Raise a Pint Glass to Ireland’s Favorite Dark-Hued Brew

Tuesday, Dec. 29

7 p.m.

Free to attend

It’s been 250 years since Arthur Guinness first signed a 9,000-year lease on an unused Dublin brewery, effectively creating the national drink of Ireland in 1759. Smoke Daddy, the fun-loving Wicker Park barbecue restaurant that is known for its exceptional beer list, will celebrate this historic event with a Guinness-themed soiree at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

During the birthday blowout, Guinness reps will mix and mingle with the crowd of beer lovers, and Smoke Daddy will offer the famous, frothy Guinness drafts for $6 each, as well as drafts of Smithwick’s Irish Ale (a Guinness sister company), also for $6. A beer flight will also be available throughout the evening for $6.

watch the movie Wicker Park if you have no seen it before…It’s a great movie. I posted my favorite scene in the movie at the video side bar on the right….with Coldplay song in the background….Ahhh it’s so beautiful…

wow. This is really crazy but almost every day i have been having Rain dreams. It’s like up and down ….good then bad..bad then good. Well last night’s dream was….”bad” i guess. I woke up and i thought it was true and i was just thinking..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Well, i dreamt he got married at the age of 40….well, specifically 39…hah!

Speaking about getting married….

I have been really into one shoulder dresses for a while now..and have decided for my wedding dress to be something like this! I absolutely adore this gown =)

this one is a little bit different...i guess it hugs your body more...i love it!

source: http://www.pronovias.us/wedding-gowns/new-collection-pronovias/

*back to studying…

It was late in the night. I was channel surfing when suddenly I stopped with Josh Hartnett on my screen. He was a good enough reason to suspend my surfing for a while. But before I could know, I was hooked on to the movie.

The movie is “Wicker Park”. It’s not a sensational story or a story with sensational dialogues. But the plot is shot in a very captivating manner. The story is the usual: guy sees the girl, and it is love-at-first-sight for him. She reciprocates his feelings. They fall in love. SHE VANISHES. The story has 4 main characters other than an airport, a restaurant and an apartment. The direction of the movie is so sleek. It is like several plots happening at the same time and then all them coming up together and we see the jigsaw puzzle solved.

Diane Kruger looks stunning (I believe Hartnett can fall for her in the movie from her looks). In spite of the intrigue and switching of events between present and past, the romance is never lost. Kruger however gets less screen presence I think.

Good watch must say. Intriguingly simple, if you know what I mean. May be one should just watch the movie to feel it.

Hello all!

Just returned from Chicago Thanksgiving. Too short, as always, but it wasn’t as cold as I expected.

I took a nice trip to Wicker Park, and picked up some good stuff. I absolutely LOVE the Marc by Marc store there, and wish I had enough time to browse all of the other boutiques and whatnot.Beautiful Marc store. SO many cute accessories you won’t find anywhere else, and at a pretty decent price too!

Also stopped and got a pair of clog-ish shoes at Fluevog (which is pronounced exactly how it looks)

super cute, I wish I had a pair of cords to where them with…….anyone know where to get a good pair?

Didn’t get a chance to take any good picture so that’s all for now.

xxxxx

pictures jaunted.com&fluevog.com, respectively

Looking for something for someone who has everything?  Join Busy Beaver Button Co. at the Chicago Renegade Craft Fair Booth #17 this Saturday and Sunday for custom holiday buttons and holiday cards.

Click here for directions to the fair.  Click here for more craft fair info.

<<Back to Busy Beaver Button Co.

OK, I admit it: I am a type-A, large scale, major league worrier.

I’m not to the level where I’m afraid to leave my house, or anything along those lines. But I do worry. My worrying tends to be along the lines of playing out different scenarios in my head, and minimizing risk or error. (That comes from a decade of working at jobs where minimizing risk and error was my main task.)

One thing I’ve always been a worrier about? Making sure that any of my personal documents are properly trashed once I no longer need them. That may seem a little OCD, but I’ve had at least a half dozen friends who have experienced identity theft.

