Artic Blast!

Well here it goes again.  Just when you think we got away with having a mild winter, it comes knocking down our door.  What can you do?  It is still February after all. 
So far the winds have picked up, but the snow hasn't accumulated.  I'm praying this is all we get, but unfortunately, this winter advisory is going on till 2 AM.  We're not out of the loop just yet.  I can't believe last Saturday the temperatures reached 60 degrees!  What a tease!
On Saturday, me and my friends went over to Marina Towers where my friend lives.  She is about to have a baby, and figured this is the only weekend she'll be able to see all of us until her baby arrives.  Then it's mommy time.  We did the same thing to our other friend last summer.  One last girl's night out until who-knows-when we will all be able to get together.
It's true.  Once she had her baby it was nearly impossible for all of us to be in the same room at the same time.  I am realizing that my friends have moved onto the next stage of their lives.  I pray they make the right choices for their newfound family.  It's hard!  Although we shared some mommy stories, it transitioned over to gossip on other friends of ours who are having divorces.  So many changes in our circle, yet not all of us are going to get what we want out of life. 
I ended up getting to Marina Towers early out of the group.  My friend who lives there was on her way in from running errands.  To kill some time, I headed over to the Virgin Hotel.  I wanted to check out the rooftop but it wasn't open yet.  I made my way to the 2nd floor where the main bar area was.  So far so good.  I loved the library décor.  There was a couple of couches in there and people were enjoying their conversation comfortably.  I definitely want to come back and head up to the rooftop.  It got my curiosity going.
Eventually my friend showed up and I ran over to her place.  The rest of the girls followed through.  We had a great time!  My other friend brought her little daughter.  I love the fact that we are able to share these moments with one another.  She is truly PRECIOUS!!

She is soooooooooooo cute!!!

We love her!!!

One year anniversary...

I had a pretty eventful weekend again.  Nothing big, but it did keep me busy.  I went out to dinner on Friday and on Saturday me and my friends got together.  I didn't get a chance to talk to my mom either nights.  On Sunday I tried to call her, but her phone went straight to voicemail.  I finally talked to her last night.  That's when she reminded me that today will be the one year anniversary of her husband's death.  She sounded so sad.  I felt terrible because I knew it was coming up, but the exact date escaped my mind.
Some people say it will get easier; but what does that mean?  I know for my mom, this past year was very overwhelming for her.  For the first time in years she had to think for herself and not rely on her husband.  I can see that it is difficult for her to figure things out.  And I can relate.  Before my breakup 3 years ago, me and my boyfriend had plans.  All that had to change in a course of a few weeks and I never had the option to say what I wanted.  Everything happened so quickly.
I pray that my mom will find hope in moving on.  I pray that she will get some insight on what she would like to do for herself.  I wonder if there was anything she ever wanted to do; but hasn't?  Her retirement will be here in no time.  I want to be able to make some of her dreams come true, (if I could).
On Friday I was invited to dinner at Tanta Chicago.  Since I was observing Lent, I got a chance to indulge in the cebiche mixto which consisted of fish, squid, and shrimp.  Add plantain chips and it was delish!  The seafood sashimi with scallops was perfect.  Light but right.  We also ordered the plancha marina which was basically a stir fried seafood platter with vegetables.  I was pretty much satisfied but since I couldn't eat any of the carne, I know I have to come back and try some of their traditional plates.  I devoured two pisco sours and I was done for the evening.  I'm glad I went home because I got a chance to run my errands in some beautiful weather.  It reached nearly 60 degrees that Saturday!

I can't wait to go back!  Loved it!

I love a chilled evening...

  

Pisco Sours were wonderful!  I'm craving one right now...

I wore a simple tee with black skinny jeans.  I'm addicted to my bomber jacket because it has fleece sleeves.  I feel like I'm wearing a sweatshirt!  lol

   

Van Gogh's Bedrooms!

