Full Metal Lunchbox

My birthday came a few days early this year when Justyna surprised me with a birthday party at Bite!  In attendance were Shea, Kathleen, Dave, Darryn, Jeanne, Kathy, and Steve.  (The previous version of this post forgot to mention that Jim and Kelly joined us late, by which time I was already too drunk to take photos or clearly remember anything.)  It was a good group and we had a lot of fun.

     Darryn

     Jeanne

     Justyna -- my surprise hostess!

     Justyna, Kathleen, Dave, and Darryn

     Kathy

     Me and Shea

     Steve




After Bite we went to another bar to have Jager Bombs and then ended up at a nearby Polish bar.  I don't think any of us caught the name of this place, and the sign out front simply said "zimne piwo" (cold beer).  I like these old ethnic neighborhood bars, and they are a dying breed in Chicago.

     Dave

     Justyna

     Kathleen

We spent a long time at the Zimne Piwo place because it was a fun hangout and the drinks were cheap.  I started out drinking tatankis (Zubrowka and apple juice) and eventually moved on to krupnik, which the bartender had a big container of under the bar.

Everyone -- my friends, the bartender, and even some strangers -- kept buying me rounds and I got more than a little carried away.

     This is what happend to me by the time we got to Dave's house around 2:30AM.  I passed out shortly afterwards and missed the last three hours of my party, which I hear involved long conversations and tacos.

I consider myself lucky that I got sick and passed out.  Two of my friends also had a lot to drink and didn't fare so well.  They ended up back at our place, where they remained incapacitated for a couple of days.

     Here we are parked in front of Walgreens at 6AM.  We stopped to pick up some jugs of Pedialite.

Dispite (and somewhat because of) the rampant alcohol abuse, I had a great time.  Thanks, Justyna, for exactly the birthday party I wanted!