Thanksgiving Weekend 2018

Well it’s almost the end of the year but I made it to Thanksgiving weekend posts!  Lol.  This is where things got more awkward between me and my mom.  She ended up having flood issues in her garden apartment.  On Thanksgiving Day, go figure.  I felt bad.  She didn’t have the chance to cook the dish she wanted to bring over to my aunt’s.  In the end she made a cold pasta dish.  It was good.  She seemed very anxious as well, but was trying to keep her business low key during dinner.  For the most part me and my family were having a lovely evening, but my mom wanted to go home early.  Me and my brother dropped her off. 

The next day, the landlord was trying to see what was wrong.  Unfortunately, he ended up making things worse.  The pipe burst and they had to shut the water off.  It was very frustrating for my mom.  She would shower in her neighbor’s bathroom across the street.  The landlord informed her due to the holiday weekend, the plumber would stop by on Sunday.  We had plans with my dad for dinner on Small Business Saturday, but my younger brother decided to cancel on them.  Another dispute that I couldn’t win.  In the end, he called me up and told me if I wanted to have dinner with my mom instead.  They both came over to my place and I ordered Thai food for all of us.  It wasn’t planned, but I think my mom enjoyed being out of the house away from her drama.  In the end, she stayed with my aunt and uncle who also have a dog.  My mom’s dog and their dog had a blast.  I felt good knowing my mom was safe with them. 

On Thanksgiving Sunday, my younger brother texted me when I was finishing up at the gym.  He wanted to know if I was up for having dinner with my dad.  I was upset because it would have been better for me to do this the night before, but I couldn’t say no.  I haven’t seen my dad in months.  He picked me up and off we went.

My older brother was working and was going to show up later.  Unfortunately, there was a snow storm coming in, and we had to leave right after dinner.  I’m glad I had the chance to catch up with my dad.  It was a weird holiday for all of us but we did manage to spend time with one another.

    

Scowflow Lounge

Do you the funny thing about my life?  Sometimes things would go surprisingly well, and then out of nowhere, the ball drops.  I absolutely HATE this about myself.  I was very stressed when I flew to New York, but once I came back, I felt I had a better outlook once again.  And then, BAM.  I get completely knocked off of my feet.  A lot of times, I feel I bring this on myself.  I am the common denominator in all of these scenarios, so I can’t ignore the fact that I might have something to do with this.  It’s frustrating, because I never get to enjoy the good times for long.  There’s always something lurking around the corner.

These past few years on my own, have been much tougher than I anticipated.  I never realized how much I depended on my ex to help me keep going whenever things would get bad.  Going through hardships without him have shown me what a great support system I had before.  Now that I’m on my own, I miss that so much.

I am very fortunate to have good friends around me, but it’s those dark moments when I’m alone in my apartment that get me every time.  The insomnia, the nightmares, the burst of tears out of nowhere are haunting me once again.  It makes me miss New York so much.  That weekend was a sweet surprise and now it feels so far away. 

The following weekend after I saw my friend at Baptise and Bottle my mom decided to share some news that I was not fond of whatsoever.  Since then, our relationship has been strained, but we’ve managed to talk around our issues.  I’m hoping for the new year things would be different between us, but for the most part, our relationship has always been up and down.  I am coming to terms realizing that this will probably be the way it is forever since it’s never been a smooth ride with her.  I’m sharing this information with anyone out there that might be having a hard time this holiday season.  This will pass.  Luckily next year is right around the corner, and I vow once again, to hope for better things.

I wasn’t feeling very sociable after hearing my mom’s news, but a friend wanted to take me out for a drink at Scowflow Lounge.  I wish I had opted to stay in, but he was hesitant, and I agreed to it.  For the most part, this bar was in Bucktown and it was packed.  Luckily we got a table and were seated next to the fireplace.  I loved it because I’m always cold, and at one point, a server came around and was serving freshly baked cookies.  This was a nice touch and it made me feel a bit better.  Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a hard moment not seem so difficult. 

Baptise and Bottle

I am so far behind on my posts.  As you know by now, I’ve been back from my trip to New York.  As usual, I’m exhausted by all of the running around I’ve been doing these past few weeks.  I’m not in the holiday spirit whatsoever and feel really down.  I hate that I still suffer from time to time the “holiday blues”.  I did the best I could in gifting (especially myself lol) and hope people enjoy what I got for them.  Sometimes you think you’re doing more harm than good in getting gifts to the people you care about, and then it backfires on you.  It happens.

