A Visit From St. Nicholas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...
Everyone was going stir-crazy 'cuz there was so much dang snow you couldn't go anywhere!  But somehow Max made it from NYC and Gus arrived just in the Nick of time!

...The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...
And sure enough...Christmas morning they were stuffed full of wares.

...The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave a luster of mid-day to objects below...
actually it was a night earlier in December that produced an amazing full moon.  Not quite the 'Super Moon' of November fame, but pretty spectacular all the same.

...More rapid than eagles his coursers they came...
well it wasn't quite an 'eagle' but Patti delivered this darling bird in a Christmas package before she 'dashed' off to Minneapolis!

...'We' was dressed all in fur from our heads to our foots...
not exactly fur, but very cozy down filled scarves made by Martha and new Samuel Hubbard shoes for everyone....

...And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow....
there were plenty of beards on chins, merry dimples and twinkling eyes!

...That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly...

our bowls were filled with mashed potatoes, stuffing, sprouts, and chocolate trifle!!! YUM!

....Away they all flew like the down of a thistle...
Riley was looking pretty 'downy' for Christmas this year...

....Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!
"Good night!"  What a mess!   A sure sign of another happy Christmas!

Stay at Home Turkey Day

No traveling this year for Thanksgiving!  Just a quiet at home day for the two of us.

Best turkey I've ever made!!!  Thank you Alton Brown, Tyler Florence and Bobby Flay!

And looky what John has in the garage?!!!

Not sure how we will get the 60" wreath home from Badger Trees next year??????

A Christmas Carol in Chicago

I don't know if we call it a 'tradition' at this point, but it is the 'second annual' Chicago Christmas trip.  Last year we went to Chicago early in December to see "A Twisted Christmas Carol" which was Second City's parody of the Dicken's classic.  It was being performed right next door to the Goodman Theater's performance of the original Christmas Carol.  So...this year we decided to go and see the Goodman's version.  When we ordered our tickets we learned that it was the opening weekend of the show, but we managed to get Sunday matinee tickets which was really ideal with our train schedule.

We arrived on Friday late morning.  John hurried off to his annual eye doctor appointment and I hauled our luggage the six blocks to our hotel, The Kimpton Gray.  Nice room, no view, good location...

While John was seeing the doc (pun intended) I wandered around in the rain.  There was one shop I had read about and wanted to find.  It's called OSKA and it was great!  I found lots of beautiful things but settled on a boxy gray sweater vest.  I'll definitely be going back!

A highlight of our visit was dinner at Topolobampo, a Rick Bayless restaurant that we have been wanting to try for awhile.  We chose the chef's tasting menu WITH wine pairings...it was fabulous!  I am totally in awe of people who can match up food and wine, brilliant.  It was a totally 'gracious' experience.

On Saturday we took the "L" out to Oak Park to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studios.  It's one of those things that we never did when we lived there.  The house was interesting even though our guide was not particularly informative.  

Wright built the house very early in his career and it was interesting to contrast it with later projects like Falling Water.  When the foundation took over the property one of the issues they had to resolve was what date to choose as the restoration date.  The Wrights lived there for almost 30 years and made many additions and renovations, so which point should the foundation choose?  They decided on 1909 which was the last time that Frank Lloyd Wright had done anything to the house. (he moved out in 1910)

In the courtyard of the property there was the biggest Ginko tree I have ever see!  A Monster! It was gorgeous.  It made me think of the flowers I made with my ginko leaves this fall.

After lunch in Oak Park we "L'ed" over to Wicker Park.  When we left Chicago, Wicker Park was just starting to be "gentrified" and we had never see it.  Totally hipster.  I got cool John Fluevog boots.  

One of the things we discovered last year was the Christkindlmarket in Daly Plaza.  

It's the largest Christmas market in the US (according to the website!) and it is hopping!  Every year they have a special collectors' mug that people line up to have filled with mulled wine, hot chocolate, beer, cider....which they enjoy with their sausages, crepes, cheese, Christmas cakes....tons of people...but the funniest things was the fire pit.  A lovely thought, but it was surround by a 'protective' fence that meant that it was pretty much worthless for humans, BUT not for pigeons!!!!

Rather than a Christkindlmarket mug, John prefers the Lavazza coffee shop across the street!

A trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without a meal at Eataly.  Sunday we had pasta before the show.

I remember the matinees of Christmas Carol at the Guthrie...there were always tons of families and kids...it was the same at the Goodman.  It really is a magical Christmas tradition.

                                                                                    Carolers in the lobby!

...Last stop...Nuts on Clark at the train station for the obligatory cheesy popcorn!

30 Years and Counting!

We are celebrating our 30th Anniversary this year.  It's cliche, I know, but it's hard to believe it, it seems like just yesterday we were being awkward and goo-goo eyed at Yale.  Still awkward, but the goo-goo eyes are now behind 2.5 reading glasses!

We talked about doing a 'big trip'...maybe Italy, or Provence...but we have both been traveling a bit this fall and the thought of another plane ride just didn't excited us.  So...we decided to head north to Traverse City for the weekend.  We have talked about visiting for awhile, but it's so busy in the summer and we like Saugatuck so going up in the fall was perfect.

We stayed a cute B&B called Aberdeen Stone Cottage.  Melinda and David were great hosts and the location was perfect for wandering into town and getting to the Leelanau Peninsula...and the wineries!!!!

The weather was unseasonably wonderful, being that it was the first weekend in November, we were delighted to be in shirtsleeves and sunglasses.  Gorgeous sunshine was exactly what was called for to really do justice to the views of Grand Traverse Bay.

On Saturday we wandered up the Leelanau Peninsula in search of those views and wine.  There are in the neighborhood of 50 wineries in the area and almost as many micro breweries and cider mills.  John had had a bottle of Pinot Gris from a place called 45 North and that was our first stop of the day.  We discovered that there was something called Toast the Season going on all weekend.  All of the wineries on the peninsula were offering special pairings and tastings so everywhere we went there were loads of people and limos lining up to deliver piles more!  It was quite festive.

On our way out of Northport we passed an old barn that is being renovated into a house, I knew the minute I saw it that it was Laura and Jim Dybevik's place.  When Laura and I were at Landscape Forms she had shown me pictures of the project and I recognized it immediately.  We pulled in and learned that it was their very first day as full time residents of Northport.  It was such a surprise and the project is happening...eight years in the making...but it's happening.

We ended up stopping for more cider than wine!  Yummy pumpkin crepes at Tandem Cider,

And incredible views at Sutton Bay Cider...

We did mange a few more stops before having dinner at Sophia's.  It is a lovely Italian restaurant in an old State Mental Hospital that is being converted to a mixed use development, Grand Traverse Commons.  It's a sprawling network of buildings and tunnels that include residences, offices, shops, restaurants,... there is a winery in the old laundry facility and a distillery on the property.  It's amazing, but just a wee bit creepy!

On Sunday we had a wander through some of the shops on the main street of Traverse City before heading south to Kalamazoo.  It was really a perfect fall get away and the perfect way to spend our anniversary.