Choo Choo Themed Birthday Party

The very next day of my work party out in Navy Pier, I had to attend a birthday party for a two year old.  This time I had to go to La Grange.  Again, the weather was playing tricks on us.  The skies looked bad, but depending on where you were located in the Chicagoland area, some places got hit hard while others didn’t.  Unfortunately, this party was originally supposed to take place at a water park, but they closed at the last minute due to the forecast.  My friend decided instead to throw the party at her place.  Yes at times, it was a little cramped with so many kids, but they had a blast anyways. 

Happy Galentine’s Day

I’m still recapping the month of January.  Despite its frigid weather, I had to step out for my step brother’s birthday.  My mom wanted to have dinner at her place to celebrate.  That same day my friends wanted to get together to catch up.  They needed some girl time.  I told them I would head over once dinner was over.

In lieu of Galentine’s Day, I wanted to mention how incredibly important my friends are to me.  I can honestly say I have been blessed with an amazing support group.  These girls have seen me at my worse and still wanted to stick around.  I love them very much.  I don’t know what I would do if they weren’t in my life.  Even my friends who live afar are my secret treasures.  I don’t think distance can tear apart the bond and memories we have shared over the years.  I am a lucky woman.

With that in mind, I am also very protective of them, and who I include in my circle.  It’s not easy to share your deepest secrets.  As I have gotten older I pride myself with the girls that I have.  I absolutely HATE drama of any kind, and unfortunately, in an age of self-absorbed personalities, it’s easy to mistaken a foe as a friend.  Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve made the wrong assumptions on people.  It’s all a part of growing into your true self.  Honesty is the best policy, and knowing when to spot the fakes is a process itself.  Just like any other relationship, some friendships grow apart.

My mom made an amazing dinner.  I know she loves her husband’s son very much.  Me and my brothers were goofing off as usual.  It felt like we were little kids again.

Once dinner was over, my brother dropped me off at my friend’s place, and we stayed up all night talking about everything.  Girl time was a blast…    

Clueless vibes 

Le table

Banana bread birthday cake 

New Year’s Eve 2017

I can’t believe it’s already February but I’m barely recapping NYE.  Lol.  I am looking forward to resting up at my apartment this weekend.  I miss being home since I was away.  Not to mention, Super Bowl Sunday is happening and I’m very excited about watching Justin Timeberlake perform!  He’s one of my favs.

Believe it or not, I was not in the mood to celebrate NYE.  The year ended roughly for me and I just wanted the holidays to be over.  I DID cherish my time with my friends, but at night, I felt bad about other losses I encountered.  Sometimes Life throws you curve balls that you were not expecting.  It knocks us off of our feet.  But I was very fortunate to be around my friends and family.  They kept an eye on me.  I think this is what sometimes made me feel guilty.  Knowing that people were hurting while I was in a better mood.  I felt privileged but it made me question everything.  Having a support system is crucial, but I know that there are people who do not have this.  The only thing I can conclude is to reach out and make friends and try to open up to people in order to build relationships.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.  It all starts with YOU!

Luckily a friend of mine reached out and invited me to Booze Box.  I was invited to my family’s as well as another family gathering, but I did not want to be at an intimate setting.  I knew people would bring up the past year and recap but I needed the noise to distract me.  Booze Box was perfect, plus it gave me a chance to catch up with my friend since we last spoke.  I needed the attention on him.

In the end, the music helped out a lot, as well as laughing with random strangers.  I survived 2017…

Natale Con La Famiglia

I can’t believe I am recapping Christmas Eve on my blog.  I apologize for not keeping up.  The holidays along with other personal issues kept me away for a bit.  I needed a break in remembering how the year ended.  For the most part, I have yet to make any resolutions for 2018.  It’s not that I am slacking on myself.  These recent events took me by surprise, and I am slowly nursing myself back to normal.  This weekend I am planning on visiting my friend in Michigan.  We will be celebrating her birthday.  For the most part, she is bummed out about some things not working out for her and I decided on the last minute to visit her.  I know how it feels when things take you by surprise.

I want everyone to know, it’s ok to take some time off for yourself to regroup.  Life can be hard (I just never imagined how hard it can be when you lose someone).  Last year, I knew 5 people that passed away suddenly.  It is a growing reminder for me that I am getting older, but also that Life can be incredibly unfair.  I never in a million years want anyone to go through the hardships I’ve witnessed.  Seeing friends and family hurt broke my heart.

As a result, I felt incredibly guilty around Thanksgiving.  I knew I needed to get away (for myself mostly) and I did in early December.  But then the holidays were creeping up again, and I felt the sudden urge of sadness.  I can now see how the holidays can trigger strong emotions when someone passes away.  

Luckily, my friends and family knew of my struggles and were very helpful once more.  I didn’t realize that even recapping these sad moments could take me back to that time, but now that weeks have passed, I’m am getting excited for things to come.  The next few months will be filled with lots of planning, and hopefully I will share the news soon of what’s to come.

Back to recapping Christmas Eve!

I was out the night before with my friend who came into town for the holidays.  As a result of us getting a little crazy, we woke up to the sight of a blanket of snow.  This snowfall came out of nowhere.  We grabbed brunch and then we went home to rest up.  It was Christmas Eve and we knew it was going to be a full night ahead of us once more.

My brothers picked me up and we headed to my aunt’s place.  This was her first time hosting this year, and we enjoyed our night there.  My step brother also showed up which was a nice surprise. 

I got a bunch of gift cards which I can’t wait to use.  I am looking forward to this weekend in Michigan.  I am thinking this is the year I might visit my friends who have moved away from Chicago.  That could be a possible New Year’s Resolution…   

Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg

I’m back!!!  Actually I’ve been back for a week now.  Landed last week on Monday from London.  My trip was AMAZING and as usual, I had my highs and lows.  I also learned so much from this experience.  As you are aware, this was my 2^nd trip back to Paris as well, and it did not disappoint.  