I sent a gift to my friend in Paris for his birthday and he still hasn’t received it.  It was slated to arrive on the 4^th, but it seems someone else signed for it and it’s gone missing.  Because I opened a case with the store, they warned me it will take 14 business days to investigate.  Now it’s Christmas weekend and I’m sure I won’t be able to get any answers from them anytime soon because they will be swamped from the holiday.  This case will have to be resolved at a later time.  What can you do?

Back to recapping my NOVEMBER events, lol.  The following weekend from my trip I met up with my friend at the Apple store on Michigan Avenue.  They had already put up the tree!  It felt too soon for me, but now looking back, I haven’t felt the Christmas spirit yet and it’s almost here.  I reserved an appointment with one of their tech guys to look at my phone.  I was having problems keeping a charge when I was in New York and was advised to get a new battery, but like everything else, they needed to see it first.  Luckily it did not take too long, and I got my battery in time to get out of there. I was overwhelmed with how many people were there.

My friend heard of Baptise and Bottle and we decided to check it out.  Their drinks were phenomenal!  We loved our cocktails so much.  I ordered some brussel sprouts which were delish and she ordered some small plates herself.  It was a bit pricey in the end but I’m a sucker for a good cocktail.

I hope everyone out there have a great holiday!  I hate being a party pooper but for me, I want this to pass very quickly.  It’s hard being sociable when you just want to hibernate.  I’m so tired.

New York City Day Three

I woke up early around 8:00am to catch the live coverage of the marathon on tv.  I slept pretty good considering my incident the night before.  I saw some snaps of my friend in full marathon gear and it seemed everything was going according to schedule.  I was surprised to know that the men’s kickoff was around 10am.  That was pretty late to me!  Oh well.  Once the race went off I decided to go down the street to Leo’s Bagels and get myself a bagel with lox and cream cheese.  I can’t believe I waited so long to get one.

I ordered online to save some time but everything seemed unorganized.  There was a line out the door.  I waited in the meantime because it wasn’t too long.  What a mistake!  The line moved so slowly.  I figured I had nowhere to go anyways since my friend just started the race.  He had told me earlier that he expected to finish no more than 4 hours.  I calculated my time in meeting him at Central Park around 2pm.

I finally got my bagel and coffee and ran back to my hotel room to pack my things.  I checked out on time and left my luggage there.  I decided to walk around some more to kill time.  I ended up in Tribeca and went towards the Oculus Station when I decided to walk through Soho again.  I had downloaded the marathon app and looked up my friend’s time.  To my amazement---he had already crossed the finish line!  Oh my goodness!  I can’t believe he had finished so soon!

I jumped in the metro and headed towards Central Park.  He had warned me that you needed tickets to be around the finish line area, and since I didn’t have any, we decided to meet back at his hotel if we didn’t see each other.  I was upset with myself that I had not come down sooner.  It was exciting watching the runners make the last stretch.  The area was filled with bands playing music and people cheering everyone on!  I was inspired by their spirit.

Eventually I got back on the metro and headed back to my friend’s hotel in Times Square.  Sure enough, he was back in his room.  We talked about the race and he explained that he had ran much earlier than 10am.  He did great too!  3:12:57!  According to him that was the best time he’s ever done!  I was so proud of him.

His roommate who also ran the race eventually met us in the hotel.  I was amazed that the two of them came so far away to do this marathon.  He was excited as well.  In the end my friend grew hungry and I helped him get up since he was now cramping.  We walked over to the same restaurant we ate last night.  I ordered a plate full of meatballs and it was delish.  We ended the night with me walking him back to his room.  I had to take off to catch my flight.  I was pretty sure he was going to pass out soon.  As for me, the nerves kicked in when I was making my way to the airport.  I decided to take the metro line but opted not to wait on the bus service.  I ordered an uber instead and the traffic heading towards the airport was jammed packed.  Luckily I didn’t have to go very far.  I was also relieved my flight was smooth on my way to Chicago.  I was tired when I got in.  We landed around 11:30pm and I still had to take the train back home.  What a trip!

