How I Spent My Summer

Posted on May 30, 2006 1 Comment

Summer has officially arrived in Chicago. We went from mid-50′s last week to 90′s this week. Phew! Like any true Chicagoan, I had to celebrate the sun’s arrival this long weekend. I tried to save money and be frugal, but I think the weather got the better of me. (This is more a post on how I spent my money this weekend living the good life, rather than how I saved money.)

Things started out early on Friday – I met an old friend for lunch and some catching up at My Thai on Michigan Ave. The Thai was average and the conversation was great – I picked up the very reasonable tab. Good, comfortable place to grab lunch if you’re in the area. Lunch is about $10 per person.

Then after work I went to Cafe Ba-ba-reeba, a tapas restaurant, for dinner. It’s not fine dining, and it’s a bit pricey, but hey, I’d take the goat cheese dish over an expensive steak any day. If you’re in the city, it’s a fun spot for a light dinner with the girls. Having been to Spain, I know it’s not quite right, but I have to applaud any effort to bring Spanish food to the city! Dinner was about $30 per person, more with drinks.

After drinks, we posted up at Sheffield’s, where a U of C student asked my group if we were from Spain because we had tapas for dinner. Um, yeah, buddy. Have another. The beer garden was cozy, and if you’re bigger than the average person you might have an issue with the outdoor seating – the tables are tiny.

Saturday I went to my cousin’s wedding in Barrington, Ill. It was a double wedding (two sisters and their respective groomsmen) and beautiful, at that. The brides’ family is from Ireland, so the day featured Irish dancers, a bagpiper and a full Irish band. So cool. Of course, my Slovenian-American family managed to filter in their own traditions – plenty of Slivovitz to go around, a few renditions of “God Bless America” and my uncles’ cooky family skit (don’t ask). Unfortunately I lost a contact mid-day and couldn’t see anything the rest of the night (left my glasses at home). Still, the wedding was a very good time!

After recovering from a lil hangover, Sunday night was “Sunday Funday” with our friends – daiquiris and cheap beer (to save money!) along with a trip to Neybor’s bar in the Lakeview area. This would have been a fun, relaxing night, except the waitress lost my debit card around midnight and I spent 15 minutes on the phone cancelling my card, only to have a friend pick it up off the bar floor 10 minutes later. So now I can’t use my debit card for the next week while WaMu sends me another one. Argh. Way to ruin the night! At least I know no one’s out there trying to use my debit card all over the city (except me, that is).

Monday I was off work, so I hung at my parents’ house and ate lots of BBQ food. (Eating grilled food is probably my favorite summer past time.) On the way there, I managed to do a little shopping for an upcoming baby shower during Carson’s big sale this weekend. But I stopped there, and did not buy anything for me. That’s a step, I swear.

Then my three brothers and I went to see X-Men: The Last Stand, per our standing summer tradition (well, since X-Men started making movies…so yes, people, I finally made it to the movies! And now you know my little secret – that I absolutely love the X-Men).

Tuesday’s arrival means I’m back to work. My weekend of eating out and spending freely has come to an end. I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend…now let’s dedicate this week to living simply and saving money to compensate for the weekend of spending we just did.

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