I’d had a couple years of documents (old credit card bills and bank statements) that had accumulated on (and under) my desk. So I was happy to learn about a place where I could take those documents and have them shredded for free.

A few Saturdays ago, my partner and I drove to the Wicker Park neighborhood, where Secure EcoShred had an on-site shredding event in the parking lot of a store there. The Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce had partnered with Secure EcoShred to provide this service a few times a year.

I talked for a few minutes with one of the people from Secure EcoShred. It’s a woman-owned business that’s based here in Chicago. I was impressed at their commitment to the environment (all documents are recycled once shredded, and when possible, the shredding trucks are fueled with biodiesel fuel).

Mostly, I was just happy to have all those documents out of my house – and satisfied that I could watch it being shredded. I’m going to try to talk to the condo associations in my building and neighboring buildings (I live in a “condo alley”) and see if there’s any interest in setting up a shredding event in my neighborhood.

Since you probably don’t worry about these things, let me give you the Worrier’s Checklist on how to avoid identity theft and sensibly dispose of those important personal documents. This may seem like common sense, but when we get super-busy and overbooked, this is the kind of self-care and awareness that’s first to go.

Mail. Most people have secure mailboxes, but be concerned if your mailboxes aren’t locked, or if they’re easily accessible to anyone who enters the building. I’ve lived in a few old buildings (like the traditional Andersonville third-story walkup) where even if a security door existed, the mailboxes were on the public side. If you get a credit card offer or a bank statement that you don’t want to keep, NEVER just tear it up and toss it in the hallway trash. That’s exactly how one friend of mine had someone start a credit card in her name.

Bank accounts. I won’t pull a Suze Orman on you here and ask why you aren’t paying closer attention to your bank statements. But bank statements should be kept for several years – the IRS suggests three. I hate having them lay around, so I got a three ring binder and just punch ‘em and throw them in the binder once I get them.

You can ALSO choose to have a paper-free statement if you have online access at your bank, but generally the bank only keeps a year to 18 months online. It’s also important to make sure any other bank-related items (your checkbook register, an NSF notice) are properly shredded as well.

Credit cards. The easiest way to think about credit card bills and correspondence is this: Anything you receive in the mail from your credit card company? Is like another copy of your card floating around. Make sure you retain or shred anything from them. One common mistake people make when receiving a new card is to take the document it’s attached to – you know, the one with your account number and credit limit – and just leave it on a desk or toss it into the trash. We’re so happy and pumped to have that shiny new card that we forget all about everything else! That document needs to be shredded, too.

Where to shred. If you work in an office, chances are you have a shred bin or a shredder. Your company might not mind your use of those resources on a one-off basis, but I’d be reluctant to suggest you use it all the time, since that may be considered a misuse of company resources. Some banks, particularly smaller, community based banks or credit unions, may offer shredding as a service to its customers. And of course, you can buy a shredder, though in this economy, spending anywhere from $50 to $150 for something that’s used only occasionally doesn’t seem like a great idea.

Keeping it together. Many of us are disorganized and lose track of our money because we’re so scattered. I’ve helped a few of my friends get organized by setting up two things: a filing cabinet, and an “inbox.”

The inbox is a single spot where you can keep all their mail and bills until you have a chance to sit down and take a closer look. Managing money and paying bills is usually easier when you can sit down and look at the big picture all at once, rather than in 30-second increments as you’re running out the door or coming home after a long day.

The filing cabinet sounds more complicated than it is, but it’s simple and cheap. You don’t need to buy a whole metal filing cabinet (which can run at least $100), especially if you’re a single person. Places like Target, Staples and Wal-mart will have plastic storage boxes (usually for under $10) and a box of 20 hanging files is maybe another $5.

Take ten or fifteen minutes to set it up – again, very simple: Just set up a folder for every bill you pay. Credit cards, cell phone, cable, car payment, rent or mortgage. I’d recommend a couple others if you really want to be organized (receipts, medical information, insurance, one related to documents from your employer). And you’re done. It becomes super-easy to keep documents organized and out of the way.

Do you have any suggestions for storing and managing your personal documents, or ripping them to shreds?

