We love Friday’s in the Alcantara Household. We probably won’t do a Flash Back Friday every Friday, but we want to share our Christmas tradition so cheers to FBF!
When Pat and I started dating in 2011, he took me on a romantic date to the Christkindl Market in Chicago. It was there that we started our first tradition as a couple. We sipped on mugs of German spiced wine, ate chocolate dipped mixed fruit and picked out an ornament that represented our year together. That Christmas we chose a heart because that was the year we fell in love. Insert all the aww’s and heart eyes. I’m really into traditions so drinking our wine, eating our fruit and picking an ornament hasn’t gotten old these past 6 Christmases together. Last year was the first year we made a weekend out of it. We stayed at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel where we wined and dined like we were something special. This year looked a little different since I was 8 months pregnant and waddled my way around like a winter penguin. But we had a blast together, both savoring in our hearts this last trip “child-less.” We talked on the way there about traditions we want to have with our kids, and even though we’ll have many Christmas traditions with them, we’re keeping our Chriskindl Market get away just for us. This year Pat and I stayed at the quaint Public Chicago in the goldcoast right down the street from Restoration Hardware. I ate there with my besties on a girls getaway and mentioned to Pat how I really wanted to go there with him one day. He listens and loves me well, so he really wanted to take me there for lunch. We didn’t feel like waiting two hours for a table, so we headed to Antique Taco for some drool-worthy tacos and guac. From there we ubered to Christkindl Market and sipped some hot cider…I was legit coveting everyone’s spiced wine around me. Next year I’m getting two. ;) We picked out our ornament and chose our chocolate dipped fruit. We decided to take our fruit back to our hotel and relax before we went to my surprise. Not going to lie, I napped in the uber on the way back to the hotel...Pat informed me I was snoring and all... (who knew pregnancy would bring on snoring?!) and rocked a 2 hour nap once we got there too. Hashtag 8 months pregnant. After our snooze, Pat told me he got us tickets to see A Christmas Carol. I can’t tell you how much we both enjoyed it. The acting was outstanding and the whole experience really put us both in the Christmas spirit. We’ll definitely be seeing it again next year! After the show we ate delicious BBQ at Chicago Q and shared dessert. Our hotel was super close to the restaurant so we enjoyed a little city stroll to work off the cheesecake. Enjoy some pics from our little getaway! We’d love to hear what traditions you guys do!
