Back in Action

It feels like it's been forever since I sat myself down and wrote a blog. Even my housewives blog was fairly mediocre and that took me over a week to post! I will blame my lack of blog writing on the fact our condo is under construction and my pc has been relocated to the kitchen. On top of having no air circulation, it literally looks like we've been quarantined in our place! I think we have 2-3 more weeks of construction and I can't wait for it to be completed. On a positive note, the construction has required me to be out of the condo from 8a-4p, therefore yours truly has been more than on time to work as of late! I actually like getting out of the house and to work with plenty of time to spare and more notably, it has made for more enjoyable bus rides. I'm not stressed out about how many times we stop, how late we're running, or how quickly I'll have to get from the stop up to my office! I don't know if the "early bird catches the worm", but you sure as hell aren't stressed out about time.

To catch everyone up, last Thursday I did a little club hopping with Sexy and the Chi and had a pretty good time. We started our night off at Griffin Lounge (formerly Climax) and was met with tons of *crickets* and *tumbleweed*. I must say that I love the layout of this venue and know that once people figure out the dj is good, the ac stays on (no sweated out hair) and the staff is friendly it'll fill up in no time. While enjoying a drink we eyed a really tall guy (swag completely off) and I was smiling his direction. Bad move...he mistook my "talking shit about you while keeping a friendly smile on my face" as an invitation to come over and chill out. Since there were only about 30 people in the place it wasn't like we could play his ass to the left w/o looking stuck up so we talked to him. Long story short, he said that Religion was down the street and was better so we decided to be adventurous (though we drove our own car...we aren't stupid) and went to Religion.

Since we met dude there we didn't have to pay... which was a beautiful thing since this club managed to have even FEWER people than Griffin Lounge. We looked at each other and kind of sighed and chuckled at the same time. When clubs are free you can be adventurous and hop around. We sat in the VIP (which meant nothing since there were no people there) and drank our free drinks, vowing to stay at least 20 mins just to be polite. lol. After we downed our drinks it was time to leave and we made our way to Butterfly Social Club.

At this point in the night I was just thrilled to be in a spot that actually had people, but walking into Butterfly Social Club I instantly loved the vibe. The club was small but able to comfortably fit the crowd. The DJ was nice and the fact that there was no cover put a huge smile on my face.Topping my experience off were great shots of patron and watching Purple Rain (one of my favorite movies) get screened on the wall!! I would recommend this spot to anyone that is looking for a laid back, hip hop spot on a Thursday night and wants to be around the 25-32yo crowd.


Thursday Night Spots:

Griffin Lounge
326 W. Chicago Ave.

Religion
720 N. Wells

Butterfly Social Club
722 W. Grand Ave.

New Housewives on the block

(Pictured L-R) Jacqueline, Dina, Danielle, Caroline, and Teresa

In the 4th installment of the "Housewives" series, we find ourselves in New Jersey and a fly on the wall in the lives of 5 new women:

1. Teresa Giudice - The mother of 3 adorable girls that spends money like we aren't in a recession, and is a definite "stage mom" in training.

2. Jacqueline Laurita - The level-headed peace maker of the group. She is married to the brother of Dina and Caroline Manzo and friends with both Teresa and Danielle.

3. Dina Manzo - Her sister is Caroline (sister-in-law is Jacqueline) and they're married to brothers...talk about keeping it in the family. She has a teenage daughter and seems to enjoy living the fabulous life.

4. Caroline Manzo - She is my favorite character and definitely an "old school, Italian mother" as she says. She's all about her kids, husband, and being the best wife/mother that she can be. She assists her husband running "The Brownstone" one of New Jersey's premier event facilities and is also the sister to Dina.

5. Danielle Staub - The definite wild card of the season, on the first episode we meet Danielle as she prepares to finally meet the guy she's been having a 2 year internet fling with. She says that the "phone sex was amazing" and mentions that she met the man on a site for millionaire men. She brags about being the first person in New Jersey to have an American Express Black Card (she's divorced now so I wonder if that card left along with her husband)

Catch episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey at 9p on Bravo!!!

First Fridays Chicago - June Boat Cruise

The summer is quickly approaching and to change things up a bit First Fridays Chicago will be hosting their June event on the Odyssey Cruise Boat @ Navy Pier. The party starts at 11p with the boat sailing until 3am. There will be a VIP Ciroc & Don Julio hosted cocktail party on the rooftop deck (only 25 tickets left) as well as a comedy show.

I have never done a boat cruise in Chicago so I'm not sure if the event will be a hit or if you'll look around at 130a and realize you're stranded in the middle of Lake Michigan with a boatload of women! lol... (every woman's nightmare)

General admission tickets are currently $35 (going to $45 after 12p 5/14)

VIP tickets are currently $50 (going to $60 after 12p 5/14)


To find out more information visit the First Fridays Chicago website here.

Part-Time Hustlers

This is a repost from a blog I follow and love, A belle in Brooklyn. The idea of a side piece, mistress, whatever you wanna call it - has been around since the beginning of time. I think Belle does an awesome job of looking at it from a different perspective. Take a look and feel free to see the original post here.

Part-time Hustlers

Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 11:58PM

As you might know, I'm obsessed with HBO. Any movie that comes on and almost any dramatic series produced (except Deadwood), I'll watch just because I know it'll be good. It's not TV. It's HBO.

