Come to the West Loop Cocktail Walk - November 12th

The ladies of Chicago LUPEC cordially invite all the lovely ladies of Chicago (and gentlemen too, in both cases age 21 and over) to the first-ever Women Helping Women event. In these tough economic times, we need to stick together and a group of women-owned boutiques need our help. LUPEC has partnered with twelve fabulous boutiques in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, and has arranged a fabulous evening of shopping.

At each stop on the walking tour, learn some cocktail history while perusing the latest in fashion, accessories and more, across a variety of price ranges.  Plus, all stores are offering discounts - anywhere from 10 to 20% off your purchases!


Take the Tour
Pick up a map and join the tour at any of the participating stores:

2 Sisters Boutique, 1167 W. Madison
Bess + Loie, 1015 W. Lake (which unfortunately has announced it is closing)
Tribeca,  1035 W. Madison
Spex, 1130 W. Madison
Spex Lumiere, 1130 W. Madison
Koros Art + Style, 1039 W. Lake
Smitten & Magnificent Milestones, 1041 W. Madison
Solo Salon, 1065 W. Madison
The Fig Tree, 1037 W. Madison
Fix, 1101 W. Fulton
The Oprah Store, 37 N. Carpenter
Takohl Gallery, 110 N. Peoria

Donations/tips will be collected at each location for refreshments, with all proceeds going to the Greenhouse Shelter in Chicago.

After Party & Raffle
At each stop, the stores will punch your tour card.  Visit all the stops (no purchase necessary), and be entered in a raffle to win fantastic prizes donated by the stores!  Turn in your completed card at any of the stores, or at the after party.

Starting at 9:01 pm, find the LUPEC Ladies at The Crossroads Bar & Grill, 1120 W. Madison.  We'll be in the back room, please join us!

Upcoming Events from the Ladies

We have some exciting things coming soon - here are the details:

October
Ginny Tonic is hosting a Halloween event at her place, with classic cocktails with scary names.

November
We are partnering with a variety of boutiques in the West Loop for a shopping and cocktailing adventure.  Here are the details:

WOMEN HELPING WOMEN
A day of shopping and helping local businesses and a local charity

The Chicago Chapter of the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (“Chicago LUPEC”) cordially invite all the lovely ladies of Chicago (and gentlemen too, in both cases age 21 and over) to the first-ever Women Helping Women event.

Partnering with twelve unique boutiques in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, the ladies of LUPEC have arranged a fabulous day of shopping and refreshments.The event will be held on

Thursday, November 12^th
5 pm to 9 pm

At each stop on the walking tour, explore some cocktail history while perusing the latest in fashion, accessories and more, across a variety of price ranges. Come discover your new favorite boutique - the list of participating boutiques includes:

2 Sisters Boutique - 1167 West Madison

Spex & Spex Luminaire -1130 West Madison

Smitten Boutique & Magnificent Milestones - 1041 West Madison

Fig Tree - 1037 West Madison

Tribeca Boutique - 1035 West Madison

Takohl Gallery - 110 North Peoria

Bess & Loie - 1015 West Lake

Koros Art + Style  - 1039 West Lake

Join the tour at any of these stops and pick up a map!

December
Repeal Day Cocktail Crawl - coming on December 5th
Details coming soon!

Latest Events and Exciting Plans

Although it's been crickets chirping over here on the blog, the ladies of Chicago LUPEC have had lots of great stuff going on. Here's a recap of what you missed, as well as what's coming up:

June Get Together
We met up at Stone Manhattan's place for an ultra-casual night of beer cocktails and all manner of sausages, hotdogs and fixin's, along with cherry and (the best) blueberry pie. It was a somber night, very mellow - both MJ and Farrah had passed that day. Ms. Manhattan happens to work for a certain Chicago-based food company, so their great products always make an appearance at her events.

