December Part 2: Winter Holidays

Tuesday, Dec. 22-Friday, Dec. 26: Family Time in Texas 

Mr. E and I headed out on the afternoon of Dec. 22 to spend the Christmas holiday with the Austin crew, per usual. When we got to SMF, we learned that our connecting flight through San Diego was already delayed by nearly 2 hours, so we tried our luck with changing to a different flight through Denver and were able to get seats and arrive within 30 minutes of our original ETA. And the flights weren't even totally full. Yay!

J, B, and I worked most of the day on Dec. 23, although I did make time for a massage at Deep Relief in the early afternoon. Mr. E met up with his friend J for lunch and then took care of errands and groceries for the holiday meals. Then we took C out to Shore for Happy Hour 1/2-price oysters and dinner. The oddly warm weather allowed us to sit out on the patio, which was lovely (although I still would have preferred some cooler temperatures to feel more seasonal). 

The next morning, I heard an odd noise when I got up, and it continued as I went outside for my morning walk. It sounded like an owl, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. But sure enough, as I strolled through the neighborhood, I caught sight of a large owl perched on top of a chimney stack. It looked like a statue at first because it was so still! But then it took off and glided across the street to perch on a different house, where another owl was also surveilling the area. Both of them flew away together after a few moments. So amazing! I've never seen two such large owls out and about in a residential area before!!

Mr. E spent most of the 24th working in the kitchen, with some pauses throughout the day for family interactions. I did some errands in the afternoon, and then J and crew headed off to church for the kid's pageant while Mr. E and I finished up getting dinner ready. The preparations for Santa were a bit tardy, but eventually J managed to finish reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas so that most of us could head to bed, leaving cookies and milk for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, and the lit-up tree to welcome in the gifts.

On Christmas morning, Mr. E made his traditional biscuits and gravy and soft egg scramble for the family before the kids started to open their stocking gifts from Santa. Later in the afternoon, K and A came over for lunch and to hang out for the rest of the day, including some outdoor sports time and a rousing bout of pre-dinner Monopoly. The next day, Mr. E and I had breakfast with the kids while J went to yoga, and then we headed to the airport for our return flight to Sac. So good to be home with the kitties and in our own bed!

Monday, Dec. 29-Wednesday, Dec. 31: San Francisco Visit

Since we had decided not to go to Vancouver for NYE this year, we opted instead for a two-night visit to SF via Amtrak. The train ride gave us a great view of the high water levels due to the recent rains, especially when crossing the causeway between Sac and Davis. We got a Lyft from the Emeryville station to Hotel Nikko near Union Square. This was our first time at the hotel, but we'd seen it several times before when staying at the Hilton next door and decided to give it a try, especially since we'd noticed the picture of the lovely indoor lap-swim pool in an atrium-like setting. We booked a 1-bedroom suite with access to the Club Lounge so that we could have breakfast each day and the wine and cheese reception each night. The hotel had some pretty decorations throughout the lobby area:

We lucked out with having the room available even though we were a bit early for the standard check-in time, so we were able to unpack and then take a peek at the Lounge on the 23rd floor and the workout facilities on the 5th floor before heading to the nearby Macy's so that I could get my watch battery replaced. We grabbed some lunch in the lower level food court and then did a bit of shopping. No luck for Mr. E, but I managed to find two pairs of jeans on sale, which is quite rare for me!

For the evening, we enjoyed the snacks and beverages in the Lounge, and I brought some extra wine back to the room for the rest of the night while Mr. E had a couple of cocktails at the hotel restaurant and at the nearby Hilton lobby bar. Our corner room had a pretty nice view of the city at night.

On Tuesday morning, I went for a walk through Union Square before swimming laps for my primary workout. The pool got a little busy for a bit, but I was still able to complete my workout by outlasting everyone else. We had breakfast in the Club Lounge along with several Americanos. 

Our primary destination for the day was the Legion of Honor to see the Manet & Morisot exhibition. We had tickets for a noon entry, and we decided to take the bus rather than a Lyft since we had plenty of time. After leaving our stuff at the coat check-in, we spent about 90 minutes enjoying the exhibition, which we both agreed was one of the best we've seen. Learning more about how these two artists influenced each other and seeing their works hung side by side was really fascinating, and we both felt that Morisot was the more talented of the two painters, although of course she didn't have as much renown as Manet.

 

We took a different bus back towards Union Square and got off in Chinatown so that we could do some browsing, primarily for more Lucky Cats to add to my collection. We procured several, including one quite large one that came in its own special carrying box!

Lunch was at a floating sushi boat restaurant near the main Chinatown Gate (yes, sushi in Chinatown, I know...). Then some time at the hotel to read, workout, do some travel planning, and partake of the evening reception again. I accompanied Mr. E to the Hilton lobby bar this time and had an n/a beverage since I was feeling the effects of the wine from the lounge. He lingered at the Hilton when I returned to our hotel to order some room service (needed to use our daily $10 F&B credit!). Later, he got some yummy shrimp and veggies at Oma Sushi as well, which we'll definitely have to remember as a good option for a future visit.

I repeated my walk on Wednesday morning and brought my phone this time so that I could take pictures of some of the holiday decorations in and around Union Square. I especially loved the polar bear "helpers" lined up and waiting at the ice rink!

After breakfast at the lounge, we packed up and spent some time reading in the room before walking to the Amtrak bus stop near the Salesforce tower to begin our trip back to Sac. A really lovely trip, and we managed to miss most of the rain in both places!

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.