I guess there was a whole-lot we did this holiday season, and just so you’re not left in great suspense about what I spent my time-off (well, Tim’s time-off) doing, I’ll give you a few highlights:
Holiday Season Highlights:
- Ice skating. There’s a new skating rink in Chicago and Tim and I took advantage of some uncle-baby-sitting time and went to check it out! First we ate at Brown Bag Seafood which was excellent, then we hit the Maggie Daley Ice Ribbon for some skating! It was a blast. Luckily, Tim is a great skater (that’s important when you’re a hockey player), so he could hold me up and I didn’t fall at all!
- Our Christmas Tree. Tim and I have never had our own Christmas tree, but this year we purchased one from a lot in the city. Of course, we didn’t get around to this until the weekend before Christmas, but better late than never, right?!
- Lincoln Park Zoo lights. The great thing about the Lincoln Park Zoo is that it’s in the middle of the city and it’s free. Tim and I took Clara there on his birthday eve to see the sights and lights. Clara loves holiday lights, and it was a great time!
- Tim’s family’s holiday party. Every year we get together on the Sunday before Christmas, and it’s always a blast! Tim has a large extended family on his dad’s side, and it’s always nice to see everyone, especially his grandparents.
- Christmas morning. Clara loves wrapping paper. Mainly she likes to eat it, but she also likes the tearing noise it makes when she rips open her presents (with a little help from Tim and I, of course).
- Christmas movies. I love Christmas movies, and Tim and I made a point to watch a few after Clara went to bed in the weeks before Christmas.
- Tim’s birthday. Tim turned 30 this year! To celebrate I did a ’30 days of 30′ present-giving-thing. Basically, I gave him a present each day starting 30 days before his birthday. This was a plan that’s easier to think about than to actually implement! Some days the gifts were a bit late. Some days I got mad at him and didn’t give him a gift at all (yeah, I’m not winning any wife-of-the-year awards this year) but overall it was fun! On his actual birthday (Christmas Eve) we went to Tim’s family’s house for a birthday celebration in the morning and a Christmas celebration at night.
- Dinner with friends. 10 of us got together, dressed up a bit, and went to an Italian dinner. It was such a good way to start our season off.
- Hot apple cider. I spiked it with rum and it was delicious.
- Christmas Cards. I love sending and receiving Christmas Cards! It’s really one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.
- NYE. Our New Years Eve was low-key this year. We’re really working on Clara’s sleep schedule so we stayed in, ate great food, drank champagne, watched the ball drop in New York, kissed at midnight in Chicago, and then went to bed way too late. Then, (because Clara clearly didn’t realize it was a holiday) we woke up and ate a homemade breakfast the next morning – I made my first frittata!
My absolute favorite part of any holiday season is spending time with Tim (who was off/working from home the entire two weeks of ‘Christmas break’ – you know, that imaginary break that adults don’t have anymore) and other family members and friends. Some of my friends were in town to see their families and had the chance to meet Clara, which completely warms my heart.
What was the highlight of your holiday season?!
