It's playtime!

Last weekend I was surrounded by babies, kids, and more babies!  It wasn't planned that way originally.  I had received a birthday invitation for Sunday about a week ago, so I knew about that one first.  The rest came up last minute.  I was invited to a party to celebrate a holy communion on Saturday, and then my friend out of no where asked me to come by and hangout with her and her newborn on Friday.  Funny how that all came about!
First up, my visit to see my friend and her baby.  I felt bad because I originally mentioned that I was going to check up on them every week to see if they needed anything.  Not what happened at all!  In my defense, the weather was sometimes crappy on Fridays, so I would go straight home after work.  We had a lot of rain, but it looks like things are finally looking up.  Memorial weekend is right around the corner and I think we're rain-free for the next couple of days.  YAY!
I loved interacting with my friend and the baby.  It makes me see how precious these moments are when they are still little and sleeping a lot.  He's 2 1/2 months old now and is getting so big!  He's very aware of his surroundings and his mother and loves to smile.  She's in love! 
The next day I made my way over to my other friend's house to celebrate her daughter's holy communion.  Here we had a variety of kids, ranging from 1-8 years old.  It was a house party filled with family and friends.  Since it was last minute invitation, I got her a gift card.  I had no idea what to give her!  If anyone is open to suggestions on what to get an 8 year old girl celebrating a milestone like this, please comment!!  I was stuck and felt bad getting her something so impersonal.  I hope she makes use of it regardless, but I know I could have made it more thoughtful.  Oh well.
Then on Sunday I went to my OTHER friend's party.  Her twin babies were celebrating their 1st birthday and that was held at her sister's house.  It was a Hello Kitty theme and it was big!  There were so many kids at that party.  Because of that they had to think of ways to keep them busy.  We played Hello Kitty games, ate Hello Kitty ice cream cake, and even had a Hello Kitty giveaway bucket full of goodies!  It was fun for everyone!  I enjoyed catching up with my friends who are moms.  Their kids keep them busy but at least with parties like these, we can still hangout with one another and see how we're holding up.  As much as it was a surprise that my weekend was filled with kid activities, I had a blast!

During my visit he was sleeping most of the time.  Luckily I got a chance to hold him when he woke up...

The next day celebrating her Holy communion...

What an awesome cake!



I've known these sisters for 15 years!

Wore a simple cardigan and matched up my boots and wristlet.  It was cold that day...



Time for the Hello Kitty birthday bash!!

Personalized water bottles

Check out that dessert table! 

Red velvet cupcakes...

Gathering up the kids to play games...

Time to play pin the bow on Hello Kitty!

The kids put together a puzzle...

Yes there was a Hello Kitty piñata!  lol



Hello Kitty ice cream cake for the twins!  Of course they had to get two for the both of them...

Time to sing Happy Birthday!

They loved it!

Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother's Day and I snapped at my mom.  Yes, it sounds truly horrible, but I couldn't help it.  It came out of no where.  Part of me knows I didn't do the right thing.  Yet I am proud of it.  I want her to be aware that I AM AWARE that something is not right.  Let me explain...
I told my brothers ahead of time that I wanted to take my mom out to dinner for Mother's Day.  I figured if she works (which she usually does on Sundays) that it would be nice for her to come home and not worry about dinner.  I know it's traditional to take mom out for brunch, but dinner would better for us and it wouldn't be as crowded.  Let's face it.  Sometimes parents can be tricky.  Because I know my mom so well, I knew she would put up a fight and try to knock the idea down.  "You don't have to do anything.  Everyday is Mother's Day."  I wouldn't take no for an answer.  I told her we would pick her up and that's that.
When I went with my mom to her doctor's appointment two weeks ago, I got a chance to enjoy her company more because we were out of the house.  I am terribly allergic to her dog, not to mention my asthma kicks in as well.  She hates putting the dog away because he yelps so much and she feels guilty.  Meanwhile me and my other brother are dying and have to always cut our visits short to an hour or so.  We both take 24 hour allergy medication but those things only work for 2 hours max.  Then my wheezing sets in and I have to go.  It's a nuisance because we can't stay as long as we'd like.  Her dog means the world to her so it puts all of us in a bind.  What can you do?   
I figured my plan was fool proof but I could tell that she looked tired from work and really didn't want to go back out for dinner.  We settled at one of our favorite restaurants that's a few blocks away.  Las Tablas is a favorite of Chicagoans for good Colombian food since 1991.  We started to look over the menu.  I have been craving their chicken plate for months and was excited to order.  My mom, not so much.  "I think I'm going to have the soup," she said.  "SOUP???  We didn't come all the way here for you to order soup!!  Order something mommy!  You need to eat!"  I think I took everyone by surprise when I snapped but I couldn't help it.  She's lost a lot of weight and it's noticeable.  She had soup that day when I treated her to lunch after her doctor's appointment.  She needs to eat even if she doesn't feel like it.  I think back to some of our nightly conversations where she's mentioned how tired she is; how she's going straight to bed and not having any dinner because she's not hungry.  She's tired because she's depressed.  It sucks because for over 4 weeks they have scheduled her days off separately and not back to back.  She is so close to retiring but she's not getting the proper rest that she deserves.  She's a 65 year old woman who wants her full retirement.  She is pushing herself.  She's also gone through so much in a short amount of time.  She was going to therapy at one point but because of her work schedule changing her days off from week to week, she had trouble keeping her appointments.
I know she's depressed and I feel terrible about it.  I also think she has her good days and bad days.  We managed to continue our dinner and had some laughs.  There was someone at the restaurant who was taking pictures of all the families.  I thought it was a great idea and she loved her photo.  It was a sweet gesture on their part.  We continued catching up even when our dinner was over.  That's the one thing that did make the dinner impersonal.  We weren't quite in our dining room.  We were at a restaurant and we had to make our way out of there.
Yesterday we met up again at my mom's house for dinner.  She had both her days off back to back again, so she wanted to make dinner for us.  I made sure I took my 24 hour Allegra before I got there.  We had a nice time gossiping on family stuff.  She looked good.  In a few short months, her life will get a lot easier.  I can't wait...

