Halloween Parade

This year Halloween Day fell on a Wednesday.  I started to get stressed out about my upcoming trip to New York and other things.  I used Sunday to do laundry and pack my things slowly on Monday and Tuesday.  I also snuck in my workouts since I was very tense.  I use light weights when I’m in this condition.  I like to do the workout movements so I could unleash my tension.  At this point I wanted Friday to come sooner rather than later.

My friend insisted on celebrating on actual Halloween.  There were parties all over, but most of them were late night.  The one that caught her attention was at the House of Blues.  I still had to come home and change but I had a migraine earlier during work.  I took something for it, and it did go away for a bit.  But once I was getting ready, I felt it coming back again.  I had to run out of the house because it was getting late.  By this time, everyone was meeting up at Boys Town to watch the Halloween Parade.  I made my way over there instead.

Luckily I found my friends because it was pretty chaotic when I got there.  The parade was about to start.  It was short but sweet.  People had to sign up in order to participate for the parade, but I have to say, some of the costumes were hilarious!  We all had a good laugh.

The parade lasted for about 30 minutes.  We walked around and tried to figure out what to do next.  Apparently at Fulton Market Kitchen they were having an event.  We took an uber over there but it was still pretty early.  They were having a whiskey tasting and my friends participated while I sat it out.  By now my migraine was throbbing and I tried my best to enjoy the rest of the evening, but secretly I wanted to go home.  We eventually left Fulton Market Kitchen and found ourselves at Punch Bowl Social.  Again, we walked in and the place was completely dead.  By this time we assumed most of the parties were going to get better late night, but I wanted to go home.  It was 10pm and my phone died out as well.  I said my goodbyes and took the train back home.  So much for that.

Drews’s On Halsted

Back in September I had a doctor’s appointment on a Saturday.  I hate having to leave the house when it’s my usual chore day, but this was a must.  I got up, had my breakfast, and got ready to head out.  I messaged my friend whom recently booked a trip to Egypt.  I was excited for him, and since I’m a sucker for a good travel story, I wanted to know the details about his upcoming trip.  We decided to meet up for lunch after my appointment.  

He wanted to meet at our spot in his Lakeview neighborhood.  I found him waiting for me at the bar, and that’s where we parked all night.  We talked for hours and caught up with one another.  It was a chill Saturday night and I loved every minute of it.  I’m beginning to enjoy more one-on-one interactions than a night in a club.  There’s so much going on and you never get to enjoy the conversation because of the distractions.  Maybe I’m just growing out of things…

North Halsted Market Days 2018

I needed to do so much before my trip, but of course that did not happen.  Not only did I go out the night before, but my friends woke me up early to go for brunch.  I haven’t seen my friends in a while since they are busy due to their schedules and motherhood.  I miss them very much so I agreed to tag along.  The joke has always been that I never eat and just normally pick at my food.  I ordered a light breakfast from a restaurant that we settled in on Roscoe Village.  We happened to show up during Retro on Roscoe fest, so that was fun.  Afterwards we spent some time at Buy Buy Baby since one of our friends is expecting her 2^nd child.  I had a great afternoon with The Ladies.

They dropped me off so I could get ready for my hair appointment.  I wanted to get a trim before my trip.  Since my salon is at Boystown, I was going to meet my co-worker there for North Halsted Market Days.  I ran out the door luckily made it on time!  We decided to leave my hair curly since it was very hot that day.  I usually get a blow-out but it would have been pointless.  I met my friend at the fest since he already made his way to the stage where Crystal Waters was going to perform.  I was cutting it close!  I found him right away and we saw her performance.  It was amazing!

We made our way to the other stage and stopped along the way to grab some drinks.  Up next was Ultra Nate and she was electrifying!  I love 90s dance music! 

The big headliner this year was Martha Wash.  It was packed at the stage but luckily we got as close we could.  Everyone was so excited to see her!  She blew the crowd away!

I decided not to do anything afterwards because I was just too tired.  I had some friends out that wanted me to meet up with them but I declined.  I spent the day Sunday doing laundry and getting ready for my trip.  I was super anxious too and didn’t want to miss out any details on packing.  Sometimes you need some time alone to focus.

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…

North Halsted Market Days

I finished Timothy Ferris’ “The 4-hour workweek” a few weeks ago and I’m still going through my notes.  As I’m reading along, I love how he emphasizes on what makes you happy.  “Some criticize a focus on self-love and enjoyment as selfish or hedonistic, but it’s neither.”  “I believe that life exists to be enjoyed and that the most important thing is to feel good about yourself.”

LOVE THIS!  How many times have we STOPPED OURSELVES on feeling good about ourselves?  It’s as if we are constantly reminded that life is hard.  Yes, it can be, but it can also be a wonderful.  I truly believe that.

I once heard an audio CD on happiness.  It was given to me by my ex-boyfriend when we were together.  His ex-wife at the time had given it to him and I’m glad that she did.  It basically explains certain perceptions on happiness.  The sad reality is some people feel they are not allowed to feel joy.  The worst part of it all is that we don’t give permission to ourselves on having happiness in our lives.  I think this is the part that hurts me the most.

I was taught this early on by my family.  I do not know why this was the case, but it wasn’t until I moved out that I got a chance to hang out with other families.  My friends would laugh and joke around with their families.  They would dance with each other and embrace one another.  This was definitely something that I was missing growing up.

Lately the stress about my mom and her sisters have gotten to me.  I do not enjoy being around them for too long.  It’s always a dreary feeling and a lot of times I cannot wait to see my friends because of this.  We love to laugh and have fun.  I missed out growing up so there’s a lot of catching up to do on the happiness department.  Lol

Now that my trip is coming up, I’m getting anxious again.  I’m SUPER NERVOUS about my upcoming flight, plus not all the details have been worked out.  I like to have a plan but so far, we are playing it by ear.  I have to learn how to do this but it will be done.  I have no choice on the matter.

Back to recapping August events!  This weekend is already Labor Day weekend!!  Can you believe it?

The 2^nd weekend of August was one of the best times I had this summer!  It was North Halsted Market Days!  My hair stylist works in Boystown so I made an appointment for a trim and figured we could go to the fest afterwards.  I was his last client.  We walked around the corner and got a bottle of wine in time to celebrate.  We wanted to catch Robin S  and Jody Watley’s performance.  We waited for another friend to meet up with us and even found a parking spot for him.  We were just being silly and I loved it!

Once inside we found the stage where Robin S was and danced the whole time.  She was awesome!  We then headed to Hydrate’s stage for some dance music and then went to see Jody Watley.  My feet were killing me!  I still had to go to a birthday party afterwards and wasn’t sure how long I could hang out.

I got my second wind once I ate a gyro.  Lol  Hey sometimes greasy food helps.  I made my way to Humble Park for Humble Lounge.  My friend had the upstairs sectioned off for her party.  I was beat but I managed to stay til the end.  What a day!