I made almost all Christmas shows I would ever want to make this holiday season, except for the Nutcracker. The Christmas Carol closed for several because of the exposure in the cast, but they are back on stage.
The vaccination requirements for pretty much all indoor spaces go into effect on January 3, and I hope that it will go like this without closing everything. In Finland, they are closing theaters, pools, and gyms starting from Tuesday but still have libraries open, as my friend informed me.
I hope that in Chicago we will be able to keep things open with vaccine mandate and avoid massive closing and going remote!
Great pre-Christmas gift from my friend! I love flavored coffee, and it is so difficult to find flavor with no sweetness!
The only problem is boldness or absence of it. I do not understand how you can possibly make 8-10 cups from this packet. I started from 4 cups, and it turned out that I needed to make only three cups out of one package for the correct strength. Which is pretty much what I have for breakfast, so the problem was resolved 🙂
This Christmas card makes me smile:). My friend from Russia cross-stitched it for me. The words in Russian say: Staying at Grandma’s. And they even have a dog!
I nearly forgot to post the news that Santa (Joulupukki) left his workshop in the village of Korvatunturilta in Lapland and is on his way to distributing presents to children in Finland and the rest of the world. And here is the true footage from yesterday.
Also, here is a story about how Santa Claus became a resident of Finland, and also a lot about Finnish Christmas traditions – some of it was news to me!
I had two more cultural events last week: I went to see the Christmas Carol at Goodman and then to the Music of the Baroque holiday concert at the Alice Milar Chapel in Evanston. The Goodman play is a holiday classic, and the concert is the one I wanted to attend for many years, but it was difficult to get to the location while I lived in Palatine. I took mom with me for both things, and both times it ended badly. Some things can hopefully be corrected for the future, but with some, I do not really know what to do. Unfortunately, these two performances didn’t result in any holiday cheer.
Yesterday, I was at the CSO holiday concert – what a delight! It was a last-minute decision; I was not sure I would fit it into my schedule comfortably. I decided just a couple of days before the concert, and I also invited one of my friends with her daughter. It was their first time for both of them in the CSO, and I like to take people to the CSO for the first time almost as much as I like to teach people to skate!
It was a very good concert, very festive, the one which helps to feel the holiday magic. I can recall a couple of more exciting shows, which would tell a story (like the one based on O’Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi or the one about the Christmas truce during WWI), but this one was still very good.
The best thing was that the CSO returned to the holiday tradition and presented “Christmas in Chicago” at the end (and as it ought to be, it was not on the program). I think it was in 2018 when they did not sing this song, and I was so upset with it that I ended up not going in 2019!
SO this year, the concert is back, and Christmas in Chicago is back!
And for those who for some reason never heard this song, here ae official lyrics:
Christmas in Chicago – lyrics
Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas
It’s just what Christmas ought to be
Snowflakes fill the frosty air, skaters frolic on the square
And on State Street dazzling windows are a beautiful sight to see
Christmas in Chicago, as hearts fill with wonder
Lights sparkle all along Magnificent Mile
I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas
At Christmas all Chicago wears a smile
The City of Big Shoulders wears a robe of winter white
The lion statues wear their wreaths of green
Picasso’s sculpture wears a cheerful multicolored glow
Reflected from the city’s Christmas tree
Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter
And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall
I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas
It’s like no other Christmas at all
Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas
It’s just what Christmas ought to be
We’ll make a trip to carol at the zoo in Lincoln Park
We’ll sing for kangaroo and chimpanzee
We’ll warm up with hot chocolate there and then we’ll go downtown
To Marshall Field’s and sit on Santa’s knee
Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas
It’s just what Christmas ought to be
Sleigh bells ring on horsedrawn cabs near Water Tower Place
Church bells peal from steeples ’round the town
Salvation Army Santas add a joyful ring-a-ling
The Loop is filled with happy Christmas sounds
Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter
And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall
I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas
It’s like no other Christmas at all
Chicago’s kind of Christmas is a magic kind of Christmas
It’s like no other Christmas at all
Yesterday, I was at the CSO holiday concert – what a delight! It was a last-minute decision; I was not sure I would fit it into my schedule comfortably. I decided just a couple of days before the concert, and I also invited one of my friends with her daughter. It was their first time for both of them in the CSO, and I like to take people to the CSO for the first time almost as much as I like to teach people to skate!
