I walked it out last night at the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk at Wintrhop Lake in Fort Mill ... you know, home of the National Disc Golf Championship.
Dianne Gallagher of CN2 in South Carolina was there doing the exact same thing I did at Laugh MS just two days prior ... talking about our siblings who suffer from the incurable diseases.
She also released butterflies to represent the sobering statistics of how many people suffer from Kidney Disease in our area alone. After the butterflies actually came out of the box and then proceeded to hit Dianne in the face … there were a lot of them.
Laugh MS at the Lake Norman Comedy Zone sold out, which raised thousand for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Charlotte's Walk MS coming up May 16. When I profusely thanked everyone for their donations in the form of tickets, I said in this economy they were probably expecting a strip tease with their ticket. But it's non-profits such as the MS Society and Kidney Foundation who are really feeling the effects of our shitty economy.
My favorite kind of party is a philanthropy party — the kind of nightlife that helps lives. Anytime there’s an event that benefits a cause ... might I suggest you go to it, whether the charity personally affects you or not. It's kinda like a tax write-off for partying.
As we get older, we earn more responsibilities ... between work and school, we start to tune out the rest of the world and march to the beat of our own drum. Yet, DrumSTRONG, offers a way to get back in touch with our community- by beating on someone else’s drum!
Scott Swimmer, the founder of DrumSTRONG, reminds us that music is a great unifier. We all have a natural rhythm, so the event plays on that with hand drums, fiddles and flutes- the origins of drumming itself. But the drummers aren’t getting together to just bang out a song or two — DrumSTRONG volunteers come together in the fight against cancer.
By Larken Egleston
Despite not picking until the 43rd overall selection in Saturday’s annual NFL Draft, many in the Panthers organization had quite a busy day.
Saturday morning, almost 20 players from the Panthers came out to support teammate Jordan Gross at his 2nd Annual “Kick CF with Jordan Gross — Joe vs. Pros” Charity Kickball Game. Held this year at Memorial Stadium, the game pitted a team made almost exclusively of Panther players against a team of amateurs who had qualified in a tournament earlier that day to receive the professional beating the “Pro” team had in store for them.
The game benefitted the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and a handful of children who suffer from the disease attended the game with their families and were invited to participate in between-inning games with the players.
Last night was Shear Madness ... literally.
With how busy life can get we tend to develop Alzheimer's of the little things ... like closing the bar tab, transferring laundry from the washer to the dryer, where we put our keys and car inspections — and now that they got rid of the sticker, there goes our daily reminder. Oh but don’t worry, the DMV will remind you when they fine you.
And as in my case ... looked like shit. It had been over six months since my last hair cut — not only did I forget to get it cut, I forgot the last time I had it cut. And its been growing like I’ve been putting Miracle Glow in it. The universe must have been telling me something because I called Modern Salon to see if by chance my girl Brittany had an opening before next year, and she did, for 6:30 p.m. ... right before Shear Madness at the Stage Door Theater in Blumenthal.
Modern Salon and Spa wasn’t shear madness, but the play was. It was like playing a game of Clue — an interactive play where the audience gets to play detective. At intermission Jack Dillon, who played the cop, even questioned the audience as witnesses. It combined improv and acting to make one entertaining production that makes you laugh and think. Mrs. Shubert played by Linda Edwards and Tony Whitcomb played by Tom Wahl were guilty of stealing the show. See for yourself who is guilty of the crime. (Get tickets here)
I literally ran down Tryon to make the end of Taste the Nation for a night of gluttony and glee. There was a lot of dancing and socializing going on ... but I was hungry and in a hurry. My mom taught me not to talk with my mouth full, so I didn’t talk much: “Hi, how are you, good to see you, gotta go.” My fat ass was too busy chewing on chicken salad from Wolfgang Puck Bistro, Chilean Sea Bass from Bricktopps, and chicken salad croissants from Johnson and Wales.
And to wash it down I had a drink from M5’s Josh Hunter, “bartender to the stars.” The good food was for a good cause, the event raised money to benefit food banks and fight childhood hunger. I was too busy eating to take pictures, so check out QC After Dark.
Never in my life have I ever been hit on by so many gross old men than at Taste of the Nations last night. They were like polar bears ...