Un film care te pune serios pe ganduri… O poveste de dragoste ciudata, care pare ca nu va avea un final fericit.

Pornind de la ideea filmului, am tot stat si m-am gandit… Mi se pare ciudat cum unii oameni pot face atat de mult rau doar pentru ca si-au creat o obsesie pentru o alta persoana care nici macar nu stie de acest lucru. Eu una consider ca daca persoana de care esti indragostit(a) este fericita cu altcineva, cea mai buna decizie este sa cedezi in favoarea acelui “cineva”.

Dar ce faci in cazul despre care vorbeam mai sus, atunci cand vezi clar ca nu stie ce simti tu si este indragostita pana peste cap de alta persoana?! Incerci sa o mai cuceresti?! Mai are rost?! De ce nu ai ceda?! Este lumea atat de egoista?! Si mai ales atunci cand este vorba de cineva care ti-e destul de apropiat… De ce ai face asta?! Mi se pare atat de ciudat… Si probabil ca astea vor fi intrebari pe care mi le voi pune continuu…

Oh. My. God. You are so wrong about that, title.

We in Chicago are blessed by REHAB Mondays, a party that has been called the best in the country. You have to be in the know to get the REHAB invite, so follow them on twitter.

We weren’t bluffing about the best in America thing either. REHAB is in the running for “America’s Best Party” for PAPER MAG. Totally take the time to vote for REHAB.

This week to celebrate their nomination, REHAB is totally free! Come rock the house with DJs Kid Color vs Blackholes, Skyler, Team Bayside High and one unannounced DJ.

Doors are at 10pm at Debonair Social Club. Specials include $2 PBR and $4 vodka drinks.  With an RSVP you’ll be included in the champagne reception – so RSVP to the event by 8 tonight.

Debonair Social Club is located at 1575 N Milwaukee.

Construction at Filter has started!  The walls have been framed, rough plumbing and electrical are complete, and major ductwork has been installed.  Completion is scheduled for the end of the year.

There are so many exciting things going on around me that I want to tell the internets about, but I have to wait. It’s killing me.

Right now, I will distract with something that has been on my mind. An internet version of hold music, if you will.

Let’s talk about this lil’ piece of graffiti that’s made an appearance all around West Town, Ukrainian Village and Wicker Park:

I feel silly asking this, but does anyone know:

1) What it means?

2) Who it’s coming from?

3) Am I dense for not knowing?

4) Why it hasn’t been subject to:

Mayor Dailey's Graffiti Busters

Please someone Nancy Drew this mystery for me.

K. Thanks.

Watching Wicker Park after seeing Mulholland Drive is like driving your friend’s Ferrari for the weekend and then going back to your BMW.  It’s not bad; in fact, it’s much better than your other options. But as far as cars go, it doesn’t have a chance of comparing to the Ferrari.  In the mind-bending genre, Wicker Park can’t quite cut it. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn there was some pressure from the studio to make it a tad more Hollywood – the problem is that the film suffers from its cohesive plot.  We realize far too quickly what’s happening; and while we still care about the main characters, it dissolves into a waiting game to see if their stars will cross once more.  The far more interesting character is the semi-villain; really more pathetic than evil.  While she does an admirable job, the rest of the characters and the plot don’t quite support her tortured role, and as a whole it ends up falling short.  It’s too bad; she would have been a great comparison to Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive.  On the plus side, if you find Mulholland Drive too weird – or prefer more traditional story arcs – or want a male lead who’s easy on the eyes (by the way, that’s pretty much all Hartnett has going for him; he delivers every line in this movie, and all his other movies, exactly the same.  Sometimes it works.), then perhaps Wicker Park is the film for you.  And if it leaves you slightly unfulfilled, as if it could have been a better experience if they had just let the story grow on its own, then perhaps it’ll serve as a jumping-off point for some of the more inventive, less stable films.

Picture taken by: Christopher Parish 8/4/09

This week in TimeOut Chicago, I read a review about the Chicago Reckless Records chain.

Reckless Records has three locations, I most often venture to the stores Lakeview location on Broadway. Photo By: Rob Christopher/Chicagoist

The biggest complaint about Reckless Records was the attitude of the staff. While I have never had a bad encounter with an employee of Reckless Records; there are vinyl stores around town with better reputations for customer service.

