holiday time in the loop

since we are in desperate need of a new couch (yikes, our sleeper sofa is just...well *rotating yikes gif*), leff and i headed to the state street macy's this weekend. maybe you know about it? it used to the the old marshall field's? 

i swear to you, when i had to exchange a pair of boots at this store in the 90s, this is where i fell in love with chicago. 

i mean, i'm kinda joking but only kinda. it's just an all around glorious fucking store and macy's kept a lot of the details as you can kinda see in these pics. they also put up a honkin huge tree.

i mean, fine. people were taking selfies in front of it. tbh, i'm more impressed with the view.

we did find a couch, btw. just got to see if it will fit cause someone (me) forgot to measure the space before we went to the loop.

since we were nearby, leff and i popped over to christkindlmarket. (i have a lot of catching up to do in regard to holiday stuff in chicago since i was down for the count with pneumonia last year.)

anyway, christkindlmarket was just as crowded as i expected it to be. there were also a lot of brats!

will prob go back for the gluhwein at some point before xmas day. maybe also one of those stonking giganto pretzels too.

since we were at the gov buildings anyway, i talked leff into heading over to james r thompson so i could finally walk inside the dubuffet.

i've heard a rumor that it will go if the thompson center is torn down. it would be a shame, really. i've always had a soft spot for this goofy old sculpture.

not gonna lie tho, i kinda don't care if the thompson center gets razed.  dunno what they'd do with such a huge empty block but, and i am not alone in this sentiment, i wouldn't miss it. it's very, um, berlin GEE I WONDER WHY (helmut jahn designed both the thompson center and sony center at potsdamer platz (i wasn't really a fan of jahn's when were were in berlin either. *shrug*)

just...blah. i really like what jahn did at o'hare! just not this particular building. or, you know, sony center.....ha hah...

MOVING ON, we walked down randolph cause i wanted to try to find the old heidelberg restaurant building cause the fact that this tiny building still exists in the loop is just crazy. it's a tea shop now but, for a while, i guess it was a steakhouse? idk, i saw footage of it from the 30's on youtube (AND I CAN'T FIND IT AGAIN ARGH) that showed the original clockwork figures moving around on the quarter hour. you can kinda see where those would have been located above the clock face.

look, i'm fascinated by this building. it's right next to the oriental, aka the theatre with the most haunted alley which is a whole other topic for another day.

but speaking of other topics, i got to see the aic lions with their wreaths!

we were at aic for the thorne rooms' holiday decorations! i love this tradition SO MUCH!!

do click through on the thorne room link. it's really hard to get a good pic of the miniatures cause of the glass, so, please, if you are AT ALL interested, check out their professional photos.

leff and i still have to head back downtown for mag mile lights and maybe also to see the tree in grant park. ice skating at the ribbon?? oh! and on the way home, zoo lights! (i think they also have new holiday mold a ramas too. lol)

what can i say? i kinda like the holiday season in chicago. it feels...right? stay tuned for more ~soft holiday stylings~. (maybe we'll also have a new couch soon. haha)