ninainthechi

Just A Chi Town Girl’s Last(ish) Minute Gift Guide

ninainthechiDecember 15, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

For those on your list that didn’t specifically ask for a robe (again), Christmas shopping can end up snowballing (holiday pun intended) into an ordeal. Here are a few things that are on my gift go-to list that I think are great for everyone from your sister to her boyfriend that you have never met to the co-worker who you know is getting you something so you should probably have something wrapped and ready to go.

Cooking Like a Master Chef: Chef Graham Elliot has won Michelin Stars, cooking shows (any heard of a little thing called Master Chef?), James Beard nominations all while running 2 very successful Chicago restaurants and now he has another winner on his hands- his new and first ever cookbook. It’s equal parts inspiring and accessible which means this is something your pro-in-the-kitchen dad will eat up as well as your roommate who is hoping to make something other than ramen in the new year. Our holiday menu is filled with recipes from this cookbook!

KeySmart: I know, I know- getting someone a key chain for Christmas sounds lame but I have been using my KeySmart for 6 months and I love it. Fishing in my bag for a jingle of keys that resembled that of a janitor was annoying so when I saw a co-worker with this neat stack of keys that fit cleanly in his pocket, I ordered one immediately. With the extensions, up to 20 keys can fit in there and it will hands down be the most useful thing under the tree this year.

Duke Cannon Soap: It’s pithy, honest, American and doesn’t give a f*ck. Did I mention its soap? With product names “Big Ass Bar of Soap” that “smells like victory/productivity/accomplishment”, this men’s skin care company is for dude’s dudes. Aaand I am going say women who like dude’s dudes too because I most certainly bought 2 bars, one for my dad and one for my husband, and while my dad did get his I definitely took ownership of the one in our house because it smelled so damn good. And who doesn’t want to start the day smelling like victory?

NARS Gipsy Lipstick: My best friend always gifts me the best beauty products. I mentioned this to her on my birthday this year and she said that she loves giving people something they can love, use up and then not have it laying around the house. I think she is on to something. This sheer red lipstick is my daily go-to and the perfect new color to play with after you change out of your Christmas jammies.

Club W: The gift that keeps giving, Club W is a wine club that allows the recipient to select what wine arrives each month. With videos of sommeliers discussing the bottles available via their sleek app, there’s no surprise when a shipment arrives and it’s a really great way to try new varietals you’ve never heard of. Winter is coming (in theory)- the people on your Christmas list might as well be well prepared, right?

There Was A Singalong

ninainthechiDecember 14, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

On Friday night I attended my husband’s work holiday party at a ~~house~~ mansion on a street that I have walked by for years and it surpassed every dream I ever had about how insanely gorgeous it must be inside and how it would be the perfect house to ornately decorate for Christmas. There was also a singalong led by the host at a baby grand piano that was adjacent to this roaring fire and being there singing these songs while drinking really fancy French wine was basically my Christmas dream come true.

The rest of the weekend was a far cry from the festivity of Friday night (i.e. I didn’t get dressed or leave my house until 6pm on Saturday night and that was only because I needed Jeni’s Ice Creams but this weekend still goes down in the books as a really good one.

That said…there are 11 days until Christmas and I haven’t done nearly all of the Chicago Christmas things and the only Christmas movie I have checked off my list is “While You Were Sleeping” which doesn’t really count because I think my mom and I are the only people who like or consider it a holiday movie. Love Actually, White Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Christkindlmart, Zoo Lights, it’s time to get my holiday game in gear.

Chicago Holiday Happenings

ninainthechiDecember 1, 2015Chicago, Uncategorized%s Comments

It’s the first day of December, my halls are decked and the holiday season in Chicago is on. There’s no better place to get in to a festive spirit than Chicago and below are a few things I am looking forward to this month.

Music Box Theatre Christmas Sing-A-Long: December 11-24; enjoy It’s A Wonderful Life or White Christmas with a theatre full of people who came prepared with bells, costumes and a whole lot of Christmas Spirit. Also- Santa usually makes an appearance!

Brew Lights: December 2; Zoo Lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo and Craft Beer tastings- enough said.

The Southport Stroll: December 4; from 5-9pm, enjoy sales in all the shops along Southport while Santa and Mrs Claus make their rounds, carolers in Victorian costume sing up and down the street and a horse drawn carriage acts as an old fashioned “L”. Because before public transit, there were horses.

