It's a "Taste of Summer and Junk Grabbing" Kind of Weekend

Tonight I'm staying in and baking up a storm for my cousin's graduation party and my friend's bacon dinner party. However, I'm hitting the town on Sunday to try to get to all of these festivals.

Since I've started tracking all of my summer activities, I've realized that I'm just a giant cow who's obsessed with food festivals! There's the Windy City Ribfest in Uptown and Taste of River North. I went to the Uptown ribfest last year, and it's really just a place to grab lunch. There's not much of an atmosphere, and it's in a pretty gross part of Uptown. The food is great, though. I've never made it over to the Taste of River North, so I'm excited to try it out.

Chinatown is incredibly underrated, and I think the summer fair this Sunday is the best way to experience the neighborhood for the first time. I do have to say, though, that this is a pretty weird festival. There's the classic lion dance procession at 1:00 p.m. and various neighborhood vendors and food throughout the day, but there's also Brazilian dance, belly dancers and Ronald McDonald leading the parade. I'll still be there.

Leave it to the Everleigh Social Club to push the envelope. Everyone loves a good trivia night, but when you call it "Grab My Junk" and toss in the Chicago Starlets you get ten times the fun! I can't tell you much more because I'm writing this at work, and most of the Everleigh Social Club's website is blocked due to pornographic images (I'm so going to get fired), but I can tell you that the show on July 19 at 9:00 p.m. and tickets are $10.

Are you single and looking for "the one." Maybe you should take your chances at Old St. Pat's World's Largest Block Party. Aside from the fact that it's a huge event (18,000 attendees) with high-end entertainment (Plain White T's, Cobra Starship and Bare Naked Ladies are performing), the church claims that over 70 marriages have resulted from couples meeting at the block party. Apparently Oprah called it "the place to meet your match."

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