Cheeky In Miami Burger and Beer Competition

CheekyChicago, one of the best group of people on the internet - check them out at http://cheekychicago.com - hosted a Burger Competition, and the winner received a free trip to Miami! I, myself, submitted a recipe, but wasn't chosen as a top 4. No Sweat! I still got to attend the Burger and Beer party at 25 Degrees in River North, Chicago where I tasted all 4 burgers and drank all the free Amstel Light I can. Shout out to Amstel for being an amazing sponsor!! Also, huge congrats to Brittany for winning with her Bison Burger. And double huge congrats to her for being proposed to just right after winning was announced. Someone had QUITE a night!! And I had fun too. 

*Sidenote: one of the burgers, called the Thanksgiving Burger, tasted just like the recipe I submitted. But I'm not gonna let that bother me. Stay positive, people!

Grand Opening: Vora

Vora is a brand new sushi and Asian restaurant that opened this month in Chicago's Gold Coast. They hosted a 2-day Grand Opening Party that consisted of complimentary food tastings as well as Cocktail Pairings. I got to try a few things on their items, and it is delicious! The best standouts are the soup dumplings, which is so full of flavor, and the shaved ice, which melts in your mouth like no other ice cream can. I tried a Japanese Beer called Asahi - a light lager that taste a lot like Sapporo, and a specialty cocktail called The Autumn and neither of those items disappoint. Thanks Vora, for a great night!

If you're in the area, check them out at 

http://vorachicago.com/

1028 n clark st

chicago, il 60610

DishCrawl in South Loop Chicago

Chicago is a great city to live in if you're a foodie. Just last week, Michelin awarded 25 Chicago's establishments with Michelin Stars - the most ever in the city's history. There are so many good restaurants here that even if I have a favorite, I have a hard time revisited them again, because there's always another new one to try. 

I do tend to stay in the same handful of neighborhoods when I'm eating out. Downtown is for the afterwork dinners. West Loop is for the "treat-yourself" upscale dining. River North is the fun vibe to take out-of-towner who yearns for the bar/club scene. Albany Park is for diverse food - literally can find any ethnic dishes here. Wicker Park/Logan Square is the up-and-coming places/chef. Lakeview/Lincoln Park is the newish places that you have to visit asap or it will close next time you visit.

And then there is South Loop. I hardly ever spend any time in South Loop. In my mind, it's more residential than it is a culinary destination. Thank God for Dishcrawl! 

Dishcrawl is a Food Adventure company who's tagline is "Make Life Delcious. It is like a Bar Crawl, but for food. They partnered with a handful of restaurants, all within walking distance to each other, and lead a tour through small bites, appetizers, entrees. Dishcrawl is a great way to discover dining in a new area. It completely changed MY mind about South Loop! Check them out in your area: http://dishcrawl.com . Tickets go for around $45 but last week, I was invited to a special complimentary Dishcrawl, co-sponsored by OneMedical, a great healthcare service here in Chicago. The theme that night was healthy eating, and it was a delicious healthy night.

Follow below for my Dishcrawl Journey:

I arrived to the first location, City Tavern, half an hour late since I had a previous engagement that same night. The event was to start at 6:30pm and when I got there at 7pm, about 70 people were just milling about on the 2 floors of City Tavern. I quickly and easily checked in and went around to talk with various people I knew in the crowd. I gathered that we were divided into several different groups, and I was placed in the gray group. A few friends were in the green group - the designated group with dietary restriction like vegetarian or non-pork eaters, and tried to convince me to switch, but I'm glad I didn't. (More on why later...) I had fun chit-chatting with people, but I was highly disappointed I didn't get to try any food at City Tavern. Apparently, there were some salami chips and cheese puffs being passed around, but none of it reached me nor my other friends. I feel bad for the people that were there for an hour with no food!

Finally, after half an hour of no eating, we part ways to our respective group's next restaurant. Mine was at Flo & Santos, a Italian place that had the best smelling pizza. Unfortunately, there were to be no pizza for us. We sat down and was immediately served a plate of salad, pierogis and sauerkraut. I'm not the biggest fan of sauerkraut, but I ate the whole plate since it was so amazing. I have to come back again for their pizza.

Last stop was at Weather Mark Tavern. They had an incredibly spread for us here. They certainly did not want us to leave here hungry! I had several sticks of bacon-wrapped potatoes that was just heavenly! I followed that down with stuffed chicken roulade topped with grilled onion. Lastly, I had a giant heaping of candied walnut salad which is my favorite kind of salad. Well, anything with the word candy in it is good. I must have gotten up for the bacon-potatoe skewers 3 times. We all ate until we were in pain, and then tried to put down some more.

