Camp Do-Over

Everyone loves camp, or the idea of it. But we are adults now, and adults like doing more adult activities. At Camp Do-Over you can combine both the fun camp activities of our youth, with the adult activities we all enjoy! This Labor Day weekend, join us at Camp Manitowa in Benton, IL, for a fun-filled, all-inclusive weekend of camp - adult style. What's even more cool is all PPM residents get a discount of $50 off. The discount code is: PPM50.

Want to find out more? Here's some information about the weekend and what you can expect.

• Cost: $300
 

What is Included:
 

• 3 nights lodging in camp bunks
 

• All meals and snacks (menu below)
 

• Open bar all weekend

MENU:

Dinner Friday night: 
Chicken piccata with a white wine-lemon-caper velouté, mushroom risotto, and sautéed green beans

Caprese salad (spring mix, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette)

Breakfast Saturday:
Eggs Benedict, hash browns, fruit salad, and bacon

Saturday lunch:
Monte Cristo sandwich (ham, turkey, munster cheese, blackberry jelly, whole grain mustard, and mayonnaise on sour dough fried in a French toast batter) served with fries and a salad

Saturday dinner: (Dinner from The Q Shack in St. Louis)
Bbq Pulled Chicken, Bbq Pulled Pork, Potato salad, and Cole slaw

Sunday breakfast:
Breakfast burritos (chorizo sausage, avocado, cilantro, green onions, Monterey Jack cheese, and scrambled eggs), hash browns, fruit salad, yogurt and granola

Sunday lunch:
Hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans, mac and cheese and a salad

Sunday dinner:
Chinese five spice pork belly tacos (Chinese five-spiced braised pork belly on 6 flour tortillas with a hoisin sauce and topped with a Asian slaw) served with jasmine rice and a salad

Monday breakfast:
Fried egg stuffed French toast, hash browns, sausage patties, and fruit salad

If your looking for something new to try, we highly recommend giving this great experience a try. Hey, you may meet some new friends and create some great memories to. More info can be found here.

Kuma’s Too in Lakeview

If you haven’t caught onto it yet, here at PPM we absolutely LOVE burgers. So much so that it’s our goal to taste and review the best burger joints in Chicago. Be it old or new you can count on us to be your official Chicago burger taste testers! So, what’s so great about living in a PPM building? Well, no matter what location you live in - Gold Coast, River North, Lincoln Park, or Lakeview - there is a burger joint just a hop, skip, and a jump from your front door.

This week we ventured out into Lakeview, just a few blocks from our dog-friendly building at 2756 N. Pine Grove and our amazing location at 430 W. Diversey. If you’re familiar with the area, then we bet you know what place we had to try. That’s right, Kuma's Too, the bar and burger joint with the awesome Heavy Metal vibe. Let us tell you, we loved this place from the moment we stepped through the doors. So without further ado, let’s take a peek inside this great Lakeview burger joint.

First up, the Atmosphere

This place has Heavy Metal written all over it. From the music you hear upon entering, to the crazy-cool décor enveloping the seating area, you will definitely rock out as you eat out!

Next up, the Food, and our first burger is the Anthrax

This baby is the spicy eaters delight. All in, it comes with a 10oz beef patty, Ghost pepper, sautéed spinach, hot capicolla, red onion, basil salad, and parmesan cheese. You’ll be sweating and smiling the whole time!

The Led Zeppelin

Much like the band, you can expect many different components that come together to create the perfect burger. Featuring bacon, BBQ pulled pork, cheddar cheese, and pickles, you can’t go wrong with a staple burger such as the Zeppelin.

Soul Torture

Combining traditional Middle Eastern food with a true American burger creates the Soul Torture! This burger comes with Tzaziki sauce, a 10oz beef patty, feta cheese, falafel, tomato, cucumber, and onion salad. A massive burger, it goes well with the nice juxtaposition from the beef to the falafel.

So, if you’re living in one of our many Lakeview apartment buildings, or just walking down Diversey Street and in the mood for a burger, then Kuma's Too is your place to be!

Where Have All the Lesbians Gone? / Where Do All the Lesbians Go?

Because Chicago does not have any self-appointed “lesbian bars,” lesbians scatter, weekdays and ends, oftentimes frolicking adrift in the playground-like hub of the queer community known as Boystown. The bars may all be gay-friendly, but the area ultimately offers what its name promises: a Town of Boys, Boys’ Town, and long nights of lingering in pursuit of lesbian lovers often leads to foot-tapping and app-swiping loneliness in a sea of dancing gay men. I found myself too often playing the role of bar voyeur, slouched over my whiskey to dodge the boisterous boys behind me, while eyeing every incoming woman for some sign of shared persuasion. Those wild nights of shots, show tunes, and scandalous eye contact with the stray straight woman may be fun, but they’re not quite, we’ll say, fulfilling. But with a few tips, you can increase your chances at interaction tenfold and avoid being the odd one out under the rainbow.

There are no lesbian bars in Chicago, but there are gay-friendly bars lesbians frequent. A few Boystown favorites include: D.S. Tequila (3352 N. Halsted), where you can score a fabulous margarita and relax on the patio, and the Closet (3325 N. Broadway St.), a small cash-only club with a dark dance floor and carefree feel. Whether you’re hanging out with friends or looking to meet new people, D.S. and the Closet can be a great start to a barhopping night for women in Boystown, particularly on the weekend, when the bigger GLBT clubs begin to fill with the Boys.

But for the most part, the Chicagoan lesbian learns to plan ahead—isn’t that why you’re reading this now, to know where to go before you leave your front door? Most of the Sapphic hot spots occur monthly, either at a specific locale or an ever-changing location, so you’ll need to keep up-to-date and sync your party-going cycle accordingly.

-FKA (Formerly Known As)—an all-inclusive dance party that emphasizes genderfluid acceptance and transgender inclusion every second Friday, at Big Chicks (5024 N Sheridan Rd.).

-Chances Dances—every third Saturday, at the Subterranean (2011 W. North Ave.).

-Off Chances—every second Tuesday, at Danny’s (1951 W. Dickens Ave.).

-LesBiFriends—every first Thursday , at Progress Bar (3359 N Halsted).

-Queerer Park—a bi-monthly queer dance party at Beauty Bar (1444 W Chicago Ave.).

Some change places, standing tall and pretty on usually unwelcoming grounds, and in those watering hole in the walls a queer wouldn’t otherwise attend in comfort.

-The Welcoming Committee’s Guerrilla Queer Bar—the first Friday of each month, a large GLBT party offering all a hug at the door and a takeover of the dance floor.

-The Welcoming Committee’s “Overhaul”— every third Saturday, a brand-new straight bar takeover, geared toward queer women, lesbians, and those who support them.

Whether you are searching for a new locale or are new to the city, enjoy it while you can—before you too are embedded in a bar scene composed of mostly exes.