Friday, March 25, 2016

IT IS FINISHED...

Today is Good Friday.  Despite the worldwide headlines about the Brussels attacks, it's important to be close to our friends and family this holiday weekend.  It's times like these that we should find ways to spread love to one another.  My mom mentioned to me the other night to pray.  "Evil cannot be in the presence of God', she said.  And she's right.  Although I don't mention my religious faith very often, I was raised in a Catholic household until I was about 8-10 years old.  It was then that my mom stopped taking us to church altogether.  During those years, she went through a divorce, which might explain her losing faith altogether.  I didn't put much thought into until I moved out of my mom's house when I was 20 years old.  My first live-in boyfriend was very spiritual, and it was from him that I started to have my religious awakening.
At first, it branched out of astrology, and then literature when I was in college.  Reading up on Socrates and Plato made me look beyond the box of a higher power.  As the years went on, my mom got married again to her 2nd husband, who become involved in a Christian church.  They both attended heavily and although I was skeptical at first, I noticed my mom's demeanor had changed dramatically.  We never had a great relationship in general, but things with her became easier to deal with now that she became a Christian.  Things were looking up.
After my last breakup, I became depressed.  Someone suggested going to church to let God hear me.   I figured why not.  I ran out of options.  I tried therapy and didn't enjoy the sessions.  I knew I had to heal on my own, but it was hard.  I felt completely lost.
Now that I try to have a better connection with God, I see things differently than before.  I am extremely grateful for the things I've discovered about myself and about HIM as well.  Despite someone's beliefs, I feel everyone has the same message for one another.  To Love.  To be kind.  And to make the most of our time here on this earth.
Last Friday, I had dinner again at Union Sushi.  Since I was still observing Lent, we figured sushi was the way to go!  I love that place!  We had a great time, and even got a limo ride that night.  lol.  It was pretty cold so it was nice to cruise in style.  Too bad I couldn't join in on the festivities.  Everyone was going out afterwards, but I headed on home.  I can't wait to see how much money I've saved by the end of this month.  I think I did pretty good!
LOVE the skinny geisha cocktail!  Definitely one of my favs...

Selfie time!

King crab!

The only place I eat oysters...

sashimi

Of course, rolls were involved...

Tried the alligator rib, but I think I broke the Lent rule.  YIKES!

Traveling in style.  Had fun while it lasted before I headed home for curfew.  I'm proud of myself...

Thursday, March 24, 2016

A sad time indeed...

I've been MIA these past few weeks due to illness.  Nothing serious, I swear.  Just didn't do much because of it.  I've been suffering silently on my own. 
Obviously the attack in Brussels has brought me down.  What a sad time indeed.  Terrorist attacks are more frequent and horrifying.  What is impossible to imagine becomes possible.  Our fellow man has troubled thoughts and wants people to suffer.  No one wins ever.
Throughout time, we've seen acts of evil over and over again.  As we approach this holiday weekend, I am reminded that evil has existed as far back before biblical times.  Our world has been troubled before, and like all things, we do our best to move forward.  Is it hard to imagine living in a peaceful world?
I believe it CAN be possible.  But then something like this happens again, and my heart breaks.  Yet despite the tragedies, the world does suffer as a whole.  It affects everyone.  I know we can do better.  I know we can love one another.  It's hard especially with the elections taking place here in the U.S.  The ugly truths, the misleading lies.  I have a hard time believing anyone nowadays.   


To recap events leading up to the past few days:
About two weeks ago Chicago celebrated St. Patty's Day with an all weekend celebration.  The annual dying of the Chicago river brings out thousands of people to the downtown area.  Thus, every bar in town had some sort of St. Patrick's Day theme going on.  Regardless, I missed out in the fun.  Prior to that, I've been feeling under the weather.  That day in particular, my head was pounding with yet another migraine.  It could be allergies.  It could be my body is going through some changes.  All I know is that I've been miserable and I hate it.
People around me have been getting sick as well.  It's this crazy weather and it makes everyone vulnerable to colds and viruses.  Not to mention, when you're sick it drains you.  I've had no energy to do anything whatsoever.
I'm doing good with my financial diet!  I can't believe Easter is almost here and Lent will be over soon.  I'm proud to say that my credit cards look better than they did early in the year.  I feel pretty confident with my financial goals. 


I tried my best to smile but I had a migraine while I took this picture.  I never got a chance to celebrate.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Let's play ping pong!!