Wore my old flare jeans with cork wedges.  I wish it would stay warm enough for sandals!

I figured I'll wear my floral print blazer for Mother's Day. 

My brother bought my mom this beautiful orchid!

Time for dinner at Las Tablas!

My mom and me...

Gotta love snapchat's filters...

Bros...



Empanadas for starters...

This chicken is PERFECT!!

My mom ate everything off her plate!  Breaded pork chops...

The infamous picture!  This was so sweet of them to do! 

Raining AGAIN...

We don't seem to get a break over here.  Everywhere else it's nice and sunny and we continue to get rain.  Not to mention, my hair is super curly and I barely put anything in it.  I don't even fight the humidity anymore.  If we get lucky, we get one or two days of no rain, but then it's back to showers again.  Maybe there's truth to be said when it comes down to the weather.  It DOES affect your mood...
Since I stepped out last Thursday for Cinco de Mayo, I was hesitant about doing it again the next day.  But low and behold, that was one of our nicer days we've encountered here in Chicago.  I couldn't help but get the itch to go out again.  I made my way home after work and took a nap before I started all over again.  This time we met up at The Hidden Shamrock by the DePaul neighborhood.  We didn't do much but goof around, which was fine by me.  We laughed a lot that night.

Goofing around at The Hidden Shamrock

They flew from Charlotte, North Carolina 

The following day the gang had a Cubs game to go to.  I wanted to rest.  I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and wanted to relax.  It was nice cleaning up the apartment and watching the Kentucky Derby.  I was not in the mood to rush anywhere that day.  My friends made plans to have dinner at Sunda after the game and go out afterwards.  I told them I would meet them later on for cocktails.
The weather was very windy that day, but luckily in the evening there was no rain.  My friends were finishing up dinner when I got there.  We had some cocktails there and made our way over to Hampton Social.  There wasn't much action going on so we walked all the way to Sienna Tavern to meet up with more friends.  Luckily the music was good and we decided to stay.  I was surprised that my friends were still up for more action despite having a long day already.  We closed up Sienna and made our way to Joy district, a new spot that opened up on Hubbard Street.  We goofed around some more and then made our way across the street to Celeste.  I was fine till out of no where I grew very tired.  I was done.  I was proud of myself for staying out as late as I could, but I knew I wanted my bed again.  My insomnia is getting the best of me, and I want to sleep as much as I could.  Who knows if tonight's the night I'll be up all night?  I don't want to take any chances.  I went home.
I know my feelings about going out and having fun has changed significantly over the years.  Right now all that matters is my mom and her well being.  Sometimes it's nice to go out and not think about anything serious and goof around with friends, but the nightlife has other factors that can be unsettling.  I am constantly aware of my surroundings and who I'm with at all times.  There's too many scary stories I've seen and heard over the years that put things in perspective.  Sometimes, it's just not worth the trouble.  But when you DO enjoy yourself, it's nice to know you'll remember these times.  I hope our friends from out of town had a blast on their visit to Chicago!  We lived it up!

I passed on this dessert treat from Sunda but my friends absolutely loved it!  

I couldn't resist having a bite of fried ice cream!  

Wore a top that's over 12 years old!  I can't believe it's still fits!  

Cinco de Drinko!