As you can see, I had a delicious time just like I expected. But that's because I'm very open-minded about what I eat. My friends, however, can't eat pork for religious reasons, and did not have such a great time. They had notified the Dishcrawl coordinators of their restriction, and was under the impression that the group they were in would accommodate. However, they told me that on their second stop, everything that came out were pork. They got quite frustrated and ended up leaving halfway into their crawl to grab a pizza nearby. So, I was very glad I didn't go with their group. However, I was disappointed that Dishcrawl didn't do a better job at placing them in the right group. Had they gone with my group, they would have been fine. So in that end, if you go on a Dishcrawl, check and check again that the menu would be ok for you before you buy a ticket!

Movie Screening Alert! Mary Poppins And Saving Mr. Banks

I'm a big fan of advanced movie screenings. This typically means I get to see a movie for free, and before it opens to the public. If you live in a big city, like Chicago, New York, or LA, there could be multiple free screenings each week. It's a great way to save money on the entertainment budget, but the big downside is that you have to arrive at the theater and queue up at least an hour before the movie start time. There are a few times where this is the exception, and those times are when the screening sponsors are rockstar, ie AMEX and Freebie App, to name a few, where your seats are reserved, you don't have to wait at all, and sometimes you get free popcorn, drinks, and/or gifts. Nice, right?

Other screenings sponsors/sources are your local radio stations, tv news stations, and Lifestyle Magazines, and Movie Studios. In Chicago, the best way is through the daily commuter paper, The Redeye, which frequently post movie ads with gofobo rsvp codes.

What is gofobo? It's the movie promotors' preferred ticket distribution site. Sign up for an account, and when you have a code, they'll give you a screening pass which you print out and hand in at the screening. If you forget to print it, you can also show it on your smartphone, which I've only done once. I like the security of a paper ticket, in the off-chance their machine broke and they can't look up your gofobo code, and you'd wasted the time for nothing.

The other downside to this screening is that once a code or pass is release, you have to HURRY and get one. They tend to run out within hours. Minutes, even, for the big blockbusters.

On that note, check out this Disney Sneak Peek Double Feature I found! It's for TWO movies, Mary Poppins And Saving Mr. Banks. I've heard of the first, but don't know much about the second. If you're free, or think you're free, sign up quick!

The Deets
Music Box Theatre
3733 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL 60613
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM (CST)

I just wanted pie...but got that and more!

When I attended the Beerhoptacular Event a few weeks ago, I received a coupon for a free pumpkin pie at Whole Foods.The coupon expired today, and since I was out of town for a week, today was the only day I could have redeem it.  I hate doing things last minute (but I still do. Constantly. I hate it.) because I always end up sacrificing something else to get the first thing done. In this case, I skipped out on a party at Studio Paris and instead went to Whole Foods and picked up my pie. (I was not going to be that person who shows up to a club/bar with a grocery tote bag. That's totally inconsiderate with the crowd and bag-ladylike). I could have been shooting back Grand Marnier Titanium shots, but instead I hurriedly ran to Whole Foods to redeem a coupon. And THIS is what happens:

Can you see what's so great about the picture below??

Do you see it? I got a free pie, AND $1.84 in change back! Back in my extreme-couponing days, this is what we call "Overage". This would have been meticulously planned for but in today case, it was a complete accident! I don't know how it happened, but I did have to wait half an hour for a pie to be restocked, so I will take that as good karma. I almost walked out too when I was waiting for so long, but I had already declined a ride home just to go to Whole Foods, so I was willing to be a bit annoyed, which turned out to be compensated for. I love when things work out like that! 

And it didn't just happen to me. The boy went to get his pie on an separate, unrelated trip, and he got the free pie and $8.99 off his whole grocery bill. He got a better deal, but I'm not complaining.

Makeup Review: Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara

I was pretty excited to receive my November Influester #RoseVoxbox. The box was filled to the brim with lots of great things. However, one thing that stood out was the Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara.

First off, a disclosure: I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However, opinions are my own. And my opinion is that Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara is great!

Time for eyes!

I normally have absolutely no visible lashes as you can see below of my makeup-free eyes (damn genetics) !!!

So I rely heavily on eyeliner and mascara just to have eyes that pop. Normally, my routine is very basic and natural like so:

But with Rimmel, look how my lashes stands out! I love how it's shape like an hourglass, which gave great ease in angling the wand to get a better coat.

