A Toast.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer one of the things I said while wiping tears from my eyes was that I was going to miss doing things with my friends. Normal things. Things that were a part of my life. Like staying out all hours of the night every weekend at the most popular bars in the city, and rooting on the Bears in sub-zero temperatures, and riding the “L” and going to Vegas for March Madness. These are things no 24 year old should miss out on, but unfortunately I have had to forgo some pretty fun times with friends and roommates. That being said, I have had some awesome opportunities and some of the best times during the past couple months.

There is a company in Chicago called Rockit Ranch Productions- they own and operate Rockit Bar &Grill in River North, Rockit Bar & Grill in Wrigleyville, Sunda (a new Asian restaurant downtown) and The Underground (Chicago’s best club). I have become acquainted with the CEO, Billy Dec, and the President, Arturo Gomez, of the company and they have rocked my cancer world with incredible tickets to events around the city. I can honestly say that without their generosity and compassion, I would be one miserable, pathetic girl sitting at home on a Friday night.

It has become a tradition on the Wednesday night prior to chemo to do something fun, which generally means going out to dinner. A couple months back I chose Sunda (my VERY favorite restaurant in the city) as our fun activity. I tweeted at Billy for a reservation and let me just say this: he hooked us up. We arrived to the restaurant and were seated at Billy’s personal table; my Dad, the ultimate foodie, was on top of the world. We ordered everything and had the most enjoyable evening. Just when we thought the night was over, our waiter dropped off three decadent desserts courtesy of Billy. It was such an incredible night and we owe it all to Billy; it was definitely the best pre-chemo night out by far.

About a month ago I went to a social media event hosted by Billy at Rockit Wrigley- it was a Blackhawks viewing party with free merchandise, food and drinks. I brought my brother, mom & dad to show them my favorite joint in Cubs town (ughhh, Cubs.). We ate dinner and then went upstairs to the event; Billy was so kind- he said hello and gave me a hug. You can’t help but love Billy- aside from this dimpled smile, he’s the nicest guy with the most positive attitude who has an unbelievable passion for his job; not to mention he’s Chicago’s maître d. After grabbing some bad ass Blackhawks swag, Billy sat us at a table and there we enjoyed drinks and the game. It had been a long time since I’d been out to one of the places I had frequented before my diagnosis and it was great to be back in my element. We entered the drawing for tickets to an upcoming Blackhawks game and my brother and I joked how we never win anything, except for the microwave I scored at Sober Grad in high school. Then… WE WON. The first raffle ticket called out was my brother’s! We laughed so hard- it was like we were 4 and 5 years old again, we were so friggin excited! Not only was I enjoying a fabulous night at one of my favorite restaurants, I was going to experience my first Blackhawks game!! Steve and I went that Sunday to the game and had the most amazing time. We shared a beer and some junk food and were lucky enough to see an intense game- overtime with a shootout! It was, again, so much fun to be out on the town and it was, again, all thanks to Billy.

This past weekend, as I was reading my timeline on Twitter (I am an addict for those of you who didn’t know), I noticed that Arturo was giving away two tickets to Lil Wayne who was in town on tour with Nicki Minaj on Friday night. I totally freaked out considering Olivia is a HUGE Weezy fan- I immediately shared the tweet with her and she responded to Arturo with an enthusiastic “Pick me!!”. That evening we headed downtown for a dinner reservation; as we were waiting to be seated I received a message from Arturo asking me if I was interested in the tickets!! I couldn’t believe what I was reading. My jaw dropped and I looked at my sister in disbelief; I turned my phone around to show Olivia the message, she let out a high pitched “OMG!!!” and we were out the door and in cab in 30 seconds. I wasn’t planning on attending a Lil Wayne concert that night so I showed up to the United Center looking like I thought Taylor Swift was performing; nonetheless I was thrilled to be at the concert and Olivia was even more stoked than me. When we walked down to our seats we were stunned- floor seats in the 12^th row! It was unreal. We couldn’t have been more than 20 feet from the stage. Needless to say it was an incredible show; we danced the entire time and Olivia sang every word. It was such an unexpected opportunity and we left still not believing what we had just experienced. Once again, I had an amazing night on behalf of Rockit Ranch Productions.

I have written thank you notes to both Billy and Arturo, but that just doesn’t seem like enough. When I was diagnosed I didn’t know how I was going to deal with the loss part of cancer- the hair, the social life, etc. But Billy and Arturo have taken one of those losses out of the equation by providing me with the most amazing experiences. Those evenings out to some of Chicago’s best events have meant so much to me during this rough time and I owe it all to those two. I have always been a fan of Rockit Ranch Productions, but Billy and Arturo have showed me their true colors and why the company is so successful- it is run by two of the most genuine, compassionate people in Chicago. I want to thank both of them so very much for giving me the invaluable gift of a social life. Cheers!

*I would also like to thank the other Rockit Ranch team members who have reached out with kindness and support, Katie Rose Cronin & Benjamin Newby.