The Eve of the Eve of New Year's Eve

Work was annoying (to say the least) today, so to get my mind off of it, Mr. F took me out to dinner at Erie Cafe! Source: flickr.com via Emily on Pinterest

I had an delectable breaded veal pork chop and we got tiramisu for dessert! 

Now we're watching the awesome movie, Colombiana. Luc Besson wrote the screenplay.

Source: imdb.com via Emily on Pinterest

Mr. F and I love "Leon: The Professional", Source: movies.netflix.com via Karen on Pinterest

"The Fifth Element" Source: google.com via Heather on Pinterest

and "La Femme Nikita", also written by Luc Besson.

I'm really looking forward to a long weekend and sleeping in! What are you doing for New Year's Eve?

Planning for New Year's Eve

I'm really looking forward to New Year's Eve. My best friend since middle school is coming to visit!This is us, last Christmas, in 2010.
As soon as she gets here, there will be lots of laughing,

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and dressing up for the evening!

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Andy Mac and I met in the 5th and 6th grade. We used to drink a lot of Dr. Pepper and gossip about boys.

Source: darrellmankin.org via Rhonda on Pinterest

(I do not have any scanned in photos from those years, but I'm not too sad, because those were the years of frizzy hair, glasses and braces!)

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I remember when Andy Mac helped me get my first email address and taught me how to use AOL instant messaging in middle school! She used to dream of becoming a pilot. (And she actually became one!) I wanted to be everything from a veterinarian, a doctor, and/or a fashion model. We also played Junior Varsity Volleyball and Softball together in high school. Check out these pictures, circa 2000 and 2001.  Can you find us?
Here's Andy Mac, at Mr. F's and my first apartment in 2005, with our guy friends from college.In 2006, Andy Mac lived in Honolulu. Of course, I visited! Since then, she's lived in D.C., Boston, Youngstown, NY, Del Rio, TX, Little Rock, AK, briefly in Spokane, WA, and now she's moving back to upstate New York. I've been a punk and only visited her in Hawaii and D.C.. Andy Mac spoke at my wedding in 2008.Most recently, I saw her when she was driving across the country from Youngstown to Seattle. Of course, she stopped over in Chicago for a night!Hopefully,we can meet between Youngstown and Chicago this summer, perhaps in Michigan!

Merry Christmas from St. Louis

We drove to St. Louis on Friday, with a car filled with presents and two cats. Lily Thomas was ready to co-pilot. Mr. F's family and I went to the St. Louis Art Museum to see the Monet exhibit, that afternoon.

Today, we met up with some of Mr. F's high school buddies before celebrating Christmas Eve at his Aunt's house. We all loved the paper crowns that we found in our poppers!We had an amazing turkey and pork roast dinner with our cousins. 

Merry Christmas!

My Random Christmas Mix

Please enjoy my Christmas mix!

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Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by Jack Johnson
All I Want for Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!) by Justin Bieber & Mariah Carey
A Great Big Sled (feat. Toni Halliday) by The Killers, (RED) Christmas - EP
Little Saint Nick by She & Him, A Very She & Him Christmas

Source: amazon.com via Emily on Pinterest

My Only Wish  by Jessica Simpson
Christmases When You Were Mine by Taylor Swift
Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
Christmas Lights by Coldplay
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by Arthur Fiedler & Boston Pops Orchestra, A Christmas Festival
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Judy Garland
Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairy by Performed By The Appollonia Symphony Orchestra, The Nutcracker Suite
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Bing Crosby
White Christmas by Louis Armstrong
The Christmas Waltz by She & Him, A Very She & Him Christmas
Men of Snow by Ingrid Michaelson, Everybody
Waltz Of The Snowflakes by Performed By The Appollonia Symphony Orchestra, The Nutcracker Suite
20 Years Of Snow by Regina Spektor, Begin To Hope 
Holiday (iTunes Session) by Vampire Weekend
Frosty the Snowman by Fiona Apple, Winter Songs

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Dance Of The Flowers by Performed By The Appollonia Symphony Orchestra, The Nutcracker Suite

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The Nutcracker, tomorrow night!

