Christkindlmarket

{Christmas pickles and a hedgehog!}

Nearly every year my excitement for Christmas starts growing week by week from the beginning of  the holiday season. It can usually be measured by the frequency of my random Christmas tune singing. It starts off as an occasional humming and turns into constant singing and dancing around the house as we get closer to the holiday. Poor Mr. C can't get a break even while brushing his teeth, because that is another opportunity to do a silly spin in front of the mirror while singing with a toothbrush in my mouth. I can only imagine how annoying this behavior must be to witness, especially when my singing usually goes like "tu tu tu tu tu, tu tu tu tu tu, walking in the winter wonderland!" The other day as, I was tu-tuing yet another Christmas song C suggested to do a video of me singing this way while wearing a tutu. That really cracked me up. Luckily I don't own a tutu otherwise this embarrassing video would really happen. 

As if there wasn't enough excitement going on in our house already, yesterday we went to the Christkindlmarket in downtown Chicago. This close to Christmas the market was very crowded but definitely worth the trip. We browsed through thousands of traditional German glass ornaments (Christbaumschmuck), coo-coo clocks, handmade Christmas pyramids, and other intricate decorations. We tried some chocolate covered treats and sipped hot wine out of mugs shaped like boots to keep ourselves warm. This annual outdoor market is a great way to experience a little bit of European holiday tradition closer to home.