Another complaint TimeOut Chicago brought up was the lack of new-release sections in the store. I would say, however, when I decide to go record hunting, the last thing I look for is a well signed “New Release” section. Part of the culture of vinyl stores is the idea of spending hours in the store flipping from album to album in search of one calling my name.

Reckless Records has three city locations, one in the Loop, another in Lakeview, and one in Wicker Park.

Reckless Records was the inspiration for the fictitious Championship Vinyl Store in the 2000 film High Fidelity. High Fidelity is a hilarious film about a record store in the city, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Vinyl.

Breakfast has always claimed possession of my favorite foods, yet I love casual, slow-starting weekend mornings. So to me, brunch is perfection.

Brunch in New York City is an institution. When Tara and I spent spring and summer in New York, we were happy and regular participants in the brunching ritual, meandering up to Tartine for a pleasantly cramped French brunch, across the street to Market Table, heading downstairs to the Blue Ribbon Bakery with its fresh-baked bread. (And those are just a few of our favorites…) I’ve never had even a mediocre brunch in the city that never sleeps—or stops eating. (Yet stays so skinny!)

This morning I saw what Chicago has to offer. A couple of friends and I had heard good things about The Bongo Room in Chicago’s ever-trendy Bucktown/Wicker Park area, so we went with high hopes and hunger. The scene was reminiscent of brunch on the fringes of Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village, except a little slower and more spacious (which is often how I describe Chicago in comparison to NYC). We waited for about a half hour for a table—meaning we spent it shopping at the Free People boutique two doors down—and then sat down to menus with enough (but not overwhelming number of) breakfast and brunch offerings, and brunch specials.

Inside The Bongo Room

For me, one of life’s biggest questions is whether to go sweet or hearty at breakfast/brunch. But at The Bongo Room, the standard omlet vs. French toast debate was upped with choices like the “spinach, red pepper and feta benedict” and “chocolate tower French toast,” which someone a table over ordered and came covered with thick shavings of white and milk chocolate. Some of the plates were so sweet they almost could’ve been on a dessert menu (“red velvet hotcakes,” anyone?), but then again, that’s why I love breakfast/brunch—you can get away with that.

The music in the restaurant ranged from Justin Timberlake to one of my new favorites, The Noisettes, (nope, no actual bongos) but never gave the air it was trying too hard, although at times I felt as though I was subconsciously tying to eat in rhythm when it the tunes got a little clubbier. The decor on the other hand, was simplistic yet fresh. I loved the spartan wooden booths that gave it an updated homey feel.

The best solution to my perpetual brunch debate, for the record, is to split dishes with a friend. My friend and I went half and half on the “sweet potato and black bean breakfast burrito” (I love sweet potato anything) and the” zucchini and pumpkin flapjacks.” Pumpkin has to be my favorite seasonal flavor—Just last night I indulged in the limited edition pumpkin spice Red Mango—and these dense yet lightly sweet pancakes came with warm chocolate creme drizzled with caramel to be used in lieu of standard syrup. All in all, the eats were a trendier version of indulgent breakfast foods that would make a toddler ecstatic… and hyper. And that’s how brunch nosh should be.

Pumpkin and zucchini flapjacks, with the white chocolate creme/caramel sauce on the side

Taste for yourself at 1470 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL.

-Karina for TKGO

I was showing some people the blog today at school and realized I haven’t updated since June.

A lot of things have happened since June.

I moved to Chicago, started law school, and lost all free time I once enjoyed.

The good news is, I’ve been riding A LOT.  I try to ride to school (3.5 miles) as often as possible.  I’d like to say I’ve ridden every day this semester, but I’d pin it closer to 75%.

Hopefully I can keep that  up as it gets colder and snowier.  I’ve got knobby tires and will be buying some thick cycling gloves soon, which will both be necessary to battle the Chicago winter.