So I'm watching re-runs of House of Sadam and it's at the part where after like 25 years of marriage, Sadam decides to take on a second "wife." Not sure how official she is, but she's not boss lady, doesn't produce an heir, and no one really respects her. But she does get to pal around with the fearless leader, spend his dough and have all access to fly ish and sex.

When all the shit hits the fan and the Americans invade Iraq, the wife gives up her house and has to flee in the night. She gets out the country with a bankroll, but worries constantly that people are looking for the family and because their money was ill-gotten if it will be seized. The second wife/side chick? She doesn't have Sadam (neither does wife 1), but she does have a bankroll of her own, no one to answer to and she aint worried about a thing. She's safe and off everybody's radar.

I noted a similar set-up during my re-read of The Coldest Winter Ever. When Papa Santiaga gets popped, the feds seize the family house, the cars, the money, essentially everything. The family's broken up and of the six members only 2 end up okay. But the side piece is chillin. She has dough and no headache. Her man is gone but she's 22 and pretty. She'll be just fine.

So this got me to thinking about the benefits of the side piece. And when I say SP, I don't mean a jump off, I mean a mistress type. And before anyone goes crazy, I don't advocate for taking this position (if for no other reason than karma, to avoid drama, and its a slippery slope to heartache and headache), but a lot of women happily play that position. A lot. So I just want to examine why.

Here's the deal. Often when we think of the other woman, we think of some unfortunate chick who couldn't get a man of her own. We're told we should want a whole man, to be the only one because that's what any self-respecting woman should want. But I'm thinking there's more to the side-piece phenomenon than a woman with low self esteem. Maybe what we Belle readers (because we're all super self-respecting and would never, ever settle for any man... Insert sarcasm now) call a whore, is really a smart chick who figured out how to get the benefits of a relationship without the obligations of one.

Ride with for a few minutes more. I'm going somewhere with this.

I was watching Grey Gardens a couple weekends back (still can't get a blog going on that. It brought up a lot of ish and I'm way late on it now) and there's a scene with Little Edie explaining to her married suitor why she only dates married men: she wants to be an actress and he'll let her work, ie she can have his company when he can spare it one night per week and she gets the freedom, unlike a wife, to do as she pleases

Like Chris Rock's take on OJ's alleged killing spree, 'I don't condone it, but I understand.' Being the side hustle works well for a particular segment of women who aren't so worried about having kids and families. This position doesn't give you full benefits, of course (part-time work generally doesn't), but there are some. Like actresses who bartend or waitress so they can free up their schedule at a moments notice to go for an audition, the side hustle has its perks. And side work, when managed properly, can come without a full day's headaches.

Let's be clear: sometimes a relationship is a headache or mind-numbingly mundane. (I can make a good argument that good relationships should be relatively boring. Excitement typically comes with a degree of drama, which is bad for stability.) Relationships also mean a degree of obligation— putting out when you don't feel like it, attending events you rather die than sit through, listening to conversations about feelings and other yawn-inducing topics that bore you almost to death. You like have to answer the phone, have to call back in a timely manner, have to check-in, not because you're a child, but out of respect for your partner. You have to communicate constantly, you have to compromise, you have to be considerate, you have to put the "we" before the "I." And frankly, all that can be taxing. I get how a self-respecting woman would say 'no thank you' and just stick around for the good parts.

Sure a side-piece has it's lows. You're not committed (or if you have sense, you shouldn't be) and neither is he to you. You can get laid off with no notice since there's no contract (only a marriage lisence is binding really), but you can also legitimately carry more than one "job" to protect yourself against an untimely firing.Yeah, you'll probably spend holidays alone and it's doubtful anyone's coming by to nurse you back to health when you're sick. But that's kinda the worst of it.

And is that such a bad trade-off for freedom if that's what you ultimately want?

Like I said, I don't condone it, but I get it.

Hell on Heels

For some reason I forgot (blame my selective memory) that these shoes KILL the back of my ankles whenever I wear them. I put them on pause for a few months and was itching to rock them again. Well, needless to say the shit hurt. I look like tiny people have been sawing their tiny knives at the back of my ankles all day long. Looks like I'll be putting these shoes back on time out.

Shop & Share

If you shop at any Jewel-Osco store in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin on May 25th, May 26th or May 27th, 5% of your total purchase (excluding tax) will be donated to ARFhouse Chicago, a no-kill animal shelter. Just hand the signed slip to your cashier and help ARFhouse Chicago raise money to help homeless pets.



Founded in 2006, ARFhouse Chicago is a no-kill animal shelter. The organization is 100% volunteer run and affiliated with ARFhouse in Sherman, Texas - the 3rd largest no-kill sanctuary in the United States. While monetary donations are always appreciated (ARFhouse is a 501(c)(3) status organization and all donations are tax deductible) you can always help in other ways - - adoption, donating supplies, volunteering your time as a dog walker, or even sponsoring a pet.

If you're planning on doing some grocery shopping please go on the days listed and help out this cause that's very near and dear to my heart! It's a great way to support a charity and not have to go out of your way - - simply print out a form and take it with you... and please feel free to pass this along to everyone you know!

If you'd like more information on ARFhouse Chicago click here.

For a copy of the flyer click here.

Here are a few of the wonderful dogs your donations will be helping out:

Peanut

Nadia

Dollie

Caspar

Brittany