Thursday, June 21, 2012

Number 18: Dance On Top Of A Bar

Sometimes your wife comes to town and you just let loose. (Wait for it -- yep, you read that correctly.) Remember that post where I went and did a crazy thing like [pretend to] get engaged to my best friend? And before that I jumped out of a plane with that same friend? Well, sometimes Ms. Em Elle comes to Chicago and I do crazy things like dance on top of a bar. This post could probably also fall under the category of Number 19: Forget what your mother would think, but I'm sure I'll do something equally as ridiculous at some point in time so we'll give this the proper title it deserves.

Our evening started out the right way with classy $14 martinis at the top of the Hancock Tower. If you haven't been to the lounge there yet to check out the view, I highly recommend it. (In fact, add it to your Chicago Bucket List right now.) The view is absolutely stunning and while the drinks were pricey, it was cheaper than had we paid to enter the oberservation deck only a floor above us. Plus, my drink was yummy. So there. But, if one wants to have a fun evening and still pay rent the next month, one cannot survive on $14 martinis alone. So, we decided to walk and see where the night would take us. Being in a semi-unfamiliar area as far as the night life was concerned, our party of four decided to go into the first place that looked decent. And by decent, I mean decently cheap. A bouncer overheard our discussion and promised us free shots with our first round of drinks. Well, Dan The Bouncer, we accepted your challenge. And things could only get awesomer from here. (Or move downhill. Whichever. I choose awesomer. Barney Stinson would be proud.)

And this is how we wound up at a bar called Shenanigans. I've never been quite so confused by an establishment. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the crunch of the floor -- they keep baskets of shelled peanuts on the tables so the area around the tables looks like Fenway after the seventh inning stretch. WHY would you do that? I bet the cleaners hate you. The next thing we noticed was the terrible 90s rap playing throughout. I'm not talking about terrible-wonderful, I'm talking terrible-terrible. On a Tuesday. (Oh yeah... this was a Tuesday. #relivingcollege #didnteveractuallydrinkontuesdaysincollege #brandeisproblems.) Other features of the establishment: basketball hoops, tacky sports memorabilia, a lawn sized Jenga game (this was actually amazing), a beer pong table, bros, bros, questionably clothed ladies, MORE BROS, and the piece du resistance -- two different stages complete with stripper poles. One of which, was behind the bar.

If you'll allow me to take a detour for a moment, I had a great college experience, but it was not like college in the movies. My Brandeis experience was pretty tame. So, when encouraged (or liquid couraged), I can definitely muster up the audacity to do things at 25 that I should have done at 18. So, after partaking in free shots, peanuts, beer pong, the most kick*ss game of Jenga imaginable... Britney Spears coaxed Em Elle and I to the bar for a duet. So there you have it ladies and gents, I, Erika, danced on a bar. And we were so coordinated and artful that the clientele showered us with praise and the bartender presented us with a free bottle of their worst champagne for our efforts. We're naturals - what can I say? It was an experience. One I don't think I'll ever repeat, but an experience nonetheless.

 Now you may be saying to yourself, where is the photographic evidence of this epic event? Well, it exists. But, you never know what major office I'll run for some day, (or how many family members will read this post) so those will stay off the interwebs. So, you'll have to suck it up and enjoy the Jenga pics for now. I'm pretty sure we set a record for tallest tower - 27 stories!


I suppose there should be a moral of this story -- and if there is, it's this: I'm not a bar-top dancing gal, but if I ever apply for a job at Coyote Ugly, I'll at least be able to check the box that says I have prior experience. Shenanigans isn't on your MUST SEE list for the Chicago area, but it was worth the laughs. And the story. I declare Number 18 -- COMPLETE.

Signing off,
E

Friday, June 8, 2012

Number 26: Go Skydiving, Part 2

 Hello Faithful Readers, I apologize for the month-long hiatus of the blog! But I'm happy to say that I'm back in action! You may ask, "Erika, what have you been doing that has been keeping you from blogging for us?" Well, friends, you'll have to wait a few more days to find out about what fun and crazy shenanigans I've been up to... but for the time being, I'd like to tell you about what I did ONE YEAR AGO this very week...

It was very appropriate that ML was visiting my in Chicago this week, because one year ago this Tuesday... the two of us did something rather crazy. We jumped out of a plane. What? Okay. So shortly after I received the book that inspired this blog, I received a Groupon offer inviting me to jump out of a plane. So I purchased two vouchers. Six months went by and I still hadn't used them and they were about to expire, so we made a date to go. We drove up to Pepperell, MA, in totally great spirits, not really thinking about what we were about to do. Until we pulled into the parking lot.

The place is literally a huge field at the end of a dirt road with random, low buildings scattered about in between collections of old furniture. And dogs. There were dogs everywhere.

Because of weather conditions, sometimes you have to wait around a bit before you take off. So while we waited to be outfitted in the sexiest looking gear you can imagine...

We still had plenty of time to get nervous.


But after watching so many people go up and down, our names were finally called. We took deep breaths, got strapped to our instructors. And started to board the plane. Which was... slightly larger than the one my Barbies rode in as a kid.

Our tandem partners were amazing though. Mine was named Taco, and was much more competent than The League character who bears his same name. When it's time to go, you really don't do much. You are completely connected via harness to your instructor and they do most of the work. You walk to the edge of the plane, put your toes on a line, and before you know it, you're airborne. Free falling is the worst part because there is so much wind, but after I pulled the cord on the parachute (which Taco said was one of the smoothest first timer pulls he's ever had... yep, I'm a natural!), gliding to the ground is incredible. We went on a really clear day so you can see for miles. Taco knew a lot about the landscape so he pointed things out to me - like small towns in MA and the NH border. One of the craziest things about descending is that you can feel the heat rise as you get closer to the ground. We went on a disgustingly hot day and it was downright cold when we jumped, but we were back to sweating once we landed on the ground. Besides the experience, we got a really sweet looking certificate proving we were crazy enough to jump into the sky... and a story we'll never forget.

Funnily enough, two days after that... (if you're counting that's one year ago today) I boarded another plane. This time I didn't jump out of it, but that story ends in a giant leap as well. When that plane landed, a little town called Chicago. I guess you know how that story ends...

Happy Friday,  Readers!
xoxo,
E