Isobar Summer Event at Bub City

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Last week we had an all-day Isobar company meeting, as we do every year. The annual t-shirt contest was reinstated and everyone got the winner’s shirt, which featured a skeleton astronaut(?). At about 2:00 or 2:30, we headed over to Bub City, where we had the whole place rented out to ourselves. I’d never been to Bub City and I really liked the space. There was a band playing that was really good and after a while, when the drinks started kicking in, they let people come up and sing songs like live band karaoke. There was a barbecue buffet that people said was good, but there were also a ton of passed appetizers and I mostly ate those.

I made Romi do his first shot of Malort and now he thinks he can call himself a true Chicagoan. Little did I know that would come back to bite me later on when Mike made me do a shot of Malort! Karma.

FullSizeRender.jpg-3 Bub City (View Larger)

FullSizeRender.jpg-1 Good ol’ American sliders

FullSizeRender.jpg-4 AJ + Mike

FullSizeRender.jpg-2 Adam + AJ

FullSizeRender.jpg-5 Lobster Roll

img_7918Becky, Michelle, Rachelle, Katie, Megan

FullSizeRender-2-1Bryan, Ujval + Me

IMG_7911Michelle, Bryan + Me

IMG_7910Romi, George + Me

FullSizeRender-1Egor + Sam line dancing

FullSizeRender-4 Sheriff George

FullSizeRender.jpg-6 Vinay

FullSizeRender-6 Ronak

IMG_7831 Sam + Me

IMG_7917Romi’s first shot of Malort. (I had Fireball.)

FullSizeRender.jpg-7 This mannequin is the first thing you see when you open the women’s bathroom door. Aimee actually screamed and slammed the door shut. I cautiously reopened it and we realized the joke.

FullSizeRender.jpg-8 Dancing!

FullSizeRender.jpg-10 Detroit girls came to party.

FullSizeRender.jpg-11 Detroit Isobar.

FullSizeRender-5 I think they sang some Back Street Boys.

FullSizeRender.jpg-9I can’t remember what these guys sang.

FullSizeRender-16 Brian from the Denver office started to sing Purple Rain and everyone was like “no way… ” And then he killed it!

FullSizeRender-13 Jen nailled it too, with her rendition of Bobby McGee.

FullSizeRender-12 I drunkenly walked past these Dayo and Jeff, saw they both were wearing blueish shirts, and called them twins. Then they joked for a long time how they look SO MUCH alike (not at all).

FullSizeRender-11 AJ + Ann

FullSizeRender-15AJ + Sam

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The Dance Floor!!

FullSizeRender-17 Cowboy Mike

FullSizeRender-10 FullSizeRender-14Back in the Bathroom!

After the official party was over, we went to Sportsman’s Club. They have an awesome patio and the weather was finally perfect. Things got a bit sloppy and we practically attacked the tamale guy, but it was nice to hang out with all my work friends, not in the work setting. Super fun time!

FullSizeRender-21 Julia + Rudy

FullSizeRender-22 Julia + Rudy

FullSizeRender-20 Chris + Me

FullSizeRender-19 AJ photobombing Anne + Me

FullSizeRender-23Rudy + AJ

Oh, and one photo that I have from the meeting. Saurab moderated a panel of all of last year’s value award winners. Becky, Chris and Romi are on my old project that I just switched away from a few months ago. Sloane and Kevin are on my new project team.

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Past Roundarch/Roundarch Isobar/Isobar Summer Events:
2015: ROOF on theWit
2014: American Junkie (rain backup to Oak Street Beach)
2013: The Rooftop at Market
2011: Millennium Park (daytime photos, nighttime photos)
2011: Paris Club
2010: Shedd Aquarium (Also celebrating Roundarch’s 10 year anniversary)
2009: Party at the River East Arts Center
2008: Wendella Architectural Boat Tour and dinner/drinks at the Adler Planetarium

Katjie and Steve’s Holiday Party

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On the day after Christmas, Katjie and Steve hosted a get together at their house. Katjie’s “brother” Kimmo was visiting from Finland. This was her family’s foreign exchange student from years and years ago. In Finland he is a chef and he prepared the most delicious food for us. It was all finger foods, bite sized, but we ate so much I was so stuffed! Craziest: Half year old reindeer. Seems not right to eat it during at Christmastime! I also loved the “taco,” which was made with smoked turkey and did not look like a taco, but had all the flavors. Loved the whitefish with dill creme fraiche, too.

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It was so mild outside that we actually spent a lot of time on the deck, which had a fire pit to keep us warm. At some point the karaoke machine came out. I’m sure the neighbors appreciated that! Also, Lola, one of Katjie and Steve’s daughters (age 9), drew portraits of us, which was fun.

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Had fun hanging out and hope to do it again soon!

