Merry (Belated) Christmas!

Where does the time go? I hope you had a sweet holiday with your fam’ and fur friends.

Knight is enjoying the holidays immensely; I haven’t ridden him since the end of November due to his colic/ulcers and my travels. I suppose I could have ridden him this weekend but it was blustery and gusting and I opted for the safe route (waiting until my trainer rides him–which is happening today). #SafetyFirst

How do you do?

He’s almost at the end of his 30 days of GastroGard (which is not the same as UlcerGard, so I learned) and will be going back to the hospital this week to get scoped again to see how his stomach lining is faring. Hoping for the best!

A highlighted recap of our Christmas (I have enough material for several blog posts–let me know if you want more details on any of the following). If you are planning a trip to Chicago you might even get a few tips on what to do!!!

This is the tamer, winter version of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

Lou Malnati’s dreamy pizza.

1. Eating Lou Malnati’s Pizza. Twice. If you’ve been there, you’ll understand. It’s pizza that will make a Chicago transplant who can’t get it in Southern California cry. And the manager gave us a tour of the kitchen! They’re opening a Lou’s in Arizona next year. It’s not just good pizza, but a great business. We heard glowing reports of how well all the employees are taken care of (these are the things you learn when married to a talker and when your dad is inquisitive–and that a chemist has to test the water to make sure it’s “just right” to yield a proper Lou’s crust).

Please install that light fixture in my house.

2. Watching the Property Brothers transform a barn (on TV). I kept taking pictures of the screen because I’m just that dorky. They’re good looking, funny, can fix homes, AND they ride (or at least did growing up). Single gals, look no further!

#TooCrowded

3. Attending the annual Christkindlmarket in downtown Chicago with my sister and niece and husband. (Check out the Picasso sculpture in the pic below). Wall to wall people. Despite my German heritage, I’m not that big on strudel and I don’t need a cuckoo clock. I still don’t understand the Christmas pickle ornament. It’s really a thing. I don’t want to be down on the event, but it was simply too crowded to be enjoyable. Unless you enjoy strangers in your zero to 18 inch personal space. I’m game to try it again when it’s less mobbed.

Mark is new to wearing scarves. Creative.

4. Viewing the Christmas tree at Macy’s Marshall Field’s on State Street. A Chicago holiday tradition. That store is 8 floors of shopping glory and history.

Can I move in to this floor at Restoration Hardware?

5. Dining with a friend at the world’s most stunning Restoration Hardware (RH it has a restaurant–weird, but cool). Check out my favorite floor! By the way, said friend gave me Sasquatch socks for Christmas and I couldn’t be happier.

6. Serving alongside my mom and hubby at Willow Creek Church’s Care Center. I was stationed in the grocery to help guests know how many of certain items they were entitled to. Not your traditional church food pantry. It was awesome!

Willow Creek Care Center Grocery

7. Going to see Star Wars. This is a big deal because I am so NOT a Star Wars person. The things we do for love (and nieces and nephews). I should do a review for the non Star Wars person if there are any of that ilk in the universe.

8. Tasting Mark’s blueberry pancakes for Christmas Eve eve dinner while live streaming the Willow Creek Christmas service.

9 Unwrapping my very own Thriller album on Christmas Eve. I don’t have a record player. Details, details!

Thriller is still thrilling without a record player.

10. Hanging out with my Illinois and California fams.

Merry Belated Christmas from The Smiths!

There were several other highlights such as drinking my coffee in my fluffy robe on Christmas morning and looking down to see that a herd of ants was crawling all over me. Very Hitchcock. So Mark and I had to move the refrigerator out to find their trail and try to combat the beasts. They never show that kind of thing happening in the Christmas movies.

Sisters at The Bean.

I also got to see another sweet friend whose dad is famous for doing a plank on their kitchen island–legs stretched out. The pictures of this impressive feat have circulated around Facebook for years and I was there to witness the actual event. I would share photos of the “gymnast,” but he made a comment on his form–it wasn’t up to his usual standards, at least not in the shot that I got. So you’ll just have to imagine someone like your dad planking on a countertop with legs extended behind him. I just tried it myself and I couldn’t get my torso lifted enough for it to be a plank. You try it.

There’s a wrap up of my quirky holiday. How was yours? Did you have any crazy experiences?

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