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This year sure was tough on the American wallet. Perhaps 2009 was the year that you gave shoelaces and tissue packets to your loved ones as birthday presents, trading in your own convenient Kleenexes for cloth handkerchiefs that you laundered using rainwater collected in a bucket on your porch. Maybe you downloaded a recipe or two for a dollar-stretching dish like pretzel soup, or something involving a pig’s foot. And maybe you had insufficient funds to vacay, opting instead for nights of backgammon and fantasizing from your fraying easy chair.
Finn McCool’s Irish Pub: free admission before 10 PM, with party favors, multimedia countdown, champagne toast, and DJ. 6 PM-4 AM, 15 W. Division, 312-337-4349.
For more New Year’s Eve options (most of which cost money) see our Music, Food & Drink, and Parties & Special Events guides.