Todd & Kelly’s New Years Eve Party

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JP and Damian

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Marty, Todd, Dallas

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Rachelle, Josh, Vanessa, Kelly

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Rita and Mike, Mike and Ella

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Kelly, Liz, Maria, Jessica, Tonya

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Rachelle and Rita

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Todd, Kelly, Liz, Maria, Jeanine, Randy

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Rachelle and Dallas

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Josh

This is the third time we’ve gone to Todd’s house for New Years Eve (NYE 2009, NYE 2011). On NYE 2010, we hung out with this group of friends too, but at Frasca, not at Todd’s house. The last few years our habit has been to go to Jen and Chad’s New Years Eve party early, then head out with these other guys late, but this year, for the first time in about a decade, Jen and Chad didn’t have a New Years Eve party! They extended their Christmas visit in California to go through the new year. It all worked out fine, though. We just headed to Todd’s earlier than usual.

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Kelly and her famous jello shots.

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Simon and Bernie begging for treats!

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Pictionary!

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Pictionary!

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Marty

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Todd drawing.

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Mike, Marty

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Dallas stealing the mic from Katie

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Songbirds

Dallas made his famous Korean short ribs and I made my Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. Kelly had a ton of snacks, some punch and jello shots, and a ton of people brought wine and beer and champagne, so we were all set. So set up. So much delicious food and drinks! I got the new Wii U last week (more on that later) and we brought that over. Sing Party, a karaoke-ish game, was a big hit of the night. We also played a rousing game of Pictionary. We also played a little Left-Right-Center. I lost $6. Boohoo.

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Kelly and Todd trying to get a midnight family photo with Simon.

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It didn’t work!

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Mike and Larry

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Kelly and Marty

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Kissyfaces.

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Liz and Maria

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Rachelle and Josh

I don’t really know what happened after midnight. It’s a blur. We ended up sleeping in Todd’s spare bedroom so we wouldn’t have to drive home or try to get a cab. I went upstairs at about 3:30 am and was getting chastised for it!! I’m not sure how late the few party stragglers were up!

Happy New Year!

Live Band Karaoke at Subterranean to Benefit Association House

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Photo from Association House’s Facebook page.

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This post got a little lost after I returned from our Hawaii vacation, but here is it finally! The week we got back was the Association House live band karaoke fundraiser. Money from the event went towards child emergency welfare programs. Jess, Sara and I met at Big Star** for a few drinks and some dinner, then headed over to Subterranean for karaoke fun. We sang Shoop by Salt-n-Pepa and didn’t even need the lyric sheet. Probably a bad move at the end, but by then we were really drunk, we also sang Call Me Maybe and basically got the Shepard’s hook pull off the stage. Ha. Time to go home! Really fun night, though! Association House raised $1,145, money that will directly go towards helping kids in crisis situations. I hope they do the live band karaoke again! I’ve been to live band karaoke before (with Chicagoist, with Allison and Susan), but had never actually done it. So fun!

** While we were at Big Star, Margaret Lyons walked in the door. I was so shocked. It was like, “holy crap! what year is it!?!?” I hadn’t seen her for years because she moved to New York and we used to hang out in the Big Star space years ago when it was still Pontiac. We even hosted a Chicagoist party there. So great to see her, if only for a minute or two.

Out With Kamehameha Friends at Aloha Beer Company and Imua Lounge


Aloha Beer Company


Aloha Beer Company beer sampler.


Monte, Nalani, Alika, Donovan, BJ, Dallas

The day we arrived in Oahu we got our rental car, checked into our hotel room, changed and then met up with Dallas’s friends from Kamehameha Schools at Aloha Beer Company. This new brew pub just opened a few months ago, so it was fun to check it out. And fun to see old friends, of course!!!! So much to catch up on! A new baby for Alika, Donovan and Healoha are now engaged! After trying out all of the beer (literally, I had the sampler) and grinding on some Hawiian pupus, we decided to head to Imua Lounge.


Healoha heading into Imua Lounge


Monte doing the Monte thing.


Dallas singing Bust a Move, with Donovan and Healoha.


Hawaiian Language Karaoke.


Imua Kamehameha!

Going to Imua Lounge was either the best idea in the world or the worst. Actually, Healoha ordered a vodka drink and then we all did.. and that was probably the worst idea in the world. This night was definitely the most I drank all vacation and I totally felt it the next day! Imua Lounge is completely decked out in Kamehameha Schools pennants and memorabilia, including a huge sign with the entire fight song spelled out on it. And everyone there was a Kamehameha Schools alum. I was talking to some guys that weren’t even with us and they each told me the year they graduated. New grads, old grads, but all grads.

Imua Lounge had some crazy karaoke action, which would explain even more why Monte wanted to go there :). This was not your ordinary karaoke. Everyone in there was SOOO good. Really good. But Monte still made Dallas sing Young MC’s Bust a Move. The karaoke was available both in English and in Hawaiian, and not only that, but one guy sang in Samoan! Fun fun night. We definitely do not get to see these guys enough!

