Party Hardy

The stars are aligned; all is well after a trio of unhappy occurrences. This weekend more than made up for any recent spate of bad luck.

Saturday I was privileged to attend three parties: a friend's bridal/knitting party, a cabaret show on a rooftop, and a Mustache Bash theme party. (Guess what the theme was...)

My friend, Brian, who organizes the Cabaret Vagabond/Das Ist Kunst evenings, had spoken of his boss's rooftop. "It has a really great garden," he said, "with trees." Forgive me if I had no idea how exactly awesome that was. Once there, I took as many photos as humanely possible between sending myriad texts to try to get as many of my friends to come over -- immediately -- and share in the amazingness. I ended up recruiting four pals (plus 8 random Italians, because that's how I roll), some of whom you can see in the below photos.

And then it was off to the Mustache Bash, where I quickly drew on a Charlie Chaplin-esque 'stache.

View my Shutterfly album

[for an alternative version, Francophones can read my

Quebecois pal Raphaël's take on the parties here]

Sunday night was a party with the Myopenbar crew, where we had pizza and then wandered into the Wicker Park environs in search of parties. While on the phone giving directions to my boss (in from NYC, on a bicycle, and completely turned around), my friend discovered a party. Surprisingly, they not only let the seven of us crash it, they gave us shots when we entered the backyard -- and then challenged us to a game of Flippy Cup. One of the attendees almost blew a gasket when he found out we were from Myopenbar, since he loves out site and is going to our party on Tuesday. It was the over-the-top validation I'd hoped for for the past two years...

Then it was off to a different party, where we were treated to an amazing Skyline view and cornhole. "How Midwest," my NYC-dwelling boss and his hipster girlfriend mused. "How awesome," he should've said.