New Year’s Eve 2018

I am recapping New Year’s Eve.  I knew offhand I wanted to do something low key.  I have over the years gone to:  hotel parties, clubs, bars, celebrated in Miami, went to crowded house parties, you name it.  And I’ve had a blast.  But due to the high volume of work parties, birthday parties, celebrations and get-togethers I’ve experienced over the past 3 months, I was too burnt out to do anything big.  I was relieved my aunt (who will be retiring soon) wanted to host New Year’s Eve at her place with my uncle.  Since they will be relocating out of the country, I knew this might be one of our last get-togethers at their place.  I said yes.

I did my yearly ritual of walking around the block with a packed suitcase to promote more travels this upcoming year.  I know it sounds crazy, but I did not want to miss out on any opportunity not to book something.  I just want the universe to see that I’m serious!  Lol.  I also stuffed my pockets of my sequin blazer with euros and U.S dollars to promote wealth throughout the year.  At dinner I carefully ate my 12 grapes to promote luck, and felt good about not missing anything important.

The ONE THING that did make me nervous was that I did some cleaning around the apartment.  I’ve read two sides to this, one that you SHOULD have a clean apartment to bring in the new year, but the other debate said not to because you might accidently lose something since you are in the process of “getting rid” of stuff.  Who knows?

I had a lovely evening with my family (much better than Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve).  Maybe because we were sharing stories with my aunt and uncle who were in Mexico during the holidays.  I brought some party favors and they were a hit.  I’m glad everyone was happy. 

Holiday Party 2018

Hello everyone and happy new year!  So far this 2019 has been a bit sad for me.  I went to my first funeral of the year on Saturday and it was awful.  I’m pretty sensitive already so I knew this was going to bother me a bit.  I kept it low key on Friday, went to the funeral on Saturday, and on Sunday saw my friends for Three Kings Day.  That part was nice.  Sometimes moments like this makes you want to reach out to your loved ones.  I hate the fact that this happened right after the holidays.  This family is hurting so badly…

I’m finally on December events and I want to get that going so I won’t fall back behind like I usually do.  I’m trying to work on this I promise!  Our holiday work party was being held at Buddy Guy’s Legends and we were excited!  This blues bar has been a Chicago staple for many years.  I knew we were going to have a blast when we got there.  Our usual trolley ride lead us down Jackson avenue, but then we noticed some police activity on State Street.  Someone onboard decided to look into and found out there was a shooting on the Blue Line tunnel underneath.  Me and a coworker were distraught because that’s our line to go home.  This put a damper on our evening.  We couldn’t help wonder what had happened.  When something like that occurs in the city, they shut down the transit line so the police could investigate.  Me and my coworker knew we had no choice but to enjoy our time out at the party until the city decides to open the transit line again.

The music was putting everyone in a good mood.  Me and my coworkers enjoyed our buffet and they even had prizes raffled off.  At one point my co-worker checked into the Blue Line and the line had opened up.  It was now 8pm.  Pretty early for me, but since it spooked us both, we decided to ride home together.  So much for staying longer at the holiday party…

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.

    

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.

Labor Day Weekend Sunday

That Labor Day Sunday my mom wanted me and my brothers to come over for dinner.   A friend of mine seemed a bit down, so we decided to catch up for afternoon cocktails.  We had talked on the phone the day before but since I was meeting my friend from Rhode Island, we couldn’t find time to hangout with one another.  I figured I could squeeze in some fun before my mom’s dinner since she usually serves around 6:30pm.  I wanted to show my friend the rooftop at London House since she was staying nearby.  Luckily, Chicago was beautiful that day.  Not a cloud in the sky!

I made my way downtown and was surprised how packed it was for a Sunday afternoon.  Over the years, downtown could be a ghost town especially during holiday weekends.  There are a lot of transplants here in the city, and a majority of them fly out back home during the holidays.  But it seems a ton of tourists decided to be in town for Labor Day, and they were all hanging around the Chicago River.

Our wait wasn’t too bad to get inside.  We ordered some wine at the bar before heading up to the rooftop.  She loved it!  We wanted to grab a table so we walked up to the host.  She was super sweet!  We were having a good time discussing Chicago’s nightlife.  We eventually got a table, and our host would come up to check up on us.  In the end, my friend and her hit it off and exchanged numbers.  They wanted to go out after her shift, but I had to head back home for my mom’s dinner.  I was up in the air about meeting up with them later.  My mom had just came back from Mexico and I wanted to hear about her trip.

