Chicago top ten: Experiences (Part III)

Christmas in Chicago

Okay, this one's a bit of a stretch. It's not so much a single experience as a big fat group of them.

I love Christmas. I still get that giddy feeling in my stomach during the holidays that I got when I was ten years old. Something about the abundance of holiday cheer, holiday music, holiday smells, and especially those special moments stuffing my face with mouthwatering hors d'oeuvres at holiday parties. Yum.

Anywho, last November, I landed this writing gig for Groupon, as you readers may well know from previous posts. It started out at a big ol' office building about a 10 minutes from my apartment. But two days after Thanksgiving break, we moved. Downtown. To a high-rise on Wacker Drive with it's head way up in the clouds. The view of Lake Michigan was spectacular, and way up there we could see the snowflakes practically before they fully formed. 

That meant a morning el commute, coupled with a walk from the nearest station to the new office home. Some folks chose to take advantage of the underground walkway that allegedly got you the whole way without braving the biting winter winds (I made a go of it several times. And ended up somewhere in Milwaukee. I'd like to have a word with the guy responsible for planning these underground mazes.)

But really, those wintry walks along decked-out Chicago sidewalks were heaven to me. The Macy's building twinkled with red, green and silver decor. Shimmery Christmas trees sparkled from the glass windows of an office vestibule. My earbuds stayed planted in my ears, providing a backdrop of classic Christmas tunes. The wind could be brutal, but I was in heaven. 

These pics are pretty lousy, but you get the idea. 

Love those sparkly lights.

The Music Box Theater for Taxi Driver

This event happened thanks to Groupon's "Now" deals. One lazy Saturday early this summer, I stumbled upon a twenty dollar deal for movie tickets, popcorn and soda for two. It was for a quaint looking little theater up north called The Music Box, the kind of place I always imagined myself owning someday. A theater that shows only those movies I love best, and serves cocktails to wash down your air-popped popcorn. 

I scurried over to the theater's website to discover a late screening of Taxi Driver scheduled for that night. Sold. 

You see, I had never seen Taxi Driver. And I'd heard many, many times that it's a film all film lovers should see. To be fair, I know there are lots of movies that fit into that category. But I adore Robert De Niro. And Martin Scorsese. It was high time I saw one of their great earlier collaborations. 

And let's not forget about Jodie.

Alex and I headed up there a little early, and made a beeline for the Dairy Queen we spotted on the way, to kill some time before the movie. Soft serve ice cream, a heaping bucket of movie theater popcorn and the chance to watch a film classic for the first time on the big screen? Spells perfection to me.