December Part 1: Winter in Evanston

Week of December 1: Books, Books, Books & Holiday Activities

Mr. E and I both attended the History Book Club at EPL on Monday evening. The group's selection was part one of Victor Klemperer's memoir I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years 1933-1941. More than 20 people showed up for the discussion, which was quite a large group! The book was a challenging read at times, both for its subject matter and its densely detailed style, and we enjoyed hearing the responses and perspectives of Jeff, the library staff who facilitated the conversation, along with the other attendees.

On Tuesday evening, I went to Books & Bites, an annual activity for the WCE at local bookstore Bookends & Beginnings. The WCE provided snacks, and the store was open just for our group to browse after hearing gift recommendations from the store's owner. I of course couldn't help purchasing some cat-themed items along with several of the "Blind Date Books" as gifts for my Sac book club.

The next evening, I was back at EPL for my Better Off Read book group, and we discussed the intriguing novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xóchitl González. I really love this book group, and the library staff facilitator, Bridgett, always has great ice-breaker intro questions along with interesting prompts for discussion. 

Thursday evening was our first holiday activity of the week, a performance of the Charlie Brown Christmas album by the Chris White Trio at the Evanston History Center. Some sweets and winter beverages were available, including a yummy holiday snack mix with peppermint yogurt-covered nuggets and pretzels. We enjoyed the performance, although I had a tough time with some of the longer improvisational solos. I know that's a traditional part of jazz music, but it all started to sound the same to me at a certain point and made some of the songs unnecessarily long. After the concert, we went to the Homestead Room because there was a special offering of a complementary cocktail with any appetizer or entree for people who had attended the concert. Unfortunately, the staff at the restaurant and bar were completely unaware of this offer and totally unprepared for a sudden influx of people at 8:30pm. Once we realized how long it would take to get any service, we decided to just pay for the cocktails and skip the food.

Throughout the week, we really enjoyed having all of our holiday decorations, including some new spiral trees lights, the window clings, and our cat-proof hanging ornaments on the overhead light fixtures.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Duke It Out! Nutcracker at the Music Institute of Chicago. This was a fun and family-friendly short version of the second act of the Nutcracker with each of the scenes presented first with the classical Tchaikovsky music and then with the contemporary Duke Ellington jazz arrangement. The dance styles also alternate between more classical and more contemporary, with a variety of local dance companies participating. We enjoyed the show, but it really made me crave a full professional performance of The Nutcracker!

Next up in the evening on Saturday was the community tree lighting at Fountain Square, followed by a splurge dinner at the high-end restaurant Alcove and a holiday concert at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.

We wrapped up our week with an afternoon performance of Six at the CIBC Theatre on Sunday and post-show afternoon tea at Russian Tea Time Restaurant with Mr. E's mom.

Since the temperatures stayed cold, the snow and ice lingered all week, and I got some really good wintery photos during my morning walks!

Week of December 8: More Holiday Activities, Return to Sac

On Tuesday evening, I had a Community Outreach Committee meeting at the WCE and then returned on Wednesday evening for the annual Holiday Dinner. This year's theme was Northwoods Winter, so there was a lot of flannel in the room! I enjoyed the event and was pleasantly surprised by how much of the food I was able to eat, given my dietary restrictions. 

Unfortunately, I had started to get a scratchy throat that afternoon, which turned into a nasty full-fledged cold on Thursday that lingered for a full week. This meant I wasn't able to attend my Mystery Book Club on Thursday evening or the Evanston Latinos Gala that same night. Luckily, Mr. E wasn't sick, so he went to the Gala and enjoyed the food offerings and community award presentations. I'm glad at least one of us could be there to support the organization and the Latine/x community!

The shorter days were brightened a bit by our holiday lights and the holiday decorations throughout the common areas of our building.

On Saturday morning, we went out for our final Le Peep brunch of 2025, braving the VERY cold temperature and wind along the way. Earlier in the week, we had passed out Whole Foods gift cards to all of the apartment staff since we knew we'd be heading back to Sac on Saturday afternoon. After taking down our holiday decorations and doing other prep for the relocation (packing, cleaning, laundry, etc.), we still had enough time to go check out the ice rink at the Arrington Lagoon, which was open for the first time of the season. Not many skaters today!!!

We got picked up by Norshore Cab at 5:30pm for our trip to the airport, which was surprisingly quiet, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the United Club for a bit as we waited for our flight. We had opted for First Class seats this time because the price was quite reasonable, and it was nice to have some extra space, although we were a bit disappointed to see that the kitty carriers didn't fit very well due to the type of plane we were in (my flight with Louis in October was obviously a different kind of equipment, because his carrier fit just fine under the seat when we got upgraded to First Class). Unfortunately, we were delayed by about 30 minutes and then of course had to wait at least 30 minutes for our checked bag in Sac, so we didn't get home to Q Street until after midnight. *yawn*

Sunday morning was my Sac book club, so I picked up fruit on my way there since of course we had nothing in the house after being gone for three months. It was nice to reconnect and enjoy all of M's amazing holiday decorations. Mr. E took care of grocery shopping and other errands once I got home while I worked on putting up our own decorations. We want to enjoy them as much as we can before the end of the month!

It's nice to be in Sac to reconnect with friends, although I think we both miss Evanston and really feel more at home there now. I certainly don't miss the frigid temperatures, but I'll be glad to return at the end of February to enjoy the tail end of winter and the arrival of Spring.