06/28/07

Celebrity Beat: Heather Graham at the Gen Art Chicago Film Festival

Film festivals usually mean open bars and swag bags-and true to form, this inaugural fest had both. Tuesday was the opening night of the first-ever Gen Art Chicago Film Festival. "Five premieres. Five parties," the invite read. New York has been hosting the fest for 12 years now, but Chicago scored a stop this year as well. "We are the first Gen Art office to carry on the festival," says Amanda Nosal, director of Gen Art Chicago. "We're proud that we were chosen over L.A., San Fran, and Miami [where Gen Art also has offices]. It makes sense, though; Chicago is really making its mark in the film world, and, well, we also love a great party."

For those not familiar with Chicago's Gen Art chapter, the group showcases emerging...

Posted at 04:49 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

06/25/07

Team of Two

’Tis the season for weddings. On Friday night, I attended yet another bachelorette party, this time for S. R., a founding member of Team Lush, who's getting married at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego this coming weekend. About 10 girls got together to shower the bride-to-be with lingerie and advice before sending her off into matrimonial bliss. Of the 10, two are single; one is in a serious relationship; another has been married for a year; two are pregnant with their second children; and three have at least one kid each already. Conversation throughout the night hovered around husbands, pregnancy, children, grocery shopping, and sex. Only one of those topics I could personally relate to—OK, two, if you count grocery shopping for one.

Posted at 03:12 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (0)

06/21/07

The Goodbye Girl

A friend of mine is moving to L.A. in a couple of weeks, so a group of us girls got together last night at Piazza Bella in Roscoe Village to send her off. She picked the restaurant: "This is my new Settimana," she said on the ride over, referencing the shuttered Wicker Park café. "I still can't believe that place closed." Soon, though, she’ll have to find a new, new Settimana.

Posted at 04:28 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

06/18/07

Summer Showers

Taste of Randolph: my second favorite weekend of the year. Humidity and rain be damned; dedicated fest-goers like me know how to have a good time.

Friday night at the fest, my friend K. and I double-fisted our way through a set by the band Fountains of Wayne; the lines were so long at the beer tents we had to overstock. It was one crowded, muggy mess out there, but once the band played "Stacy's Mom," I was better able to tolerate the constant swarm of gnats hovering above our heads. (Note to self: Don't wear perfume to street fests.) The talent (a.k.a. cute boys) were out in full force-Taste of Randolph usually draws a slightly older crowd than other street fairs-but we managed to bump into people we knew at almost every other step, which left little time for making new...

Posted at 03:42 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

06/14/07

Celebrity Beat

Summer in the city really means celebrities in the city. Seen on the scene, in the last week alone:

Thursday, June 7
Perhaps the most celeb-studded party Chicago has seen in recent years, the official Ocean’s Thirteen opening bash took place at Jerry Kleiner's Room 21 last Thursday, following the movie’s premiere at AMC River East 21. Hosted by Vanity Fair, the party doubled as a charity event for Darfur; the cheapest ticket went for a cool $2,000. "Everything was draped in red, and it looked like the VIP-VIP-VIP room of Las Vegas's best casino,” says guest Jonathan Landan, president of the marketing company A-Life Group. “George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle,...

Posted at 04:41 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

06/11/07

Ode to Old Town

Saturday and Sunday brought the return of the Wells Street Art Festival and the Old Town Art Fair-my absolute favorite weekend of the year. Because I live in Old Town, I consider these my festivals-essentially, a block party in my front yard for about 70,000 people. And since the Wells Street fest and I are the same age, I feel especially connected to it; I've only been going for the past 10 years, but we've both been around for the last 33. I spent all of last week preparing for fest-goer drop-ins (cleaning house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and having the rest of my furniture delivered, including my new, beautiful, 50-inch TV-sigh). And that was only the beginning. Here's what the weekend entailed:

Saturday, June 9

11...

06/07/07

Where the Boys (and Girls) Are

Thanks to everyone who posted comments and sent e-mails regarding Monday's blog. Your feedback helps fuel future blog topics, so keep it coming.

To respond to one poster's query, "Where's the best place to meet guys?": I'm of the school of thought that the women follow the men, so where there are men, there are hordes and hordes of women. After all, finding places where the guys outnumber the gals is tough in this city. Club owners, however, bank on the men following the women: They let in at least four girls to every guy and turn away large groups of men, especially if those men show up sans ladies. "If you have the girls, the guys will follow," one nightlife executive tells me. "The owners and...

Posted at 05:42 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (1)

06/04/07

We Want Your Feedback

It's been six months since I started writing Last Girl Standing, Chicago magazine's blog about nightlife and dating. While I consider myself somewhat of an expert - thanks to plenty of trial-by-error experience - I'd like to hear other people's perspectives as well. That's where you come in.

What obstacles do you face in the often-brutal world of dating? Are you hungry for more behind-the-scenes nightlife coverage? Itching for more celebrity gossip? Got a tip you'd like to share? Post in the comment field below and let me know. If you've got a dating dilemma you don't want to air publicly, e-mail me directly at nightspotting@hotmail.com, and I'll keep it anonymous, unless you give me permission otherwise.

A few...

Posted at 04:07 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (13)