Last night, I went to Whisky River, not for college night ... but for college. I enrolled in Better Class’ Goddess 101 and Mixology 101. I rolled up to WR in yoga pants for Pole Dance Charlotte’s workshop, and ended up behind the bar concocting my own cocktail for their Bartender’s Spring Slinger.
Now, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I respect strippers, but I do respect the art and admire their agility – they’re like Olympic gymnasts on those poles. (Now, if only they Lysol’ed the pole every time a stripper slid down it in no more than a thong, I’d find the art a little more sanitary).
Although it would probably hurt to actually have balls and dance on a pole, you need to have balls in order to dance on a pole — if you know what I’m saying. Well, to help you grow some balls, shed some inhibitions and unleash your inner stripper, Goddess 101 supplies you with a Tommy Bahama Mojito before stripper class. They will be at Whisky River again next week and then changing locations to a more intimate setting. Speaking of which, Pole Dance Charlotte also provides private pole dance party that also include lap-tease classes.
On the other side of the curtain was the Spring Slinger bartender contest. One of the managers asked me to make a drink for their “Mixed Drink Contest,” which required me to concoct my own cocktail. Having never mixed a drink, let alone invent one, I thought to myself - the only mixed drink I know how to make is a Shirley Temple ... why not pop the virgin’s cherry. And with that came the “Slutty Shirley Temple,” or virginal Brittney Cason ... whatever you want to call it.
Jenna from Blackfinn and Mark from Whisky River helped me concoct the cocktail recipe ... (and learn how to pour liquor).
Put cherries on the bottom of the glass
Pop the cherry with some ice
Add Cherry Vodka (3 seconds worth of pouring)
Add a splash of coconut
Fill with Sprite
Top with grenadine and a cherry on top
Jenna did a taste test and told me to use less coconut and more cherry. Another bartending babe advised me to use less cherry because that’ll make her even sluttier.
Would you like some wine with that cheese?
Hump Day isn’t just for humping anymore — it’s for drinking wine. Apparently Wednesday has been declared wine day, at least in regards to drink specials at wine bars. And in this economy even vino is better on clearance.
The "Wino Wednesday" selection includes ...
The Wine Loft, which recently uncorked in SouthEnd and Moorseville, offers free wine tastings on Wine Down Wednesday.
Corkscrew in Birkdale Village has Wine-O-the-Week Wednesday (and on April 30 they’re having an Ed Hardy Party).
Arooji’s Wine Room has wine tastings at their SouthPark location.
RuSan's and 300 East offer 50 percent off bottles.
The Grape in Northlake Mall and SouthPark hosts Wednesday Grape Crush from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. where they offer complimentary appetizers to compliment your wine.
Vintage Wine Cellar is having their two-year anniversary party next Wednesday.
And this Saturday is Rockhouse Events' Rockin&Ragin Winery Tour to Elkin Creek Vineyard and Round Peak Vineyard.
And Dolce Vita is home to a Habitat Young Professionals Charity tasting next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, last night it was Wine and Wii night at Pop Life at Apostrophe Lounge.
Other good wine bars … Press, Wine Up in NoDa, PJ’s in the EpiCentre, Dolcetta Wine Room, The Wine Vault in University, Dean & Deluca in Phillip’s Place, Ratcliffe on the Green, and Under the Grape in Ballantyne.
But you can make every day wine day; for a full list of Wine Events throughout Charlotte visit CL's Food & Drink event database or click here.
For the second time in a week ... I slept in, but I didn’t throw a hissy fit this time. In fact, I probably would have thrown a hissy fit if I actually did wake up for the 6:30 a.m. call time for the Cooper River Bridge Run. 40,000 people ran across the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Charleston, about 10,000 of which came in from Charlotte for it — and about 5,000 thousand of them actually ran. The Cooper River Bridge Run weekend is not just a 10K, it’s like a corporate spring break — Charlotte on the beach.
For some runners the Bridge Run is a masquerade of a marathon. My friend dressed up as a cop to run while her friend dressed up like a burglar and they ran the entire race like a criminal pursuit. I just did my own little "Cooper River Bridge Rollerblade" along the beach where people were a hot mess. Half of them because they were sweaty from running, the other half were just drunk. A group of Charlotteans were even going around conducting beach breathalyzers. When I blew a .00 they handed me a beer and told me I was under the legal limit and that I needed to drink up to catch up by order of the law ... twist my arm.