Nintendo Wii U Event

I have been a Nintendo Brand Ambassador for about 4 years now and have gotten to do some really cool things. Remember when they had a Nintendo DS Lite party for my friends and I and everyone got a free Nintendo DS Lite? Or when they threw a Wii Fit party for my friends and I and then I gave a Wii away on my site? How about when they took us up to the Hancock Center for free dinner and drinks then gave everyone a Nintendo DSi? Or when Nintendo and Netflix partnered and I threw a game and movie night party? Not to mention all the fun things they’ve sent me in the mail over the years! And then I thought last year took the cake, when they sent me to Seattle for the launch of the Nintendo 3DS….

Well, that was all awesome, but this past weekend? This past weekend Nintendo sent me to Los Angeles, West Hollywood to be exact, to get a preview of the new Wii console, Wii U.

To ramp up for the Wii U launch on November 18th, Nintendo is doing a road show and visiting cities across the US to give brand ambassadors and VIPs a preview. They actually had an event in Chicago over the summer but I wasn’t able to attend. I was so excited that I would be able to finally see the new Wii in L.A.

We all met in the lobby of The Standard, where the out-of-towners were staying. I got to see Justine again, which is nice because she has been my main contact at Brand About Town for years and I do not get to see her often. I also quickly realized that some of the brand ambassadors that I met at the Seattle event were there and so I didn’t have to remeet every single person over again. Unlike Seattle, where there were 90% women, this event had many men and women. Not sure about the different groups, but a lot of the guys seemed to be big on YouTube. When everyone had gathered, we boarded a bus for Siren Studios.

The Wii U event was like a party! Loud music, lots of black light and stations set up all over. A few games, ZombieU, Batman Arkham City (which, I kept accidentally calling Batman Arkema City, after my friends), Just Dance 4 and Sing Party had their own rooms. The rest of the games were stationed all around. The brand ambassadors were not the only VIPs there to play so it was pretty packed. I did not get to play as many games as expected, but did get to see a lot.

The main difference with the WII U is that the Wii U GamePad includes a 6-inch touch-screen tablet. It still has the physical sticks, directional pad, face buttons and trigger buttons, but also a touch screen. I was afraid at first that this was going to be beastly and heavy, but it wasn’t. The controller was light and designed in an ergonomic way that felt good in your hands.

It was interesting to see how the different games used the controller differently. I have seen Dallas play Batman Arkham City a ton on PlayStation. And as with most first-person games, he always has to stop and access a menu where he can switch weapons and stuff like that. When I played the Batman game, a lot of that stuff was on the touch screen. So I could drag weapons onto a directional pad on the screen and then when I pressed the directional pad it would trigger the weapon as I’d designated. There was also the option to move the whole controller up and down and left and right to aim before shooting. Or you could just use the buttons to do it.

In the Sing Party game, which I spent way too much time in, the Wii U GamePad was used to display lyrics for the singer. So, unlike Rock Band where everyone has to face the TV, the singer could face the crowd and sing to them, while the audience looks at the singer and the TV to get their participation indicators.

In Just Dance 4 you hold your Wii motion sensor controllers, that you already own if you own a Wii, and when you dance, these controllers sense how well you’re doing. One person can go into “pupper master mode” with the Wii U GamePad controller and pick which moves the dance participants have to do. They can also make the dancers strike a pose and choose who did it best to award extra points.

I played a game called Rayman Legends. For this game I actually played with a Wii U Pro Controller, that was very much like a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 controller. I liked this game a lot. My friend on the trip, Janet, used the Wii U GamePad controller to do other things in the game while I was playing.

I saw that there’s a new Wii Fit game, Wii Fit U and I could see that there were new games inside of it, but I didn’t get to play.

I also did not get to play Ninja Gaiden 3, but I heard that you could throw stars from the Wii U GamePad controller onto the TV, which seems pretty cool.

And who doesn’t love a photo booth!! These were my ladies! Katelin, Michelle, Ashley, and Janet!

After a few hours of hands-on play, we had to go. As a parting gift we got these chocolate Mario mustaches on a stick. Yumyum.

I hear that the new controller can be used as a TV remote (TVii) and that the Wii U will be able to stream Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and YouTube. And that it also has NFC. I’m excited to see how that works, since I’ve never used NFC for real before. I can’t wait to see one of these out in the wild to really get a feel for how all of it works.

As always, a big thanks to Nintendo for this awesome opportunity! I had so much fun in Los Angeles, checking out the Wii U, seeing old friends and meeting new ones!

I’ve been trying to keep track of stories and photos that other ambassadors have shared:

  • Pretty Sandy Feet: A little bit birthday, a little bit Nintendo & a little bit like the end of Summer
  • The Glamerous Life: GlamReview: Wii U (The Standard West Hollywood too)
  • Ashalah: Weekend Recap: A Los Angeles Quickie

Crazy. I know it was a different event, and not everyone was a blogger, but even a year ago in Seattle I had a mile-long list of blog posts on the event. This year? So much Twitter, Facebook and Instagramming!

Disclosure: It might be needless to say, but Nintendo provided the airfare and accommodations on this trip. I was not paid, or even asked, to write this post.