It was a very good concert, very festive, the one which helps to feel the holiday magic. I can recall a couple of more exciting shows, which would tell a story (like the one based on O’Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi or the one about the Christmas truce during WWI), but this one was still very good.
The best thing was that the CSO returned to the holiday tradition and presented “Christmas in Chicago” at the end (and as it ought to be, it was not on the program). I think it was in 2018 when they did not sing this song, and I was so upset with it that I ended up not going in 2019!
SO this year, the concert is back, and Christmas in Chicago is back!
And for those who for some reason never heard this song, here are official lyrics:
Christmas in Chicago – lyrics
Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas
It’s just what Christmas ought to be
Snowflakes fill the frosty air, skaters frolic on the square
And on State Street dazzling windows are a beautiful sight to see
Christmas in Chicago, as hearts fill with wonder
Lights sparkle all along Magnificent Mile
I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas
At Christmas all Chicago wears a smile
The City of Big Shoulders wears a robe of winter white
The lion statues wear their wreaths of green
Picasso’s sculpture wears a cheerful multicolored glow
Reflected from the city’s Christmas tree
Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter
And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall
I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas
It’s like no other Christmas at all
Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas
It’s just what Christmas ought to be
We’ll make a trip to carol at the zoo in Lincoln Park
We’ll sing for kangaroo and chimpanzee
We’ll warm up with hot chocolate there and then we’ll go downtown
To Marshall Field’s and sit on Santa’s knee
Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas
It’s just what Christmas ought to be
Sleigh bells ring on horsedrawn cabs near Water Tower Place
Church bells peal from steeples ’round the town
Salvation Army Santas add a joyful ring-a-ling
The Loop is filled with happy Christmas sounds
Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter
And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall
I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas
It’s like no other Christmas at all
Chicago’s kind of Christmas is a magic kind of Christmas
The last several days were filled with visits and conversations, making me feel very good. Yesterday, Anna and her family visited me, and the highlight of the day was going skating at Millennium Park. I told Nadia a long time ago that I would teach her to skate, and we pretty much did it yesterday! She was able to glide for a bit, and she got the feeling of skating rather than walking on ice. I am sure that next time she is on the skating rink, she will skate on her own. We also had a short visit to the Art Institue and saw the Neapolitan Creche, and then we came back to my house, and Anna made dinner for everybody. Initially, we didn’t plan to eat at home, but we ended up having lunch and dinner at my house. Lunch was a takeout, and then Anna made an awesome paste dinner. I rarely make pasta for myself because it is challenging to make pasta for one :). So it was all good.
I received two presents with my Saturday mail: one from my very dear friend in Chicago and one from my friends in Ireland.
We haven’t seen each other in person for a while now, and my friend made a collage of several photos of us togetherOne more ornament – love it!Continue reading “People’s Connections”→
My Christmas ornaments come from all over the world, and I have a story about each ornament on my tree. Lena’s mother is an artist in Saint-Petersburg. She makes jewelry and stunning Christmas ornaments; I have several ornaments that she painted – Lena gifts one for me almost each Christmas. Now, I follower both her and her mother on Instagram, and I saw this ornament with the squirrel and commented that I love it most.
Well, I got it :). Others on this Instagram post are the ones from previous years.
Last weekend, when Lena visited me, we went to the Christkindle Market. Lena didn’t have an opportunity to visit it for many years! It turned out that she didn’t even know that Chicago’s official Christmas tree was moved to Millennium Park!
By then, I visited the marked four of five times, and there was no problem getting in, but there was a huge line to enter that time! The line circled Daley Center twice, and although it was moving pretty fast, it took us 35 minutes to get inside.
Inside, the market was packed! However, it turned out that people didn’t really look around – there were food stands with no lines at all, so we were able to get our drinks (I brought the mug which I got during one of my previous visits, and Lena got a new one), and then food – this time, I chose a “kilometer” sausage.
Hettie's Reflections 