Witty Whit's Words: Kimmy Keebler's Bachelorette Bash

Last weekend, we celebrated Kimberly Kay’s bachelorette bash in Chi-city. Kim is the baby of the group, meaning that she is the youngest (and has yet to turn 28 aka one year closer to 30 like the rest of us). I’ve mentioned before that she lives a convenient hour away which has made for lots of fun in the wedding planning/venting/stressing category. Plus it has had its perks in relation to sporting events too!

She wanted to have a centrally located partayyy since we are all dispersed across the US of A. So Chicago made the most sense. Our arrivals & departures were staggered with some flying in on Thursday and others leaving on Monday, making Friday night the kick-off to the weekend.

Chi-town is known for their fantastic summer weekend street festivals. For those in Louisville, think the Catholic Parish picnics only quadruple the size. We hit up the River North festival Friday evening as it was walking distance from our accommodations, The James Hotel. After a few beers and slices of pizza, we decided to go big on night one: Hangge Uppe. Generally a late night bar with a rap scene on top and an underground 80’s dance party in the basement, this was a weekend staple when I lived in Chicago. We had drinks and danced until 1am when we retired to our beds.

Saturday we slept in a bit then headed towards Wrigley to soak up the Cubs atmosphere and sunshine. Starting with another long time staple, Vines, we enjoyed lunch and story time. Next we walked along Clark admiring our old stomping grounds until settling on the patio of Houndstooth. The 5 of us shared a few buckets of Corona Light while enjoying the ever-so-interesting people watching taking place on the sidewalk parallel to our table.

After a few buckets, we headed back downtown to get ready for the evening. Big Fesmire (Kim’s sis as we called her in college) had decorated the room in full out penis props. Literally, I have never seen so much penis confetti, penis balloons, penis figures, or my fave the penis cake courtesy of Lauren Blue. Quite impressive. We were all blushing a bit.

We shared a champagne toast to Kim & Jerrad then showered Kim with special lingerie for the honeymoon! As she opened her gifts, she also had to play the “how well do Jerrad & I know each other” game. JL had asked Jerrad questions prior to the weekend (similar to the game played at my bridal shower back in May). She wrote the questions on one side of a sheet of paper and the answers on the other. Perhaps it was the champagne or the penis décor, but Miss Kim got flustered with the questions often resulting in JL telling her to drink.

Eventually we ventured out to my old ‘hood, Southport & Addison, to cap off the night with several adult beverages. This is where discovered that we are not college students and do need naps indeed. My how things have changed in the last decade!

Sunday, we dragged our feet resulting in a late, late brunch…and by brunch I mean late lunch. I was able to catch up with some old pals, Bennie & Varner, as we watched the World Cup final as the USA women’s soccer team fell short in a shoot-out against Japan. I really enjoyed seeing them after several years and reminiscing about our Chicago summer back in 2008.

All in all, a fabulous weekend; one that reminded me of why I love summertime in Chicago and what amazing friends I have in my life.