CTA Holiday Train: Brown Line – December 2-5, Blue Line – December 10-12, Red Line – December 15, 17, 19; train cars on the “L” wrapped in Christmas everything. It’s amazing, smells really good and Santa and his reindeer brave the elements on a flatbed in between cars.

The Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker: December 4-27; the only thing more beautiful than the theatre itself is this production by the Joffrey Ballet. Stunning and a Christmas classic.

Christkindlmart: through December 24; this German open air market is back in Daley Plaza for its 19th year and also back is the boot shaped mugs for the mulled wine. Thank goodness.

Pure Michigan

ninainthechiNovember 25, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

This morning I woke up in Michigan and threw on warm clothes and ran out the door to meet my parents for a walk. A stop for coffee at a place that my best friend and I used to go to every Friday morning before our summer jobs (Traverse City Cherry coffee for the win) and we were on the water, walking, talking, having those conversations that just don’t happen on the phone. I don’t know if it was the coffee, our brisk pace (strollers our family is not!) or the unexpectedly warm-ish day but layers came off and we took a longer way back to the car because it was so enjoyable, being outside and being together.

And then I stopped to see my 98 year old grandmother who was in the beauty parlor in her assisted living home having her nails done. #priorities

And then I had lunch with my mom at a diner that still has the best chicken rice soup around.

And then I drove home to Chicago, belting out every song from Hamilton 1.5 times because the trip takes longer than the musical does but you don’t have to twist my arm to rap battle Cabinet meetings multiple times.

It was a really good day. Family can happen anywhere and today it happened in my hometown and I really loved it.

Simple Mills: Healthful and Really, Honestly Delicious

ninainthechiNovember 20, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

I love baking. I love having the cookbook open, flour on my hands, measuring each ingredient and anxiously peering in the oven waiting for it to be done. But deciding on a recipe, making sure I have all of the ingredients, cleanup, etc. take time and sometimes I am busy and/or just don’t feel like it. The friends who I wanted to bring a baked good made with love instead get flowers purchased with love because if I can’t bring them something I know is good, no dice.

Truthfully, I have never been a big fan of box mixes because I don’t love consuming things that I can’t pronounce or have no clue what they are. That’s why I was willing to try Simple Mills. The ingredients are clearly listed- they’re simple and, most importantly, all inside the mix. No measuring, no running to the store because you forgot something. All mixes use almond flour, which is a nice switch from traditional flours and if you’re gluten free, jackpot. I knew the true test of Simple Mills was going to be the pumpkin muffins because if we are all being honest, “gluten-free pumpkin muffins” sounds like code for “dry tasteless block of orange.”

Verdict: more like “pillow of pumpkin glory.” You guys. These muffins were good. Really, really good. Moist, lots of flavor and super easy to make. I added bittersweet chocolate to half of the batter because I didn’t want these little guys to be too virtuous. The muffins were great with the chocolate and the ones sans chocolate were delicious solo or with a little almond butter.

I love bringing hostess gifts with something the hosts can eat the following morning. Someone did it for us once and it was genius- after cooking and cleaning up the night before, I woke up hungry but not ready for leftovers and certainly not about to cook something else. These Simple Mills muffins are going to be tucked in our little gift for the Friendsgiving we are attending tomorrow and I am really excited to have an alternative to baking from scratch this holiday season. Healthful and genuinely delicious is a prized combination: two genuine thumbs up from my kitchen.

{Disclosure: the team at Simple Mills sent me the muffin mix gratis and all opinions are my own.}

Link Love

ninainthechiNovember 19, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

{street art in the West Loop}

Bon Appetit Magazine got it absolutely right- listen to your elders when it comes to hosting Thanksgiving. The old lady who said her kitchen has vibes made me laugh!

I am super into podcasts- here are 7 local podcasts you should be listening to right now. I have already downloaded Curious City and can’t wait to find out what Chicago would be like had the Great Fire never happened…

Hosting dinner parties is one of my favorite things in the world. This compilation of tips and anecdotes is really fun and timely for the upcoming holiday season.

You guys. Hamilton. I am not kidding when I say I could barely sleep last night because I was so excited after having listened to both 1st and 2nd acts over the course of my evening. A musical that tells the story of the creation of our country as set to hip hop. It is amazing.

Quotable

ninainthechiNovember 17, 2015Chicago%s Comments

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.