New York City Day Two

I had the scare of my life at my hotel room.  Someone knocked on my door at 3am!  I must have jumped out of my bed.  I asked “Who is it?” and heard a mumble at the door, but then I yelled back “Ummm.  I think YOU got the WRONG ROOM!”  I heard another mumble and then complete silence.  By the time I got the nerve to check the peep hole, he was gone.  Talk about a New York moment!  I was scared shitless!

In the morning I slept in later than I wanted to, mostly because of the door incident.  I didn’t realize that my friend had already messaged me that he was waiting for me by Battery Island.  I jumped in the shower and got ready as fast as I could.  Apparently he was waiting for me at a Starbucks, but I ended up at the wrong one.  I felt bad because I knew he had been waiting for a while.  I jumped in an Uber to save time heading to the other Starbucks.  Luckily it was the right one and we went over to the ticket booth to purchase our ferry tickets.  It was set to sail in 15 minutes!  Whew!

I grabbed some coffee and we found a spot outside on the boat.  Obviously I was getting anxious again.  I had to sit down when it took off, but I did manage some courage to get up once in a while to take some pictures once the Statue of Liberty was closer.  My friend was at the end of the boat snapping pictures himself.

We docked and then walked over but found out the hard way that we couldn’t get to the Statue.  We had to purchase tickets online and it was sold out.  So much for that.  At that point we took some pictures surrounding Lady Liberty and went back on the boat to head to Ellis Island. 

Ellis Island was very informative!  We spent hours there, learning about how the United States came about.  They also included where most of the migrants settled in the U.S.  We even watched a short movie about the conditions the boats were in for traveling to the New World.  It put a lot of things into perspective for me, especially since my family came from Guatemala.  

Afterwards, we headed back to the boat and discussed what to do next.  By this time, it was 2pm and we were getting hungry.  We decided on Italian food and a fellow passenger suggested we head to the Upper East side.  I yelped a couple of restaurants, but we decided to check again once we arrived in the neighborhood to get a better idea on where to go.

We settled on Via Della Pace restaurant and luckily there weren’t too many people inside.  We were taken care of right away.  My friend enjoyed his pasta and mine was absolutely delish!  I ate the whole bowl!  We knew we weren’t too far from Soho and my friend needed to purchase some headphones for the marathon.  We found the Apple store and while he spoke to a sales rep, I had the opportunity to charge my phone.  I was having the worst luck with my phone the whole time I was there.  I needed to charge it constantly.  I hardly used the data!  Sometimes taking photos drained my phone.  It was becoming a nuisance.  The sales rep suggested for me to purchase a new battery, but I figured I would do this when I got back to Chicago.

My friend decided on some earphones, but he still needed a sweatband for his forehead for the race.  We found a Nike store and looked around.  I didn’t realize how many people were at Soho!  There were so many tourists shopping around.  My friend was surprised I wasn’t shopping myself, but I wanted to make sure he got what he needed for the marathon.

We headed back to his hotel in Times Square to rest up for a bit.  His roommate was there and he was getting his things together for the marathon.  Unfortunately, it was Daylight Savings weekend, and the time was going to change at 2am.  They had to get up at 4am to get ready and have a marathon breakfast buffet the hotel was hosting.  Then their charter bus was going to head out at 6am to Staten Island. 

My friend got his things ready for the marathon as well.  He then grew hungry again (since we had the pasta early afternoon).  He knew he had to sleep early tonight, so we headed to Mamma Mia pizzeria down the street from his hotel.  We ordered a margaritha pizza to share and then called it a night.  I went back to my hotel but since I wasn’t doing the race myself, I took time to walk into some souvenir shops along the way.  I also got a chance to pass by Radio City Music Hall.  Their Christmas Tree was already up!

New York City Day One (part 2)

I figured I could knock out some sight-seeing since I’ve never been in the Financial District before.  I wanted to find the infamous “Charging Bull’, but instead went down a street and found the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall.  It was then when I realized more and more people were coming out of nowhere.  Since it was after 12pm, I started to feel frustrated about my hotel room.  My friend was messaging me on when we could meet up, but I told him the situation I was facing.  I kept on sight-seeing.

