Harry Styles' Pleasing pop-up

Pleasing Astro Milk Bar  Pop-Up Shop Chicago 2024 
photo by Mitchell Hoverman 

I love visiting my good friend and I love Chicago so naturally I love visiting my good friend who lives in Chicago.  No matter the season, we always have the best time finding yummy places to eat, hanging out and site seeing around Chi-town.
As I planned my visit I realized that it happened to coencided with the Harry Styles' Pleasing Astro Milk Bar pop-up shop!

The pop-up shop is to promote his newest nail polish shade collection, Astro Milk and the whole Pleasing line. I had no idea there was a Pleasing pop-up shop in the works or a new Pleasing nail polish collection. Needless to say I was so excited to add this pit stop to our Summer in Chicago 2024 list! 

Founded in 2021, Pleasing is Harry Styles' beauty and apparel brand which includes nail polishes, frangrences, clothes and accessories that are eco-friendly and sustainable.

You'll be pleased to know that you can find any nail polish color under the sun and they're all animal cruelty-free, biodigradable and plant based (no chemicals). His apparel and accessories are all ethically crafted while Pleasing perfume uses consciously harvested materials as well as locally sourced ingredients through partnerships with co-op programs that support small communities and environmentally efficient productions methods.

 Expensive? Yes! Worth it? I think so!

A four pack of nail polih goes for $65 which is a deal being that single bottles go for $20 a pop.

The Pleasing Astro Milk popped up on the outskirts of downtown Chicago on June 15th, or "touched down"  as all of the promos leading up to it said, tying in the out of this world theme for the Astro Milk collection. June 15th also served as the launch of the four new colors.
Our visit was about two weeks after the shop popped-off on an overcast yet sweaty July afternoon perfect for a midday pick me up scoop of ice cream. And picking up some mani/pedi materials.

inside the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

inside the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The store front is wrapped in a shinny silver lame, creating the illusion of walking into a spaceship or UFO. Inside we were met with bright red and seafoam green decor, giving a retro, pop-art sort of atmosphere.
And of course there was a not so retro selfie-op. 

It wasn't exclusively Astro Milk stuff on sale either, it was everything from Pleasing! All of the colors, all of the styles. It wasn't very busy when we got there but more people came and went as we shopped. 

The Astro Milk collection constists of  four pastels that go on sheer but dry with a milky finish:
 Cow Jumped Over the Moon is an icy lite blue.
Space Pink Polish is a super soft baby pink.
Not Sorbet Polish is a cool mauve hue.
Milk Man's Cheeks Polish is on the muted peach spectrum. 

Pleasing Nail Polishes inside the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Mitchell Hoverman 

The only cash registers are in the back of the shop where ice cream orders are placed and picked up. A great place for some impluse ice cream purchases to "skyrocket" the price tag of your Pleasing purchase. 

Though neither of us bought a polish from the Astro Milk line, we came wanting some scoops so there was no impulse ice cream for us.
We had mindful ice cream from the Astro Milk Bar. 

The four ice creams match their corresponding nail polish shades:
- Blueberry = Cow Jumped Over the Moon
- Strawberry = Space Milk
- Red Velvet = Not Sorbet
- Espresso = Milk Man's Cheeks

 Milk Bar at the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

 After picking out some Pleasing polishes and perfume we got in line to pay and get our sugar fix. I hadn't noticed anyone else get any ice cream while we were there and it didn't take long until we were on our way with our Pleasings. 

Each scoop came in a paper container about the size of a 1/4 of a pint with a lid on top. You get more ice cream here than you would at some other places for the same price or more! 

It's packaging matches the packaging and colors of the Astro Milk nail polishes.
Very cute. Very clever. 

Very asethetically...pleasing. 

Because blueberry ice cream is seldom seen, that's the flavor I got while my good friend traded his afternoon esspresso for a scoop of the espresso ice cream. Both ice creams are colorful in their own regard. The blueberry ice cream was light blue much like Cow Jumped Over the Moon and had specs of actually blueberries in it while the espresso coffee was much more robust than the faint mauve hue of Milk Man's Cheeks. 

Keeping up with staying sustainable, Pleasing's ice cream is manufactured by Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor and Creamery based out of Forest Park Illinois. Brown Cow sources local ingredients, eco-friendly and compostable products, it's staff is made up of people from their community, they use seasonal ingredients and do what they can to work towards being a zero waste company. How pleasing, an eco-friendly and sustainable ice cream and company. 

