Birthday Bash for Pop

I’m still recapping events in March.  I can’t believe I’m going to be traveling again in a few weeks.  In the meantime, to keep myself busy (and not spend money on nonsense) I’ve started some weekend projects in my apartment.  The sun is finally shining here in Chicago, and I’ve been in a cleaning frenzy ever since.  It’s amazing how much dust is around when you do not have good lighting at hand.  For now, I’ve decided to tackle my cube bookshelf little by little.  I have so many papers, magazines and catalogs I need to clear out.  It’s ridiculous, but I’m excited to see how much neater my shelf will look.

Once I returned from Paris, the following day I had a dinner to go to for my dad.  We were celebrating his birthday at Tequila CJ Grill restaurant on Archer Ave.  It happened to land on the weekend for March Madness.  My brother asked if I could accompany him earlier so he could watch the game nearby at a bar.  I was fine with it, but as luck would have it, our dinner was pushed back an hour later.  Oh well. 

Me and my brother decided to go to the restaurant once the game was finished and hangout at the bar until everyone arrives.  We were not aware of how packed the restaurant could get!  The line to get inside was out the door!  It was cold outside too, so me and my brother waited in the car until the rest of the family showed up.  I couldn’t believe it, but our 7pm dinner was now reaching to 9pm and my dad and his wife was nowhere in sight.  They finally showed up when the restaurant was clearing up and we all grabbed a table by the stage.  There was a live performance that night.

My dad recently suffered an accident at work and was currently not working at the time.  I’m glad we had the chance to celebrate his birthday outside of the house.  I hope he enjoyed himself.  He’s hard to read sometimes.

More Birthday Fun!

I did something crazy again.  I booked another flight to Europe.  I leave in 2 weeks and I’m SUPER NERVOUS.  As you can imagine, I will be miserable in the meantime.  I want to catch up on February’s events, because March Madness is right here!  

My brother had a pretty good birthday this year.  First my mom and us took him out to dinner at Señor Pan.  Then my dad wanted to throw a birthday dinner for him as well at his place.

Unfortunately, my dad worked pretty late that night, and me and my brothers were keeping ourselves entertained watching the “Versace” series.  Have you caught up to this show??  It’s pretty crazy because I remember when the news broke out here in Chicago.  Everyone was on the look for Andrew Cunanan!  He was on the run and nobody knew where he would turn up next.  I can’t believe Versace has been gone for so long.  He was a true visionary.

My dad finally showed up and we all had dinner together.  Unfortunately, me and my brother had to leave right after since we both worked the next day.  I hope my brother enjoyed his birthday.  I love him very much.  He has always stuck up for me…

I notice I wear a lot of grey in the winter.  

Birthday brother 

Frosty’s the Christmas bar!

Being a product of divorce, my dad wanted us to come by for dinner.  Trust me I worked out everyday during my time off for Thanksgiving.  Lol.  His wife wanted to host and we decided for Saturday night.
Things didn’t turn out the way we had planned.  Dinner ran late, and for some reason tension filled the air.  Me and my brothers decided to try to turn our night around.  I heard of a soft opening of a new pop-up Christmas bar named Frosty’s.  We figured why not?
Luckily we got in on time because the bar got slammed pretty quickly.  Sometimes the city is a little quiet because people go elsewhere to visit family during the holidays.  But I think that night everyone was curious about Frosty’s.  Me and my brothers loved it.  It will definitely do well the rest of the month.  If you’re in Chicago go check it out.  It’s a hoot!

July 4th Weekend Part 4

On the day of July 4^th my dad wanted us to stop by for a bbq.  As a product of divorce,  I want to be there for both my parents but during holidays it could be difficult.  I spent the early part of the day reading outside on my balcony.  I love being out there.  It’s my tranquility during my most sociable times.

I wore red, white and distressed blue jeans for the bbq.  The weather was perfect to wear jeans since I knew we would be outside.  Mosquitos love me so I wanted my legs covered up. 

My dad is insisting on going to Puerto Rico this Christmas.  I will have to see this to believe it.  In the meantime, I’m sticking to my budget in case he is really serious. 

TREAT YOURSELF!!

Last year around this time, I treated myself to see Sam Smith in concert.  I knew he was coming in town, and got SUPER excited when I looked into tickets.  I bought a ticket right away before even asking anyone if they wanted to come with me.  Before you knew it, the show was sold out.  I figured I'll just go by myself.  I've never done anything like that before, and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!  I decided at that moment that no matter what, I would treat myself once a month to do something that I wanted to do.  It was part of my New Year's Resolution for 2015.
The following month the movie 50 Shades of Grey came out, and me and my girlfriend went as each other's dates on Valentine's Day.  lol.  We were both going through a tough time.  My mom's husband was nearing the end of his terminal illness.  Despite our current situations, me and my girlfriend still wanted romance in our lives.  We had a good time and met up with some friends afterwards for drinks.  I checked off February's treat with a sexy movie.
My mom's husband passed away towards the end of February and then she went into a depression.  It was a hard time for all of us.  I completely forgot about myself and was consumed with my mom's well being.  Before you knew it, months passed by and it was nearing my birthday.  I was starting to feel hopeful again, and booked my trip to Paris and Italy without even thinking about it.  I knew I wanted to leave asap, but in the meantime, I still had to go through the summer before my big trip came up.  I took up softball at my firm's league, and then took some dance lessons afterwards to kill some time.  I spent last summer getting to know myself again. 
Coming back from my trip, I got carried away with birthday parties and mingling, but completely stopped my treats-to-myself.  Now that it's 2016, I want to continue my little tradition of taking myself out again.  I can't wait to line up some activities for the year!  I'm getting excited again just thinking about it...
After spending New Year's Eve in the suburbs, my dad wanted me and my brothers to come by again for dinner at his house.  It was Friday night again, and I couldn't agree more on spending it with family this time.  I'm worried about my dad and his finances.  He's 70 years old and still working 2 jobs.  He told us this is the year he will cut back on work but it breaks my heart he won't slow down.  He seems physically and mentally fine, but there has been troubles at home which makes me wonder if he's purposely overworking himself.  I've been so busy checking in on my mom that I forget to see how my dad is doing.  No matter how well you're doing, don't get too selfish to reach out to others.  Sometimes all they need is to have someone hear them out.  It makes a world of a difference plus you could offer them insight on their troubles. 