The drinks tasted included:

• Shandy - half lager, half ginger ale
• Snakebite - half stout, half hard cider
• Black Velvet - half stout, half champagne
• one we dubbed the "Trailer Park Mimosa" with Mickey's malt liquor, rum, orange juice and lime juice. Ms. Manhattan dared us to try Mickey's, and being the type of gals we are, we did. It was just about how we envisioned/remembered it. Still shuddering a bit.
  

July at Tiny Lounge
Last month, we had a night out and met up at the Tiny Lounge. We invited a few potential new members to join us and meet the ladies, and it was great - we now have three new members! It was a night of delicious drinks, great eats, and good times. Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures.

Coming Months
Here's the rundown of what we're planning:

• August - Eight is Enough is hosting us for a night of great cocktails later this month
  

• September - Kiki Royale has some fun stuff planned for the ladies
  

• October - Morning Delight is working on a fantastic event for the ladies. We'll be inviting all the great ladies in Chicago to join us and support women business owners in our area. We'll visit great boutiques, taste some great cocktails along the way, and have a fantastic time. More details coming soon.
  

• November - TBD, depending on timing of October event.
  

• December - Repeal Day Party 2009. We are gearing up for another great night of cocktails and music to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition on December 5th. More details coming soon!

Cheers!

Repeal Day Redux

It's time for a long overdue recap of our adventures on Repeal Day. Apologies for taking so long for the recap, December is by far the busiest month of the year in my world, so I didn't do any blogging last month.

Round I
We started out at the Clark Street Ale House, where we nibbled on snacks and enjoyed some great pre-Prohibition cocktails. All of the lovely ladies of LUPEC Chicago were present except one (who had a family emergency). In the picture above are (from left to right): Stone Manhattan, Delilah, Little Audrey, Shelley Temple, Morning Delight, Kiki Royale, Ginny Tonic and Eight is Enough.

I started the night with a Martini (as I do every Friday night), and then slowed down a bit by having a Monkey Gland. We had a special menu of cocktail options that evening, and many new drinks were tried. Both of mine were delicious - Erin definitely knows how to make a great drink (and it was a bonus that we had a woman bartender)! Thanks to Adam and everyone at the Ale House, and also to everyone who came out to celebrate with us - we were joined by several old and new friends. Unfortunately, my camera conked out and I don't have any pictures from there - the above came from someone else. I have a new camera now, so watch out!

Round II
We headed over to The Drawing Room, where the entire staff was dressed in period attire, and we had fantastic music from the Ron Mills Orchestra. We had a special menu of period drinks, including several of the namesake drinks for our members.

Collectively, we had many Stone Manhattans, Little Audreys, and Delilahs, as well as some other fantastic creations from the mixologists at the DR (from left, DJ Love, Charles Joly and Tim Lacey).

Much to our delight, many attendees dressed in period attire as well, and we really did get to party like it was 1933.

A great time was had by all, and a big THANK YOU to our friends at the Drawing Room, as well as all the great people who came out to celebrate with us.

We're looking forward to next year's celebration already, and are thinking up ways to top ourselves.

Party Like its 1933 - Repeal Day in Chicago!

The lovely ladies of LUPEC Chicago are excited to announce our first event, first two events, actually. We're hosting two celebrations of Repeal Day on Friday, December 5th. It's the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, which took effect on December 5, 1933. We hope you'll join us at one or both of our celebrations!

As a further encouragement for your cocktailing with us, a portion of the proceeds from all purchases of food & drink at these events will be donated to the Greenhouse Shelter in Chicago.

Here are the details - mark your calendars now!

Act I: Clark Street Ale House - Informal Happy Hour
742 N. Clark, Chicago
6.00-9.00 PM, Friday Dec 5th
Join us for a cocktail or three and toast the occasion. Just buy your own drinks and you won’t get into trouble.

Act II: The Drawing Room - Come Party Like it’s 1933
937 N. Rush, Chicago
10.00 pm on, Fri Dec 5th
Try the $33 Prefix Dinner & Drink Pairing Menu, or sip on a Prohibition-era cocktail from our special menu, all while listening to 1930’s tunes by the Ron Mills Orchestra.