Cow Jumped Over the Moon & Milk Man's Cheeks ice cream from Astro Milk Pleasing pop-up shop Chicago
photo by Nikki DeMartini  

Though they both came from the same creamery the blueberry ice cream was lite and fluffy with the right about of sweet blueberry flavor and the espresso ice cream was thick with a rich, bold coffee flavor. We were pleased with our two different textures. 

Ice cream from Pleasing pop-up shop Chicago July 2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The recovering people pleaser in me couldn't bring herself to buy a $16 paif of lavender thick, cushy socks that donned the word Pleasing on the ankle but I did look at them long and hard. I did go home with a purple polish and a black polish, essential colors for my growing Pleasing nail polish collection. 

We may have spent more on nail polish and perfume than we would have had it not been for the visiting the Pleasing pop-up shop and we're ok with that. Why not treat yourself to silly little spendy things from time to time in this one life you have to live? It's all eco-friendly and sustainable too, so no no need to feel too guilty about that. 

Harry's slogan for his brand is "We're Pleasing, not perfect" and he couldn't be more correct about that! 

 Go please yourself while you can.
 The Pleasing pop-up shop at 1623 N Damen Ave in Chicago, IL is open through July 21st! 

There are no other sightings of the Pleasing Astro Milk pop-up shop landing anywhere else after that...yet. 

Outloud Festival brought all the queens to WeHo Pride

Pride festivities kicked off a bit early this year in West Hollywood with a star studded line-up for Outloud Festival. It was hardly a soft open with Kesha headlining Friday night followed by a dazzling performance from Janelle Monae on Saturday night and a queen of queens, the one and only Kylie, Miss Kylie Minogue closing out the show on the second official day of Pride month 2024. 

Big Freedia @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

And it wasn't only the headlining acts slaying the stages. 
Adam Lambert, Big Freedia, Diplo and friends, Doechii, Noah Cyrus, Trixie Mattel + more paved the way on the dance floor to the respective night's grand fianle.

And that was just the main stage! Across the way, the Summertramp stage hosted Hot Chip, Crystal Waters, Purple Disco Machine + more over the weekend! 

While I missed seeing most of the show on Friday and Saturday, I did hear that Kesha did in fact changed the lyrics of her 2010 hit "Tik Tok" from "woke up in the morning feeling like P-Diddy" to "woke up in the mornning saying fuck P-Diddy". 
There were murmurs of sound issues Saturday night as the non-bianary artist who goes by both she/her and they/them pronouns, Janelle Monae, and all of her dancers took over the stage. By the looks of it, the sound issues didn't lessen the crowd as I headed out of West Hollywood Park that night. As I was about to leave site to get some shut eye before the third and final show day, something told me to stay. So I turned around and found a spot on the edge of the crowd for a quick exit to beat egress. I told myself I'd stay for one song and eagerly waited in anticipation for what she was going to play next. 

The Age of Pleasure artist teased with one of the longest song intros ever and when that distinctive chord finally hit it gave me chills. The one song I stopped to watch happened to be one of the Janelle Monae songs I know and really enjoy, "Make Me Feel". Her vocals did faintly cut in and out but it didn't take away from the performance, not for me anyway. Aside from that, she sounded great: smooth yet strong. Janelle Monae delivers a humble confidence and her dancing is as smooth as her voice. Watching her perform is spellbinding. From working the crowd and belting them out, instrument playing, chorographed dancing, costume changes and some personable banter Janelle Monae does it all with an unmatched style and grace. 

Janelle Monae @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/1/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Seeing that one song live sent me to bed fully fulfilled.
So real, so good, so fuckin' real.
It's just the way it made me feel. 

The nest morning the feeling of F.O.M.O was real upon hearing Janelle's special guest was Queen Latifah.
What a way to jump start Pride month 2024!

Janelle Monae set-list 6/1/2024
1. Float
2. Champange Shit
3. Black Sugar Beach
4. Phenomenal 
5. Haute
6. Django Jane
7. Q.U.E.E.N
8. Electric Lady
9. Lipstick Lover
10. Paid in Pleasure 
11. Make Me Feel 
12. Tightrope

It had been years since I saw Big Freedia live and she was even better than I remember. In a bright, rainbow colored, layered tull high-low frock Freedia dripped with pride from the moment she hit the stage. While I hoped she'd play "Mo Azz" I honestly didn't really care what she played as long as there was twerking involved.

Oh lord was there twerking.
Freedia held it down on the mic while the crowd went wild. How anyone can move their body as fast as her dancers do will never not be awe-inspiring. They pop it, lock it and drop it. They move it, groove it and shake it.
It's rachet.
It's dirty.
It's such a good time. 

