Kaskade at Tao

One of my favorite djs was coming to Tao and me and my brother decided to purchase tickets.  We were thirsty for some good music and  wanted to come out of hibernation from the long winter months.  For the most part, there were some electronic djs that I didn’t get a chance to see in January and February, but for the most part, some shows were too difficult for me to make it to.  One of them performed on a Sunday night, and I knew I couldn’t miss work the next day for some show.  Another dj was in town but the weather was horrible.  Kaskade always draws a big crowd, and we knew we had to act fast before the tickets were sold out.

Well guess what happened?  I bought my ticket and sent over my proof of purchase to my brother.  He informed me that he was going to get his by lunchtime.  To his surprise, the show had sold out!  Now what?

I tried looking for other sites to see if anyone else was selling tickets for this event.  Nothing.  On Instagram they held a contest 2 days before the show to give away some tickets.  I was getting desperate.  I figured worst case scenario I’ll give my ticket to my brother and he will have to go by himself.  Kaskade is his favorite dj and I didn’t want him to miss his performance. 

I didn’t win the contest, but a promoter of Tao did mention to contact him for tickets and table service the night before the show.  Me and my brother were not interested in table service, but were hoping to score one ticket if possible.  I lucked out with the promoter contacting me right away and asking me how many tickets I wanted.  “Just one,” I replied.  Dead silence.  I decided to continue the conversation on my own hoping I didn’t come off as a pest.  “Is there somewhere I can purchase the ticket?” I asked.  He finally replied an hour later that he was going to put me on his guest list but that I still had to pay.  No problem!

The next day me and my brother decided to head to Tao early in case we were going to run into any issues with this promoter.  The biggest joke in the industry is that there probably isn’t a “guest list” and might be denied at the door.  For all I know, his Instagram account can have a fake name on it!  We walked up to the bouncer and my brother was granted entry with my ticket.  I told them I was on the guest list courtesy of the gentlemen’s name.  I showed him our conversation via Instagram and the bouncer told me to go on in.  After security checked my purse, I was stamped and granted entry as well!  We scored!!  Not only were there no problems, but the guys at the door never charged me at all!  Me and my brother decided to celebrate at the bar.

Since we got there pretty early, it was fun people watching.  The club filled up pretty fast and eventually Kaskade came on and was amazing.  It was the perfect night for us to enjoy some good music!

Christmas Eve 2018

I’m FINALLY posting about the holidays!  Lol.  Since I’ve been laying low so far in January, I think I should be able to catch up to January posts much sooner.  Lately I’ve been reading a book about French culture and I am intrigued!  I’m hoping to finish some chapters this weekend.  I didn’t realize MLK holiday was this upcoming Monday, so this would be a perfect opportunity to do that.  This book has made me realize that I’ve been missing out on some of my travel experiences.  For the most part, I’ve traveled to get things off my bucket list.  But I’ve noticed when I come back home, I feel that I had a void that I couldn’t figure out.  Once you encounter a new place, it becomes something bigger than you!  The good news:  you get to enrich your life with new experiences.  Reading about France and French culture has made me want to go back and venture out to other regions.  After all, France is about the same size as Texas! 

Back on Christmas Eve, I watched what I ate throughout the day because I knew I was going to have a feast later on.  My brother and mother came to pick me up, and we rode off to my aunt’s place.  My mom made a dish as well.  I felt bad because my aunt and her family were rushing a bit, but it was ok since we knew we were going to have a long night ahead of us.  Unfortunately, some of our family members were out of town, but we made the most of our little group.  It was nice seeing my cousins open up their gifts.

Tango Sur with The Ladies

I’m still trying to finish up December events!  The funny thing is, I’ve been laying low so far this month.  We just got news that a snow storm is heading our way this weekend.  I can’t wait to work on my weekend project which is to rearrange my bedroom closet.  I’ve been dealing with an issue for 10 days and it’s driving me crazy.  More on that later.

Right before the holidays, my friend from Michigan came into town with her family.  She wanted to meet up for dinner at Tango Sur with the girls, but only two of us could make it.  They picked me up and we made our way down to the Lakeview neighborhood.  It was nice catching up with the happy couple.  Our other friend beat us to it and was waiting for us there at the restaurant.  Once we all got together, we were chatting away.  We ended up closing the place down!

