July 4th Weekend Part 3

I’m sooooooo behind on my posts.  But I am glad to say I am on the right track with my tight budget.  Around my birthday I treated myself with some Versace earrings (mini Medusa heads to be exact) when I got a promo code at YOOX.  Score!  Then I found a pair of Saint Laurent sunglasses at Amazon that I purchased using some points I had accumulated.  I told myself I would stop with the indulgences since I really want to take another vacay.

But then out of nowhere, I went to two music festivals and then had to contribute to a bridal party for one of our friends.  Everything was last minute, and I was getting frustrated that I wasn’t putting away money for what I REALLY wanted to do.  Lol.  I told myself after July 4^th weekend I was going to take it easy.

Believe it or not, I’m slowly getting back on track.  The good news is, here in Chicago, there are tons of things to do for FREE!  Summer is amazing here and I take every opportunity to try to enjoy it.  Back to my recap!

I managed to run my errands and do a light workout.  The weather had dipped a bit back into the 70s considering the day before it was 15 degrees hotter.  What a difference!  My friends made plans to go to Arlington Race track to watch the fireworks show but I wanted to stay behind.  I got invited at the last minute to join my friend on his boat.  He wasn’t planning on taking it out to the lake and figured I could keep him company while he did some work on it.  I picked up some sushi and grabbed a bottle of wine and made my way down there.

He was recently in Bangkok for work.  It was his first time there and he showed me his pictures.  I absolutely LOVE hearing travel stories!!  They get me even more curious about the world in general.

I’m not sure where my next trip will be but I will be narrowing down my choices soon.  Right now, it’s about budgeting, and making sure the time is right for a quick escape.  ttyl

Birthday Weekend!

This has been a busy week to say the least!  I can officially say as of now I'm done planning my 2 day trip to Athens.  Just booked the hotel and now I'm looking into where to stay when I arrive at the islands.  Since I knew what my points of interests were in Athens, I booked the hotel near the center of attractions within walking distance.  I am not sure yet when my friend in Italy will arrive to meet me so I opted for a hotel for safety concerns.  In trip planning, you have to keep in mind that you will get lost.  I don't think people schedule enough time for that part.  I understand that there are people who just show up and go with the flow.  I am NOT one of those people.  I look into everything!  Transportation; points of interests; reviews from various sites.  I need to know if it's worth the effort to visit certain places.  You could be disappointed so it's good to read reviews.  At the same time, you know yourself more than anyone.  People do complain a lot and you need to read between the lines.  What may be bothersome for one may not be a  big deal to you, so pay attention to what people are saying.  That's my travel tip for the day!


Last weekend, my birthday came upon me with no planning whatsoever on how to celebrate.  I didn't think too much about it since it fell on Father's Day Sunday this year.  Saturday I deep cleaned my apartment because I had a spider wandering around.  He bit me 4x during the week!  I knew I had to wait till the weekend to thoroughly vacuum.  I also had to visit my brother briefly because he had surgery and I wanted to check up on him.  My mother has been worried sick about him and I had to see for myself on how he was handling his recovery.  Luckily he's doing a lot better and was up and about when I came over.  I felt good about his health, so I left his place late in the afternoon to see what was happening in the city.


I was making my way over to Diversy harbor to visit a friend who recently purchased a small boat.  I am terrified of boating in general, but I knew they were still doing maintenance work on it.  I felt I wouldn't be put on a compromised position if they were to set sail.  We sat around with his partners and enjoyed the rest of the day catching up.  I had a great time plus there's so much action going on at the dock.  I saw an eyeful...

Chilling at Diversy Harbor...

Loud music blasting away.  I can't believe each boat were playing their own music out loud.  It sounded terrible!!

The next day was Father's Day and I kept it low key for the first half of the day.  I went to church, then later on to the gym, when my friend texted me to see what's up.  We wondered if we could have a birthday cocktail somewhere.  I called my dad once he got off work and we chatted for a bit.  I knew he was going to watch the basketball championship game with my brother so I didn't feel too bad not passing by to visit him.  I am not into sports so I opted to pass on this important game and join my friends instead.
We settled for Cindy's Rooftop at the Chicago Athletic Club and I absolutely LOVED the view!!  It's beautiful!!  We just talked and had some margaritas up there but I was blown away!

Good times at Cindy's

We decided to check out their game room downstairs and munch on some snacks before we headed  to another spot.  We went back towards Randolph area at Beer Bistro and ended up watching the rest of the game there.  Again, not my thing, but at least we did chat up a storm.

So much for the game.  I was not rooting for Lebron btw...

We walked around the corner afterwards and found Federals.  The roof was open, so it was nice to sit at a restaurant and look up to the sky.  Despite everything that is happening in the world, it's a wonderful thing when you get a chance to make some memories with friends.  It's important to hold on to them tight...