Join me at our spots
Chicago Culture, Celebrity, Arts & Entertainment
Chicago culture, arts & entertainment with Billy Dec
-
CEO Billy Dec TV Reel
TV / WEB / FILM / HOSTING / ACTING
-
Our Emmy Winning Video
Journey to Sunda
-
Our Obama Shoutout
A huge honor
-
On the radio
Live on DREX Kiss fm
-
My Old Reel
New one coming soon!
Browsing all posts tagged with summer.
07/05/12
Talent Show! Calling all Singers, Dancers, Circus Acts, Stunts, Talented, Shocking, Funny Performers of all kinds!
For over 3 years now we at Rockit Ranch have shared our platform with up-and-coming talent of all kinds in Chicago, showcasing them right here on aChicagoThing.com, to give our city’s potential future entertainers a celebratory & supportive boost toward a quicker & more successful entry into the Art, Culture & Entertainment industry in our city & beyond!
After many requests from both performers & our viewers, we are now going to give select entries of found talent more than just an internet introduction to our friends, fans & followers, but actually give them the light, mic & a LIVE shot at entertaining an extremely talented crowd we will bring together of the most influential, energetic, creative, artistic & fun movers and shakers in Chicago! If you know ANYONE that you think has great talent (and/or if you just want to join me at the party), connect with me ASAP on http://www.facebook.com/BillyDec or http://www.twitter.com/BillyDec!
It all goes down Friday, July 20th at 11p at The Underground (56 W. Illinois). The acts selected (21 & over only) will appear random & raw through out the party – and those who blow away the crowd will reach a large volume of exposure from influentials in the room & beyond (through social media & more)!Thanks for joining us in contributing support for our future talent! And spread the word!
Tags: Art, Auditions, billy dec, chicago, Circus Acts, culture, Dancers, entertainment, events, July 20, rockit ranch, showcase, Singers, Stunts, summer, Talent Show, the underground, up and coming talent
06/21/12
1st Annual Oak Street Summer Block Party!
Art, celebrities, chicago, fashion, Food, General, Music, Nature, Networking, nightlife, Pictures, Press, restaurants
Great weather is forecast for this weekend in Chicago, yet again! Summer is well on its way along with all the non-stop events happening around. However, the city can welcome a new event to its list this weekend: Oak Street Summer Block Party!
Check out this LIVE mention on ABC 7 Chicago’s of this awesome event: http://bit.ly/MkCGEg
Oak Street’s 1st Annual Summer Block Party kicks off this Saturday at 11am! There will be plenty happening in this trendy neighborhood including exclusive store giveaways!
Spas, clothing, jewelry and more will all be participating this weekend. Check out the list of participating local boutiques for the exclusive giveaways!
Bebe, Bravco, Café Spiaggia, Calypso, Charles Ifergan Salon, David Yurman, Denim Lounge, Dimitra’s Bridal, Furla, Jake Spade, Lester Lampert, Moncler, Salon O Sixty Five, Sarah’s Pastries, Scoop, Sofia, Spa on Oak, Tessuti for Men, Vera Wang, Vince and We’ll Keep you in Stitches.
It doesn’t stop there….
Live music, food trucks, sidewalk murals and tarot card readings will all be taking place at this Street Summer Block Party.
Head down to Chicago’s chicest shopping street and check out everything the summer bash has to offer!
Tags: bash, bebe, boutique, bravco, Café Spiaggia, calypso, Charles ifergan salon, chicago, clothing, david yurman, denim lounge, dimitra bridal, event, fest, food truck, furla, giveaways, jake spade, jewelry, lester lampert, moncler, Music, neighborhood, oak street, salon o sixty five, sarah’s pastries, Saturday, scoop, sidewalk, sofia, spa, spa on oak, stores, street, summer, tessuti for men, vera wang, vince, weather, we’ll keep you in stitches
06/13/12
Join Dancing With The Stars’ Maksim Chmerkovskiy & Timex Intelligent Quartz Collection’s Father’s Day Pop-Up Barbershop at The Shops at North Bridge!
Timex Intelligent Quartz Collection will host a vintage Pop-Up Barbershop, designed by Rockit Ranch Productions, where your man can get a fresh (and FREE) ‘do while you browse the selection of Timex Intelligent Quartz watches. (hint hint…). This Saturday from 12 p.m to 3 p.m. at The Shops at North Bridge (just in time for Father’s Day!), bring your guy out for a trim from a “throw-back” barber (yep, it’ll be down-right old-school) while you shop.
And, if your “timing” is right, you may get the chance to see Dancing with the Stars’ most talked about professional dancer, Maksim Chmerkovskiy (aka Maks), while he’s in town shopping for his own dad.
Mix this retro experience with a totally modern gadget that’ll definitely keep your man entertained. The Timex IQ models have four independently-powered hands and digital sensors, as well as features including a compass, tide tracker, thermometer depth gauge and more.
Bonus: Enter to win a Free Watch or a $250 gift certificate to Nordstrom.
