the Sweet 16, I've rounded up a list of top-notch NCAA-watching spots: watering holes associated with schools still in the hunt for this year's national championship. Because no one likes to cheer—or jeer—alone...

Posted at 05:47 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (2)

03/24/08

Tune In Tomorrow

The thrill of victory! The agony of defeat! The anticipation of a frosty pint! Tune in tomorrow, when LGS picks the best spots to catch NCAA action.

Posted at 09:04 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

03/20/08

Celebrity Beat: Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi, John Legend, and more

Forget Taste of Chicago.

Common Threads—the charity cofounded by Oprah toque and Table Fifty-Two honcho Art Smith that teaches kids about nutrition and healthy cooking—held its third annual World Festival Monday night at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The scene was sort of like an all-star episode of Top Chef: Local bigwigs including David Burke (David Burke's Primehouse) and Gale Gand (Tru) handed out haute-cuisine samples while schmoozing with...

Posted at 04:12 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (4)