I stayed at work pretty late Friday night which meant I left for the city Saturday morning.  First things first, when I got off the train I beelined to my favorite deli for a bagel sandwich.  Recycled photo but I always get the same thing:

Everything bagel with a fried egg and cheddar cheese. If you had told me a year ago I would be absolutely head over heels in love with everything bagels, I would have laughed in your face. But they’re so great–especially the onion/garlic breath you get.

Storms ruined our plans to go ice skating and do some sightseeing, so we ended up having a movie day instead. Zman, Spencer and I all watched Hunger Games–perfect timing since the sequel is coming out this weekend!

Afterwards we braved the cold and headed to one of my favorite spots in Chicago.

I went in wanting a simple hot chocolate and this is what happened

Why is it that the holiday season brings out the sugar monster in all of us?!  Zman and I split a classic hot chocolate as well as their Ocean Beach Sundae, aka a hot fudge sundae with salted caramel sauce.

That night I had a GNO (girls night out), complete with Ke$ha radio and black/white ensembles (thank you, winter).

Sunday morning started with a healthy breakfast thanks to a sugar-overdose the previous day.

Two pieces of toast with crunchy peanut butter and a grapefruit. This held me over until the best part of the weekend:

Friendsgiving!

I know this isn’t a novel idea and many other groups of friends do this, but I love that the people I’m friends with celebrate Thanksgiving as a group. Growing up Thanksgiving was always only about family, and while family is incredibly important, I love that as we get older we start to think of our friends as family too. Also, when are multiple Thanksgiving dinners ever a problem?

I left stuffed to the absolute brim with sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, apple cider sangria, mac and cheese, and stuffing. It was the most beautiful set-up too…straight out of Martha Stewart Living. Thanks, Kenna, for hosting!

It’s already happening that the weekends are full of holiday activities, and I love it! I can’t wait for the weekends to come: the tree lighting in my hometown, going to see the Macy’s Christmas display on State Street, and ice skating in Millennium Park.

I hope you all had a fun weekend and that your Mondays are off to a great start!

Question:

• Do you start doing holiday activities before Thanksgiving?