Pride Fest Saturday

I didn’t realize I was pretty backed up on my blog.  I haven’t even gotten to my birthday yet!  Lol.  Well let’s get back on track so I can catch up.  My memory isn’t so great anymore.

Following up my Thirsty Thursday happy hour session at Masada, I had no plans whatsoever so I decided to give myself an at-home pedi.  My girlfriend from Providence called me up and we were chatting away when my other line kept ringing.  I saw that my other friend was calling but decided to text her instead to see what was up.  No response.  I continued my conversation with my Providence friend when again, my other friend was calling.  At this point I was worried something was wrong since she never responded to my text, so I told my friend to hold on while I switched over. 

-Are you home??

-Yes!  What’s wrong??

-Oh nothing.  Get ready!  We’re coming to pick you up.  We’ll be there in 15 minutes!

WHAT THE??  I switched over to my other friend from Providence and told her what was going on.  She got excited for me!  According to my horoscope, she said I was going to have a great weekend.  Oh my goodness.  I really wanted to stay in, but I had no choice.  My friends were downstairs in no time flat.  Off we went.

We had a little trouble trying to find where all the action was.  It was the weekend of Taste Of Randolph, but we knew we didn’t want to go around that area.  We first hopped around a bit and finally settled on Underground.  Luckily we got in right away and even found a table.  We danced so much that nice that my feet were killing me the next day.

Even though this was an unexpected thing we pulled together at the last minute, we definitely made some memories that night!

After my long night out the night before, I took some time to rest up at home.  I made plans with my friend to meet him in Lakeview so we could walk together to the Pride Fest.  This is something new that started in Chicago about 2 years ago.  They decided to make Pride month a little longer by having two events.  The first is a neighborhood festival which occurs the weekend before the parade.  The parade has always brought a large crowd regardless, and with the new addition of the fest, it helps accommodate everyone trying to join in on the fun.  Me and my friend had a blast!  I knew offhand that I wasn’t going to come to the parade so this fest was perfect.  We went out afterwards to the neighborhood clubs and called it a night.  I loved that weekend…

Labor Day Madness

I’m recapping Labor Day Weekend before I went on my big trip.

Since I only purchased one day for North Coast Festival that Friday, I figured I would do my chores and usual leg day routine at the gym the next.  One of our friends was in town from Michigan but she wanted to meet at Brookfield Zoo around 1pm.  I wasn’t sure which of my other friends were going so I could bum a ride.  I do not own a car, but lately, it’s become harder to meet up with my friends.  Some of them have kids and have moved out of the city.  I was thinking maybe in the distant future I should consider getting one, but who knows.

I didn’t have any plans until the evening when our other friend invited us to her place in Skokie.  We headed over there and hung out all night.  It was fun catching up.

The next day, our other friend was planning a Labor Day bbq in her new home.  She bought a house not far from where I live in the city, which is nice because I can actually see her from time to time.  Lol

Once at the bbq it was food galore.  I was having a good time until another friend was messaging me.  She wanted to go out.  It was nearing 7pm but she insisted Estate was the place to be right now.  I had to go home and change.  I ordered an uber and off I went.

I messaged my friend that I was on my way once I was dressed.  We got to Estate around 9pm and she was right!  Apparently they had a block party happening along with djs on stage.  People were dancing all over the place.  I was enjoying myself.

Because of the noise ordinance, the crowd came into Estate after 10pm.  I didn’t realize how packed it could get on a Sunday night, but then again, it was Labor Day weekend.  I saw some familiar faces, too!  Once it got close to midnight, we decided to go to another spot.  

A few of us headed to Tunnel in River North.  Again, it was nice seeing more familiar faces and catching up.  I wasn’t paying attention to the time at all.  Next thing you know, Tunnel was announcing last call.  We still didn’t have enough.  We wanted to head to a later spot.  

People started heading to different spots but now me and our new group decided to go to Underground.  It still tops as one of the number one venues in River North.  Luckily we got in but the vibe inside was amazing!  I forgot how much fun I have in this place.

I felt a little guilty the next day on Labor Day on all of the spots I went to that night.  I haven’t gone out like that in a while.  I can’t help but think how much more of this I have left in me.  What can you do when you live in the city?

Some people can't handle a puppy

The first weekend of February was pretty tame.  On Friday I met up with my friend after work at Ceres café at the Board of Trade.  That place is a popular spot in downtown, and during a heated discussion, I found it was impossible to talk in there.  Just a side note:  it’s not a café to have a conversation.  Lol.  Although I did enjoy my pre evening cocktail, it was very cold in Chicago that night.  I couldn’t wait to get home to my warm, comfy couch.

The following day my friends wanted to get together again for brunch.  I couldn’t wait to tell them what I encountered earlier in the week.  I had worked late and was almost home when I noticed a man across the street walking his little dog.  The dog was black and super fluffy, but I really couldn’t tell what kind of dog it was since it was nighttime.  I would have guessed the dog was a couple of months old.  It was definitely a puppy, and by the way he was walking with his owner, was still new to being walked and couldn’t help himself but jump up and down a lot.