Yesterday was Cinco De Mayo and of course, my friends wanted to celebrate.  I was SUPER TIRED because I've been having trouble sleeping lately.  My brain won't shut off when I lay down and it's driving me crazy.  I figured if I do step out, at least when I get home I would be able to knock out right away.  Ha!  Only in theory...
I rushed home from work to shower and change and made my way to Lottie's Pub (where Chicago Fire is filmed).  I've never been there before but I loved it!  I'm not a Pub-type of girl but I would definitely go back to this place.  It combines pop music, with sports watching, and a neighborhood bar all in one.  We were attending the Dos Equis Trolley Crawl which included Lottie's, The Pony Inn, and Frontier on Milwaukee avenue.  The trolley ran every 30 minutes and picked up patrons to hop on and make their way to the next stop.  It was a safe, fun alternative to celebrate the festivities.  We made some memories on that trolley ride!  I felt like a kid going on a school trip.  Good times...

Time to hop on the trolley!

First stop, The Pony Inn...

Had my only margarita there.  At least I celebrated...

Next stop Frontier..

Final stop back at Lottie's Pub.  We had the most fun there...

Thank you the world's most interesting man for the drinks!  Good times...

It's Taurus Season...

Looks like this weekend might turn out better than last weekend.  We had non stop rain!  At first I didn't mind because I got a chance to do laundry and clean up the apartment.  But then anxiety kicked in.  I was invited to a birthday party at Drumbar that Saturday, but wasn't sure if I would make it out or not.  Normally I would pass on crappy weather, but since I was cooped up in the house all day, I gave a second thought.  Eventually it DID stop raining after 10pm, so I quickly got ready and ordered my uber. 
That turned out to a huge ordeal.  First off, my friend had received some bad news and started a chain text.  I felt bad for her, and sent out my prayers.  Then my uber never showed up and wouldn't pick up my calls or text me back.  I cancelled after 15 minutes then ordered another one.  Luckily, this one showed up and off we went.  He jumped on the expressway, and the next thing you know, all traffic came to a complete stop.  We looked around to see what had happened and that's when we heard the sirens coming towards us.  It was a two car accident, and the fire trucks ended up parking their trucks right in front of us!  We were blocked.  After a few minutes, a fire fighter started to direct traffic and we continued towards downtown.  At this point my anxiety was working overtime.  I felt I made a huge mistake and the universe was telling me I should have stayed home.  Regardless, we made it to Drumbar safely, but I vowed not to stay out late.
Once inside, I found the party and ordered my drink right away.  I needed to calm down.  I found some friends and the birthday boy, so that made things a little better.  I didn't get to enjoy the party till much later.  At least the birthday boy had fun.  As for me, I might have to pay attention to the universe a little more closely next time.

What I wore to the party.  I haven't really shopped for clothes in a while.  Had to try on a bunch of stuff before I settled on this Zara dress.  I've had it for over 10 years! 

Despite the non stop rain, people made it out...

The birthday boy and friend.  It's Taurus Season!

I've known them for over 10 years!

Fancy cocktail but it was delish!

MOTHER'S DAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!

Just a friendly reminder!  I can't believe Mother's Day is THIS Sunday.  This year is moving too quickly for me.  Regardless, I spent some time with my mom last week on Monday.  Her schedule has been difficult lately due to her days off being split up.  It's hard for her to rest and run her errands.  Usually she has two consecutive days off but lately that hasn't been the case.  Me and my brothers haven't had dinner with her in weeks because of it.  Once she told me about her upcoming doctor's appointment, I made up my mind to accompany her so we can at least share the afternoon together. 
The weather worked out for us that day.  We decided to have lunch after her appointment, and I'm glad we did.  It gave us a chance to relax and unwind.  Since I haven't seen her weeks, I was surprised to find out at the doctor's office that she had lost so much weight.  I've been worried about her lately.  She's been anxious and I'm trying to pinpoint why.  I know she's counting down to the days of her retirement, but I want her to not get so worked up by things.  I feel she stresses herself out way too much. 
We had lunch at Beatrix in Streeterville and I loved it!  I ordered the warm pot roast sandwich with caramelized onions and my mom had the spring pea soup.  I insisted she ordered something with it, but unfortunately, her nerves were working against her that day.  At least she did enjoy her soup.  Back at the doctor's office they had her fill out a questionnaire about her symptoms and there was a section on her mental health.  It threw me off because I felt it was so unfair.  I know my mom has suffered a lot these past few years with her husband being sick, diagnosed, and then his passing.  I wish life would give her a break sometimes.  I still believe she will be fine, mostly because of the type of relationship she had with her husband.  Whether she knows it or not, she's a very tough woman.  She just has fragile emotions...




DELISH!!

My mom thought her soup was very freshly made...