The Luck of the Irish

This week I’m heading to my next adventure.  Obviously I’m very nervous about my flight but I’m constantly keeping myself busy.  My nerves were pretty bad last night.  Hence, time to wrap up March’s events!

After that horrible sickness, I started to feel myself again.  I made a haircut appointment on St. Patty’s Day Saturday because I wasn’t sure I was in the mood to join in the festivities.  My friends were letting me know they were going to meet up for the dying of the Chicago River.  I knew there would be a time restriction, and told them I would meet up afterwards.  I was surprised they were still out.  Needless to say, the group had dwindled down.  We stayed at Celeste for a while until my friend grew hungry.  She ran into another friend who was heading to Maple & Ash.  He invited us all along and we jumped into a Lyft ride and headed down there.  I felt so underdressed when we walked in!  It’s definitely a fancy place but we were still wearing green for St. Patrick’s Day.  My friends ordered appetizers and everything was delish.  It was good times despite not celebrating traditionally at a pub.  Lol. 

Let's Play in the Park!

I've been getting my things ready for my big trip.  I opted not to get a haircut because apparently the weather right now in Athens is in the high 90s!  Yikes!  I probably will be wearing my hair up to be practical.  We didn't get that high up in the temperatures in Chicago, but last week was just as hot.  On Thursday I ended up meeting my friends in Millenium Park for a concert.  We were dripping in sweat while we heard the sounds of African rock.  We even decided to checkout Cindy's rooftop for a cocktail and it was still very humid up there as well!

Packed crowd at Millenium Park!

Last weekend I basically caught up on all of my laundry and chores around the apartment.  I went through my closet and pulled out some pieces for my trip.  I didn't want to get bombarded this weekend with those details.  My friend in Italy has given me a short list of things to get her when I meet her.  She loves her MAC products but in Italy it costs 3x as much.  Who knew?
I was invited to a birthday party in the evening and met up with my friends at Roka Akor.  They had been out on the boat all day but I opted not to go.  I knew I wouldn't get things done if I had joined them.  I also skipped out on dinner because I need to stay on my budget for my trip.  I knew they were planning on going out afterwards and figured I'll celebrate with the birthday boy there. 
We had a big group and things started to get a little hectic when we couldn't decide on what to do.  I ended up back at Cindy's rooftop with a group, only to find out the other half of the group stayed behind on Hubbard street.  One thing about me is, I'm pretty flexible when it comes down to partying with friends.  Some people are not.  Trust me, crazy things can go wrong but that's to be expect when there's alcohol involved.  lol.  I felt some tension because of the mix up, but the important thing was for us to start celebrating to get passed the frustration.  After all, we were out for the birthday boy!

I caught up with my friends at Roka Akor...

We came back to Hubbard and ended up in Hub51.  It was very crowded, but we made the most of it there.  Afterwards, we decided to walk down the street to see what else was happening.  That's when we stumbled upon Disco upstairs from Celeste.  I loved it!!  It has a very 70s Saturday Night Fever vibe to it, and the music was amazing!  We couldn't stop dancing! 
We closed out downstairs at Celeste and that was our evening.  I hope the birthday boy had fun because I sure did!

Me and the birthday boy at Disco! 

Checkout the names of those cocktails!

I'm glad I wore my gold sequined purse for Disco! 

As far as this past week goes, I've caught up with all of my work and feel good about it.  I saw my mom on Tuesday and went over the details on my trip with her.  I also met up with a friend on Wednesday and did the same drill.  I don't want anyone to worry about my whereabouts.
Today I've been messaging my friends in Italy and in Greece.  I'm getting very nervous again, but as long as I have everything ready this weekend, I should be fine.  I can't let my anxiety get the best of me!  I want to see the world and there's no way to do that but to get on a plane!  Until then, wish me luck and I'll be back in September!  ciao ciao... 

 
 

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!  

Warming up in May!

One of the best things about summer is when the temperature starts warming up.  You don't understand.  Here in the midwest, it takes a minute before it gets nice and toasty.  While people travel to Mexico in January, or head down to springbreak in Miami, us midwesterners are still in winter mode.  Summer doesn't officially start til the 3rd week in June, and that's unfortunately when we get highs in the low 80s.  The best thing about our resilience to cold temps is the fact that we DO appreciate the warmer days whenever it does come our way. 
The weekend before Memorial Weekend our friend tried to setup a day at the Montrose beach with some friends.  It was slowly warming up to the high 70s, but for me, that's still too cold to wear next to nothing by the lake.  I showed up in a leather jacket.  Although I was the laugh of the crowd, the sun did kick in and eventually I ended up taking it off.  We had some drinks at The Dock and enjoyed the weather.  The street festivals were slowly starting up in Chicago, and we decided to go home and quickly change into party mode.  We figured we still had some time to checkout a fest before heading out downtown.  We ended up at the Belmont Shefield fest in our going out attire.  lol.  It was a little nippy for me in the evening, so luckily I chose a long sleeved wrap dress to stay a little warm.  The Blackhawks were in the playoffs, so we decided to catch the game at Shefield's Beer Garden.  It was awesome watching them win!  At that point everyone was in a pretty good mood.  We made our way downtown and met up with some friends at Mercadito for some cocktails.  We ended the night at Celeste but in the end, we were out for a while!  That's usually how it goes here in Chicago in the summer.  Start off at the beach and end up in a nightclub/ lounge.  lol

The Dock on Montrose Beach was packed!

Let's get this party started!

At the Belmont Shefield street festival...

Goofing around...

Ending it at Celeste.  I was exhausted!!