That afternoon I went to Windjammers, which kinda felt like being at the Rusty Rudder. I heard Zac Brown Band’s Chicken Fried (who is playing at Coyote Joe's on May 21 ) three times within a 30-minute time span ... and I didn’t mind at all.
While I am wild as in slightly crazy, my friend, Jonathan, is wild as in the wilderness, so, while I was up in NYC being a city girl, I called on my outdoorsy boy to attend the season grand opening of the US National Whitewater Center and the unveiling of the new mega zip line. Zip-a-dee-do-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay ... my oh my what a shitty day (to be outside embarking on outdoor activities that is).
By Jonathan Grubbs
Rainy weather didn’t stop the U.S. National Whitewater Center from un’zipping’ its new Mega Zip attraction last Thursday. Mayor Pat McCrory and County Councilwoman JenniferRoberts even came for the unveiling of their four new 1,123-foot long ziplines extending across the unruly rapids of the world’s largest Olympic whitewater training center. Unfortunately, the mayor and councilwoman were both ‘uninvited’ to ride it due to the rainy and ‘unsafe’ weather conditions. As a consolation, they both decided to ride down the class III and IV rapids together... in the rain.
Although this even marked the official introduction of the Mega Zip, it’s actually been open to the public since last November — and I’ve had the privilege of zipping down the zipline, reaching speeds of around 20 mph.
New York City doesn’t sleep and nor did I for the 50 some hours I was there.
Tuesday morning I woke up in Charlotte at 6:15 a.m. with my flight leaving at 6 ... shit!
I literally jumped out of bed and basically threw a temper tantrum — everything short of laying on the floor kicking and wailing my arms. $200 pissed down the drain later, I sat down and shut the front door. I made a mistake — oh well!
I decided that rather than beating myself up about it, I should just chalk it up to fate. “A fate mistake.” There was a legitimate reason I missed my flight ... and not just because I turned my alarm off rather than pressing the snooze button to try and sneak in that extra 9 minutes of sleep. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
I flew to NYC for the MAXIM Magazine reunion party. As in the staff’s five-year-reunion. I was enrolled in the Dennis Pub Club, Class of 2004. Because although I worked for Dennis Publishing right out of college, we played more than I did while in college. We even had a co-ed intramural softball team — that had multiple cases of PBR quietly confiscated by the Central Park security in the middle of the game. I even made the greatest 100 moments of MAXIM history ... (number 34) for winning a hush puppy eating contest. I ate my way to the middle.
Winter may be over, but if you still haven’t migrated south, it's about time to make a spring flight because there’s never been a better time to fly over to Ballantyne. While Brittney's out of town, I headed back out to see what's going on...
If you’re ready to mix it up, Ballantyne Village, is hosting a Mix at Six during the month of April. Even better, Simplified will be playing on April 22 and on April 29 will be Coconut Grove. Could it be any simpler? So, with the rush of spring fever, step out of the club for a night and head outdoors.
For more outside music, Ballantyne Village has the Live Music in the Plaza event sponsored by the Village Bistro — just in case mixing isn’t for you. Band names haven't been released yet, but the events are on April 4, 11, 18 and 25 and will start at 6:30 p.m.
If they say New York is the city that never sleeps, than Charlotte is the city that never walks. That’s right readers, Ballantyne is hosting another bar crawl on April 3. Ballantyne’s Nightlife Crawl , costs $10 per person and starts at 6:30 p.m. till 2 a.m. The crawl begins at On the Roxx, Ballantyne or Wild Wing Café in Epicenter... which, I don’t mean to be technical, but is definitely not in Ballantyne.
And located underneath the flashy lights, you know the ones I told you I’m always swerving by, there is Ballantyne Theatre. The theatre specializes in independent films... but from time to time they take us back to the past with its retro film series — a revisit to the movies that started it all — kinda like this article for me! Tickets are $5 and in the past they’ve shown movies such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner and more. And just like Epicenter, Ballantyne offers gourmet foods and alcohol!
So as long as the rain stays away, we can all go out to Ballantyne to play.
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