What a crazy weather week it's been!  On Valentine's Day Sunday it was snowing, and today the temperature reached up to 60 degrees!  You can't make this stuff up.  I truly believe if you live in Chicago, you can live anywhere else in the world.  We go through extreme conditions constantly. 
Last Sunday I decided to treat myself to a trip to the Art Institute.  For the 1st time ever Van Gogh's bedroom series was being showcased in the U.S!  I desperately tried to get the After Dark tickets for this exhibit, but they sold out in no time.  I figured this would be my Valentine's gift-to-myself this year, and off I went to the museum.
Valentine Sunday was the official 1st day of this reveal.  I was surprised to find the line down the street and luckily had purchased tickets online a week prior.  Since I haven't been to the Art Institute in over 15 years, I took my time to get familiar with the museum again.  I forget how beautiful it is inside.  Eventually I made my way over to the exhibit, only to find another line with a set time of 90 minutes.  YIKES!  Luckily I did not waste that much time earlier and took my place and waited. 
Leading up to that Sunday, I did brush up on my Van Gogh knowledge with an art book I had at home.  I wanted to come prepared.  It was amazing finally seeing his work right in front of my eyes!  I enjoyed the time line display leading up to the Bedroom paintings.  As troubled as he was, he did produce beautiful pieces of work.  Sometimes there's no other way to express your haunting thoughts except through canvas. 

Sunday in the Park

All of my pictures were taken from my new i phone 6s...

Considering I came right after church that morning, I loved seeing biblical art...

Here Jupitor is getting scolded by Venus while Cupid holds her back...

Monet's Water Lily Pond...

Missing Paris...

Check out that line!  Over a 90 minute wait to see Van Gogh's Bedrooms...

Van Gogh used a perspective frame which allows artists to compare the proportions of close objects to those that are far away as a means to translate three dimensional perspective onto a canvas...

Van Gogh's "A Poet's Garden"

Van Gogh's "View of the Asylum with a Pine Tree"

Gauguin's Chair- chair series

Van Gogh's chair series

Van Gogh's "Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle"

Theo is his beloved brother who was his benefactor until his death.  Van Gogh constantly wrote to him...

1st bedroom...

2nd version

3rd version

Van Gogh's "Hospital at Saint Remy"

Had to see "Nighthawk"; a Chicago classic!

Selfie time!  I truly enjoyed Van Gogh's Bedrooms!  Need to see the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam!

Lunch meeting at Cafe Iberico!

Hello everyone!  Long time no blog.  A lot has happened since Fat Tuesday.  lol.  I figured I would pick up from last week where I left off.  Leading up to that Friday, my mom was trying to see if me and my brothers could come by for dinner.  I was hesitant because I had seen her the week before, but since my brother's birthday DID fall on Fat Tuesday, my mom wanted to make him a special dinner.  Unfortunately, I had a lunch meeting with my new boss as well.  I told my mom that I probably won't be eating much since our meeting was being held at Café Iberico.  I love that place!!  She understood, so we settled to have dinner after all.
First up, Café Iberico!!  It's one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago.  I've been coming here close to 20 years.  The good news is, not everyone in our meeting has had their food.  It was nice ordering a bunch of stuff for them.  They have a pretty big menu, and since some of us were observing Lent, we ordered a seafood salad with grilled octopus and garlic shrimp to start off.  I LOVE their spicy potatoes!!!  Super delish!!  We also tried a Spanish potato dish as well to compare the difference.  At one point, things got out of hand and we kept ordering and ordering.  There were beef skewers with caramelized onions, salmon with asparagus, and a Spanish tamale which were devoured.  I can't believe we ended up getting dessert!  The ice-cream with banana has been a favorite among patrons for years. 
We had to rush back to work because we were also giving away some pre-Valentine treats for everyone!  We ordered enough individualized Cheryl's cookies for people to take back to their desks that day.  I love bringing cheer at work!  Sometimes you need a late afternoon snack to keep you going.
By the time I got home, I had to get ready for my mom's dinner.  After all of that, there was more food to come!  My brother enjoyed every minute of it.  I love seeing my family happy.  My mom is discussing some up coming changes.  I didn't realize she had so much on her mind.  Hopefully, things will all work out and we can look into the future together as a family.  She's been through a lot and I want her to get the clarity she needs to move into the next stage of her life:  retirement.

I usually order the Pincho de Solomillo, but since I'm observing Lent, I ordered instead...

the Salmon a La Pimienta!  Very tasty!

