Lost Post: A Quick Visit, the Christkindlmarket, and Rockit

In all of the Christmas craziness, I totally forgot to post these pictures!  Our friend Edgar was in Chicago the week before Christmas for two days for a stop off on his interview tour.  (Edgar is a friend from grad school so he is currently going through the same weird interview process as me.)  Though it was a quick trip, it was so good to see him and show him a little bit of our city.  I had to work most of the time he was in town, but I managed to snag Friday night off for a little fun.

Friday night, we all met up at the Christkindlmarket market (previously mentioned in my Christmas recap post.)  I expected it to be fairly crowded a week before Christmas, but thankfully it wasn't too bad.  I wasn't quite sure where the market was, but our friends told us to walk down Dearborn and look for the big Christmas tree.  Sure enough, it was impossible to miss.  So pretty, especially to see in the middle of freezing cold Chicago!

We made an instant beeline for the gluhwein stand.  If you haven't had gluhwein, you are missing out!  Its a mulled wine, popular in Europe, typically served around the holidays.  Its basically a cross between hot apple cider and red wine.  Yum!  I first had it when my parents moved to London, and then my mom started serving it at my parents annual Christmas open house.  Then when my mom and I went to Belgium for a Christmas market, I practically lived off of it because it was so insanely cold when we were there.

Edgar warming up with some Gluhwein.  Having Edgar (a fellow Texan) in Chicago, made me realize how much I've acclimated to the cold weather here in Chicago.  While I was no doubt freezing this night, poor Edgar was in pain he was so cold lol.  Walking to the market I couldn't stop laughing at Edgar's spontaneous shrieks and shrills from being so cold.

Our favorite Chicago friends!  Without them, we wouldn't have seen half of what we have in Chicago.

Hahaha, this picture makes me laugh out loud.  Edgar's face, the steam from our mugs, remembering how cold we all were and how fast we were trying to drink the gluhwein, lol.  A fun memory for sure.

Cheers to the holidays, friends in town, and loving our fun city!

Nothing like life-long friends to keep you laughing and keep you warm!

For dinner, we headed to Rockit, a posh little burger joint that has recently won a ton of accolades and awards.  It was named by the Tribune as one of the top ten celebrity hangouts in Chicago, so I tried to keep my picture taking to a minimum so I didn't seem like "that person."  But don't kid yourself, if Brit Brit would've walked in, all my cool would have gone out the window.  PS: Matt and I split the Rockit burger: kobe beef, melted brie, fried shallots, and medjool date aioli on a red onion brioche bun with truffle fries.  OMG.SO.GOOD!

I did manage to have my friend Matt snap this picture of me, because I wanted yall to see my nails.  They're still super hard to see, but if you squint or zoom, maybe you'll get an idea.  I wanted something fun for the holidays, so when I got a manicure, I had them do a gold metallic polish with black polka dots.  It almost looked leopard, but not quite, and though my husband thought I'd lost my mind, I thought it was a fun change :)

And since I've posted twice recently about Christmas markets, I thought I'd dig up a picture of my first Christmas market, in Belgium with my mom!  At Christmastime in 2008, my parents were still living in London, so Matt and I went there for Christmas.  I flew over a few days early though so my mom and I could take a girls trip to the Christmas markets in Belgium.  (My parents went to the main market in Germany and came back with rave reviews.)  It was a short trip, but we squeezed in a lot of laughs, a lot of walking, and a lot of shopping.  Here we are in Bruges at the market square.

And here I am, with food, no surprise lol.  Did you know french fries were invented in Belgium?  Who knew?

The grand plaza in Brussels.  If you are ever in Europe at or around the holidays and have time for a side stop, the Christmas markets are wonderful!  But if you can't make it to Europe, just come to Chicago.  The weather is just as cold and the gluhwein is just as good.  And ps: I promise this is my last Christmas post of the season.  Pinky promise :)