The view on Washington and La Salle in downtown Chicago.
Millions of fans descended upon downtown Chicago for The Blackhawks Parade and Rally on Friday June 28th. My friend Mateo and I situated ourselves at the corner of Washington and La Salle around 9am as the parade started at 10:30am. Team captain Jonathan Toews, who was boarded on the first double-decker bus, hoisted the Stanley Cup and the crowd went wild. There were about 6-8 double- decker buses carrying the players. Check out my raw footage of the parade in the video below.
After all the buses and trolleys passed, we made our way to Grant Park to get near the rally. Of course we knew we were not going to get into the section of the park where the rally was being held, but there was a jumbotron located on Congress and Columbus near Buckingham Fountain. We made our way there to watch the rally, along with thousands of other fans. It was such a great day and everyone was having a fun time. I love how events like this really bring the city together! Did you go to the parade or watch it on television? What did you think of it? Leave a comment and let me know! GO HAWKS!
Jumbotron live streaming the rally on Congress and Columbus.
In November 2009, Mariola and I met the beautiful Ashley Greene who plays Alice in The Twilight Series. This was the same weekend we met Kellan Lutz just at a different movie theater. The event was held at The Hollywood Palms in Naperville who's sister theater is Hollywood Blvd. in Woodridge. It was very nice of her to be in town that weekend and meet all the fans considering she was under the weather. The night before, Ashley also made an appearance on a float at the annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. Thank you so much for reading and be sure to follow me on twitter @raymondagarcia
Back in November 2009, Mariola and I met Kellan Lutz who portrayed Emmett Cullen in The Twilight Series. He appeared at the Hollywood Blvd. Cinemas in Woodridge, IL to promote New Moon. People had the opportunity to either get an autograph or a picture or both. Since there were so many people, this was one of the events where everything moved very quickly. So you had to be prepared with everything once it was your turn.
Back in 2009 I met one of the actresses from one of my favorite TV shows ever, Charmed. Alyssa Milano, who played Phoebe on the show, was in Chicago to promote her sports clothing line "Touch by Alyssa Milano" at the FansEdge store in The Shops at North Bridge. I saw a tweet from Shops' Twitter account and as well as Alyssa's Twitter a couple weeks in advance. I definitely was not going to pass up this amazing opportunity. I remember the event took place on a Friday from 5-7pm. My Dad and Mariola both came to meet Alyssa as well. In order to meet her we had to purchase an item from her line, which was not too expensive fortunately.
The event was very relaxed and laid back, it wasn't rushed at all. We got a chance to actually talk to her, take several pictures, and she personalized each autograph. She also tweeted me back later on that night:
Last Friday night, May 31, Mariola and I attended "Talk Hard" at The Comedy Sportz Theatre thanks to Billy Dec who was also one of the guests on the late night show. In case you are not from Chicago or aren't familiar with Billy Dec he is the CEO of Rockit Ranch Productions and has a segment on Windy City Live called "What's On Dec. He runs some of the hottest clubs and restaurants in Chicago which attract local and national celebrities. He was a guest on the show to talk about his new venture "AY CHIWOWA" a new taco and tequila hot spot. The show was hosted by comedian Jamie Campbell and featured many hilarious segments. Billy Dec is such a cool guy and we watch his segment every Thursday on Windy City Live. It was awesome meeting him!
Starting every Thursday I'll be sharing some past adventures, this week is Demi Lovato who is the first celebrity I had ever met. I met Demi back in June 2008 at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL where she had a concert. This was the same weekend that CampRock premiered on Disney Channel. She came to promote Camp Rock and her debut album. My sister, her friend Sandi, and I had heard that Demi was having a concert, so we decided to come out for it. It wasn't until we got there that we heard there was a meet and greet, so we found out that it was $25 to meet her, get a picture, an autograph, and sit in the VIP section during the concert. I thought that was a pretty good deal if you ask me! The meet and greet was also limited to the first fifty people.
Mariola, my sister, remembered that,"For being so young at the time Demi seemed super excited and grateful for her fans coming to see her, she really wanted to be there all day and meet everyone." I think she truly is very talented and has an amazing voice. I complimented her on that when I met her. During the concert she performed songs from her upcoming album and from Camp Rock. It was such an exciting day and one that I'll never forget! Also don't forget that Demi will be one of the headliners for the B96 Summer Bash this year on June 15 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL.
Here is a video from the beginning of the concert. This is from Mariola's YouTube, check out her channel she has videos from a few concerts.
This is part 2 where she performs "Don't Forget" and "This Is Me".
Thank you so much for reading and make sure to check on Thursdays as I revisit past encounters. Please share on Facebook and Twitter as well!
Last night was the final show for Kiss FM's Fantabuloso at the historic Aragon Ballroom which featured performances by Icona Pop and The Wanted. I got a call from Kiss FM five days prior telling me that I won a pair of tickets to the show and a meet and greet with Icona Pop. I took my friend Jazmyn with me. The meet and greet took place about an hour before the show, they were so nice and friendly! We had professional pictures taken for us and we got autographs. In case you guys aren't familiar with Icona Pop they are a Swedish DJ Duo who sing the hit song "I Love It".
Below is part of their performance for "I Love It"
British Group The Wanted was the final act of the evening. The whole room went crazy as soon as they came out. They opened with "All Time Low" and covered a few songs such Coldplay's "Paradise" along the way. Of course they ended with their smash hit "Glad You Came". They delivered a great show despite that one of their members Nathan Sykes was absent because he is recovering from his throat surgery. Over all it was a great night!
Hello everyone! My name is Raymond Garcia, I am currently studying
Journalism at Ball State University and I am proudly from Chicago. I am an
aspiring entertainment reporter. During the past few years I have had crazy
adventures and experiences meeting celebrities and going to their events, so I
have decided to start this blog sharing all my encounters and stories. Along
the way I will be sharing tales about some of the events that I have attended
around Chicago such as concerts, movie/TV show filmings, store openings,
charity fundraisers, social events, and of course celebrity meet and greets.
Also you will read about my awesome sister, Mariola who is my partner in
crime during some of these adventures. I'll even share some tips on how you
could meet your favorite star! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!
