My Holiday in Pictures, Part 2

Okay, I was planning to post this back on Dec 29th last year (dang 2011!), but the place in Tahoe I was staying at decided that its wireless connection was incompatible with my computer. So, you're going to get an onslaught of posts that were meant to be posted in the last week. Sorry! But at least you get to read/hear my chatter incessantly for the next few days. You like that, right? Riiiiiight??? On with the show!

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Once I made it back to good old Chi-town, I met up with one of my cousins to do what I (and many of my family that are females) do best -- shop! Chicago is a pretty fantastic place to wander and shop, so we braved the cold and perused the goods along the Magnificent Mile. Living in the Bay Area where I tend to either take the train or avoid rush hour like the plague, I forgot what traffic was like and ended up in this:



Unfortunately, I was too busy shopping to take any pictures of the stores I was in, but once it was time to warm up with some tea, the picture taking began! Argo Tea, with locations only in New York and Chicago, makes some very delicious tea cocktails (non-alcoholic) like Mate Lattes, Bubble Tea, Earl Grey and Green Ginger Twist. My personal fav is the Mate Latte -- I HAD to get some of the leaves!



After that, it was time to hit Chinatown. By this time, it was around 10pm, but you can't tell the Seven Treasures restaurant that! I've been going here for years for noodle soup with shrimp wontons. Still 3.75 for a bowl! And just as delicious. I haven't found anything comparable in the Bay (anyone know of any? I would love you for ever!), so it tasted extra good.



I know, all I do is take pictures of food. Well, that's not all folks! On Friday, my good friend from Albany came to visit. She's a total foodie, so we hit up a French restaurant in an industrial part of the city called Avec for some wine, cheese and dinner. Oh man, was that a great meal. Wine and cheese by themselves are my favorite and we had some awesome braised pork, brisket with brussel sprouts and farm fresh greens. Not to mention a chocolate soufflé and an affogato!




And then Christmas came. I have had the same really close group of 5 girl friends that have been doing a grab bag for about 15 years. Yes, we have been friends since junior high. Crazy, right? We've all pretty much left our home town, so Christmas morning was the only time we could do the exchange this year. I scored some sweet stuff -- a pair of Skull Candy headphones to rock out in, an awesome board game called Wits and Wagers and some Stila lip gloss! Check out what everyone got:

 

After that was some hanging around with family. We had a 2 night sleepover with 3 families from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. It was so relaxing and fun just to catch up. Not to mention we watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Can't believe Tom Cruise is still doing those movies! Ok, well that's that! I'll have another round of pictures that involves some major thrifting -- it was such a valuable trip!

Thanks for stopping by!