Big Freedia @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Between drawn out intros, long interludes and boughts of playful banter songs seemed to morph into each other. The speed driven tempo of "N.O Bounce" and it's looped chorus lines was filled with plenty of eye ctaching dirty dancing as the Queen Diva asked her dancers "how you eat that d!ck, how you eat it?". Their intrepretive twerking ansered the question.

Next, Freedia invited a at least twenty fans on stage to shake their asses during "Throw it Back". It's an antic of hers that never gets old.

Freedia dropped a couple of her signature lines "You already know" through out the set and the unostentatious featured singer on Beyonce's albums Renaissance and Cowboy Carter covered Queen Bey's single "Formation" and a  "Explode/Break My Soul" mash-up. 

Big Freedia and Macy Grey @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Right as I was about to get back to work  Macy Gray was brought out on stage. I had no idea that the two have a new single together "I AM" and they debuted it live at Outloud Fest 2024! It was very cool to be there for that and to say a big ol' fuck you to all the haters with these two unique powerhouses. 

Big Freedia set-list 6/2/2024 

1. Booty Whoop 

2. Betty Bussit
3. N.O. Bounce

4. Throw It Back
5. Central City Freestyle 
6. Nice for What (Drake cover) 
7. Formation (Beyonce cover) 
8. Explode/Break My Soul
9. Chasing Rainbows 
10. I AM
11. Gin in My System 

The grand finale for the whole weekend was of course the closing act, Kylie Minogue.

Naturally, Sunday night saw the biggest crowd...everybody wanted to see Kylie and who could blame them?! Her grandiose return marked her first live performance in the States since 2019 drawing an estimated twenty thousand people at Outloud Festival on June 2, 2024 by the time the dance floor queen hit the stage. 
In a fringed sequence jumpsuit, care free strawberry-blonde hair and a genuine sincerity flowing from her mere existance, Miss Minogue stunned on stage. 

A gig in the 1980's that found her on stage during a Fitzroy Football Club Benefit Concert for a duet of "I got You Babe" with Queer icon John Waters, Minogue herself has been in Queer eye since day one. The ever growing LBGTQIA+ comminuty continues to love and support Kylie and she them. Do you see a theme here? Give love. Get love. Spread love. 

The single studded set-list showcased hits from her early, mid and later 2000s catalog plucked from Light Years, Fever, Aphrodite, Golden and Tension. 

Kylie Minogue and Orville Peck at WeHo Pride Outloud Music Fesival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Half way through her set she played a song I'd never heard before, I actually thought it was a song off of her new upcoming album but turns out it's off of her 2018 album Golden.

She hit the stage with an army of ho-down attire clad back up dancers as she serenaded us with "Dancing." Breaking out into song and dance along with her dancers, Kylie fell right in line, a showmanship that sent chills of joy raging through me as I marveled the moment. 

She'd already started down a country road so for Minogue's next trick she brought out the gay masked singer, Orville Peck for the live debut of their new single, "Midnight Ride". The juxtaposition of her sweet croons and his darker ones strike a beautifully balanced chord within the song's country-pop blend. And the chemistry between them as they performed teetered on a cuteness overload, an overindlugdence LA was ready was ready for. 

Gays rejoiced as lesser known to me songs were qued. Again, surges of joy rushed through me as countless little cuties clacked fans, snapped fingers and sang along to "All the Lovers" and "Padam Padam".

What a jubilent experience it is to be able to embrace something unknown while feeling the love of being included with the freedom to enjoy it how you choose to enjoy it without judgement.
There I was, a 40 year old, straight, white, single, childless, cis-woman sailing solo in a sea of queers happy as a clam. 

Kylie Minogue at WeHo Pride Outloud Music Fesival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

She closed out the show and the weekend with two hits that helped catapult her to stardom "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and "Love at First Sight". Honestly, kicking off Pride month with Kylie Minogue was simply the best. Period. 

The Princess of Pop is slated to play the BTS Hyde Park Festival on Saturday July 13th. Rumors swirl around a 2024 tour annoucement from the Kylie Mingoue camp but with no further dates annouced we'll follow her lead and keep on dancing. 

Kylie Minogue set-list 6/2/2024
1. Tension
2. Come Into My World 
3. In Your Eyes
4. Get Outta My Way
5. Slow 
6. Hold On to Now
7. Dancing 
8. Midnight Ride 
9. Spinning Around 
10. All the Lovers
11. Padam Padam
12. Can't Get You Out of My Head
13. Love at First Sight