Double Bonus: Don’t forget to hit up the giant Men’s Sale happening at Nordstrom.
Hey Chicago, let’s get #TimexIQ trending TOGETHER this Saturday from Noon to 3 PM at The Shops at North Bridge on the first floor mezzanine. Time is ticking……Nicole Salerno
Tags: ABC TV, Barbershop, chicago, Dancing With The Stars, Father's day, free, Hair cuts, Kaplow PR, Maksim Chmerkovsky, Michigan Ave, New York, Nicole Salerno, Nordstrom, rockit ranch productions, summer, The Shops at North Bridge, Timex, Timex Intelligent Quartz Collection, Watches, weekend events
06/12/12
Join LIFT in June!
Art, charity, chicago, Food, Fundraiser, General, Music, Networking, nightlife, Pictures, restaurants
Hi Readers! Stephanie Sells here… met BD ten years ago back in his days at Le Passage and we’ve been friends ever since…
So I wanted to extend an invite to all of his readers…
Please join us Friday, June 22nd at Architectural Artifacts in Ravenswood for a Summer Scholarship Event to support Leading India’s Future Today (LIFT). It will be a lively event with open bar featuring local craft beer by Finch’s Beer Co. Indian fusion hors d’oeurves, live dance performances, cultural fashion show, Indian bazaar and more!
LIFT is a holistic learning and leadership development program in Tamil Nadu, India, providing education, leadership training, and service opportunities to high-potential, underprivileged children. Today LIFT serves students (grades 4 thru college) who are selected based on innate talent, leadership potential and interpersonal skills. Without LIFT, none of these children would be educated. Most come from families deeply below the poverty line; many are orphans.
Tickets are $85.00 in advance and can be purchased at www.liftusa.org
The event will be on Friday evening from 7:00 – 10:30PM
I hope to see you there!
Tags: architectural, artifacts, Beer, craft, cultural fashion show, Finch's Beer Co., Future, high-potential, holistic, India, India's, Indian bazaar, Indian fusion hors d’oeurves, leadership training, Leading, learning, LIFT, lines, live dance performances, Local, open bar, opportunities, orphans, poverty, providing education, ravenswood, scholarship, service, summer, Tamil Nadu, Today, training, underprivileged children
06/11/12
Bike-in Movie Nights are Back!
Food, Fundraiser, General, Movies, Music, Nature, Networking, nightlife, Pictures, restaurants, Theater
Summer nights in the city are fun. The warm weather gives us plenty of activities to do at night! Last year, Whole Foods Market in Lincoln Park had a bike-in movie night and they are bringing it back!
The beautiful Whole Foods Market is teaming up with New Belgium to bring back bike-in movie nights! The neighborhood grocery store will be hosting a series of movie night’s right on the rooftop. Each event will benefit a different local non-profit group and of course, a different movie (check back for the next movie on the website). Come out for a bike ride to Whole Foods to help them kick off the first night TOMORROW June 12th! Start things off with a reception down at their 1550 Bar at 7pm. Movie starts at 8:15pm!
The first screening will be an 80’s classic, The Breakfast Club: a story about five high school teenagers in different cliques who spend a Saturday in detention together coming to realize that they aren’t that different from each other after all. All proceeds will benefit City Farm.
If you didn’t catch this event last summer, make sure you register and head out to one of the movie nights on the rooftop this summer! Lastly, enjoy the summer nights in the city!
Tags: 1550 bar, Bar, benefit, Bikes, city farm, lincoln park, Movie, new belgium, night, non-profit, rooftop, summer, warm, weather, whole foods
01/09/12
Taste of Chicago Turns into a Nibble
I heard the news on the radio. Taste of Chicago is going to be revamped (again) for 2012. The Taste will be chopped from 10 days to 5, and moved from the 4th of July week to mid-July (July 11-15 to be exact). I had always thought that the excitement from the Taste came from its grand proportions – of food, music and crowds. Yes, I said it, the crowds. The immense, hungry crowds walking their way into Grant Park, bibs tied on to catch the drool, in anticipation of sampling the flavors that make Chicago the dining capital of the world! The Taste was the thing to do leading up to the 4th of July.
So why make these changes? The organizers want the focus to be put back into the food – with renowned chefs coming in, featuring not only Chicago favorites, but also “offerings from Chicago’s new and emerging culinary scene” – - less festival and more “foodie”. And the reason for the change in date? It would mean less competition with other festivals that take place during that busy and bustling summer holiday, like Naperville’s Ribfest and Milwaukee’s Summerfest.
For me, the Taste of Chicago was the big kickoff to summer. It was the turkey leg in hand, triple scoop of ice cream, and deep dish pizza enjoyment, while waiting for Elvis Costello one night and the spectacular fireworks production on another, simply feeling that sense of awe to be there. That is now a thing of the past. We’ll have to wait until the middle of summer to see just exactly what the new Taste will look like, but I’m sure I won’t be the only one who’ll still be heading there, with drool bib in hand.
