Ho- Ho- Holidays!

The weekend after Thanksgiving was filled with holiday fun!

It started with my ride home from work on Friday--I hopped aboard the CTA Holiday Train. The festive El train is decked out in lights, regular seats are replaced with Santa seat covers, Christmas music plays over the intercom and there were even elves handing out candy canes as you entered the train cars. Santa was even along for the ride in the open platform in the middle of the "Santa Express." This is one of my favorite things in Chicago and I was so glad I got to ride it again this year (I missed it last year).

On Saturday morning (Dec. 3), I woke up to pouring, freezing rain for the Santa Hustle 5K. Me, Jamie and Corey signed up to run the race in which runners are encouraged to dress up as Santa with the accessories provided in the running packet (a bead, a hat and a long sleeve Santa shirt). Despite the rain and the wind, it was so much fun seeing everyone dressed up and getting to run in the beard and hat (although the beard kept causing hairballs in the mouth) was hilarious and surprisingly not uncomfortable.

To top it off, there were live reindeer at the race and free candy! At Mile 1 they had elves handing out cups of M&Ms and at Mile 2, volunteers offered you cookies. I lost my M&Ms somewhere along the way and was too busy trying to get a personal best time for a 5K that I passed up on the cookies. It was all worth it because I beat my best time by about 20 seconds!

After the race, I headed over to Jamie and Corey's and helped them decorate their tree and bake cookies, all while sipping hot chocolate and Mocha Mint Kahlua (highly recommended by the way!). The night ended on a bright note, as I got to ride the holiday train home.