Brittney Cason After Dark

According to Jay-Z, “after the party it’s the hotel lobby” … or, you can just have the party at the hotel bar.

BLT in the Ritz Carlton just opened, and pretty much the entire hotel lobby is a lounge. It stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel — not bacon, lettuce and tomato. In fact, a BLT in that joint would probably cost you $15, for lunch.

It’s not cheap… it is at the Ritz after all and the lounge is well, rather ritzy. And their organic cocktails and premium wine list of the lobby-lounge correspond with the price range of a steak house.

It’s been open a few weeks and since then has been the hot spot for N.Y. Knicks and pretty much every celebrity that comes through Charlotte. Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Don’t know? Well let me help you out with that … here are my party picks for the weekend.

Friday – party at the Time Warner Cable Arena – the Bobcats will be the belle of the ball. Pun intended.

Saturday – There are a lot of races in Charlotte … NASCAR races … Race for a Cure … the mayoral race. But this weekend the Go Urban Adventure Race will be in town. A scavenger hunt based on text clues and physical and mental challenges. Kinda like the Amazing Race, minus all the reality show drama. Two person teams can register on-line.

Sunday – Runway for the Ballet Now this is like Project Runway meets So You Think You Can Dance. This fashion -slash- dance show will feature feature fashions from Morrison Boutique, Black & Blue, eMartini, Scout and Molly’s, and ChezElle on the runway and NC Dance Theatre’s Innovative Works will take the stage. All this strutting and sashaying will benefit the North Carolina Dance Theatre. And did I mention there will be catering from RuSans and wine from Aroogi’s Wine Room

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

In spirit of Election Day I have decided to elect my favorite nightlife spot in Charlotte. The votes have been tallied, and I have come to a unanimous decision (with myself) that my favorite place to go for a night out is … (drum roll please) … The Time Cable Warner Arena.

Yes, really.

Not only have I seen concerts from Kanye West to Taylor Swift there (no, not together – or else he probably would’ve stolen the mic out of her hand), but the Bobcats season opener was last weekend against the N.Y. Knicks. So you know what that means … we have 30 some odd parties, er, I mean … games to go to.

But let’s just say I didn’t mind that the Knicks game went into double overtime, for the win … because I got to stay at the arena longer – they even have a post game party in their Front Court Bar.

In fact, I like going to the games so much that the Bobcats have noticed and started publishing my blogs on their site. See …

Check out Bobcats Break for behind the scenes, and in the stands reports from the dome of nightlife that is the arena.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Trick or Treat? Halloween isn’t just for the tricks … sure, it has turned into “Dress Like a Slut Night” with so many girls going as “Slutty (insert occupation here)” — but despite the fact that it’s hard to find costumes that’ll cover your ass anymore, there were a lot of creative costumers out this Halloween. And as I made my rounds to judge various costume contests, I captured some of the winners …. Treat!

A blind Jake Delhomme seen at Coyote Joes — and even though just in costume, he still got boo’ed off stage during the costume contest. I also saw a Jake with a for sale sign on.

All the single ladies! Beyonce and her back-up dancers seen at Andrew Blair’s

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I am proud to announce that I have finally welcomed myself into the 21st century and am no longer a twit on Twitter — though still a twit in general. But I became twit-literate and created a Twitter page for the purpose of keeping you informed with up-to-the-second nightlife news.

@brittneycason you’ll find tweets like …

“Free glass of wine at Aquavina after show at Knight Theater. Knight Theater open house is Dec. 5 and they’ll have karaoke on stage!”

“Jewel just dedicated a song to @ryanonair …but he was in the bathroom, which @jacinda961 informed her – and the entire crowd”

“Paging all groupies and gold diggers: the entire NY Knicks team is at the BLT bar in the Ritz Carlton right now, but more importantly they have organic cocktails here!”

“Free parking across from Bentley’s RSVP on Church and at Luna Lounge on College – all walking distance to Uptown … just saying”

“I just had a girl brag to me about sleeping with Tucker Max…what am I suppose to do? Pat her on the back on say “Congrats on the Herpes”

“Andy Roddick is in Charlotte and seeking suggestions for nightlife … where should I tell him to go?”

“Why do women always complain about men leaving the toilet seat up? … they never complain when we leave it down”

“Carl Edwards just limped by me DURING the race – was he injured from the wreck? No, he broke his foot playing frisbee”

… so follow me, on Twitter, not home at night because that would be weird.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

My friends all call me a dirty hippie — yes, to my face — but I beg to differ … I’m more like a hygienic hippie. I mean, sure, I do hot yoga, but I shower afterward. I just prefer holistic medicines over Western ones. That was, until last week when I found myself in an extraordinary amount of pain and sicker than I’ve ever been in my life. I even broke out the half a bottle of Hydrocodone that I hoarded from an accident I was in back in 2006.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

What does one say to their favorite celebrity upon meeting them? Most people might say, “Love you work!” or “You are an inspiration.”

I, on the other hand, told Jewel: “Your first album got me through my awkward adolescent years.”

“Mine too,” she laughed.

Well since adolescence, Jewel has gone country, but I am apparently still awkward.

Jewel will be at the new Knight Theater tonight with Meiko… want to go and perhaps relive your adolescence?

Well then e-mail me at brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com and sing to me a couple lines of a Jewel song.

Tickets compliments of Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. If you don’t win, don’t fret – you can still purchase tickets here.

At least come to check out the new Knight Theater Uptown.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The last stop before the stadium coming from Center City (where beers are reasonably priced) … is the Rainbow Cafe.

I didn’t even know the place existed until I walked by it and was offered a beer “to go.”

As in, buy a beer from their patio beer tub and keep walking down the street with it. Last I checked, that was illegal. But everywhere I looked, everyone was already just walking around, beer in hand — passing cops in crosswalks on their way to the stadium.

I felt like I had died and gone to New Orleans. So do we abide by a different game book of laws on game day and the container one gets benched?

So I called and asked … no, the law does not get lifted on game days, the cops are just busy. So, they can bust you … but not if you’re in a private parking lot, they informed me. Either way, if you pour your beer into a styrofoam cup the foam it makes it appear like hot chocolate … I mean, that’s what I heard.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The Panthers may not be serving up good games at the stadium, but they are serving up good food – and for a good cause. From the field to the kitchen the Panthers go …

By Larken Egleston

Despite yesterday’s loss, the timing of the Panthers’ second win in a row couldn’t have come at a better time for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. After a slow start to the season for the Cats, the city’s renewed interest in the team was evident in the turnout out at last Monday’s annual “Taste of the Panthers” event at Bank of America Stadium.

With the local food bank being the primary beneficiary of the event, it was a night where the “haves” could help feed the “have-nots” in our community by simply coming out and sampling some of the best food Charlotte’s chefs have to offer. With most of Charlotte’s top restaurants being represented (Ember Grille, Blue, and even a booth by the always-popular culinary school Johnson & Wales to name a few) there was no shortage of great food for the hungry crowd. Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Head over to clclt.com/halloween to see a continuing growing list we’ve compiled of Halloween parties and events. Happy tricking — I mean, trick-or-treating!

(photo taken at last year’s CarnEVIL by Jeff Hahne)

Bookmark It

Hide Sites