Christmas in Chicago

As stated previously, I'm a Christmas nut. So to jump right into the holiday season, a few friends from out of town drove in to Chicago to start enjoying the holidays. We had big plans for the day. We were going to start by getting peppermint hot chocolate and go ice skating in Millennium Park. Unfortunately, thanks to the fickle Midwestern weather, it was raining instead of snowing... in December! We still tried to find other ways to begin the holiday season: Christmas flavored coffee drinks, shopping on Michigan Avenue, perusing the window displays at Macy's, enjoying the twinkling lights on Christmas trees... And when the disappointment of the crappy, non-Christmas weather hit us, about 20 or more Santa's ran down Michigan Ave. That was enough to bring a smile to even the grumpiest face. I had a great time. Nothing says holidays like spending time with loved ones.