Pablo Picasso

This quote was on the barricade of the new Three Arts Club/Restoration Hardware showroom during construction and even without having seen what the building looked like inside before, what powerful words. Sometimes you have to tear shit down to build it up again. Preach, Pablo.

Also- this furniture store/restaurant/place to sit on couches you don’t own with pastries and espresso and pretend like you live there is really really gorgeous. The space once housed women pursuing the arts in the early 1900s and while I could go on and on about what an architectural gem this place is, click here for legit info from the experts at Architectural Digest.

Paris: Always a City of Light

ninainthechiNovember 16, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

I took this photo on September 13th from the window of the apartment I was staying in with friends in the 7th arrondissement. Shortly after, we took a bottle of champagne to the Eiffel Tower and popped it open right as the lights display began. We were surrounded by people doing the same and when the lights kicked on, the reaction was cheering, clapping, people hugging, kissing, celebrating. It wasn’t a special night per se. The Eiffel Tower glitters with light every night from 9pm to 1am but there is an undercurrent of joy, of celebration, of togetherness that pulses through Paris and it feels natural to let that undercurrent carry you. So… Champagne. Hugging. Toasting. Together.

Obviously, 2 months after this photo was taken was a very different scene in Paris and it goes without saying that the terror attack that unfolded on Friday was horrific and evil and many, many thoughts and prayers have been with the victims and their families ever since.

I leave this here with the sentiment that there is no darkness that can stifle the light of a community, of a culture that carries it with them so strongly as the people of Paris do. Paris is and will always be the City of Light.

Little Miss Sunshine | Dancing to the Finish Line

ninainthechiNovember 12, 2015Uncategorized%s Comments

Remember that scene in Little Miss Sunshine when the pageant officials are trying to prevent Olive from finishing her (slightly questionable) dance routine? And when faced with the choice of potentially shaming their daughter in order to keep the outdated, conforming peace that was the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, the entire family jumps onstage and joins her in dance to the timeless classic “Super Freak“?

It’s such a good scene. I caught it last night and couldn’t stop smiling. Because I think we have all had that- you’re in the middle of what could be considered a train-wreck but you’re being your authentic self so instead of making a fuss, your people dance you to the finish line.

And then you push the van to get it to start and run to jump in. Together. Because vans break down and Grandpas teach weird dances and you travel that road together.

So. Many. Analogies in this movie. So good.

A Call From Santa. Seriously.

ninainthechiNovember 10, 2015Uncategorized%s Comment

I subscribe to the belief that we are all adults here and, as such, we can do what we want. Feel strongly about Thanksgiving having its own month? You and Nordstrom can hold out on holiday cheer until November 27th. I, on the other hand, will not because of the aforementioned I do what I want.

Before October and the week straight I listened to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at work, there was August and the “A Call From Santa!” app. The Christmas Countdown app was the first thing I downloaded when I got an iTouch in 2010 and it’s been a trusty sidekick ever since (45 days until Christmas in case you were wondering) so one night laying in bed playing around on the app store, I was shocked to find there was a entire world of Christmas apps that I didn’t know about.

Enter “A Call From Santa!“.

You guys.

Either call Santa or have Santa call you. Whenever you want.

I just got his voicemail and from there I could select from several options, including learning what he is doing right now (eating dinner with Mrs Claus, FYI). Requesting a call is also an option which is pretty cool because you can put in the child’s (err, person’s) name, age, etc whom the call is going to. I plan on doing this to my husband or our 2 year old friend Finn soon. Depends who plays their cards right.

So I played around with this app over the summer and out of the blue, I got a text message FROM THE BIG GUY:

I don’t know if you can see what is in the background but I was at Binny’s Beverage Depot. I was equal parts super excited about the text and embarrassed that Santa caught me buying booze.

Anyways.

I bring this to your attention so 1) there is no confusion about how I feel about Christmas and its alleged “season” and 2) if you have a little person (or big, no judgment clearly) that would get a kick out of a call from Santa that you can drum up at a moment’s notice, you know about this little app of Christmas joy.

I am totally calling back to put my husband on the naughty list.

{I think this is when legally as a blogger I am supposed to clarify that all opinions are my own and “A Call from Santa!” didn’t pay me to write this but let’s get real: this was the best $1.99 I have ever spent.)

Page 3 of 35
←
1
...
2
3
4
...
35
→

Contact me: