Highlight of Christmas break...

Though my break is not over and I don't know what else is coming, I have a hunch that the highlight of my break this year will be my trip to Chicago on the 16th of December. I did a lot of other really fun things with wonderful people, so I hope no-one's nose gets out of joint about that comment, but I just LOVE Chicago SO much that any trip there makes my life a whole lot better!!!! :)

See how much I LOVE Chicago?!

I went to Chicago with 2 of my friends from my home group - Patty and Bonnie. We drove up Tuesday AM. We made fantastic time...from the Becks house to the parking garage in about 2 hours! The drive was filled with laughter, chit chat, and deep revelations of our heart...so good!

We first went to Garratt's Popcorn. This is a gourmet popcorn shop in the city. Bonnie purchased a large tub of their famous popcorn as a gift for her boss from all the employees at the company she works for.

I'm not sure the salesgirl was thrilled to pose for us, but she did!

Then we went to Macy's to eat lunch at the Walnut Room. The Walnut Room is famous for having a very large (4 story?) Christmas tree in the middle of the room. I was excited about eating "beneath the tree" but didn't realize what an incredible treat I would be in for when it came to the actual food! It was very good! We ordered two entrees, a dessert, and a "special" drink to share.

This was Ming's Shrimp - shrimp sauteed with scallions, grape tomatoes, edamames and sweet tart soy ginger sauce, served over sour cream and chive whipped potatoes. It was quite tasty.

This was the Butternut Squash Tortellacci - A butternut squash ravioli type dish with dried cranberries, garlic, leeks, roasted red peppers, parsley, gorgonzola and toasted pumpkin seeds in a light sage cream sauce. This was truly delicious! I savored every bite of this dish!!!! I would highly recommend this if you ever dine at the Walnut Room!

This was me trying Creme Burlee for the first time ever. I wasn't very impressed. I don't think it had anything to do with the quality of the dish itself, but more a reflection of my distaste for custardy type things. Oh well, at least I can say I've tried it now!

Me and Patty enjoying a "Peppermint Patty." I only tasted a bit of it because it has mint in it and I'm not a fan of mint flavored things.

Patty, Bonnie, & me under the Christmas tree in the Walnut Room.

After lunch we did some shopping at Macy's. Some for Christmas gifts and some for ourselves!

A section of the Macy's Christmas tree up close.

We walked to the Christkindlmarket. This is an outdoor market that features little shops owned by European(mainly German) artisans. We walked around there for quite a while enjoying the beautiful items for sale and the yummy smells of their baked goods.

Bonnie and Patty by the HUGE tree at the market.
I had been amazed by the hugeness of this tree until some of my students commented on Facebook that it's not actually one tree, but instead a whole bunch of trees wired together to make one massive tree. That took a bit of the thrill away for me, but I still enjoyed it none the less.

After the market we dropped off packages at the car and then went to Trader Joe's! If you read my blog often you will recognize that store name! Every time I get to a big city that has one I have to stop and buy some fun new foods. After Trader Joes we went to Buca de Beppos for dinner...another name you'll recognize from my blog! I love this restaurant...so yummy!

This was our sampler platter that we shared at Buca's - Quatro al Forno...Cheese Manicotti, Chicken Cannelloni, Baked Ravioli, and Stuffed Shells. I still think their Cheese Manicotti is one of the best things on their menu...along with the bruschetta, which we also had! :)

Bonnie and me enjoying the snow! I was probably enjoying it more than her! :)

Patty, me, and Bonnie in the elevator going down to the car to leave.

After dinner we walked through the snow back to the car and headed home. The speedy trip which we experience d on the way to Chicago was not to be experienced on the way home though. The trip home took about 5 1/2 hours due to rush hour traffic and copious amounts of snow. Despite the slow travel time we arrived home safely late Tuesday night feeling great about our fun day!

A view of the city as we left in the midst of the snow!