Throwback Thursday!!

I am what you call, a camera whore.  No I do not take endless pictures of selfies, but I do like to snap away at whatever is bringing me joy.  Usually it's because, I forget the good times when the bad stuff happens.
It's pretty selfish I know, but I am constantly working on trying to change my attitude for the better.  I now know that I need a mental workout on my thoughts in order to focus on the positive, and remind myself that things aren't as bad as they seem.
For example, a month ago I got tickets to see Beyonce and Jay Z at Soldier field for their On The Run Tour.  When these tickets were available, my friends and I were texting back and forth on whether or not to get them.  Our main concern was which of us 3 can get in the website to purchase them.  Guess who won?  Yup.  Me.  When I realized I got through, I was bombarded by textes to buy them at such and such cost.  Now here's the deal.  I'm not crazy about Beyonce or Jay Z, and that's the honest truth.  Nothing against either one of them, because it's not like I dislike them.  They just don't really do much for me.  So clicking to purchase these pricey tickets was not easy for me.  But my one girlfriend is IN LOVE with the both of them, and I knew she really wanted us to go as a group.  I caved in and clicked to order.
I had my usual pessimistic thoughts afterwards.  We had just purchased Lollapalooza tickets 2 weeks earlier, and these tickets cost just as much as those did!  My main concern was the cost, but then I figured this will be my summer mini vacation since I figured I wasn't going to go anywhere soon.  Due to personal issues,  I got into a rut and was having a hard time trying to enjoy myself.  Before you know it, the day of the concert had arrived.
Of course this tour was the talk of the town!  Rumors were all over the internet that Bey and Jay were heading for divorce.  The anticipation was getting the best of our city, and Chicago was feeding in the frenzy.  I hurried off from work and made my way to Soldier Field, which in fact was a nightmare because the traffic was horrible everywhere.  I decided to wear a bright orange top with a black suit since I figured it might get nippy at night.  This was an outside event in a football field!  The temps barely touched 78 degrees that day, so I dressed appropriately for the weather we were having.  So how was the concert???
It was magnificent!!!  I was completely blown away by everything!  And yes, I fell in love with Beyonce!  She is absolutely beautiful and BAD!  All legs.  And Jay Z had such personality on stage all by himself!  I will never forget this concert.  In the end it was all worth it.  UNTIL...
We got out of Soldier Field.  It was a nightmare getting home.  It took us 2 hours!!!  It wasn't until I saw the pictures that I "reminded" myself what a great show it was.  I was hurting the next day at work (did I mention this was a Thursday night show?)  After I posted my pictures I told myself I would do it all over again!!!

Orange is the new black!

Us at Soldier Field.  We were glowing!!

My Best Friend's Wedding!

As I'm skimming along on how my summer is going so far, I realized how FAST time flies!  Just ONE MONTH ago I attended a wedding for a friend of mine at The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts in Humbolt Park.  I think what amazes me about this whole experience is that I was present when my friend was proposed to!  She's been "officially" married for one month now.  CRAZY!!!
I use to live with my friend for a couple of years.  She was my roommate, and a good one too.  Basically she was never home, and I sometimes am a homebody.  Regardless, as the years go on, situations like this brings out the WORST in people (namely jealously) but I was truly happy for my friend.  She was marrying a really great guy!  Not to mention, I knew her luck with men in the past and seeing her find her prince charming was bittersweet for me as well. 
Like all weddings, comes the planning, the sorting out details, the STRESS LEVEL of wanting what you want, and agreeing what works out for the two that are involved.  Next thing you know, the BIG DAY is here and you walk down the aisle and do the traditional rituals and then you get to FINALLY RELAX with your friends and family!  Actually relax is an understatement because everyone wants a piece of you.  You see friends from your past and present and catch up in a surreal setting.  I had so much sharing stories of us all getting together back-in-the-day and painting the town red.  You also share your disappointments in life so far, but once a friend, always a friend, and then it's back to the good old days.
I bought my dress back in early June, before the bridal shower.  It wasn't until then when someone mentioned the colors of the wedding, and low and behold, guava was the color of my new cocktail dress.  I figured I'd have enough "time" to look for a new dress, but of course, that never happened, and I had to suck it up on the big day.  Luckily, I wasn't the only one who wore coral, and the bride didn't mind at all. 
Here are some pictures of friends enjoying the day our friend found her prince charming!

      Haven't seen these girls in 10 years!

Posing with ONE of the bridesmaids.  Coral!

Posing with NO bridesmaids!  lol!

THE BRIDE!

Sisters of the bride!

Work Event at Howells & Hood

I survived another work event!  lol.  Actually I'm paying the price for it now.  I'm not feeling so good, but luckily my friend is dragging me out of the house to do a workout.  I may not be productive, but I rather get it out of the way then to run to the gym later in the day.  Yesterday's event was at US Cellular Field to watch the White Sox play against the Toronto Blue Jays.  Is it wrong I have no idea who won?  Oh well.  We made up the time drinking and taking selfies.  I had fun regardless.  Our last work event was in July at Howells & Hood.  This was a cute venue out on a patio, so I was a little stumped on what to wear.  Since it was warm, I wore my black culottes.  I usually wear culottes in the summer, even if they're not in style.  I mean, think about it.  They're full like a skirt but you have the movement of a pair of shorts.  They're universal!  lol.  Is there a lucky go-to-piece that you wear regardless if they're trending or not?  I'm curious to what that might be.  Here's some pictures of Howells & Hood work event:

     Me and my co-workers

Selfie time!

