Top 10 Reasons To Stay In Chicago For Labor Day Weekend

10- More Parking! According to cbs2chicago.com traveling over the Labor Day weekend will increase 11% from 2009. About 1.92 million people will be leaving Illinois for Labor Day weekend. 9- The Allstate Arena Flea Market, find antique furniture for more than half the cost at antiques shops! They have up to 700 vendors! This will be open Sunday September 5 @ 6am to 3pm. Admission is $2 Adults, $1 Senior Citizens (62+) & children 6-12, children under 6 are free $3 Early Admission fee prior to 6am. Get there early! 9- Cheap Hotel Rates! The rates on hotels.com are amazing! Raffaelo Hotel $184 per night, Wyndham Chicago $177 per night, Sax Chicago $159 per night, Hotel Felix $144 per night, Hard Rock Hotel $189, The Palmer House $159 per night, W Chicago $182 per night. These rates are from check in Friday to check out Monday. 8- Don’t feel like barbequing? Check out these great bbq restaurants! -         Smoque BBQ- Closed on Monday but Open Saturday and Sunday. Located at 3800 N. Pulaski Rd. For more info check their website: Smoque bbq -         The Smoke Daddy- Known for their homemade bbq sauce!! Plus they are being featured on Check Please! Open 7 days a week. Located on 1804 W. Division St. For more info check there website: the smoke daddy. -         Fireplace Inn- Serving BBQ ribs over 40 years!! Open 7 days a week. Located on 1448 N. Wells St. Check out their website: Fireplace Inn. 7- Enjoy the Navy Pier Fireworks! On September 4 the show is scheduled for 10:15p.m.! This is truly a show, so why not take a stroll on the pier, and enjoy the show! You can also enjoy dinner in one of the many night cruises they have available and enjoy the fireworks from the cruise! 6- The Cubs are in town!!! They are playing against the New York Mets, we are hoping that September will be start on a high note for our cubbies! So check them out on Friday September 3 @ 1:20pm, Saturday September 4 @ 12:05pm, Sunday September 5 @ 1:20pm, and Monday September 5 against Houston @ 1:20pm. For more info check out there website: Cubs 5- If you just want to relax, enjoy our wonderful lakefront! Explore these habitats, home to unusual grasses, flowering plants and birds. These are:

• 63rd Street Beach
• Montrose Beach
• Kathy Osterman Beach
• Loyola Park / Leone Beach
• Rainbow Park
• South Shore Cultural Center / South Shore Beach

4- Boys/men's tourney set for Labor Day weekend in Gurnee. Enjoy this family tennis tournament! There will be three divisions: • Boys 15-under -- Play begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4 and continues the next day. • Boys 18-under -- Play begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 5 and continues the next day. • Men's Open -- Play begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4, and continues the next day. The tournament will be run by Warren High boys tennis coach Greg Cohen. Last year's event drew 34 teams in the three divisions. Cost to play is $20 per team. Teams can register in person at either Warren High or via e-mail at gcohen@wths.net. Players will be guaranteed two matches. Proceeds will go to Warren High's boys tennis program. For more information, contact Cohen at (847) 548-6658. 3- Check out the Chicago Furry! They are playing games all day Saturday September 4, and Sunday September 5! For more info check out there website: Chicago Furry 2- Do something active like a bike tour! You have many choices to choose what tour you want to take, but we recommend the presidential tour, while you ride you will stop at places he has been and receive information of his journey to becoming president. For more information check the website: Bike Chicago 1- Go to the 32^nd Annual Jazz Festival! Bring the blanket, snacks and drinks and get ready to enjoy the music! Fro more info and show list visit: Jazz Festival We hope you enjoy your wonderful holiday! And let us know if you checked out any of these places we will love to hear from you!

