Take Me Home From the Fest

The 47th Chicago International Film Festival started last week and boy has it already been a whirlwind. After screening a plethora of films, I’m heading in to see others I missed.

Our Junior Board screened Take Me Home this past weekend and Director, Writer, Producer and actor Sam Jaeger made time to hang out in the Lincoln Lounge with all of us. His film was the first one I saw for the Fest and absolutely fell in love with it. Below is the synopsis I wrote for the film:

“Thom (Sam Jaeger, NBC’S Parenthood) just can’t win. After losing a job offer and getting evicted, he decides to buckle up as an illegal New York City cab driver. When he picks up Claire (Amber Jaeger), they embark on a trip neither one anticipated. This comedy finds solace in the back seat of a cab, the landscape of the USA, and even in a complete stranger. This classic road movie shows how a little cross-country drive can lead you to a different exit.”

Even got to present the film to the audience and conduct the Q&A afterwards. Not bad, clearly this Junior Board thing has its perks…

Aside from a great film, the music score is crazy good from a band called Bootstraps. They take all of your favorite Indie bands and roll them into one. Seriously hoping they tour and soon!

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If the Shoe and the Dress Fit

This post is two-fold. One, last week’s Parenthood episode reminded me of my Prom. Which led me to really see the beauty in that night. And two, The Glass Slipper Project officially kicked off in Chicago!

First up: Prom. Prom night holds many expectations, which most of us are accustomed to seeing as we survived and made it out to the other side. For me, it was an awkward time. Mainly because a friend’s ex asked me to the dance during a fire drill. And I thought it was a prank. It wasn’t. I learned I sealed my fate with this date while in Spanish class after Homeró (we had Spanish names in class) said Benjamín was going to ask me, but no longer could because Dan did.

Awkward.

Did I mention he was one of my good friends’ exes? Double awkward. The only saving grace was the fact Dan and I basically grew up together as we went to school together for 10 years.

And prom was fun. I don’t remember dancing with Dan, though I’m sure I did. But I do remember dancing with Kelly’s dad. I remember standing on the stage of the Fox Theatre and looking out and thinking, life is only going to get better for me. And I remember being there with all of my closest friends singing Bon Jovi songs.

We also had a pretty fantastic prom song.

Second: As prom season begins to come around, I find myself just wanting to shake girls from the pop culture prom expectations, Parenthood depicted pretty well in their episode. Last weekend, I did my first shift with The Glass Slipper, an organization I’ve been a part of since I moved to Chicago (it’s my 3rd Anniversary!). The organization outfits (see what I did there) girls in the Chicago area with all of the prom fixings; from dresses, shoes, makeup, purses and anything else a gal might need. And the girls get personal shoppers (enter me and thousands of other volunteers) to cart dress after dress around on their arms while commenting on choices. It’s quite a day as the process usually takes 2-3 hours per girl to dress for the event.

The best part besides seeing a girl smile and get excited for her day: it’s all free.

As I’m not a shopper by nature, or much of a girlie girl to be honest, I live for this day. Aside from getting a fantastic workout (I still cringe when a girl picks dresses with heavy beading knowing I’m going to have to lug it around), you get a chance to meet a girl you normally wouldn’t meet. Often times, these girls have completely different backgrounds than I have, making me that much more thankful, while at the same time challenging myself to do even more with what I have.

Kind of makes me wish I still had reasons to get all dolled up for dances. But then I remember the bobby pins and the headaches and suddenly find it’s okay that chapter’s closed.