Rachelle and Lynda, ready to go. And Dallas clowning.
Our golf cart caravan is off!
Most of the taxis (all?) were this redish maroon color. They were also really cheap.
Brett taking a photo of me.
U-turning with a taxi in the middle!
Sara and Brian.
We had 8 or 9 carts with 4 people in each.
Vanessa and Damian.
Christine and Adam.
Kelly and Todd.
Hugs! We made it to Garrafon de Castilla!
I do not know what Lynda and Josh are doing back there!
Pretty Isla street.
Isla Mujeres statue.
Dallas, sun is setting on a long day.
Josh returning the cart.
On the Thursday before the wedding, Brian and Sara planned for everyone to rent golf carts (about $40 for the entire day) and do a snorkeling outing/pub crawl. We all met up at the Ixchel Beach Hotel, where we were staying, and went from there.
Isla Mujeres does have cars, but the main modes of transportation are scooters and golf carts. I’d say scooters for the locals. We saw whole families all fitting on one scooter. And many kids piled on. I think most of the golf carts are tourist’s rentals, though tourists also rented scooters. The carts are more practical, though, because you can fit four people on them and stuff easier.
Here’s the thing I realized very quickly that day: There are not many rules in Mexico. Drunk driving? Ok. Driving while drinking? Ok. Seatbelts? No. Speed limits? No. Drinking out of glass bottles on the beach and in the ocean? Ok. Snuffing out your cigarette in the sand? Yep. Obeying traffic laws? Nope. In other words, I thought we might die. But, we all did ok.
These were our stops (and I’ll have more photos of them coming up):
Around 9:30 we left Jen and Chad’s party and headed down to Wicker Park where Todd was hosting a party. We did this same thing two years ago when Todd hosted a party, and sort of did last year, except the party was at Frasca, not Todd’s house. Dallas brought our Wii over the night before and we all played that. We also played some good, old-fashioned Pictionary. We each put in $10 and the girls won all the money! Kelly made some delicious jello shots with real cherries in them and some fantastic mystery punch.
At midnight we toasted with Dom Perignon and some Sofia by Francis Ford Coppola Winery. A few people have asked me how the Dom was, since it’s known to be expensive and one of the best champagnes. To be honest, it tasted like champagne. Good champagne, but it was the only one at the party so I couldn’t compare and I’m not a huge connoisseur of champagne. Katjie, on the other hand, said she loves champagne and that it was great, so I’ll take her word for it. I also really liked the Sophia sparkling white.
I don’t know what happened after midnight. It’s a bit of a blur. Haha. Someone (ADAM!?) had my camera and took about a thousand photos. Dallas said I took them, but I’m in a lot of the photos, so that can’t be. Anyway, fun party. Great New Years Eve overall.
Before you read any of this, know that you have to sing the post title to the tune of Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA,” because that is Brian’s favorite song.
Christine and Adam and to the left, Adam’s brother Todd
Larry and Lilia, Ang & Murph
Brian, Sara, Kelly
Larry is a giant.
On Saturday night we went out for Brian’s birthday. Sara, his fiance, arranged for 16 of us to have dinner at Sakura Teppanyaki. This was a Benihana kind of place where they cook the food on a hot grill in front of you and put on a show. Uh, not that I’ve ever been to Benihana, but I went to a similar kind of place on Mauai called Kobe Japanese Steak House way back in 2009. I haven’t been to anything like this since.
Lots of shrimp, scallops, lobster, chicken and steak.
Our chef messing with Brett & Kelly.
Setting up the onion volcano.
The volcano.
All of the teppanyaki dinners were served with a grilled shrimp appetizer, miso soup, salad, grilled vegetables and fried rice. Then you got to pick what kind of entree you wanted. There was a selection of different kinds of fish, chicken, steak, filet mignon, shrimp, scallops, lobster, or calamari. Or you could get a combo. I got steak and scallops. And I upgraded my fried rice to chicken fried rice. I liked everything I had, except I wouldn’t recommend the upgrade to chicken fried rice. It’s not worth it. Otherwise it was all good. Dinners range from about $18 – 30. Not too expensive for all of the food you get. I was so stuffed at the end of dinner.
As for our chef, he was pretty funny. He quickly detected which were the people to mess with and playfully teased them while cooking our dinner. He kept saying “No sake bomb, no happy!” so we bought him a sake bomb when we got a round for the table.