Had to order café con leche after our big lunch...

Back at work for some pre-Valentine treats!  Cheryl's cookies are individually wrapped for extra freshness!

Someone got a huge teddy bear for Valentine's Day!  We couldn't help but goof around...

At my mom's for my brother's birthday dinner

My mom cooked up a storm...

My mom baked banana bread as his birthday cake!

I love these guys...

It's Fat Tuesday!!

Happy Fat Tuesday!  I can't believe Ash Wednesday is tomorrow.  I have one more day to indulge.  lol.  Just kidding.  As I mentioned earlier, I decided to give up going out past 11pm for Lent this year.  I think this will help me save money since my social life lately has taken a hit at my finances.  Last month I focused on paying off a huge debt that lasted over 10 years.  Because of that, my credit cards have suffered since I never took the time to budget after the holidays.  I'm still paying off my vacation from Paris and Italy.  Not to mention, I HAVE been going out a little too much lately.  Time to disappear for a bit.  No harm done.  Paying for dinner, drinks, hopping from one spot to another plus the late night uber rides have maxed me out.  I'm financially exhausted.
The good news is:  I'm NOT giving up on socializing!  I can still partake on after-work happy hour specials and low key dinners and still be able to ride the Blue Line back home.  Chicago right now isn't the safest city so I usually take an uber home when I'm out late at night.  With my new curfew, I can ride the CTA home safely and save some serious money.  This is possible!  I can feel it!
Over the years, I've given up chocolate, drinking, cursing, and shopping for Lent.  This year it will be late night socializing and I think I'll be just fine. 

 

Believe in Love...

Happy Monday!!  I had a interesting weekend again.  I did a lot of stuff I normally wouldn't have done.  Sometimes it's best to switch things up a bit, especially when you're not planning a vacation anytime soon.  After last night's Super Bowl performance, this message of love appeared in the stadium.  I think it's wonderful when a high profile performance spreads a positive message like that.  The Super Bowl was watched by over 110 million viewers worldwide!  In the state of the world we live in today, we need love to spread like a plague.  Let's keep the ball moving!

BELIEVE IN LOVE at Super Bowl!

On Friday I packed in as much activities as I could while my friend was in town.  It gave us  a chance to take advantage of this big beautiful city, so our goal was to see what we could fit in one day.  First up, the Field Museum.  For the month of February, the Field Museum is free to all Illinois residents.  It's a great opportunity to check out what's new at one of the largest natural history museums in the world.  We saw The Greeks exhibit currently touring at the Field.  More than 500 artifacts are displayed, most which have never left Greece.  I personally enjoyed the gold jewelry women adorned themselves to show off their class in society.  

A Greek woman wearing jewels.  This woman in particular would have come from high society.

Afterwards we headed out to an early dinner.  We settled at Kurah Mediterranean tapas.  I just got introduced to bacon covered dates earlier in the week from a catering event.  The ones at this restaurant were delish!  They were my favorite, along with the stuffed grape leaves.  We couldn't find room for dessert.  Next time, for sure!

Fattoush Salad

My NEW FAVORITE DISH!  Bacon covered dates stuffed with goat cheese!!  YUMMERS!

Grape leaves were soooooooo good.  I enjoyed them a lot!

We settled for a chicken and lamb kabob combo plate.  Very good!

I got a chance to update my phone afterwards.  Of course I had a zillion questions.  It's nice when someone takes their time to help you understand.  As for now, I love my new iphone 6s.  I still have to get use to it.
We were glad that transferring my information from my old phone to my new one didn't take as long as they had originally thought.  Just a little over 10 minutes.  We figured we still had time to catch the 9:35pm flick of Creed at the AMC Dine-In Theaters at Block 137.  I really wanted to see that movie only, so we hit the jackpot since it was the closest one playing in downtown.  I must say, having cocktail servers in the theater was a plus for me!  I had my margarita on the rocks and enjoyed the movie a lot!  lol.  Too bad I got a sinus migraine afterwards.  We probably would have fit in more to do that day.  I was fine staying in for a change.  As for now, I'll be rooting for Stallone at the Oscars. 


Rooting for Sylvester Stallone in Creed!  Rocky Balboa at his best!