05/31/07

Settling Versus Settling Down

Tuesday's blog seemed to strike a chord with some readers. "Why do you hold so firmly to the belief that single 32-year-olds have a hang-up or two?" one poster queried. Another asked, "What's so bad about 'settling' at this point in the game?"

As cited in a previous post, 51 percent of American women are single now, so mine may be the generation that continues slashing the divorce rate-which is the lowest it's been since 1970, according to a recent AP article-by not settling.

To answer the first question: I believe that people who remain single past a certain age-I said 32-do so by choice....

Posted at 04:15 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (4)

05/29/07

Big Nights, Small City

Thursday night I attended Avenue M's one-year anniversary party, and by the time my friend and I arrived around 8 p.m., there was already a line spilling out the door. We decided to forego the free drinks (which ended at 9 p.m., anyway) and stop by nearby De Lux, a clean, comfortable, no-frills corner bar owned by Gen Furla (I love women bar owners), who used to helm the now-shuttered Parkway Tavern on Fullerton.

Chicago feels like such a small city sometimes: When we walked in, we bumped into The Husbands - the male half of The Marrieds - with whom I've been friends for years; I've known some of them since long before they met their wives. They were having a...

Posted at 04:13 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (3)

05/24/07

Celebrity Beat

Marky Ramone, longtime drummer of The Ramones, was slated to play a set Wednesday night alongside DJ Skribble for a private party at Manor (343 W. Erie St.). "We rented the drum set for him," Manor co-owner Mike Bisbee told me, nodding toward the Yamaha kit resting near one of the lounge's corner VIP booths, "but he wouldn't play."

That's because the twosome didn't have much time to practice, what with Skribble's wife having a C-section the day before - not that it kept the DJ from coming to town for the gig. Priorities! (According to his MySpace page, Marky insists on Pork Pie-brand drums for all of his U.S. shows. Maybe that was the...

Posted at 03:41 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

05/21/07

One Colorful Night

Last Thursday evening, I attended an event at Spiaggia hosted by designer Todd Oldham; Spiaggia's James Beard-winning chef-partner, Tony Mantuano; and restaurateur Larry Levy. The trio had gathered, along with about 350 tastemakers, to toast - remotely - their new effort, the Fairfax Hotel on Miami's South Beach, which will house the first expansion of Spiaggia in the restaurant's 23-year history, Enoteca Spiaggia.

Posted at 04:48 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

05/17/07

Opening on a Crescendo

There comes a time in every party girl's life when getting all dolled up for restaurant and bar openings, charity fundraisers, and B-list-celeb-studded parties gets a little, well, stale. Some nights I'd rather watch the Grey's Anatomy finale (tonight!) than attend another overcrowded, over-Botoxed event, where the weightiest conversation topic is Paris Hilton's jail time. (The horror!)

And other nights, it's just a matter of choosing wisely. Last Friday, instead of going to Madhatter's Ball for the sixth year in a row - and pretending not to be annoyed with David Schwimmer for his self-importance - I attended the opening of Crescendo (222 W. Ontario St.), the new bar in the old L8 space from the people who brought us

Posted at 04:36 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (7)

05/14/07

Double Booking

As soon as there are two warm days to rub together, big events and bar openings start popping up like tank tops - so much so that one's schedule can require the occasional double booking.

Take last week. Thursday I attended One Hot Night, the Today's Chicago Woman event featuring the magazine's 25 hottest bachelors, at the River East Arts Center. I repeat: 25 hot bachelors - well, except for a few no-shows, like the Bulls' Chris Duhon, who was too busy losing to the Pistons to attend the party. How could that be bad? (If you missed the bash, don't fret. Summer Lovin', Chicago's annual singles event co-sponsored by The Auxiliary Board...

Posted at 04:26 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (0)

05/10/07

Friends and Exes

It started with my college beau: Before we began our tumultuous five-year relationship, we were friends first. It made dating easy, because we shared a group of friends, but it also made breaking up (like, 29 times) brutal, because we shared a group of friends. Once the relationship was finally, finally over, he became my ghost of relationships past. I kept comparing other guys to him and defaulting back to him whenever I was in a rut - which was easy to do since we remained friends and didn't completely sever our romantic ties in the six or so years following college.

I've always had a hard time letting go - you know, leaving the friendship behind when the relationship goes south, since, typically, friendship was the root of the relationship in the first place. To...

Posted at 05:15 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (2)

05/07/07

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

It's a rite of passage: You get the guy, then the ring, and, in the weeks leading up to the main event, you get a night of revelry, usually including a stripper and a trolley. What, like guys should have the fun?

Saturday night I attended a friend's bachelorette party - a double, actually, for two brides-to-be, with 25 girls in attendance. Things started out tame: We all met in Stanley's basement private room, but about an hour into the evening, when we heard the stripper was on his way, we got serious about the open bar. And when the man of the hour arrived, conversation turned from chatter about kids to adolescent giggles in no time flat.

Our stripper started off as a mafioso dressed in a fedora and a...

Posted at 04:06 PM in Nightlife | Permalink | Comments (2)

05/03/07

Dating Disasters

About six years ago, my dad set me up with a lawyer who was a few years older than I. We met for drinks at Martini Ranch (311 W. Chicago Ave.); he paid. Since we were having such a good time, I suggested we grab dinner. I drove us to Kamehachi on Wells Street and valet parked my car. We chatted more over sushi and were hitting it off - especially for a blind date - and, when the bill came, I offered to contribute my portion of the check, as I always do. He didn't hesitate to accept my money. After dinner, I gave the valet my ticket, and, before my car even arrived, my date said goodbye, jumped in a cab, and zoomed off - leaving me standing solo on the corner at midnight.

When I retold the story, my brother said I...

Posted at 04:35 PM in Relationships | Permalink | Comments (12)