Hi friends  – hope your week is going well! Mine is flying by!

It seems that nowadays we all do more than we did before, more at work and at home. My workdays can be long, filled with meetings, calls, shoots, & deadlines. I love it, but at the end of my workday, sometimes I just want some silence & a relaxing evening at home. Now that I am married, I have cut down on the number of work related evening events I attend. I made this change, mostly because I like to spend time with my hubby, to exercise after work, and so I can spend time on my blog 🙂

It is easy to fall into a routine on weeknights. We have all done it at some point. I did it even when I was single. There is nothing wrong with having a routine, trust me, I am a creature of habit and can be quite methodical in the way I go through my day (I’ll leave that for another post). But, every once in a while, it is nice to change up the routine. I try to limit my weeknight outings to once per week (personal or work related events), not counting Friday. Once a week, I will either go for a walk with Lola by the bay downtown or she’ll join me to attend an event.

A few years ago, I met a sassy Latina named Samya, uber talented and outspoken. We’ve stayed connected over the years. Last week, she sent me an invitation for the Grand Opening of El Agave Del Mar Restaurant. I did what I usually do, looked at the invitation & geographic location (I usually don’t attend events too far from downtown), reviewed my schedule, and put it with the other “tentative” invitations. But, it stayed on my mind. Then, I looked at the invitation more closely and realized it was from Samya. I RSVPd.

After the many laughs I had yesterday, I am glad I RSVPd! I go to multiple events and Lola is usually my plus 1. We always have a nice time, but yesterday was lots, lots of fun! Multiple things happened that made the night fun. First of all, even though this may not sound funny, it was and turned into an on-going joke throughout the evening. Lola had on some gorgeous Michael Kors heals she had purchased recently. She had told me about the shoes, so it was nice to finally see them on her! This was her first time wearing them. As I am complimenting her shoes, she tells me they are uncomfortable, to which I frown, but say, “oh no, but they are so beautiful!” Then she turns around and shows me a small cut the zipper has made on the back of her heel, yikes. Luckily, I had a band-aid in my purse, so that helped. Second, we were chatting so intensely in the car that I missed the freeway exit in Del Mar! We laughed and just took the next exit, we were chatting anyway, so no worries. Third, as we exit the elevator, a metal decoration on Lola’s shoe just breaks off! It broke from one side but was still attached to the other side, so it wasn’t even removable. She is a trooper and laughed it off as we entered the restaurant.

Samya greeted us nicely upon arrival! Always a pleasure to see her and catch up! We scan the room, say hi to a few people we knew. We got some food, found seats, and started to enjoy our margaritas, with the most amazing sunset in Del Mar! There was a very nice server that kept bringing Lola food and drinks! And well, since I was sitting with her, he’d also offer me some food, ha! The event was a huge success and the terrace was packed, no surprise since Samya organized it & she’s a public relations pro!

Then,  I saw my friend Luis getting food, I’ve known him for about 12 years! I said hi from afar and he came over to greet us! He told me he was sitting  at the bar with Nelly, also a friend, and we agreed we’d come over to the bar later on or they’d come to our table. Lola and I continued to enjoy our margaritas & conversation. Within a few minutes, Luis and Nelly came over to sit with us and the laughters did not end for the rest of the evening! Lola and Luis were sharing pics of their adorable doggies, we were all catching up, and joking. Samya came to sit with us towards the end of the evening. Between her and Nelly, it is hard to say which one is more sassy, they were both throwing out lines that were hilarious! Both are sweethearts and genuine people, love that about them!

I wanted to take a picture of the sunset and realized I had left my phone in the car, a huge no-no for me, but figured in case of an urgent matter my hubby knew I was with Lola and could call on her phone. I did have my camera. We asked a server to take a group pic of us, but bless his heart, every picture came out blurry (he took about 5 pics, I posted two below), we kept posing for the pics and were laughing each time we realized it was blurry…..finally, Luis took out his phone and that became the picture we  posted for the night. Somehow, Lola’s shoe malfunction got into the conversation and we all started comparing shoes. Luis was wearing converse style tennis shoes, with a business jacket, collared shirt, and gray pants. We thought that was just the look that he had been wearing all day. He frowned and told us he changed shoes in the car when they arrived at the event because, as he stated in a serious tone “you know, mens feet also get tired in work shoes and hurt after a long day,” hilarious! Again, we all burst into laughs!

We realized it was dark out and getting late, later than we had originally planned on staying. As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun and it did indeed! We ended the night with a group pic, with Samya (shown above). We walked out together and decided to take a group shoe picture in the elevator, again we laughed! It was a memorable evening, I am certain it will come up in conversations with Lola in the future, when we laugh about her Michael Kors shoe malfunction and Luis’ comment about mens feet hurting after a long day in work shoes, too funny!

The El Agave Del Mar Restaurant is beautiful, the food is delicious and the drinks amazing, they use good quaility tequila in their margaritas, and don’t even get me started on the freshness of the guacamole, empanadas…and sopes! The view is breathtaking, wonderful place to see a sunset or enjoy the scenic ocean view!  Plus, as a Latina, I am always glad to see nice, classy restaurants that serve excellent Mexican cuisine!

I went out of my routine, my comfort level, and out of the downtown area….went to an event all the way in North County (ok, it’s not that far), and am SO glad I did because I had such a fun evening! So, next time you get an opportunity to do something fun on a weekday, try to pass on the comfort of just going home and getting in your jammies (I do this), instead go out! Break the routine, who knows what the night may bring, you may laugh and have a great time! Go out there and live life to the fullest, enjoy time with friends, a sunset, and have a margarita when you can!

Do you go to work related or personal/social events on weeknights? If yes, how often? When was the last time you had a surprisingly fun night at an event on a weeknight? I’d love to hear about it!

Hugs…TGIF it’s Friday mañana (means tomorrow;)),

Paola

Lola…in her Michael Kors shoes, before they broke that evening.

Blurry picture 1…of 5.

Blurry picture number 5, ha! Finally, a good picture…taken by someone else 🙂

Taken in the elevator on our way to the parking garage. Since shoes became a part of the evening’s conversation, the last pic of the evening was one of our shoes! It is fun to be silly sometimes!

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