I eventually found the Charging Bull and the Fearless Girl statues.  At this point my phone was acting up again.  Since I took some pictures I needed to charge it up again.  I walked back to my hotel, hoping my room would be ready, but again, no luck.  I sat in the lobby charging my phone and then went for a walk again to kill some more time.  I found a Century 21 and did some window shopping but I was getting delirious.  It was now 2pm and my room was still not ready.  My friend was getting impatient, and so was I.  I finally got some relief when the hotel told me over the phone that they had my room ready!  I ran over there as fast as I could!

Once I checked in, I showered up.  I was getting a migraine, and decided to lay down for 15 minutes until the Advil kicked in.  Then I jumped back up and got dressed.  It was now after 3pm and I haven’t started my day!  I told my friend I was on my way to meet him in Times Square and off I went.

By now, New York had a ton of tourists.  It was nearing rush hour and I was getting worried I would have to fight off the crowd to get to where my friend was located.  Unfortunately, his hotel was in Times Square.  Luckily I found the right hotel (apparently there are two of the same chain in Times Square) and we decided to get a bite to eat.  By now I was STARVING.  I knew we weren’t too far from the Moxy Hotel.  A friend had recommended the Magic Hour rooftop, and since the weather was cooperating, we decided to take a chance and check it out.  Since it was barely 5pm, there was a small crowd inside, and we ordered some drinks and appetizers to start our night.  I was still pretty sleepy, but the music was getting me in a good mood.  Once we finished up, my friend confessed to me that he really wanted to go to a jazz club in New York.  I started googling some spots and we chose the Birdland Theater.

We were in luck because a show was about to begin!  Lol  What are the odds?  We went downstairs and they sat us close to the stage.  A very entertaining singer came out and blew our minds away.  She did impersonations as well.  Everyone in the room had a great time.  She was also very funny.

Luckily my friend grew tired from his jet lag the day before.  Me on the other hand?  I was EXHAUSTED!!  I made my way back to my hotel.  We decided to meet up in the morning but I was glad we cut our night short.

New York City Day One (part 1)

As I mentioned earlier, I booked a trip to New York City to see my French friend run the marathon.  It was a last minute thing, but I’m glad I went in the end.  I was pretty nervous about it, too.  The last time I was in New York was 10 years ago.  I remember how tough this city could be.  I also remembered how I would get lost riding the NYC transit.  I was getting stressed out.

Along with Halloween Day being on an unexpected day itself, I really had one day to look over my carry on.  My flight was early in the morning on Friday.  Of course I had thoughts of over sleeping, but it was mostly because leading up to that day, I WASN’T getting much sleep.  My friend made me feel better when he called me Thursday night.  He had arrived from France a day earlier.  For the first time in two weeks, I got a excited about this trip.

I had scheduled an uber pick up around 3:45am-4:10am.  My flight was at 5:57am.  Not exactly 6am, but enough to make you question what time they were boarding.  I wanted to miss the rush hour morning commute so I figured if I arrive at the airport before 5am, I should be fine.  My alarm went off and everything happened so fast after that.  I do not think I ever went into a deep sleep.  I got up and washed up and then changed into my clothes.  I was hoping to sleep on the flight.

My uber showed up right on time.  They even send you a reminder, just in case.  I remember being in the uber and praying that there would be no traffic heading to the airport.  I just wanted this part to be over.

Luckily at the airport, I got through security in no time.  I remembered looking at the other passengers at our terminal.  Some of them looked excited for their trip.  I wished I could feel that way, I thought to myself.

Part of the contribution to my nerves was the weather.  I checked leading up to my trip, and it never changed.  Thunderstorms were in the forecast the entire day.  I grew angry when the pilot warned us early on.  “Well the first half of our flight should be smooth; but the second half won’t be.”  What the hell???  I wish pilots could have a sense of empathy for the ones who are scared shitless of flying!

Well, as it was predicted, the turbulence WAS BAD.  I decided to brave through this and not take anything because it was a short flight.  But I never got any sleep.  It was a long 30-40 minutes of pure hell but in the end, we landed safely.  My body was exhausted from being tensed up.

I loved that I had my carry-on luggage with me.  Once we landed I zoomed out of there.  I didn’t realize how many people were at LaGuardia!  It was a bit frustrating trying to navigate towards the exit.  I was stuck trying to figure out what “bus” line I was supposed to take that will lead me to the subway station at Roosevelt.  A nice gentleman pointed out to me that I was to get a ticket inside the airport before I get on the bus.  I saw the customer service counter with the line forming and got behind someone.  Once I figured out that I was to purchase a metro card I ran outside to see if I could catch my bus.  Not yet!  I still had to obtain some receipt.  Again, someone helped me figure that part out.  I had to insert my metro card in a machine to obtain my receipt.  Luckily the bus was still waiting.  I jumped on and tried to give the driver the receipt but she just told me to “go ahead” and move towards the back.  So much for that.