I'm so excited to see the Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker tomorrow night!!

Today I read on the Chicagoist website that, the Nutcracker debuted on Dec. 18, 1892 at The Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. "The Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker first premiered in Chicago in 1996, and is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary at The Auditorium Theater with 20 performances from Dec. 9 till Dec. 27. 118 young dancers from Chicago and beyond join the Joffrey company onstage. Apart from the young dancers, young vocalists from The Barrington Children’s Choir, The British School of Chicago Choir, The Lake Bluff Middle School Choir, The Pro Musica Youth Chorus, and The Providence-St. Mel School Choir perform the choral parts from the magical Snow Scene. In addition, The Chicago Sinfonietta provides the live accompaniment of the classic Tchaikovsky score."

TGIF

I'm so excited that it's Friday! I'm ready to sleep in, catch up on my blogging and to finish reading "A Feast of Crows".

Mr. F and I are also super psyched that we're going to see the Muppets with our buddies on Sunday. We have discounted tickets too!

Source: imdb.com via Emily on Pinterest

I'm really looking forward to Christmas in St. Louis and almost all the presents are wrapped in preparation. I've sent off presents to Seattle earlier this week and they should all be arriving soon!

I just found out that my parents and sisters are coming to visit Chicago in January!!!! I cannot wait to show them our fabulous new apartment and city. Mr. F and I plan on taking them for deep dish pizza immediately! I can't wait to play tourist with them. We also will go ice skating in Millenium Park.

Source: culturemob.com via Emily on Pinterest

Do you all have any other suggestions? The Shedd Aquarium?

Date Night: Nacional 27

Mr. F and I went to Nacional 27 for a date night tonight!

First, we had the empanadas for appetizers! 

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[My photo vs the professional photo.] Are you hungry?
















  

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We loved the dance floor/dining room!

Source: flickr.com via Emily on Pinterest

We had skirt steak for two, with rice and beans, roasted corn and red and green peppers! 

For dessert, we had the amazing Grand Mariner Chocolate Cake with strawberries.

We enjoyed our dinner so much that we'd love to go back for the salsa lessons on Thursday! They also have a New Years Eve event that could be fun too! 

Our Christmas filled weekend!

This weekend we went to the Christmas Mart in the Loop! We ordered Bluwein and got ceramic boots with the hot mulled wine!It was about 26 degrees on Saturday night but we didn't mind perusing the ornament shops with friends in the cold. 

 We saw tiny wooden bears holding cats,  many different Nutcrackers, and even dragons!

We had to get a group photo in front of the giant Christmas tree too! 

Earlier on Saturday, we found a new fake Christmas tree at Home Depot! It has multicolored LED lights too! Mr. F and I had so much fun putting up our favorite ornaments. We have our cake toppers on display, as well as our new Chicago ornament. We also enjoyed listening to Christmas music and trying a crisp vintage Riesling as we put up the ornaments! 

 

 On Sunday, we drove out to the West suburbs and went grocery shopping with Mr. F's aunt, before a pilates lesson and a birthday dinner for Mr. F's cousin! We loved going to Standard Market. It was like an old-fashioned, big, more open Whole Foods. We especially enjoyed more space in the aisles and huge wooden beams! There were tons of samples too. I even found a few extra stocking stuffers for my family in Seattle!

I'm really looking forward to the next two weeks before Christmas! My cousin and I are going for mani/pedis on Wednesday, this weekend we're having dinner with Mr. F's Aunt and Uncle again, next week the girls and I are going to see the Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker, and then we're doing a gift exchange with friends, before driving to St. Louis for a long Christmas weekend!

Source: joffrey.org via Emily on Pinterest

MERRY CHRISTMAS and to all, a GOOD NIGHT!