I normally don't go too much crazier than this, but with the influester program, I was inspired to give the retro look a try. I used this video from Rimmel London as inspiration and this was the crazy result. HAHAHA, I need to practice this move a few more times before I can go out in public. Or maybe retro just isn't my thing?

I love this mascara. It stays on for a long time too, which is generally great, but that also means that it takes a lot of scrubbing to get it off. I see that as a small price to pay. It will definitely stay in my bag for a long time! This mascara hits shelves November 2013, so grab it when you see it. 

Grand Opening: Field Bistro of The Field Museum of Natural History

Last Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of attending a Grand Opening Party at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. I jump at any chance of visiting one of Chicago's best museum. And to do so at night when the place is not overrun by screaming children is a big plus. But as a lover of food, I was beyond thrilled that the event was to showcase the new Field Bistro, a restaurant in the Field Museum that specializes in locally sourced food that is good for you AND very good to eat. The food was beyond amazing. Check out their menu here. The service was fabulous at the party. I was asked if I needed anything about 5 times before I could even sit down. I ate leisurely until I was full and then made my way over to the very nice bar in the corner. Since I was a guest of River North Beer, a very fun beer distribution company here in Chicago, I just had to try the beer Tooth and Claw. River North Beer distributes for Off Color Brewing, who makes Tooth and Claw just for the Field Museum. Special, isn't it? Even more special is the unique beer handle which is a Giant Tooth. See the first picture in the set of pictures below. Don't you just love it? It tells it like it is. Also note that in the last picture, we see the glass which states that the beer is made of hops, pulverized dino teeth, and malt. HAHAHA, I love their humor. I checked with the sources, and indeed there are no dino teeth nor bones in that thing, so don't panic! 

But, do panic a little because this beer is great, and yet you cannot get it anywhere else. If you happen to be in Chicago, I highly suggest you visit. The Field Museum is located at 1400 S Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60605 and they are open every day except Christmas. 9am-5pm

BirchBoxMan Presents: Delivery Man!

Today after a very hectic day of work (nothing new there) I ran over to the AMC 600 North Michigan theater in Chicago and attended a movie screening, which I love to do and used to do all the time. However, this past summer was quite hectic, and I hardly sat in front of the big screen.

But, I'm back! Those movie theaters better watch out for me!

Normally, during a movie screening, I like to arrive an hour ahead of start time. But tonight, I was running late from work, and on my walk over, I bumped into a former coworker and chit-chatted for a bit. So I arrived 15 minutes before start time. Thankfully, my friend was already there and she had snagged us seats 3rd row in. Pretty decent seat for a free screening...

The screening itself was great. The movie was Delivery Man, starring Vince Vaughn. He's one of my favorite actor. He's so funny, and so lovable. The movie comes out November 22, 2013, so if you want a feel-good outing, check it out. However, if you want to stay in, I recommend watching Starbuck , which is the original movie that Vince's remake is based off of. I, myself, saw Starbuck a few days ago on Netflix, and I thought it was a very cute, very well made. After watching Delivery Man, I can say that both movies are EXACTLY the same, just in different languages (Starbuck is French-Canadian).

I saw the trailer for Delivery Man first and the whole basis of one sperm donor with 533 offsprings truly intrigued me. I thought this would be a comedy since it starred Vince Vaughn. But while browsing Netflix, I came across Starbuck and gave it a try. It was very emotional and dramatic. Did anyone else shed a tear or 2? I always love a movie with a good ending.

Another good ending for tonight was that since this screening was sponsored by BirchBox Man, everyone in the audience received either a Birchbox for Men or Birchbox for Women box. Birchbox is a subscription-based beauty box that arrive in the mail. Check them out: http://www.birchbox.com/

Having received a Glossybox (another subscription-based box) just yesterday, I can't help but compare the two. My Birchbox had 4 small sample-size items, whereas my Glossybox were full-sized. Birchbox paled in comparison, however, I love freebies and I would never turn away any, regardless of size.


This is what I got:

From left to right:
Beauty Protector Daily Shampoo and Conditioner
Folle de Joie eau de parfum
eyeko London Black Magic Mascara

I can't wait to try it out and let you know how it is. On a side note, I found out on instagram that the DC screening had eyeliner instead of the mascara and additionally have lipglosses. Not fair! Even before I found this out, I told my friend that I am completely overloaded with mascaras, and was hoping for some eyeliner. Oh well, guess I should clean my bathroom and see if I have an extra stick of eyeliner hiding somewhere.