My brother picked me up at my train stop and we headed over to my mom’s place.  She absolutely LOVED her trip!  I felt bad because she confessed that she started to cry at the airport when her friends dropped her off.  I realized that she had spent 7 whole days with her friends and she must have gotten attached to being around them.  She’s still lonely being by herself at the apartment, even though she has her dog with her.  I need to be around more…  

 friend of mine seemed a bit down, so we decided to catch up for afternoon cocktails.  We had talked on the phone the day before but since I was meeting my other friend from Rhode Island, we couldn’t find time to hangout with one another.  I figured I could squeeze in some fun before my mom’s dinner since she usually serves around 6:30pm.  I wanted to show my friend the rooftop at London House since she was staying nearby.  Luckily, Chicago was beautiful that day.  Not a cloud in the sky!

I made my way downtown and was surprised at how packed it was for a Sunday afternoon.  Over the years, downtown Chicago could be a ghost town especially during holiday weekends.  There are a lot of transplants here in the city, and a majority of them fly out back home during the holidays.  But it seems a ton of tourists decided to fly in for Labor Day, and they were all hanging around the Chicago River.

Our wait wasn’t too bad to get inside.  We ordered some wine at the bar before heading up to the rooftop.  She loved it!  We wanted to grab a table so we walked up to the host.  She was super sweet!  We were having a good time discussing Chicago’s nightlife.  We eventually got a table, and our host would come up to check up on us.  In the end, my friend and her hit it off and exchanged numbers.  They wanted to go out after her shift, but I had to head back home for my mom’s dinner.  I was up in the air about meeting up with them later.  My mom had just came back from Mexico and I wanted to hear about her trip.

My brother picked me up at my train stop and we headed over to my mom’s place.  She absolutely LOVED Mexico!  I felt bad because she confessed that she started to cry at the airport when her friends dropped her off.  I realized that she had spent 7 whole days with her friends and she must have gotten attached to being around them.  She’s still lonely being by herself at the apartment, even though she has her dog with her.  I need to be around more…  

Hump Day July 4th

This year, July 4^th fell on a Wednesday.  It was an odd day for many reasons.  Namely, most workplaces acknowledged the holiday on Wednesday only.  It was a nightmare leaving work on Tuesday with so much traffic.  I normally take the Blue Line to commute home, which also takes you to O’Hare airport.  The trains were packed of travelers heading out of town.  I laid low the rest of the evening since it took so long to get home.  I was invited by my friend who lives not far from me for a barbeque the following day.  I haven’t caught up with her in a while and I wanted to see how she was doing.  I couldn’t eat too much because my mom invited me and my brothers over for dinner.   What a feast!  I did my best to low carb it, but how can you not take advantage of classic July 4^th barbeque?

My mom also gave me a be-lated birthday gift since I did not want to celebrate my birthday this year.  I’m telling you, I was not in the mood for it this year.  I have to say, it was sweet of her to do this.  I need to stop being a grouch about this…

Dia De Los Reyes

The first week in January was FRIGID!!  It was dangerously cold and a lot of people called off from work.  When the temperatures drop down to 0 degrees there’s usually problems with the trains coming into the city.  It's the switchesthat direct the cars between tracks that freeze, and when a switch fails, it can compromise an entire line.  Hence, people are unable to get to work, let alone wait outside in the cold.  You are unable to do much but stay inside.  

For me, I just laid low.  The first weekend, my dad wanted to celebrate Dia de Los Reyes.  His wife made us dinner again, and me and my brothers came over that Saturday.  It was nice to get out of the house.  His wife even brought the Rosca De Reyes cake for dessert.  This traditional cake has a baby miniature Jesus inside.  Whoever gets Baby Jesus will be very lucky for the remaining of the year.  I had never celebrated this before so I wasn’t sure what to do.  We were supposed to take turns cutting a slice of the cake.  Well I went first and got Baby Jesus on the first try!!  Who knows??  Maybe 2018 will be my year!  Lol

Old boyfriend hoodie to use for layers in this frigid weather.

