Summer Highlights: Part 2 {The Festivals!}

I can't believe it's already August! This was the last weekend the city pools were open, and within a few weeks kids will be heading back to school. I'll be ready for fall when it arrives, but right now I'm trying to fiercely squeeze every last drop out of another memorable Chicago summer. We've been busy with lots of festivals this summer, and since I'm a lazy blogger and constantly get behind on my posting, I figured the best thing to do would be to combine them into one lovely little post!

Pitchfork Music Festival
A yearly summer tradition, where we drink, dance, eat, and check out new
and less known bands. Then we go to sleep, and do it all again the next day. 

My favorites this weekend included
Japandroids, Dirty Projectors,
Hot Chip, and Sleigh Bells.
I think Hot Chip was my #1-- so much dancing!

I wanted to like Feist, but her set was the most boring part of the day.
Good music for hanging out around the house... not for rocking out!

The gang at the end of a hot, steamy day of music.

We grabbed a Groupon for the Bike to the Beach Bash, which featured Ra Ra Riot. Joe and I rode to the beach and took advantage of the bike valet. It was actually pretty freezing at the beach that night, but it was a good show regardless of the chilly temps!

Ra Ra Riot at Montrose Beach!

Relaxing at the Milwaukee Avenue Art Festival,
one of many neighborhood festivals we visited this summer.

And the grand finale... Lollapalooza! I've wanted to try out this festival for years, but the pricey tickets prevented us from going in past years. This year, we're less broke, and Joe and I agreed we'd finally spring for tickets. But we're not quite savvy enough to pull that off, because tickets sold out before we had a chance to buy any! Luckily for me, Whole Foods has a couple food tents in the backstage area, and I got the opportunity to work one of those shifts. It was so so so much fun! I worked for four hours, passed out tasty food to people in the "Artists Lounge", and was off by 2:30 and ready to enjoy the rest of the day. Not a bad deal, for sure!

The Crew wristband had it's perks...
 like access to the backstage area, with free food & drinks!

Lyndsey and I enjoying some sun and the sound of The Head and The Heart.

Grant Park is an amazing setting for a festival like this.
I loved seeing the city light up around us. 

The Black Keys topped off a fantastic day of festival going.
They were seriously rocking!

Any other bands or festivals I should be checking out? I'm always looking for new music to discover!