Plans Change: But I Still Hate Shopping

As we get older, things change. Most of my father's comments on this blog prove that I've changed quite a bit since I was a born and particularly in the last few years, but there are a few things about me that have not changed: I still hate shopping and I absolutely detest crowds.

Good thing our plans for the day brought me in direct contact with both today! 

Pretzels

We spent the morning at my place -- mainly because my mom needed to work and my sister wanted to sleep -- and then went to the Christmaskindlemarket downtown. I'd heard that this was one of the most Christmas-y things to do here and my mom has been super psyched to go here since she Googled it. None of us realized exactly how many people would be at this "little" German market. Hint, it was a lot. But, I was comforted (barely) by all of the food. We got potato pancakes, lots of pretzels (including a cheesecake pretzel!) and candy. We didn't stay too long because I hated all of the people touching me, but it was good to go just because now it means I never have to go again.

Cuties

After that, we went to the Bean, which is always a good time and slightly less crowded. From there, we went to Macy's to see the Christmas tree and look at the shop windows. If the crowds at the Christmaskindlmarket were a lot for me, then the crowds in the eight story, perfumed department store nearly killed me. Whitney and my mom love shopping. I never have and clearly never will. Eventually, we moved on from Macy's to Target, but not even that could help me when confronted with Christmas shoppers. 

After I convinced my family to take pity on me (and they realized that they could go shopping tomorrow when I have to work), we headed to the subway! Down on the subway, we saw the ad for Tony N Tina's. Whitney was not impressed -- simply noting that the actor who plays Tony isn't wearing a wedding ring in the show.

Food in the air.

Plans, like people, also change, because when I said there wouldn't be hot chocolate in my last blog post, I lied. I did not intentionally mislead you, but there was hot cocoa today. The first cup came at the Christmaskindlmarket. It was very clearly instant cocoa mix but it came in a commemorative mug and since I will never be going back to the Christmaskindlmarket for as along as I live, it's good that I have this mug to prove that I was there.

So Instagram ready.

The second cup came from Bittersweet. This stop on the Hot Cocoa Crawl happens to be directly across the street from the one and only Chicago Theater Works so we knew it would be easy to get to but we decided that we should try it today. Even though it is across the street from where I work, I have only been to Bittersweet to steal their free samples. They are primarily a bakery but I have sworn off of Chicago cupcakes for the time being so I've never eaten there and the one time I tried to go in for hot chocolate, the line was so long that I decided to sneak my sample and just leave. I'm glad I did, because getting it with my mom and sister was so much fun. It came deconstructed with the cocoa in a tea pot and the whipped cream in a dish so you know it's classy (and stupid trendy). It was worth the wait. It was infused with orange and it was definitely one of the most unique cups of cocoa any of us has ever had. Our only complaint was that it was warm and not hot. If it had been toastier, we would not have had a single quarrel (ok, I might have picked a small fight with Whitney because she asked me to order her a water bottle that turned out to be two dollars and then they gave us water when we sat down... so she got the world's bougiest water on my dime).

After that, we walked up and down the street to burn off some calories before we stopped at Cheesie's for dinner. Ah, Cheesie's, the promised land. In my humble opinion, everyone who takes a trip to Chicago must make a pilgrimage there and I would be a bad person if I neglected to bring my two favorite women there. They weren't really hungry but they were thirsty, so I ordered the drinks along with fried pickles, fried mac and cheese bites and a Frenchie sandwich for myself since I had to head to work (they planned on getting sandwiches after I left).

Now I'm writing covertly from The Roast of Ebenezer Scrooge because there isn't too much for me to do during this show, unlike TnT, and given how loud and distinct my mother's laugh is, I can tell she's having a good time tonight.