Chilling at Drumbar afterwards.  Love my culottes!

TGIF!!

Well another work week is ending and here I am again.  I'm POOPED!  I think Lolla wore me out more than I thought.  All week I've been coming home from work and going straight for my bed for a quick nap.  I've also been slowly picking up around my apartment.  LOTS OF LAUNDRY!  Regardless, I miss my place.  I'm pretty excited about doing NOTHING this weekend.  Chicago has a way of packing in too many festivals throughout the summer.  As a single girl, I miss the days of watching funny youtube videos with my ex and calling it a night.  Now my life is different.  When you're single, you get a bad case of FOMO.  FEAR OF MISSING OUT.

Missing out on what you ask?  Well sometimes I wonder that myself too.  I once read a post on IG that got me thinking about how much "we hurry so much to gain the world", and that "we do the biggest mistake ever" which is "we don't live the moment.  We don't enjoy what we are having the honor to live!!"  He then adds to the end of his post a Bob Marley quote that says, "don't gain the world and loose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold."  Pretty real huh?

Although one can argue that once winter hits our beloved city, we will regret not taking in more "time" to enjoy our summer, I'm feeling more exhausted than ever.  My social calender is typically packed with places to be on the weekends.  I ultimately weeded out the workday functions to save my sleep for something more positive, (say sleep?) and am in need of a vacation BADLY.  A change of scenary.  A change of scene.  A change of the familiar.  A change in me. 

Let me relive a FBF back in July when me and my friends went to the anticipated West Fest.  This neighborhood festival is indeed a favorite of ours, basically because it's held in the Westside of Chicago.  With house music djs on the deck, it does bring back a missed quality that's diminishing in the social scene.  You have to look for house music nowadays, especially in the downtown scene.  Hip hop and EDM along with commerical POP is where the money is at.  Table service and boutique "clubs" are places where you dress up to the nines and go to be "seen".  Don't get me wrong, at the other end of the spectrum is our lavish sports bars, because Chicago is indeed a sports town.  You go there to chill out in your ripped skinnies and chase down shot after shot.  No in between.

Well where do you go to listen to some good vibes and dress in between?  You go to the West Fest.  There you see local vendors selling cool tees along with other cool things such as art and jewelry.  No mass retailers here.  I have to admit, I had a lot of fun this past West Fest, but as I'm getting older, I know which festivals to skip out next summer so I can fully enjoy the moment better, as opose to packing it all in.  Because at the end of the day, the only memories you have become one long hangover story!  lol

      I like the last picture the best because it's a #nofilter.  It happened to come out in green!

Manic Monday

Well I survived another Lollapalooza weekend.  I sometimes think I'm too old to attend these festivals, but once I'm there, I can't help but have fun!  lol.  Again, my dual personalities has an issue with this, mostly because they're pretty draining.  Physically, you're sometimes on your feet all day and of course, the alcohol consumption does not help.  Back on July 4th weekend I attended the Riverwest Music Festival along Elston avenue.  I decided to wet my feet into the scene with a one day pass.  Chicago gets pretty quiet around the holidays when people head home to visit family.  Not to mention, a majority of people who work in the downtown area come from the suburbs.  That's why it's mostly slow around here except for the true tourists that visit our city.  Since our summer has been mostly wet and cloudy, this day in particular was no different.  It barely reached 79 degrees which is a pretty cool July 4th.  I decided to wear my Fryes (since music festivals are ALWAYS gritty) and ran off to see some cool acts.  I'm glad I brought along my new infinity scarf I picked up at Express from one of their clearance sales.  It warmed me up once the sun went down.  It did rain for a bit, but luckily it was a nice drizzle.  I liked this festival because some of the djs were house and techno, with very little EDM.  The crowd wasn't so young so I didn't feel out of place.  Maybe I'll check it out again next year?  We'll see.  Sometimes a festival gets "too big" and then things get out of hand because of word of mouth or over promoting a venue.

Riverwest Music Festival

Flashback Friday

Can you believe it's already August??? We have one more month of summer before it's all over. It makes me sad because I've had some great times so far and I don't want it to end. Last winter was brutal for pretty much all of the U.S (except CA and FL). One of the highlights for me was the World Cup. I missed out on a couple of good games due to work, but here I managed to watch the Mexico vs Holland game. Guess who I was rooting for? Even though Mexico lost, me and my friends had a good time getting up early and heading out to a popular restaurant to grab a table. It was exciting down to the last 2 teams standing. Congrats on Germany for a fantastic win! I think the World Cup surprised a lot of people on how things turned out, but at least you can say it kept you on your toes! Here I wore my Old Navy denim shorts I picked up last summer. I got them when they were on sale along with a couple of other colors. This summer I must say I didn't get a chance to grab some deals. After the game, we all went our separate ways and I ended up at a roof top birthday party with some friends. That day was pretty hot, but don't let the clouds mislead you. We didn't get rain for once. So far this summer, we rarely hit 90 degrees, and when we did, storms usually followed. But this day in particular was nice because there was so much going on. I'm going to miss this soon...

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