Rainbows of Green

I had my "yearly" evaluation at work the other day. I haven't been working for a year yet, but my manager does everyone's evaluations once a year. Anyway, I received great reviews! She told me that of any of the new graduates she has ever hired, I received some of the best reviews! This made me blush. Hearing all of this has also made me want to work harder, which may have been her intentions... and if so, kudos to her for being a great manager!





I also recently celebrated St. Patrick's day like many people did. This was the first year I decided to partake in the festivities Chicago had to offer. What a crazy scene it was. We started in the neighborhood of Wicker Park at 3pm which was pretty low key. Then, we moved to the neighborhood of Wrigleyville and that was pretty crazy. People everywhere wearing green and some even in costume. I ran into a giant green teletubbie!
I even saw a total of 5 people throughout the day/night that I knew from U of I, one of which was one of my roommates from college. We ended up hanging out with her and her friends for a little while.
It was a fun time overall. I love the color green so you definitely don't have to force me to don shades of green and drink some beer.

Reviews of the places in Chicago I have been in the last 3 days...

• Moonshine is where we got our first beer and had our pre-drinking lunch. It advertises itself as an "urban roadhouse". Which makes perfect sense. They serve beer in jars and their portions are huge. They serve po'boys, pizza, burgers, tots... yum. I had the nachos which her giant and yummy.
  
• Vines is where we headed to next. This place was a good scene because they have indoor and outdoor, separated by giant windows to let all the light in. During the summer they grill outdoors and have bags to play outside. Their beer garden is cute. I just had a miller lite, so nothing to rave about for right now. I have eaten there before and I cannot recall it being amazing or disgusting, so I guess it was so - so.
• Mullens was our next stop. It was very Irish themed there which made our stay there very fun. Everyone in the entire bar was decked out in green. We felt very at home there. The staff was very friendly and fun. They were playing Irish music, so that definitely got us in the mood for St Pattys.
• Houndstooth is where we met up with my roommate from college. This place was obnoxiously packed. It felt like college all over again. I was not a fan. I can see this place being fun when it is not busy, though. There are two halves of the bar, though and we finally found my roommate on the non-busy half where there are tables and waitresses. The busy side is one long bar.
• The Bar Celona was our last stop. This place was SO much fun. We scored two tables in the front so when other friends ended up meeting up with us, we had our own little "section". They were playing mixes of some 90's music and we had a blast. They also had $2 beers so that was easy on our wallets. They ended up opening their front wall - which was a garage door- and this made the bar open to the street, so it was a little chilly for us considering we were the two tables in the front, but the manager bought all 15 of us shots to warm us up.
  

... overall a good St Patrick's day.

Tonight is Friday... most people are excited... but I work tonight. I am somehow not stressed out by the idea of going into work as I have been in the past. I have Saturday and Sunday off where I get to spend two days with my boyfriend and his family. I love Jay's family. Sunday is Corned Beef and Cabbage day at his parents' house. They do this every year. I am excited for it.

Have a great weekend everyone!



Random Rachelle...
-the only reason I am sad to see winter go... is because I love to wear boots.
-I have had a cold for 4 days now... thanks to Jay. gr.
-I love Taco Bell... my guilty pleasure.