Mother /Daughter Day

Since my mom retired in mid October, I told myself I wanted to do something with her OUTSIDE of the house at least once a month.  My mom has been in mourning since her husband passed away, and for the most part has continued working until her retirement.  She rarely steps out of the house unless it's for running her errands.  I felt it was important for her to continue to live her life during this transition which meant I needed her to look forward to something.  Sometimes her depression gets the best of her and she would cancel on me at the last minute due to bad weather conditions, feeling tired, or whatever excuse she would make up.  I knew on my end I didn't want to push her into doing something she wasn't ready to do.  I had a scheduled day off from work on the last Friday of December.  When I spoke to her the night before, I had suggested we do something concerning the holidays before all the festivities would be taken down.  I cannot go over her place too long due to her dog, so she has to work with me whether she likes it or not.  I wanted to checkout the Museum of Science and Industry to look at the Christmas trees around the world exhibit.  Automatically she brought up how cold it might be, and of course, I debated back that we are in winter after all and that's expected.  She didn't seem to budge so I dropped it.
In the morning I enjoyed watching the news and wanted to finish up my last book I was reading for the year, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"; a self-help book I got off of Amazon.  I figured it would be a great way to for me to prepare for 2017, and I was down to the last chapter.  Sure enough, around 11am she called me out the blue.  "You know, I took Lucky out for a walk and it didn't seem that cold out".  It looks like my mom wanted to step out after all.  Unfortunately we went back and forth on the phone, and concluded that heading to Hyde Park to the Museum of Science and Industry was not going to work for us.  We still had to get ready and meet up somewhere since we both don't have a car.  If we wanted to head there, we should have left much earlier.  I had a back up plan.  I told her we could head down to Millennium Park to watch the ice skating rink and she agreed. 
We got downtown around 2pm and made our way there.  But since we were passing State Street, we realized we did not get a chance to see the Christmas display at Macy's.  We walked around the building to see the window displays and took pictures.  We figured we could checkout what they had inside.  It was nice looking around with my mom.  She's worked in downtown all her life and loves the glitz and glamour of nice things.  Even though she couldn't afford such stuff, it never stopped her from appreciating the finer things in life.  We made our way to the Walnut room to checkout their tree, but the line was too long for us to be seated for lunch.  We kept on going.
We made it to Millennium Park and watched the people ice skate for some time.  My mom wasn't aware of the skating rink there, so that's why I took her so she could become familiar with it.  She was having a good time.  The line to have lunch at the Park Grill was short, so we decided to have lunch there. 
I realized we were doing good with time and thought maybe we could catch a movie.  During Christmas Eve, my mom had mentioned how she wanted to see Lion with Dev Patel.  I was surprised she even knew about such a film, but she claimed she saw something on tv about it.  My mom is not the artsy film type.  When her husband was alive, he was mostly into blockbuster movies and that's what they would see.  To have her tell me she wanted to see this type of movie surprised me.  But I wanted to make her happy, so I looked up the movie times and found one for 5:30pm at the AMC at Streeterville.  She seemed glad we were going.
Off we went to the show.  It was an amazing film, and it haunted me for days afterwards.  There is an Oscar buzz and I hope they get the nominations in.  Lion is based off a true story about a little boy that got lost from his older brother in India at a train station.  My mom claims when she was a little girl back in Guatemala, her and her younger brother would sometimes roam the streets at such a young age.  I often wonder how she randomly remember such times now that she's older.
I cried a lot during the movie and so did she.  I felt that it brought us closer.  At one point as we were having lunch, my mom said to me out of the blue "Thank you nena."  It was nice...

I can't believe Tom Brady is going to the Super Bowl again!

Pretty tree at the Walnut Room

Goofing off at Macy's

We got a chance to see people ice skate at Millennium Park...

I always order crab cakes whenever it's on a menu!

My wooden Santas are watching me.  lol

Wore an old winter white flannel blazer that helped keep me warm that day.  Perfect alternative to a thick sweater.