I arrived at the Roosevelt subway station and checked my Google maps to see where I was going.  So far so good.  I caught my train and felt relieved I was on my way.  Of course once I got off my stop I was lost.  I walked around for a bit and found a Starbucks.  I needed to charge my phone so I went inside and ordered a latte while I waited for my phone to charge.  

Believe it or not, the weather in New York was unseasonably warm.  It neared 70 degrees that day!  I had on layers since it was much colder in Chicago, but by now, I was sweating and getting frustrated I couldn’t find my hotel.  I jumped in a cab.  He drove me up to my hotel (which was a surprise to me).  I finally found it!  What a relief!

Well, not exactly.  Apparently, my room was not ready.  I was thrown off.  I wanted to shower and nap for a bit.  Since I did not have a room yet, they agreed to hold my luggage and encouraged me to come back later.  “So, in about two hours?”, I asked.  “We sold out completely last night.  Hopefully.”  That did not sound promising.

Halloween Parade

This year Halloween Day fell on a Wednesday.  I started to get stressed out about my upcoming trip to New York and other things.  I used Sunday to do laundry and pack my things slowly on Monday and Tuesday.  I also snuck in my workouts since I was very tense.  I use light weights when I’m in this condition.  I like to do the workout movements so I could unleash my tension.  At this point I wanted Friday to come sooner rather than later.

My friend insisted on celebrating on actual Halloween.  There were parties all over, but most of them were late night.  The one that caught her attention was at the House of Blues.  I still had to come home and change but I had a migraine earlier during work.  I took something for it, and it did go away for a bit.  But once I was getting ready, I felt it coming back again.  I had to run out of the house because it was getting late.  By this time, everyone was meeting up at Boys Town to watch the Halloween Parade.  I made my way over there instead.

Luckily I found my friends because it was pretty chaotic when I got there.  The parade was about to start.  It was short but sweet.  People had to sign up in order to participate for the parade, but I have to say, some of the costumes were hilarious!  We all had a good laugh.

The parade lasted for about 30 minutes.  We walked around and tried to figure out what to do next.  Apparently at Fulton Market Kitchen they were having an event.  We took an uber over there but it was still pretty early.  They were having a whiskey tasting and my friends participated while I sat it out.  By now my migraine was throbbing and I tried my best to enjoy the rest of the evening, but secretly I wanted to go home.  We eventually left Fulton Market Kitchen and found ourselves at Punch Bowl Social.  Again, we walked in and the place was completely dead.  By this time we assumed most of the parties were going to get better late night, but I wanted to go home.  It was 10pm and my phone died out as well.  I said my goodbyes and took the train back home.  So much for that.

Halloween Weekend 2018

On Halloween Saturday, (even though Halloween was technically on Wednesday this year), our friend had a house party at her boyfriend’s place.  I luckily had a costume on time.  I had ordered it two weeks earlier and was relieved when it was delivered.  Talk about cutting it close!

Our friend from California was in town that weekend as well.  She wanted to meet up with us beforehand and we decided brunch was the way to go.  I made my way to Café con Leche and the girls already had a table waiting.  It was fun catching up with everyone.  We laughed a lot.  Our other friend brought her two kids and it was fun seeing them play around.  They’re growing up so fast!

Afterwards, one of the girls still needed some accessories for her costume.  We went to Party City to see what they had.  It was crazy packed in there!  Everyone was doing the same thing!  We waited a bit in line but that’s a reminder to everyone who procrastinates about things like this.

We all hung out at our friend’s place for a bit.  I went home and decided at the last minute that I had time to get my leg workout in.  I rushed to the gym and did my thing.  What I didn’t realize was how much time and preparation took place to get my costume ready.  Since it was in the package I had to iron it out but it was in bad shape.  My friends picked up me at a later time and we made our way over there.  They had on face paint and were also rushing to get their costumes ready.

Once inside, it was a hoot seeing everyone!  I love Halloween for that reason only!