Shenanigans

It was a weekend of fun in Morgan-land. I spent Saturday with my friend Lindsey. Admittedly, I tried to postpone our plans so I could stay in bed; but, the girl bullied me out of the house, and I’m way grateful for it. After a day of shopping and lunching, we headed to a theater to see the movie, Adrift. If you’ve not heard of it, it stars Shailene Woodley (one of my Scorpio spirit animals), Sam Clafin (beautiful), and depicts the true story of Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp sailing (kind of) through hurricane Raymond. It gets a big recommendation from me– mostly because I’m so happy to have learned who Tami Oldham is; and, think that recognition of her strength, and overall badass-ness, should have happened 30 years ago. It’s a remarkable story and covers all the feels.

Sunday was spent with my friend, Natasha. She was visiting from Michigan, and we wanted to check out this pop-up bar inspired by her favorite Black Mirror episode.

If you’re unfamiliar with the pop-up bar concept, they’re basically these themed bars that only exist for a month or so. It was a Sunday afternoon, so things were pretty slow, but we had a nice time talking to the bartenders, got some free shirts and stuff– a good time was had. Oh, and I got a new tattoo– added some stars to my white ink collection, and I’m loving it!

Later that night, I headed out to return keys that were left with me on a date a few weeks ago. After dropping them off, I decided to walk to a Walgreens to buy the gunk you put on new tattoos. This was a Walgreens I frequented when I first moved to Chicago as it’s right next door to the job that brought my ex and I here three years ago. Generally, I avoid this area (for obvious reasons), but yesterday I was feeling uncharacteristically bold. After surviving the Walgreens flashbacks, I decided to continue my trek down memory lane. I walked a little further to peek in the windows of Ex’s old golf job, and then headed across the street to the bar where he spent most of his free time. Not trying to be corny, but it was an out-of-body experience.

The place was packed for the NBA finals, but I found a seat at the bar and squeezed myself in. In my short walk from the door to my seat, I could clearly identify the modern cohort of golf professionals drinking after closing up across the street. I was too scared to look closely enough to recognize anyone. The group of them to my right made conversation with me as I waited for my food to take home. Talk about triggers– I was all up in PTSD territory. I survived the over-confident people in polos, had a moment of pride for myself and my impromptu exposure therapy, then headed home in an Uber I shared with three, refreshingly, gay men. The car ride had the perfect vibe to bounce me out of trauma-land, and I ended my weekend eating my to-go burger in bed. It was magical.

While I am now emptied of money from my weekend of activity, I’m full of a whole lot of happy (plus a pinch of weird for the memory lane trip). I’m grateful for the amazing friends in my life, and the bursts of bravery that help me conquer my past. Twas a very up and up weekend.

-M