Elizabeth Foulston

Below are some new and interesting holiday outings you can do instead of the same ole’ holiday hum drum activities:

• Everyone goes ice skating at Millenium Park… do something different.  Skate at the Rink at Wrigley , then walk over to Uncommon Ground for lunch or dinner.
• Christmas cookies for Santa Clause are a tradition, but instead bake cute “edible art” cupcakes. Try making (nondenominational, winter-themed) snowflake cupcakes .
• Skip the crowds of the Magnificent Mile. Instead, go experience a new culture at the Christkindlmarkt, a traditional German market in Chicago in the Daley Center Plaza.
• Instead of traveling all the way to Wisconsin, Michigan, or further to go downhill snow skiing, try cross-country skiing. It’s a convenient way to ski without having to drive far.
• Skip Starbucks’ peppermint hot chocolate. As festive as it is, it’s overdone. Indulge in Caribou Coffee’s Fa La Latte for a unique spin on the traditional eggnog.
• Instead of sticking around the Oakbrook Mall to shop for holiday presents, shop at Wicker Park for a variety of unique stores. Try shopping a few blocks off the Magnificent Mile on Walton Street or Oak Street. There are a lot of unique places to shop in the city.
• Instead of having a Secret Santa gift exchange with your friends, organize a White Elephant as a variation for this gift-giving season. To make it more interesting, you could put additional limitations on the White Elephant presents. They could have to be under a certain price limit, “recycled” re-gifts, homemade, silly joke gifts, or within a certain theme.

Have a great December!