Friday Night at The Aviary

Because of my upcoming trip, I was not sleeping very well.  Regardless of me being exhausted from going out Wednesday night, I met up with the same friends again that Friday.  I skipped out on dinner because I had to run more errands.  I took an uber to Ronero where they were finishing up.  My friend was hosting some guests from out of town and ran into some other friends who were also visiting from out of state.  Small world.  Now that our group got bigger, she made reservations at The Aviary which is part of The Alinea Group.  I have never been but I’m glad I went in the end.  This was truly an experience.  They had some out-of-this-world cocktails that were delish!  Everything was so over the top that we couldn’t help but snap away on our phones.  We ended our night there, but despite me being tired, I’m grateful I didn’t miss out on this opportunity. 

Rubber Ducky Drinks at The Bassment

It was a beautiful summer evening here in Chicago.  My friends wanted to meet up for dinner and drinks, but with my upcoming trip, I needed to run some errands first.  I decided to meet up for drinks instead, but the night was starting out pretty late for me.  Like I said, I rarely get a chance to go out during the middle of the week.  And this time, it was a Wednesday night, not our usual Thursdays.  I have to say, this will probably be my last Wednesday night outing.  I was hurting the rest of the week!  I didn’t get a chance to catch up with my sleep and couldn’t wait for the weekend to come. 

Regardless, we met up at The Bassment that night and enjoyed the band very much.  I like speakeasys.  It gave us a chance to see how everyone was doing and listen to some good jams.

Surprise Birthday Party Barbecue

My friend decided to throw a birthday party for her boyfriend who was turning 40 this year.  He was really surprised!  Lol.  We all hid behind the garage while they pulled in.  My friend had snuck in her other friend to decorate the backyard while they were out grocery shopping.  We even had pizza delivered in time for the party.  Of course the birthday boy couldn’t help get a barbecue grill  going.  That’s his specialty.  I loved that Sunday.  It was a quick party that came together at the last minute but we all enjoyed ourselves that day.

Thirsty Thursday at Star of Siam

I don’t get a chance to go out very often during the week.  A friend of mine wanted to meet up for dinner and I suggested Star of Siam.  I got there a bit early and left a reservation time for them before I headed out to Sable Kitchen and Bar.  They were across the street from one another.  I ordered a glass of rosé and spoke to a tourist at the bar.  She was visiting from Philadelphia.  I could see the stars in her eyes whenever she talked about how big Chicago was from her city.  She looked very excited to be here.  I sometimes feel bad that I don’t share the same enthusiasm about Chicago like I use to.  Our city has gone through tremendous changes over the years and I miss how things use to be.  We use to have very diverse neighborhoods, but now with gentrification happening everywhere, some places are beginning to look “the same”.  Oh well. 

Once my friend arrived we made our way to Star of Siam.  I wanted to eat a bit healthier, so I ordered the chicken pot stickers.  But that peanut sauce had me craving more and more.  I ended up eating the whole thing!  So much for that…

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. 

Def Leppard and Journey concert!

I obtained tickets to see Def Leppard and Journey at Wrigley Field and couldn’t be more excited!  I LOVE 80’s music and knew this was going to be a good show.  What I didn’t expect was the lack of enthusiasm by other people who just weren’t interested in going with me. I asked two people if they would like to come with me and they both laughed and said it wasn’t their thing.  Umm…HELLO??  These rock stars were the prime sound of pop rock music!  How can anyone NOT be interested in seeing them live?  I ended up asking a co-worker if he would come with me and he happily agreed.  Whew!  

I did my usual Saturday routine and cleaned up around the apartment.  A friend who stopped by to talk ended up taking me to the restaurant where I was supposed to meet my co-worker.  We ordered some cocktails before heading out to the show.  Unfortunately, we were under the impression that the Pretenders were going to start a bit later, but they didn’t.  They were the opening headliner and we missed a few songs.  But we caught some songs and they sounded great!

Next up was Journey with their new lead singer.  It was surreal listening to them again.  I remembered so many songs they played.  Once Def Leppard got on, the crowd was super pumped.  Journey had the crowd going and watching everyone sing along was electrifying.  I enjoyed my night out at Wrigely!  I have never been to a concert there before…