On our 10th Date of Christmas...

The Nutcracker.

I have to say, my heart is still swooning over the Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker. It was AMAZING. Seriously, it was so good. My favorite Nutcracker I have ever seen. I was totally blown away with the set (it snowed on stage for at least 10 minutes), the costumes, and of course, the dancers and the music. It was just incredible. I know all of you try to avoid visiting Chicago in the winter, but its worth a trip just to see this ballet.

Of course, there were no photos allowed inside, but here are a few I snagged from online.

This building was completed in 1889. It is a National Historic Landmark, and was the home of the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Civic Opera. US President, Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the building, and President Benjamin Harris dedicated the building. Frank Lloyd Wright designed some of the interior features. Isn't it gorgeous??

 

  

And here are a few photos of us.

Check out my handsome hubby :)

Yes, there are multiple fireplaces and leather couch seating areas in the theater. So cozy.

We'll be back next year, Nutcracker!!

On our 9th Date of Christmas...

The Mag Mile at Christmas.

When I was 15 I came to Chicago for the first time with my family. It was one of our big family vacations growing up. We spent a week in Chicago, and then another week or so touring Nauvoo and the historic sites. While in Chicago my mom took us all around-- to all the museums, Navy Pier, the Mag Mile, State Street shopping, etc. We went to Harry Careys, ate Chicago-style hot dogs, and just had a blast. We loved it. Ever since then I had always wanted to come back to Chicago at Christmastime. I remember hearing about how the storefronts on Michigan Ave (The Mag Mile) would decorate their windows for Christmas, and I thought that was just magical.

So, of course when we moved to Chicago, this was high on my list of Christmas things to do. Walk the Mag Mile and admire the beautiful window displays. Well, we finally had a free night so we headed up to Michigan Ave. I have to admit, one of the things that recession has killed is the store front window displays. I didn't really see ONE window that was anything like I was expecting. HOWEVER, I LOVED window shopping with my main man, and soaking up all of the Christmas excitement. Some of the buildings had cool displays inside, and one even had this huge Christmas Tree!! We walked hand in hand up and down Michigan Avenue and it was such a great way to feel the Christmas cheer of the city.

 I love seeing the churches in the city & their Nativity Displays.

The reason for Christmas.

Tiffany & Co. Love Love Love.

The Water Tower.

Me and my love.

Cool Elves.

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Pretty lights.

Love the big tree.

Giant Wreath outside of Nordstrom.

On our 8th Date of Christmas... 

The Holiday Flower show.

We have found our new favorite winter activity-- the Conservatory. It's 75 degrees and full of plants and flowers all year round. Who could ask for anything better? Well, when they have a room full of holiday flowers, that's what makes it even better! So when it was a crisp 25 degrees outside (feels like 10 with the windchill), we headed over to the Garfield Conservatory to see the flowers.

Our 2010 Christmas Photo--sorry no photo cards this year, folks.

 

This is Ryan's "Hunny, I love you, but its freezing, can we hurry and get inside?" look.

Isn't this beautiful? I love the red green and white.

 

Did you know there were so many different kinds of poinsettias?

 

Gotta love the warmth of that glorious Sun!

These were one of my favorites.

 

Christmas Cactus.

My main squeeze checking out the poinsettias.

We will definitely be back in January to admire the flowers and warm up inside the conservatory. I love that you are indoors, but feel like you are outside with all of the beautiful plants and flowers!! Think I could set up my home office in there? :)

 On Our 7th Date of Christmas... 

Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord.

What better way to Honor Christ at Christmas than to attend the temple? I love the spirit that I feel in the Temple, and it was such a great experience to go at Christmastime. To be reminded of Christ, and our purpose here on this earth.  I think this may be a new Merrill Christmas Tradition.

Unfortunately, it gets dark pretty early here, so no pictures from this date, but here are a few temple favorites.

The Chicago, IL Temple.

2 Years ago at the Salt Lake City Temple Square for the lights. Man, time flies by.

I love these words on the Temple. This is from the St. George Temple, on September 10, 2010. Our Wedding Day. 

St. George Temple.

On our 6th Date of Christmas...

Two words: Butch McGuire's.

Even the outside of the Pub is decorated!

Check out all those lights and ornaments, and etc!!

At breakfast. It was so cold that morning it took us a while to take our layers off!

Sorry, bad lighting. But check out the nutcrackers!

Ryan's favorite part-- ESPN Sports Center.

See the trains?!

Yes, that's TWO trains going around and around.

Thanks for a great Christmas Brunch, Butch! We'll be back next year.

We went out for Christmas Brunch at a local Christmas favorite in Chicago-- Butch McGuire's Pub. Yes, a pub for breakfast. The food was great, and the decor was even better. I had heard about how they decorate for Christmas, and I was so excited to see it live up to all my expectations. Trains running around the top of the store, lights hanging from the ceiling with ornaments, nutcrackers, etc, and Christmas songs playing over head. It was perfect! The icing on the cake though, was the flat screen TV's with ESPN sports center on so we could catch the pre-game report for the BYU Bowl Game. My husband was a happy man (and even happier when we watched BYU take a big W that afternoon).

On our 5th Date of Christmas... 

We went to the Zoo!!

The Lincoln Park Zoo goes all out for Christmas. I guess the animals like to be festive too :)  It was fun to see the penguins, the giraffes and of course see all of the lights. They also had an ice sculptor outside making zoo animals in the ice. It was so fun. I do have to say, it was also freezing cold. Of course we decided to go out on the night when it was 13 degrees, feels like 0 degrees outside. Yup, 0 degrees. Welcome to Christmas in Chicago.

Ice Sculptor busy at work.

Other animals he's done.

These animals were a lot closer than they look! It was cool to see them up close.

Ryan liked this guy's beak.

Just us & Mr. Penguin, here.

So many pretty lights.

Snow globe with Zoo animals-- Panda and a Reindeer.

Polar Bear, Giraffe, and Penguins!

That scarf keeps me sooo warm.

See how red my nose is??? its like Rudolph! It was SO COLD!