New Hotel in Downtown Chicago

JW Marriott Hotel The JW Marriott will open this fall 2010! We are truly excited to plan future events in this hotel. It is a great hotel for special events like a wedding, corporate event or just a weekend getaway in the city. The hotel is a $396 million renovation, reminiscence of architect Daniel Burnham, the urban planner who created the modern city plan for Chicago. This renovation is a fresh take on luxury providing overall travel experience. The JW Marriott has, not only top of the line accommodations with marble bathrooms, but also a spa and wellness center that is 20,000 square feet located on two levels. That has 14 treatment rooms and express treatments to full service treatments. It also has a five star restaurant with excellent upscale bar. Now check out these amazing event spaces they have available: The Grand Ballroom: 8,453 Sq. Ft. The Junior Ballroom: 6,096 Sq. Ft. They have wireless high speed internet and video conferencing. This is a great feature for a slideshow, or maybe use the video conferencing for a family member that cannot be there and they can make a toast! They have 34 break-out rooms and with customized menus. Also green meeting packages. Check out the pictures below! As you can see this is going to be one of the hottest hotels opening this fall in downtown Chicago. We are excited and anxious to do our next event at the JW Marriott Hotel.

Engagement Stories You Won’t Believe!

We have seen ladies being proposed in many public events like a NBA basketball game, or an NFL football game. Well that is old news! More and More men are looking for special and unique ways to surprise their girlfriends with a creative and memorable engagement. Meet Roshan and Nick, these men went above and beyond for their lucky ladies.

Dinner And A Special Movie

Meet Roshan, when he started to plan the engagement he started small. He wanted to create the fairytale that Neeta deserved. So he started to collect home VHS movies of her and decided to make a story of her life. He transferred all of the footage to a DVD and made a movie on his Macbook (in which he bought for this purpose). Now where to show it? He decided to raise the bar and have it play in a movie theater. So he contacted many places until he found one. At this point since if he wanted to show a movie he needed to “rent out” the theater. So he bought all 150 seats! He thought, since he is doing all of this might as well capture her reaction on camera too! So he hired a photographer that hid in the movie theater, he also had a microphone in the cup holder to capture audio! WOW! But check this out! He had to make fake tickets so she won’t find out, plus staff from the theater and even people that were off came in to participate with their friends! After the “fake” movie started people started to leave the theater and then suddenly the movie stopped. Neeta was confused, then Roshan’s movie started to play. Then she figured out what was going on. At the end of the movie it said: “ A lifetime of happiness… Together”. Then he got down on one knee and proposed, and of course she said YES!

A Moment Frozen In Time

Meet Nick, he had planned weekend getaway in downtown Chicago for his lucky lady. He first booked the Elysian Hotel to her surprise, had the front desk give her a gift certificate to the Elysian Spa. Then he made reservation at the Spiaggia restaurant ( Where president Obama, had taken Michelle for their anniversary last year) after they were seated they were presented a signed cookbook from the executive chef and partner of Spiaggia, Tony Mantuano. Plus enjoyed complimentary appetizers and dessert. After dinner, they went to the Buckingham Fountain where the show started at 8pm.  Here’s the kicker; it took him two months to organize a “Flash Mob”. He created a fake facebook account to accomplish this, he wanted to propose to Amy and have this moment in time freeze just for her. So what is a flashmob? It is the newest form of performance art. This is created by a social media page or a viral email. People will show up to a specific place and do some type of performance art and then disperse. As the show began they walked towards the fountain, as well as about 70 other people did to and froze, except Nick and Amy. That’s when he said to her: “I would do absolutely anything for you in life, and I have frozen time at this instant so that you would remember it forever”. Then he got down on one knee and she said yes! There are photos of the proposal and video! Picture Perfect in Paris Meet Steve, he planned a trip to Paris to propose to his girlfriend Emily. But he wanted to document this memorable moment, so how to do this? Hire a photographer! But one in Paris! So he contacted Haig, which Steve contacted three weeks before the trip. Haig suggested the perfect location, helped with timing, and even suggested to bring wine and cheese after the proposal. When they arrived at the Eifel tower Emily wanted to go straight to the top, but the line was very long and time was running out, so they got to a little altercation. But Steve pulled a fast one and said: “ We’re in Paris, do we have to argue?” and after that they went to the park in front of the Eifel tower and he got down on one knee and Emily said yes!

Check Us Out Today On WCIU!

Our very own Chrissy Magliano will be on WCIU on You & Me This Morning

with Jeanne Sparrow and Melissa Forman at 8am!

I'm sure you have heard of great marriage proposals, but the men featured on this segment went above and beyond of what their lucky ladies would have imagined!

Check out these incredible stories! Today At 8 am on WCIU the U!