Well the owner looked frustrated.  I had my headphones blasting and was minding my own business until I noticed the owner of the dog started to yank on his lease.  From my eyes, the owner started to wrapped the lease around the dog’s neck 3x and then got down and pinned the dog on the ground with his knee.  At that moment I felt he started to pull on the lease, hence choking the dog (?).  I freaked out and screamed out loud, “HEY!!!  WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING???”   I rushed over but still kept my distance from him by staying put across the street.  My adrenaline kicked in and I continued to yell out, “IS THAT YOUR DOG???  IS THAT YOUR DOG???”  The owner looked frustrated and sighed out loud and said, “Yes it is.”  He got off the puppy and I kept looking around but no one else was on the street.

Now I don’t have to tell you about our crime in Chicago right now.  It’s ridiculous.  There is a surge of violence taking place everyday.  I was in a awkward position.  I didn’t want to get close to the guy, since he was trying to choke his dog after all.  Not to mention I was nervous what he might do to me if I did approach him.  I couldn’t get a good look at the guy either since he, too, was wearing all black.  By the time I got to the end of my street I looked back to see where the man was going but he was gone.  It makes me think that he was indeed doing something wrong since he didn’t stick around .

I feel bad that I couldn’t do more to help the dog.  This man obviously has no patience in training his puppy.  I question the state of his mind, but not only that, people in general.  Since our crime rates have skyrocketed, people are losing it altogether and snapping.  I feel drained with the news media, our new presidency, what’s happening at work, and life in general.  I miss the old me.

Seeing my friends at brunch and talking about what happened felt like we went back in time for a bit.  I miss my friends very much.  But with their new families, our time together has suffered.  Even my new found mommy friends are having a hard time adjusting to motherhood.  They seemed a little frustrated, but I am convinced they are still trying to figure out how to balance everything. 

Later on that evening, one of my friends from brunch called me up to see if I wanted to paint the town red.  I laughed because it was still pretty cold, plus I figured I would stay in again.  She convinced me that it was going to be a girls night out and that her boyfriend was going to go out with his friends.  I don’t have a problem being the 3^rd wheel, but I think she wanted more girls for the "girls night out".  Lol.

I agreed and told her I would meet her up later on after my workout.  Once I met up for some pre-cocktails at her place, we were brainstorming on where we should go.  We threw some ideas around and settled for a club on Lake Street.  We took an uber there and waited in line to get inside.  It was freezing outside and the door guys had their hands full with a limo that pulled up in front.  They must have had 15 people crawl out of there!  Regardless, once they let that party in, we still had to wait in line since they were reaching capacity.  Once it was our turn, we didn't have the "text" to get in (since we didn't know that's how you get in for free) and decided to go somewhere else.  I convinced my friends to head to Bar Siena since we were in the neighborhood.  Plus we could warm up inside and figure out where to go to next. 

The good news was, the dj started to play some good music.  We joked around and took a ton of pictures, and the next thing you know, we were itching to go somewhere else.  We took a chance on Estate, and luckily, stayed there until the end of the night.  My friend thought we should live it up and order a bottle of champagne, (which we did), but next time I might opt out and get my drinks at the bar.  It's pricey getting bottle service!  lol

 

Marching into March

Sorry I have not been posting as much.  I did something rather crazy again and booked another flight to Europe.  I was messaging my friend in Italy how much I miss her so much and wanted to get away.  I figured this time it would be easier on my pockets if I traveled to see her in the Springtime.  The summer anywhere in the world is pretty pricey and I saw some good deals searching the web.  We decided mid March before she gets busy again with work.  I lucked out on a good deal for the flight, so let’s see how this pans out for the both of us.  I love the hot summers in Italy, but this would be different to experience Italy with spring weather.

The last weekend in January, me and my friends got together to catch up with one another.  We were still feeling Trump’s wrath, and it was nice to get our minds off other things going on in our lives.  My friends were curious about my Miami trip during New Year’s.  Yup, that’s how long we haven’t seen each other.  Too bad I didn’t give them enough juicy gossip, but it was indeed gossip in the end.  I like sharing my craziness with the girls.  I miss them a lot. 

We met up at Garcia’s in the northside.  It’s been one of our favorite restaurants to hang out in throughout the years.  We giggled over margaritas and then called it a night.

Once I got home, a friend of mine wanted to meet up downtown.  I haven’t spoken to him in a while and I wasn’t in the mood to end my Saturday night just yet.  I took an uber and headed down to Booze Box on Randolph.  The one good thing about talking to him is our love of fashion.  We talked about clothes for a bit.  I haven’t been out in weeks since everything happened at work.  It was nice to be out and people watch.

He took me to Arbella next in River North.  It was a pretty restaurant with a good crowd inside.  We had some drinks there before heading off to Estate.  There we danced up a storm and had a blast.  It was just what I needed to end January and look ahead.  Too many adjustments and not enough time to deal with the changes was beginning to affect me.

Much needed margarita with the girls...

 

Later on, admiring my friend's Yeezys...