Holidays are OVER! part 5

Well today is the day I have been dreading for weeks.  We have a new president in office; one whom I did not vote for.  Over the weeks, I have witnessed his supporters come out of the wood works.  They voice their reasoning on why they chose to put him in office.  I have observed that they usually dislike him, or pick out ONE legitimate stance that they agreed upon.  And that's about it.  I am still pretty confused on how someone can vote like that, but there you have it.
During the holidays, I was aware that the upcoming year was going to have changes.  My mom had entered retirement.  My job had some talk going around.  And now we have a new presidency.  The future seemed unsure.  I tried to enjoy the moments I had with my family and friends but with the holiday burn out I was experiencing, the tension was back firing.  On Christmas Eve stress left me with tension on my shoulders.  I was pooped out.  I didn't realize that I was spreading myself thin.  On top of that, I had rejected two birthday parties and two weekend getaways during the holiday season.  There was simply no way I could do it all but I felt bad rejecting my friends.  I look back now and realize I made the right decision.  In the end, you HAVE to take care of yourself.  What good would it do to be a complete mess for your family and friends?
My dad was hosting a Christmas Day dinner for me and my brothers.  I knew I couldn't miss this.  This was a nice tradition that had started some years ago on the part of my dad.  If you remember, he was not a part of my life for some time, and we reconnected in my mid 20s. 
Some things had lingered from the night before at my aunt's that had me question my dad.  He wasn't around for part of our lives, but I knew he could give me some insight on my family.  During dinner I asked a lot of personal questions this time, mostly to mend the loops I've heard from my mom's side of the family.  I feel I received some clarity, although the next day I ended up telling my mom some of my conversation with my dad.  I guess I thought I could continue this conversation about my family, but instead it got her irritated.  I forgot how much my mom suffered without my dad being around for us, and those feelings were deeply rooted.  Here I was poking my head in someone's business that was not intended for me and my brothers to know.  But I still felt I had a right to ask.
I want to know why things were the way they were.  I want to know about relatives that I've shared brief encounters with.  I wanted to know how things came to light and how people handled the changes throughout their lives.  It was interesting to me, plus it made me learn about my mom and her family more.  Parents seem to think they can place certain information to you, and that they  would be our truths, when in actuality it's not.  It's biased.  It's one-sided.  It's half of the story.
For some years me and my mother had our issues and sometimes wouldn't speak to one another.  I wanted to know why we chose to deal things liked that.  Now that we have a reoccurring relationship, how can I preserve that?  How do I handle her anger and frustrations if she doesn't agree with me?  A daughter needs to know.
In the end, I am grateful I had the opportunity to talk to my dad about other issues besides Chicago politics and sports.  I think me and my brothers learned a lot from him that night and I choose not to feel bad about what I did.  The last thing I want my mom to think is that I'm siding with him when I'm just trying to learn about our family's history. 
What do you think?  Was I out of line?

Best x-mas gift I got this year! 

Me and my younger brother...

Me and my dad talking about family stuff.  I'm not sure if he has selective memory, but it was interesting hearing him out.

His wife made pozole for us.  Perfect for a wintery day!

The green sauce is always the spicier sauce!

The rest of my family at the dinner table.  We had a good time chatting away...

COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR!

December was an fickle month.  Every 4 days I had a party of some sort to attend, and it started to take it's toll on me.  My shoulders were tensed, and I felt I didn't have enough time to do my regular routine since things were always popping up here and there.  Not to mention, my mom was acting differently which made me wonder if depression was slowly creeping its way back.  I wanted to be there for her, but I also had to live my life.  Unfortunately, I knew I was spreading myself thin due to overbooking my time with everyone, and by mid month, was feeling anxious myself.
A fond farewell party took place at my firm with one of our beloved employees deciding to pursue a new chapter in his life.  AGAIN, just like the birthday brunch earlier in the month, and the ugly Christmas sweater party out in the burbs, this one lasted longer than I anticipated.  I joined in on the festivities 2 hours late into the evening and the party was still going strong.  One thing led to another, and off we went to Quartino to have dinner.  We were having a good time with one another, I didn't notice the time passing by.  We eventually left and went for cocktails afterwards.  I think our friend was very appreciative about the whole night in general.

First up, a toast goodbye...

Loved this olive oil from Quartino...

Yummy pizza!

During this time the weather in Chicago was getting frigid.  My friend asked if I would be interested in attending a daytime party at the Godfrey Hotel.  A friend of ours was having her birthday party there.  I always thought she was sweet, so I agreed to go.  I still had to do some Christmas shopping, but figured I could pull this off on the same day.  Little did I know how cold it was going to get.  The temperatures were dropping into the negatives, but the party must go on!
The daytime party was starting at 2pm.  I knew I would not be there that early, so I notified my friend that I was anticipating on arriving around 4pm.  I had to pick something up at Crate & Barrel and since we were celebrating in a hotel, figured I could leave my package at the coat check and attend the party without worrying.  Luckily, everything worked out, but time was crucial since the following weekend was Christmas. 
I arrived at the party after 4pm and the party had not shown up yet.  I waited at the bar in the meantime.  I figured people were late due to the frigid temperatures.  By this time it had dropped to -5, but as the evening went on, it was not going to stop.  The birthday girl and guests arrived after 5pm to -9 degree temperature.  I was impressed she had a good turn out of friends.  She is an awesome girl and everyone came to support her, despite how cold it was.
I wore a tunic sweater with a leather harness over it.  I had seen something similar on a fashion blogger and forgot I had one.  Due to the slush, I wore my pebble leather boots, but I wished I had the opportunity to wear my suede over the knee boots.  Dressing in the winter time can be a challenge!         

Might as well enjoy this margarita cocktail before everyone shows up...

Birthday girl in winter white.

All black for this frigid weather...