And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight “Merry Christmas to all. Next stop Davis Street.” For years I’ve watched news reports of Chicago’s CTA Holiday Train, the cars zipping through Chicago lit with thousands of festive holiday lights. Sightings of the train in person eluded me, …
In honor of Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, we are reposting our most popular post from last year. This adorable photo of my nieces and nephews from years ago was gifted to family and friends. It took days before I spotted an unfortunate folding on one of the Mountain Country sweaters. …
Ah, the confections of Christmas. Arriving shortly after we’re done arguing the merits of Halloween candy corn (the correct answer: yuck) these sugary, chocolatey and marshmallowy treats scream HOLIDAY. They tempt us from every store shelf, their tree and star and Santa shapes beckoning to us under their festive foil …
My name is Cathi, and I’m a non-recovering Christmas tree-aholic. This time of year I spend most of my days placing Christmas trees of all sizes around the house, each of them decorated according to a well-chosen theme. The tree above is my actual family tree, created from the boxes …
Oh Christmas Tree. Of the many traditions in our family, most passed down through the generations of women, our Christmas trees owe a mighty holiday cheer to my grandmother. Packed with lights shining like the North Star, she took days to unwrap, place, adjust, and stuff her trees with ornaments, …
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens … Oh, mittens. Knitting mittens for a holiday gift is one of those ideas that sounds fantastic in July but ends up being a last-minute, curse-filled sprint in December. Trust me, as a seasons-long veteran of Christmas …
Sister Catherine, a distant relative by marriage, spent her golden years retired from the nunnery but still in its service. For most of the year she worked tirelessly on whimsical felt ornaments, embellished with embroidery, beads and sequins. As the holidays approached, she would sell her crafts, often at parties …
You may remember our friend Trudy from Monday’s story about Bim Willow’s tree-making workshop. Trudy was our neighbor and sister in arms that morning; we shared laughs and suggestions while struggling to coerce our willow branches into anything resembling a tree. (Reminder: It takes a village to make a holiday …
Is there anything better than a new book for Christmas? (Trick question – there’s nothing better!) We could always list a bunch of recommendations from the Best Of 2019 lists, but we thought, why not ask the women we featured in mutterhood this year to tell us what’s topping their …
When I first brought my tree home (left) my husband said it looked like it belonged at Burning Man. I blinged it up for inside and Ellen decorated hers (right) for the outdoors. Not sure they’ll ask us to decorate holiday windows on State Street, but it was fun.