Happy Hump Day!!!  Not much happening with me.  Since that nice Sunday I ran by the lake, the weather took a turn for the worse.  We dipped back into the 30s last week.  People are getting sick.  I did my best to stay low key.  I figured Spring is right around the corner anyways. 
My friend had her baby one week ago today!!  I ended up visiting the happy family both Thursday and Friday.  I'm so happy for them!!  He is truly adorable!  I learned so much for her experience.  Most of my friends are becoming 1st time moms.  Everyone of them have had a different experiences in the delivery room.  It's good to be informed on what happens behind closed doors because I'm pretty new to this.  I really haven't been around children; let alone babies. 
I did meet up with a friend later on that Friday evening.  She was with some friends at Beef and Brandy restaurant on State Street.  Believe it or not, I would pass by the place and thought nothing of it.  It was my first time there and it was pretty busy.  Mostly business corporate crowd, but that was fine by me.  I was dressed down for casual Friday, so I felt comfortable.  lol
It was my first time out in weeks since I gave up staying out late for Lent.  I was home by 10pm, right in time before the snow fell.  I stayed in the rest of the weekend and caught up on my reading.  I'm re-reading Make Money Not Excuses by Jean Chatzky.  I read it a few years ago and figured I could go back and learn some more tips since I'm trying my hardest to save this year.  I'm hoping I can develop good saving habits so I could move past my small term goals to my long term goals.  Bottom line:  I need to get to my end zone so I can prove to myself that I can handle my responsibilities.  Not finishing a goal is conditioning you to fail, and I don't want to do that to myself anymore.  It's not healthy for my mind. 
Since I've been staying low key, last night I ended up meeting my friends for some after work cocktails.  It was 69 degrees outside!!  Unbelievable!!  I love Chicago when it gets warm.  Everyone was out walking around.  I DID miss that feeling of not wearing heavy coats and layers.  It felt great! 
I walked over to Marina Towers at the Tortoise Club where my friends were indulging in $1 oysters.  Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of oysters, but that's a pretty good deal.  They were closing out the tab and wanted to checkout Spin Chicago next door. 
We walked inside and got the details.  Yes, it's Susan Sarandon's ping pong club.  She has 5 locations and from the looks of it, this might be the next hot spot for the upcoming months.  We made our way downstairs to the bar area and enjoyed the action.  Me and my friends couldn't help but get excited about planning a gathering there.  It looks like a lot of fun!!
Regardless, I made it home by 10:30pm.  Not bad on a school night.  lol.  For it being nice outside, I really didn't miss the scene that much.  I think trying to stay in more will make me appreciate the nightlife again when this is over for me.
I LOVE checking out new spots...

They have 30 min and one hour rates...


After work cocktails...

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Pho sure!

Well it seems we dodged another bullet again.  We did not get too much snow as anticipated.  I'm glad because I never got a chance to buy new snow boots this winter.  lol.  Now we're getting reports that next week the temperatures will be back in the 50s.  That's more like it!
Back to my weekend recap.  I ran some errands on Saturday since I knew my friend who was visiting out of town was going to be busy with her sisters.  I was hoping I could have a chance to see her on Sunday, but unfortunately, we just ran out of time.  I feel terrible I haven't gone to visit her sooner.  I need to plan something soon!
I was invited to go out for a run by the lake.  Despite the weather being warm that day, it was super windy again.  Trust me, it get annoying after a while.  I hesitated, but figured I should get back on track with my cardio.  Sure, why not?
Well things didn't work out the way I thought they would.  First of all, I'm soooooo out of shape!  lol.  I had trouble running with the strong wind gust.  Plus my asthma and allergies were getting the best of me.  I got so frustrated because I knew I wasn't pushing myself.  I also worked out on my legs the day before and felt pain everywhere.  Luckily I did walk a lot but I need to slowly build my distance again.  I enjoy running 5ks and this wasn't cutting it.  As the saying goes, little by little.
Afterwards, we were starving, so we headed towards uptown for some pho soup at Tank Noodle.  What a treat!  I ordered the children's pho which was perfect because I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish the regular bowl.  Plus I wanted to have some spring rolls so it worked out fine.  I loved the fact that we didn't indulge in too much food after our run.  The last thing you want to do is mess up a good workout with a heavy meal.
Garnished my pho with mint leaves, slices of jalepenos and bean sprouts.  Topped it off with siracha sauce and it was delish.  Helped clear out my nose since my allergies were acting up.

The spring rolls were generous in size!  Loved the peanut sauce, too...

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

ANOTHER SNOW STORM!!

It's the first day of March and we're right back where we started.  Another snow storm is heading our way.  Luckily we missed the other one that passed last week.  It did dump several inches in MI and IN, but we only got a dusting off it.  WHEW!  Let's see how lucky we get this time around.  It was suppose to have snowed during our morning commute but nothing happened.
Regardless, I had a pretty chilled weekend.  My friend came into town from Virginia.  I got a chance to hangout with her Friday night.  I had dinner at her family's house where I was served mulukhiyah.  It was delish!  To get a better understanding of this dish, I took the definition off of Wikipedia. 


Jordanian/Palestinian cuisine

The Jordanians and Palestinians have a tradition of cooking a more elaborate version of the dish. A whole chicken is cut open, the intestines removed, and the innards stuffed with herbs, spices and raw rice then sewn shut with thick thread. The chicken is then boiled to create the broth for the Molokhia soup which, after preparation, is served as five separate components: The molokhia soup, Arabic flat bread, the chicken (stuffed with flavoured rice), additional plain rice and a small bowl with a mixture of lemon juice and sliced chilli. The soup is mixed with rice and lemon juice according to taste, while the chicken is eaten on a separate plate.

I had the soup version with pita bread.  Very tasty! 






Afterwards we headed to the Fashion Outlets Mall in Rosemont.  It was pretty frigid that Friday night, so it was nice to walk around an indoor mall.  Since opening in 2013, it quickly became a favorite of local Chicagoans.  They provide a free shuttle bus off the Blue Line as well as free parking in their multi level garage.  With high end stores such as Gucci, Prada, Armani and Burberry all under one roof, it's no wonder why people love it here!  You can do some serious damage all in one visit.  My friend found a cute Tory Burch wallet as a souvenir of her visit.  I need to visit her soon... 


Gucci guccissima scarves!  Some as low as $159!