Happiness is seeing my family happy...

My Dad's wife made pozole!  A Mexican traditional dish used for special occasions.  It's perfect on a cold, January night!

The garnishes for pozole!

The hardest working man I know.  He just won't stop...

Time to mentally recharge!

Well my worst case scenario happened last night.  Nothing dramatic, I swear.  But to me, an awkward situation nonetheless.  As a proud introvert, I sometimes feel I have to pump myself up in these social outings.  I know that may throw some people off considering how many times I go out, but for me, I have to prepare myself mentally whenever I get invited to things.  The obvious reasoning is that I am painfully shy.  It takes a while for me to come out of my shell.  Sometimes that can portray me in a different light.  I usually get people who ask me if everything is ok.  I can't help it.  I've always been this way.
I was worse when I was younger.  In my 20s I started working in retail because I always loved fashion.  One of my duties was to be a greeter to everyone that walked in the store.  To me it was no different than to ask me to perform open heart surgery.  I absolutely hated it.  My boyfriend at the time thought it was the easiest job in the world.  "You get paid to say hi", but he didn't understand where I was coming from.  When I look back on it, I realized it was a turning point for me.  Whether I liked it or not, it was part of my job and I had to do it.  One time a manager told me to, "Pretend you're the happiest girl in the world!!"  I thought it was odd but then it hit me.  Shy people don't necessarily look very happy. 
I grew some confidence in myself after working in the retail industry.  I did it for 10 years and I still think about going back.  What I learned too, is that women really do beat themselves up too much.  I had to help women find something fabulous to wear so they can feel fabulous.  Which leads me back to the "fake-it-till-you-make-it" mantra.
Now that I know ahead of time on what to expect, I can mentally prepare myself to be "ok".  I will let you know how I will train myself till then but for now, back to December events!
After we unwrapped our gifts on Christmas Eve, the next day my dad wanted me and my brothers to stop by for Christmas Day dinner.  MORE FOOD GALORE!!  His wife made arroz con gandules, a Puetro Rican dish that is usually served during special occasions.  It was perfect for a cold winter night.  Me and my brothers had a good time catching up with my Dad since we haven't spent too much time with him.  My dad works 2 jobs and he is 70 years old!  He has always been a workaholic so it's hard to find time with him and his busy schedule.  It was nice knowing he had the day off for a change.  My dad could ramble on for hours, especially after he had a couple of Modelos.

The table is all set for an Christmas Day dinner!

My Dad is FINALLY smiling!

My Dad, his wife and my bros!

Arroz con gandules!!

My Dad smacking away!

Playing around at home.  I bought this cable sweater from Banana Republic!

A Holiday Heat Wave...

Today in Chicago it reached 82 degrees.  So far, it hasn't reached very hot yet, but summer is on it's way.  Unfortunately, the weather will be dipping back into the 60s this weekend.  With the temperatures going back and forth to warm and cold, it's hard to figure out what to put on in the morning.  Regardless, I'm still trying to recap what happened 6 months ago.  Christmas was a special one this year, mostly because we lost a member of the family soon after that.  I'm glad to know that my mom had a chance to be with her husband and share this holiday together.  We started to notice some physical changes after Thanksgiving, which can be a hard pill to swallow when the family gets together.  It is a reminder that no one is ready when their time is ending soon. 
We took a lot of pictures.  We bought a lot of gifts.  My mom bought him a tablet that he enjoyed very much.  I was pretty surprised because my mom is not tech savvy.  Obviously someone introduced her to this fancy gadget.  Looking back at the pictures, I can see how worn out my mom looks.  She looks tired.  During this time, she was working a lot leading up to Christmas.  After that, things died down a bit.  She's in the hospitality business.  Tourism thrives in November and December.  I can't imagine the stress she was going through making sure everything looked festive for her husband.  He did manage to give out a big smile around us.  I hope he enjoyed his time here with us. 

Check out my mom's tree!

Me and my mom...

Me and my brother.  I decided to wear a sparkly blazer.

Time to open up the gifts!

My mom's husband give us a peace- out.  He looks happy here...

 

 

My mom's side of the family has always celebrated Christmas Eve.  On Christmas Day we went over to celebrate with my Dad.  My mom and dad divorced when I was 8 years old.  They both remarried years later.  It was a hard adjustment for our family, and unfortunately, a sign of the times.  Since they both remarried when we were adults, a lot of our childhood was rough.  My mom did her best with the 3 of us, but it wasn't easy on her at all.  It was a tough transition, and I have many difficult moments trying to piece what my life would have been like if they did stay together.  What type of person would have I been instead of who I am now?  I learned to let go of the what ifs and decided to focus on the person who I am today.  And in the present, my father reached out to us to focus on our relationship.  We had a great holiday with him and his wife.  I feel very blessed knowing at that time, my family was safe and together.

Me and my dad.  His dog is hiding in his lap.

My brother with his girlfriend.  They look happy!