Almost all the ladies were drinking these 100-calorie martinis (on the left), sake bombs on the right.
Here’s the set up: Glass of beer, sake balanced on chop sticks.
All set?
Larry showing Brian how it’s done. Everyone pounds the table.
Then the sake falls into the glass. You can see Larry’s chopsticks flying and the sake glass inside the beer glass.
Our table had countless rounds of sake bombs. I think I had 2-3 total, but some people had more. A sake bomb is served with a glass of beer and a shot glass sized serving of sake. The drinker takes their chopsticks and lays them across the top of the beer pint glass. Then they balance the sake on the top of the chopsticks. This can be tricky after a few drinks. Ask Lynda. She accidentally dropped hers in early twice and had to drink her bomb before everyone was ready.
After you have the sake balanced you pound the table and it causes the sake to fall into the beer. The should be drank immediately. To be honest, the sake bombs mostly just tasted like beer to me, but because everyone feels the need to race and chug, and the fact that there is sake in there, it can make you drunk fast. Also, the sake glass falling into the beer can be really messy. I had a lap of beer on the first round. On the second I just dropped the sake in instead of doing the chopsticks and pounding. Not as fun, but definitely less messy!
After dinner we headed over to some really cheesy Lincoln Park bars. Good thing I was drunk because these were not my kind of places! I asked Brian if I was going to feel like an old lady at the bar we were headed to. You know… not old, just too old for the club, but he said just to sit back and watch and laugh, and so I did. So, we headed to Beaumont, which most people seemed to have been to but not for a long time and not proudly. And not so early. It was dead when we arrived. No one else was there. But in no time if was filled with single 20-somethings. It was actually kind of painful to watch.
The Store til Four
Don’t ask. It was late. I get the willies just looking at this photo!
Later on we went down a few buildings to The Store.. ahem… The Store til 4. Any bar with “til 4″ in the name is probably not a good idea. I’m looking at you Tai’s til 4! I learned that lesson a few times many years ago. But Dallas and I didn’t stay out anywhere near 4 a.m. I think we caught a cab home at 2 or so.
I didn’t see Brian on Saturday but I saw him for a while on Sunday at The Scout in the South Loop where we were eating lunch and watching some football (Packers won! Lions lost! We’re the best in the league!) and it seemed like he had a good birthday weekend!
Killian, Rachelle (Killian’s birthday gift was Shake Weight
Learning how to use the Shake Weight
Rachelle & Juan, a.k.a Kwan
Rachelle, Juan/Kwan, Cory
Watching the fight: Dallas, Kristin, Caroline, Danny, Cousin, Anonymous, Alden, Paul Baker, Kate, Juan/Kwan, Cory, Ed
See you in my nightmares!
I think the pictures tell the story! At first I was just trying to take photos of people at the party then somehow it evolved into me having to be in the photos.
It was a fun night. I acted like I was turning 26, not 36, though. Definitely was feeling my true age the next day! Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes, gifts, cards, and for coming to my party and making it a great time!
Ross and his girlfriend Chelsea were in town this weekend. We met up with them at Ribfest, where it was rainy and only about 50 degrees outside. When Ross flew in on Wednesday for work it was 97 degrees. He didn’t even pack a coat. Little did he know how fickle Chicago weather is!
We wandered around Ribfest for a while, drank some beer. Dallas and I stopped to talk to Josh at the Smoke Daddy booth. We also shared some kalbi ribs (and both agreed that when we make them they are better!). To use up some tickets and get out of the rain we had some corndogs and onion rings.
We then met up with some other friends – Todd, Brian, Sara, Brett – at Corner 41, which was kind of a mistake. It was nice to get out of the rain, but the bar had pretty much run out of beer. We bought their last 5 Coors Lights and they were all warm. I hate Coors Light, but I put it on ice and it actually was not that bad. Honestly, it tasted like water.
Chelsea used to live in Chicago and wanted to take Ross to the Green Mill, Chicago’s historic jazz club. I’d never been there and also wanted to go, so I tagged along. It was pretty cool, even if you’re not that into jazz, you should go once. That night’s jazz quartet consisted of drums, bass, and two saxophone’s. The band was called Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things.
We only stayed for a drink and one set, but it was enough to get a feel for the place. Ross and Chelsea went back to their downtown hotel and I went back to Logan Square where I met up with Dallas for a late night beer and slice of pizza at Boiler Room.