Click here for upcoming details on Taste of Chicago 2012.
- Jocelyn Flojo
Tags: 2012 events, chicago, chicago restaurants, food, food events, restaurants, summer, summer events, taste of chicago, Taste of chicago 2012
07/29/10
2010 Stanley Cup Champions 3rd Annual Blackhawks Convention
Chicagoans are die hard sports fans, win or lose, but it’s even more sweet when we national championships! The day after the Hawks took home the Stanley Cup I posted the pics of me hitting the town with the team, sharing the cup w/chicago and celebrating an excellent season…I received over 250,000 hits that morning, how crazy is that?!? (click here to see them!)
In keeping with the celebration and gearing up for next season I wanted to share (as I always do) some of my badges to the 3rd Annual Blackhawks Convention this weekend! From July 30th to August 1st at the Chicago Hilton you can hang out with players, Hawks alum, enjoy Q& A sessions, try your luck at interactive games, and just revel in all the Blackhawks glory! Check out my facebook page to see how you can win them today!
Tags: 3rd annual blackahawks convention, badges, billy dec, blackhawks, blackhawks convention, chicago, chicago hilton hotel, facebook fan page, free tickets, giveaway, hawks, like fan page, sports, stanley cup, stanley cup champions, summer, win
07/14/10
FACTOR WOMEN raise TOYS FOR TOTS – CHRISTMAS IN JULY!
Friends of mine who have always been amongst the top of those in the modeling industry as “elite chicago” have evolved into a fairly new agency called “factor women” and today I am giving them a huge shout out for more than just their good looks!
Due to tough economic times, loss of incomes, a lot of parents have been struggling to provide for their families, much less give their children all the luxuries of toys & games that many of us are privileged to have. Luckily, the amazing chicago modeling agency, Factor Women, is putting on a toys for Tots Drive on Tuesday, July 20th between 9am-5pm at the Factor Model Management office on 58 W Huron. Please help this awesome cause and bring in some unwrapped toys (or cash) to help out our fellow neighbors, and the future neighbors of our great city!
Tags: 58 w huron, billy dec, charity, chicago, christmas in july, elite modeling, factor model management, summer, toys for tots
06/17/10
Ellen Live TBS Show at Chicago Theatre!
I love to share awesome prizes, tickets, vip passes…to all the experiences I get invited to w/ all my friends and followers on facebook and twitter (click on them to get in on it!). Yesterday I made up a fun lil contest to take a couple fans to Ellen’s amazing live show at The Chicago Theatre…you got to see these pics & read this review that one of the winners wrote, it’s awesome!
Tags: billy dec, blackhawks, chicago, chicago blackhawks, chicago theatre, Comedy, comedy tour, concert, ellen, ellen degeneres, facebook, hawks, hokey, lady antebellum, Music, stanley cup, state st, summer, tbs, the ellen show, tickets, twitter, winner
06/16/10
Emmy Winner Jeremy Piven back in Chicago to Give away Role on Entourage!
Jeremy Piven & I made this quick lil fun video for you & your friends while i was on the set of hbo’s “entourage” playing the role of one of ari gold’s agents! it’s about how you can get on the show too! So check it out and spread the word on email, blogging, facebook, twitter, or even speaking human to human!
As you will see, we have been hosting this event for the last 8 years raising money for children’s scholarships to keep arts & theatre alive in Chicago many times joined by Piven Theatre Workshop Alums like john cusack, kate walsh, aidan quinn, and so many more…
This year our event happens on Saturday June 26th! We went a step further and added an intimate dinner w/Jeremy at Sunda just before the usual crazy festivities at rockit bar & grill from 6p-10p! its a must for mingling w/Jeremy & the crew, enjoying drinks, hors d’oeuvres, music, fun, silent/live auction (including the “entourage” walk-on role!)… and to help get all proceeds to kids who want to excel in art & theatre!
Tickets to the Rockit portion are $125, to include the Sunda dinner its $300, and the number to call at Piven Theatre workshop to order tix is 847.866.8049 and website is www.piventheatre.org for more info!
**Updated Thursday, June 24th at 4pm ::: Just confirmed the official after party is at The Underground – arrive at 11pm sharp when doors open, space is limited. $20 cover to benefit The Piven Theatre Workshop.
BTW – if you missed me on ABC this morning – here’s the link - http://bit.ly/b66ukW
Sneak peek into the amazing silent auction….
At Sunda:
Set Visit to ABC’s Private Practice; meet Kate Walsh
Week at a villa in Tuscany
Napa Valley wine tour
Tickets to Swell Season concert; meet the band
At Rockit:
Entourage walk-on and set visit
Two tickets to a Matt Damen movie premiere
Drumming lessons from the drummer for Morrissey
Tags: aidan quinn, auction, benefit, billy dec, charity, chicago, entourage, hbo, jeremy piven, john cusack, joyce piven, kate walsh, piven, piven theatre workshop, piven theatre workshop benfit, rockit bar and grill, summer, sunda, theatre, tickets, win