I’ll put some thoughts together on urban cycling in Chicago.  It’s certainly different from riding alone in the desert.  It’s a little funny that I can ride 3000 miles in 40 days and then ride 5 miles in Chicago one September afternoon only to come face to face with the rear passenger side door of a Toyota Camry.  More on that later too.

Here’s a shot taken by Carla when she visited in July.  I haven’t been that happy at school since then!

Reckless Records in Wicker Park

Where else can you buy the new Reigning Sound LP, Maximum Rock’n'Roll Magazine, and limited edition gold-plated buttons?  At Reckless Records, of course!  It is one of the first Button-O-matic locations and a hip shop with knowledgeable staff in the middle of Wicker Park in Chicago.  Go check out an in-store show and tell ‘em Busy Beaver sent ya!  Click here to visit Reckless Records online.

Click here to visit BusyBeaver.net

Reckless Records 1532 N Milwaukee in Chicago

As I read Kristen’s business card

what does the T C M stand for?

Just had to know so I went to

the website & found out,

 Traditional Chinese Medicine!

You know how you get a good feeling about someone, before you even meet them?  I noticed this peaceful person with perfect posture sitting on a stool! Having sat on those very stools before I thought how can she be sitting so tall, so easily!? No one else was sitting like that!

As a person with "C" like posture, I just had to find out for myself, how does this person sit like that!?  She is a lovely, kind woman that just by meeting her I felt a little more sprightly.  Now if a person can do that to you after meeting them, it is WORTH IT to give them a chance. 

Claire Mooney & Kristen Hart

According to their website: "We have a combined 9 years of training in Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine and Nutrition from two accredited institutions, as well as Continuing Education Coursework. Through our extensive clinical training, our skills were honed, as we had the opportunity to treat a wide variety of dis-eases.

Our healing philosophy centers on recognizing and valuing the complete nature of each individual— the combination of physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual. The recognition of the interconnection among these aspects is an integral part of the healing process. For us, acupuncture and herbal medicine is about helping patients help themselves. Using Traditional Chinese Medicine as a tool, we focus on helping each patient find their body’s own path to health.

We believe that nutrition is of the utmost importance to health. The foods we consume significantly contribute to our well-being, especially when so many illnesses are “unexplainable.” While many things in our environment cannot be controlled, we do have a say on how we eat. Our diet affects our health.
We were always taught "you are what you eat…" We should take care and eat well!

We understand that sometimes our bodies breakdown…
Whether it is catching a cold, painful menstrual periods, a chronic illness, or a sprained ankle, the reality is the same- these things happen to our bodies!
Acupuncture & herbal medicine can do three things:
• Build the body up to help prevent issues,
• When issues do arise they help to provide quicker recovery and management of the issues,
• Acupuncture and herbal medicine can give us a sense of control over our bodies and health.

While we can’t always control what happens to us, we certainly can choose how we deal with it!

We look forward to hearing from you! ".

Sounds good to me! my health

could use visit to these women,

how about you?

Here we go. Day 4 started off with a bagel and a decent chai latte at a local hipster coffee shop. Then the other band member and I walked around the Wicker Park area for a while. Since it was Sunday the farmers market was happening in the namesake park of Wicker Park. Park!

I managed to brighten the day for a couple of farmers by not purchasing any of their products.

No church is complete without a disco ball...that performs exorcisms.

I interpreted this as meaning that if I drive at night it's ok for me to pee in a cop's eyes and then put their eyeballs in an urn.

Back to day 3 of the Chicago trip. I decided this was going to be the day that I would check out all of the tourist crap. Since we were staying in Wicker Park I was planning on taking the subway to the city. Once I started walking I just felt like walking the whole way especially since it wound up seeming pretty close. The blocks went by much quicker than they do in New York and it was nice to look at all the interesting architecture. I bet architects here just walk around with perpetual erections. I walked along the river for a bit with all the obvious tourists.

This river water was actually quite tasty.

I paid my respect to the Monolith.

This thing was precious. I kept waiting underneath for the milk to pour out on to my naked body but no such luck.

There were a lot of jackasses waving their hands around so that they could find their reflection. Jagass.

f you live in the Chicago area please go to this and let me know if you can still close your eyes without seeing that face.