Once I returned, I had to catch up with work and then Hurricane Maria happened.  At first I thought it was a joke because when I left, the news was all about Hurricane Irma.  I have friends who were very nervous because they have family in Puerto Rico.  It was a tense week.  I cried so much that evening when I got home from work.  The eye of the hurricane showed up Wednesday morning.  At that point, all me and my friends could do was pray for our loved ones.  We watched it all unfold on national tv.  I never felt so helpless.

By now some of us have gotten word that our friends and family are ok.  But there are some that haven’t heard any news at all.  There is no running water or electricity throughout the island.  We are praying that people get the help they need soon.  It’s frustrating not having any communication.  

On the last week of August, me and my friend decided to go to the Takashi Murakami exhibit at the MCA during lunch.  The museum is free on Tuesdays and since I knew my trip was coming up, we figured this was our chance to see it.  It officially ended yesterday, but I highly recommend this exhibit if it shows up in your city.  His work from the 90s until now shows his many talents and how anime art can be provocative as well as being socially conscious.  His audience loves his designs and with collaborations with Kanye West and Louis Vuitton, he shows how music and fashion are intertwined in the art world. 

Taste of Chicago with Alessia Cara

Once July 4^th weekend was over it was back to work.  That Wednesday it was pretty slow because of the holiday falling on a Tuesday.  Chicago use to host Taste of Chicago during July 4^th weekend, but they changed over the years to fall on AFTER the holiday.  My brother wanted to come downtown with his girlfriend to check it out, and since I work right down the street from Grant Park, I agreed to join them.

What a nice surprise!  Alessia Cara was the big act of the night and she was amazing!  I truly feel blessed to see her since she’s going to be HUGE.  We had a great time!

July 4th Weekend Part 2

Yikes!  I'm super behind on my blog.  Time to catch up!

On my last entry I mentioned being socially exhausted from July 4^th weekend.  I am happy to say last weekend was a lot less stressful.  I’ll tell you why once I finish recapping and catch up.

The next day I got up early and had my black dress ironed.  I jumped in the shower and managed to braid my hair so it could have waves for later on, but it still looked pretty limp to me.  Oh well.

Once church was over me and my friends grabbed our stuff and headed back out to the burbs.  It was now crunch time.  We had to get together so we could do the finishing touches for our surprise party.

As usual, we started to run behind, but once we got to the party we had to go to work.  We had some time to play with but this particular day was close to 90 degrees.  EVERYONE was hot and bothered.  Luckily we did the best we could and our surprise guest pulled up and was definitely shocked by all of the commotion.  After a couple of polaroid shots, we went back to the yard to enjoy the festivities.

I wish I could tell you more about our party, but I have to say, it was a sweet gesture from all of us.  We love our friend dearly and this party was a token of our appreciation for having her in our lives. 

Pop's Birthday Dinner

I am currently reading “Vagabonding:  An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel” by Rolf Potts.  Since I’ve been back from my trip I was in the mood to find information on how to enhance my travel experiences.  For the most part, I’ve been fortunate to visit cities I have always dreamt about, but I couldn’t help feeling if I was traveling “correctly.”  Lol.  As silly as it sounds, I knew I wanted to visit these particular cities for my interests and no one else’s.  But upon listening to others share their adventures with me, I realized everyone had a different approach to visiting new places.  I felt that my inexperience might fall short, and was worried I wasn’t getting the true essence of a new town or city. 

Listening to others and comparing how they plan (or play it by ear) a trip made me realize that everyone has their own method.  It was up to me to customize my own interests so I could get the satisfaction I wanted out of my trips.  Yet there are other factors that come into play.  While it rained on and off in Amsterdam when I was visiting, I had to adjust my discomfort to go along with my plans.  Normally, back home in Chicago, I would stay inside nice and dry and ride out the weather.  Being on a tight itinerary meant having bad hair days and braving the wind so I could visit my points of interests.  I was on my own and I had to get things done!

In Florence however, me and my friend had our moments of disagreements.  Her interests are different than mine, and we sometimes would get pretty frustrated with one another on what to do next.  I felt as if I should have had a day to myself to go to the museums since it’s not really her thing.  I questioned who was getting the most “culture”, but in the end, we both were.  Reading “Vagabonding” made me feel secure enough to know that I was truly experiencing life out of my travels.

Now the issue of time has been on my mind, and I question if I’m getting enough “experience” out of my short stays.  “Vagabonding” introduces the idea of long-term traveling, but I’m still perplexed this is something I could do anytime soon.  For the idea of retirement; yes.  I could definitely see this as a possibility.  It’s grasping this concept now that has me stuck.  In the meantime, all I could do is focus on paying off my credit cards, so in the future I could figure out where my next adventure lies.  I am excited because I have a strong feeling I know where I’m going.  It’s just a matter of TIME.

Speaking of TIME, I landed back from my mini vacation and went to work that Thursday and Friday.  Me and my friends met up for margaritas after work and I told them about my time out in Amsterdam.  I rested up that Saturday and on Sunday, went over my Dad’s house to celebrate his birthday.  My brothers were interested about my trip, mostly because they were pretty surprised I planned everything on a month’s notice.  Reflecting back now, I’m glad I got a chance to tell my stories with my Dad included.  As I’ve gotten older, I realize the time I spend with my parents is precious especially with everyone having a full schedule.  He complained about his birthday cake being small, but to me, this was a big moment for all of us to have him with us.     

The table is ready!

Mexican tamales!

Selfie time with my Pops