nothing in life is free

Last night my friends and I decided to check out Lumen to catch DJ Steve Aoki and Jeffrey Sebelia (winner of Project Runway 3) for a fashion show sponsored by Bonnie&Clyde's boutique. The e-flier I received about this event mentioned free entry with RSVP and open bar hosted by SnowQueen vodka until 10:30pm. We got to Lumen around 9:30 and waited in line for a quick ten minutes. When we got to the doorman, he said we weren't on the list, but that's okay, no cover until 10:30pm right? Wrong. Some guy came out and announced that they were filled to capacity so they would start charging $10 to everyone coming in, but it was only 9:40! We figured, the bar is open until 10:30 so we were okay with paying the cover. Much to our chagrin, the place was hardly packed at all! I felt like we were walking into an awkward homecoming dance with groups of people hovered in corners and near the punch bowl but definitely NOT filled to capacity. Annoyed.

We got our drinks, walked around to check out the scene, and went back up to the bar around 10:10 for our secound round. I asked the bartender for another vodka tonic and he shook his finger at me and said, "sorry honey, no more free shit tonight." First of all don't call me honey, and second of all, we still have another 20 minutes until the open bar is closed! He already made the drink and I didn't have any cash so I ordered a round for the friends and opened up a tab. I figured the night can't get any worse. Well, it did. Come 10:30 when the fashion show was to begin, someone announced that DJ Aoki was NOT in Chicago. In fact, he was stuck on a plane in Florida unable to fly out of the everglades....I'm sorry, but I've done my share of truth-stretching in life and that story couldn't be closer to lame. But not to fear, we have a great team of djs that I've never heard of before to play the background music to the fashion show. Shoot me now.

The fashion show was okay. Here's a peak:




The highlight of the evening:

How awesome is he? Red long johns and a Ronald McDonald scarf stylishly draped around the neck. PRICELESS. After the fashion show, the crowds dispersed and my annoyance turned into amusement. We went back for more drinks and decided to let loose and danced on the tables. At the end of the night when I went to close out my tab, the bartender that called me honey redeemed himself, he comped my first round. Rightly so! Lumen, get your act together! You can't change what you advertised on a whim. I don't plan on going back to Lumen any time soon.