COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR!

December was an fickle month.  Every 4 days I had a party of some sort to attend, and it started to take it's toll on me.  My shoulders were tensed, and I felt I didn't have enough time to do my regular routine since things were always popping up here and there.  Not to mention, my mom was acting differently which made me wonder if depression was slowly creeping its way back.  I wanted to be there for her, but I also had to live my life.  Unfortunately, I knew I was spreading myself thin due to overbooking my time with everyone, and by mid month, was feeling anxious myself.
A fond farewell party took place at my firm with one of our beloved employees deciding to pursue a new chapter in his life.  AGAIN, just like the birthday brunch earlier in the month, and the ugly Christmas sweater party out in the burbs, this one lasted longer than I anticipated.  I joined in on the festivities 2 hours late into the evening and the party was still going strong.  One thing led to another, and off we went to Quartino to have dinner.  We were having a good time with one another, I didn't notice the time passing by.  We eventually left and went for cocktails afterwards.  I think our friend was very appreciative about the whole night in general.

First up, a toast goodbye...

Loved this olive oil from Quartino...

Yummy pizza!

During this time the weather in Chicago was getting frigid.  My friend asked if I would be interested in attending a daytime party at the Godfrey Hotel.  A friend of ours was having her birthday party there.  I always thought she was sweet, so I agreed to go.  I still had to do some Christmas shopping, but figured I could pull this off on the same day.  Little did I know how cold it was going to get.  The temperatures were dropping into the negatives, but the party must go on!
The daytime party was starting at 2pm.  I knew I would not be there that early, so I notified my friend that I was anticipating on arriving around 4pm.  I had to pick something up at Crate & Barrel and since we were celebrating in a hotel, figured I could leave my package at the coat check and attend the party without worrying.  Luckily, everything worked out, but time was crucial since the following weekend was Christmas. 
I arrived at the party after 4pm and the party had not shown up yet.  I waited at the bar in the meantime.  I figured people were late due to the frigid temperatures.  By this time it had dropped to -5, but as the evening went on, it was not going to stop.  The birthday girl and guests arrived after 5pm to -9 degree temperature.  I was impressed she had a good turn out of friends.  She is an awesome girl and everyone came to support her, despite how cold it was.
I wore a tunic sweater with a leather harness over it.  I had seen something similar on a fashion blogger and forgot I had one.  Due to the slush, I wore my pebble leather boots, but I wished I had the opportunity to wear my suede over the knee boots.  Dressing in the winter time can be a challenge!         

Might as well enjoy this margarita cocktail before everyone shows up...

Birthday girl in winter white.

All black for this frigid weather...

Do what works for YOU!

During the first Saturday of the year, my friends wanted to catch up for a bit.  The holidays were officially over, and getting together seemed like the ideal thing to do.  The past 2 weeks were all about family.  I agreed to meet up because I always felt that your friends are your second family, (and sometimes they just "get" you).  Of course it fell apart quickly, and not everyone made it out as they promised to.  We originally met up at Old Town at Benchmark, a upscale sports bar.  College football was on tv and the crowd seemed pretty excited.  It's not my thing, but sometimes you have to go with the flow if you want to get out of the house. 
Once we realized our group was going to stay small, we made the most of it and caught up with one another.  At one point we decided to break up and head our own way.  I figured since I made the trip out in the first place, I would quickly checkout Y bar.   It's a pretty known fact that the weekend after the holidays it's dead EVERYWHERE from retail shops to the nightlife industry.  I saw some friends and then we all decided to head next door to Shay.  I was beat, but did make a promise to myself not to step out again unless we're celebrating something.  Going out for the sake of drinking and spending money is not on my list of things to do for 2016.
The following day was Sunday and the friends that did not make it out before wanted to hang out now.  I made my way over to Wicker Park for some Sunday Funday action, but again, the scene was dead.  I felt we kept "looking" for some action.  This did not appeal to me at all since I was on the verge of paying off my huge debt.  I realized I had to make a decision on what I was trying to accomplish for myself.  Unfortunately, I've reached the point where I'm bored of the scene and rather be at home drinking a glass of wine and reading my Italian work book.  It's all fun and games but when you have different financial goals than everyone else, you have to figure out what works for you.  Yes we did "catch up" but it seemed that we could have saved this for another time.  I knew right away that I wanted to do things differently this year. 
At the end of the day, you need to take care of yourself FIRST.  It may not be easy.  You can catch up with friends over the phone.  It's cheaper.  Me and my co-worker friends decided to follow up a savings plan to help us reach our goals for 2016.  I'm excited I have a little team going with this.  I think it will push us to strive as a group.

Unfortunately, not too many people out and about.  Check out the background!  lol