Santa Baby Bar

I can’t believe I’m recapping a Santa themed bar but here you go.  My friend wanted to celebrate her birthday earlier than later this year.  This Christmas-themed pop up bar was located in  Wrigleyville.  Our friend wanted us to dress in appropriate Christmas gear, so I brought along my goofy Gingerbread sweater to work to switch out afterwards.  I was the first one there, but right away I noticed a group of CHILDREN running around on the 2^nd floor.  I almost spilled my glass of wine over one!  I think if I were to give them feedback, I would suggest having families show up earlier than later to the bar.  We ARE in Wrigleyville after all, and there are a string of back to back bars along the strip.  I wouldn’t consider it family oriented, but possibly provide hours of service earlier when there’s not too many people out for happy hour.  

The specialty cocktails were filled with whip cream and milk shakes.  I was worried about triggering my migraine, so I stuck to wine.  At one point, it switched to an open mic karaoke session and the singing was terrible!  Mostly because the participants were drunk out of their minds.  Lol.  I felt out of place here, but I think the birthday girl enjoyed herself.  She even wore a mini elf dress costume to her party which impressed everyone.

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…

Families Belong Together

Bonjour tout le monde!  I’m still working out the details on my upcoming trip.  I can’t believe I fly out next week!  And just like clockwork, my nerves have been getting the best of me.  I’ve been having vivid dreams as well.  Nothing bad, thank god.  But it shows you how much stress I’m bringing on myself with my non-stop anxiety.  Unfortunately, I have come to realize that this will always be the process with me whenever I travel.  I thought by now it would get easier, but it hasn’t.  The only positive thing I can say is that my nerves have started to bother me as the dates get closer to fly out.

Back to recapping my summer!  My friend asked me if I would be interested in the Families Belong Together March back in June.  I was very bothered with what was going on and felt the only way to let out my frustration was to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who were just as upset as I was.  By this time, not much was happening since there was denial coming from our president, so people took it out to the streets by protesting varies cities.  Me and my friends drove downtown and met at a building nearby so we could have a good group going.  It was a very hot day, and we all wore white to show our solidarity for immigrants. 

I have to say some people got very creative with their posters!  It was nice to voice my freedom of speech and march along with my friends.  Afterwards, we grew very hungry and headed to Big Star for some tacos.  Lol.  I headed home because I was exhausted, but later met up with some friends in Wrigelyville.  That’s what happens in a summer day in Chicago.  You can end up all over the place…

Cubbies

I’m recapping events that happened since I’ve been back from my trip.  Needless to say, I’ve been thinking about my time there a lot.  Part of it is because that was probably the last time I was truly happy in a long time.  Sometimes life knocks you down a bit and you get lost in your thoughts.  I try my best to keep a positive attitude but these past events have broken my faith.  It is times like these that makes you want to be surrounded by loved ones.  I just want them to be safe. 

Our friend that has moved to California came back for a visit that following weekend.  I have to admit, I was glad to get together with friends.  My friend was constantly telling me news about Puerto Rico and the lack of communication with the towers being down.  She was falling apart and all I could do was try to keep her spirits up.  I had faith that people in Puerto Rico were coming together, even if we couldn’t see it for ourselves.  I was mesmerized by the images of people pulling out survivors in the Mexico earthquake.  I reassured her, too, that the same thing was happening there.  Our coworker had finally left out of Florida on a flight to San Juan but we knew we would probably not hear from her until she got back to work.  All I did was pray that week and tried not to get too anxious.  I had to be strong for my friend.

Our friend from California had an itinerary for us.  Since her only day to socialize with us fell that Friday, she understood how it might be difficult for some to get through rush hour traffic.  I met up with her and her friends after work at her favorite bar in Lakeview called Schubbas.  She wanted to go to Wrigelyville to see the marquee and then make her way over to Andersonville to a brewery.  We walked over to Wrigely Field and took a bunch of pictures before we had a drink at Murphy’s Bleachers.  The Cubs were on fire and Chicago couldn’t be more proud.  Obviously they are not going to the World Series but they did get close.  Some of her other friends had shown up but couldn’t find parking to join us.  We finished up our tab and jumped in their car to head over to the next spot.

At Half Acre Balmoral we grabbed a table and that’s where more people showed up.  We had some laughs and caught up with one another.  Our friend has a bubbly personality.  I forgot how much fun she is to be around.  I miss her a lot.

Once we finished up the tab, our other friend suggested Estero bar in Logan Square for those who wanted to continue the party.  Unfortunately our group got smaller, but other friends of hers met up over there instead.  There the silliness continued and we had a blast.  I realized how blessed I was to be around my girls, mostly Latinas who suffered from the news like I did.  Some had family in Mexico, others were waiting to hear from loved ones in Puerto Rico.  But tonight we were here to see our friend who misses us tremendously in California.  I need to book a trip soon over there…