Astraea Ashborn’s gallery

Soca bass coming off the lakefront so hard my whole body is keeping time with it, and my costume isn't keeping up. Come pull me out of the crowd before I lose the rest of it.

The whole tower shakes when the jets pass overhead and I can't get enough of it. Come up and watch with me.

The mariachi is still ringing across Grant Park and I only made it as far as the first row of tents before my hands took over. Bet you'd have heard me over the horns.

They're screening a film about a domineering queen right here in my district — flattery will get you everywhere. Want a spot on my blanket?

The voices from the Pritzker stage hit lower than any bassline, and the dark edge of the lawn was too tempting to behave. None of those women swaying to the chorus know what I'm doing thirty feet behind them. Bet you'd have watched.

The drag queens on the Belmont stage just called me royalty from the mic and I didn't even have to threaten anyone. Market Days at its peak and every woman on Halsted is looking at me like I'm the main event. 🌺 Tell me you wouldn't stop dead in your tracks.

Halsted was wall-to-wall women tonight and every one of them put a thought in my head I couldn't shake by the time I made it upstairs. Bet you'd have been on your knees before I finished the door. 🌺

Market Days hasn't even opened and I've already found the best reason to stay on Halsted. Bet you'd be louder. 🌺

Someone installed an immersive sound piece in the Cultural Center without clearing it with me first — I'll let it stay because the bass travels beautifully through the marble, and because everything in this district already belongs to me. Come take a walk through my kingdom.

Thousands of women screaming inside the United Center and every single voice landed somewhere low in my body. I made it home but my hands didn't. Bet you'd have been just as useless after a night like that. 🌇