Category: everyday life

Christmas Break

So, I have Nadia and Kira here with me for the first part of Christmas break, which means I do not have time for anything else :), so I will make a post tomorrow, when everyone leaves.

So far, we have done Santa Train, Christmas crafts, the Joffrey Nutcracker, the Art Institute, and cookie decorating. Next on our list is Christkindle Market and a holiday manicure :). And then early Christmas presents giving and the Merry Merry Chicago concert on Tuesday.

Skating

The skating season this year is going to be very short, due to the rink closing in early February, and my two trips in between, and I am using any opportunity to go skating, including skating with a big crowd 🙂

Packing And Shipping

I need to count how many total packages I have already mailed; I think it’s more than twenty. Even when I have more than half the addresses in the USPS address book, it still takes time to weigh the parcel, click “does not contain,” enter the dimensions, print the label, cut it out, and attach it. To be honest, when I did it at the kiosk during the after-hours in Palatine, it seemed faster! Or maybe I am getting older and becoming slower 😂.

The last batch was shipped yesterday:

And if you look closer, you will see one more small cookie tin in the background: I received a parcel from Kentucky!

One more angel – or is it a firebird? – on my tree!
One more card over my fireplace!
… and the cookies will mostly go to my girls 🙂

Shipping update:

  • Most of my US parcels have reached their destination
  • The total mailed is twenty-seven.
  • Also, there are(will be) five that I am passing, not mailing, because I will see people in person.
  • And so far, six more I gifted, plus I brought cookies to work twice.
  • Which makes it forty 🙂

Christmas Countdown

I didn’t post about our corporate party yet, although the post was almost finished, because it is still difficult to operate in a holiday mood after the tragedy that happened practically at home, but nevertheless, life continues.

Aside from the party, I spent the weekend decorating the cookies and baking additional batches. Saturday started with a trip to Jewel-Osco, the only store that still carries inexpensive plastic cookie boxes, which are not only affordable but also super light, which makes them perfect for shipping.

Also, I baked two kinds of gluten-free cookies, mostly to mail to our exiting team manager, whose wife has a severe gluten intolerance, but then I also had leftovers for others. I loved the GF flour I got this year, and will make sure to stick to it.

This weekend was record cold, down to negative in the mornings, and here is how my balcony door looked from inside – I thought it’s increadibly pretty:

To my surprise, the lake was not frozen!

Also, I received one more international package, this time from Ireland:

The new ornament is already on the tree!
And the chocolate awaits 🙂

Cookies From All Over The World

I don’t know why New Zealand is the closest place to Chicago in the whole world, but my New Zealand Christmas present always arrives first, without fail!

Can We Put Them To Work?

WBEZ reported earlier this week that the hazardous situation with snow removal in Chicago is not only due to the record early snow, but also because 60% of the landscapers are not leaving their houses, afraid of being deported.

When I shared this news with Boris, he said: Let ICE agents do this! I said: It would be great, but on what grounds? Boris replied: Well, ICE is detaining people whom they call illegal because they believe they are taking jobs from Americans. Since apparently, nobody wants these jobs, ICE agents should be summoned to snow removal!

While this is unlikely to happen, I still think it’s funny enough to share:)

Christmas At Jarvis Square

Love walking home from the Red Line!

Looking More Like Holidays

Aside from the Monday disaster and aside from the never-ending work crisis, things were looking pretty festive.

As I said, I didn’t go to the Knox party on Monday, which I now regret, but Igor and I decorated the tree. There was the Night Ministry Christmas Party on Tuesday (I volunteered there), but as usual – no pics until they post on their website.

At work, we had a bagel sandwich chief’s table (everyone could order their version of bagel sandwich with smoked salmon; this picture is very close to what I ordered).

On Wednesday, we had our building (not our firm) holiday party on the Landing:

After the party, I went to the Fannie May store and purchased chocolate to give to Anna’s family and to Mom (for her, I picked a custom selection with no nuts and no small particles, just cream filling). Also, I walked a little bit along Michigan Avenue and saw some holiday lights.

I also packed two more parcels, and baked holiday biscotti with cherries, almonds and peppermint chips.

Today, we had the Conscious Cup in our cafeteria from 7-30 AM to 10 AM, and we could get any drinks from them (same as bagel sandwiches, it is always free for us). First, I got a cappuccino with peppermint, and later – a latte with vanilla.

After work, I went to get my nails done to be ready for the corporate holiday party on Saturday, and then I did some almost-last-minute shopping in Target (and regretted the time wasted).

I hope to go skating tomorrow, and I know I won’t have time to go listen to the Caroling at the Cloud Gate, because I also need to visit my mom. Maybe next year 🙂

New Ornaments

Saturday was the day of the Holiday Artisan Market on Jarvis Square, and Lena and I decided to take a break from baking and go there. I should have planned it more explicitly and allocated more time, but I only remembered about it a couple of days before the event that it was going to happen. That’s very characteristical of this holiday season – there were only few things which I planned well; it could be much more enjoyable if I won’t have all the extra stress and could leave all non-Christmas thoughts behind for a month.

Anyway, checking out the artists was fun, but as it often happens, I couldn’t decide what I want to buy. I am not showing a couple of things because they will be given to someone who checks out this blog periodically, but I want to show a couple of new ornaments:

Speaking about my Christmas tree, once again, I ordered it from Tree Santa, and don’t regret; just this time, the delivery was late (I suspect, due to the workers shortage, like many things happening these days). Since it was delivered at 7 PM on Sunday, there was no way I could decorate it then. Igor and I did the bulk of it on Monday evening, and then I finished it tonight, placing some additional ornaments, chocolates and candy canes, and gingerbread cookies.

Matching Donations

My firm has a charitable contributions portal where you can pledge to one of the tens of thousands of charities directly from your paycheck, and in addition, you can also upload your donation receipts to be matched.

Last time I did it, it was only $500 match annually, which was very little, but at least something, so I uploaded a couple of the Night Ministry receipts, but I didn’t bother matching the monthly donations.

And I completely missed the moment when the matching amount for a year was tripled, and only saw it when the firm announced an additional $500 matching for two weeks of giving in November.

If you recall, for the past two weeks, I was under a lot of pressure at work and had absolutely no time to upload the receipts. Finally, last Friday, when HR reminded us about the last day of additional matching, I realized I did not want this money to be lost and needed to act fast.

Fortunately, my big project was on track, and I planned to leave early, so I spent the last hour and a half of my Friday workday uploading receipts. I was delighted to see that somebody had already submitted the Ukraine Trustchain to the list of approved charities, so our firm matches donations to them.

Most of my receipts are coming at the end of the year, so to speed things up, I chose from my one-time donations, which were already in my “taxes” list, but it was more than enough to use all of these 2K matching money, and I was so proud of myself that I didn’t let them go!