Winter Bucket List

After almost 3 years of living in Chicago I feel like I haven't done much during the winter asides from run a bit and go to the bars.  It's just too damn cold most of the time to enjoy being outside for any period of time when the wind chill is negative bazillion. So in lieu of yet another "holiday gift guide" i'm making a list of activities i'd like to experience before old man winter releases his grip on Chicagoland. Because experiences > trinkets for me.

• Run outside in the snow. The path is so peaceful when it's snowing. Tomorrow I should be able to check this one off my list.

• Explore the city more. I had to go to another building for work this week and decided to stop by The Bean on my walk home for some night time skyline photos. Best. Decision. Ever. Few people were around, and it was so magical seeing the reflection of the buildings.

• Walk around the Christkindl Market. I went last year and it was too crowded for me, but it was still a cool experience to see all the different gift vendors from around the world and wide variety of food selections (hello potato pancakes!) I'll have to do this on my lunch break one "slightly warmer" day.

ROAR!

• Sled down "Sledding Hill." I've been wanting to do this ever since I first saw the hill out on one of my runs. After some snow fell,  I was super envious of the kids flying down the hill  having a blast. (I almost asked a family last year if I could have one trip down with their sled but chickened out) All I need to do is buy one of those cheap plastic sleds. 

Michigan Ave. This morning.

Go ice skating by the Bean. Haven't been ice skating in FOREVER and never outside (only in the shopping malls of Florida), I think this would be really fun for an hour as long as I dont bust my ass and hurt myself.

The Bean & the Ice Skating Rink

• Build an honest to god snowman. I've never built one. Ever.  I'm pretty sure I have built a sand castle for Christmas at some point.   I bought a "snowman kit" from a co-worker's kid for a fundraiser 2 years ago. The past 2 winters have been on the "mild" side snow wise, and I never was able to build one because the snow wasn't wet enough, and it wasn't around on the weekends. (I didn't want to build one in the dark after work)

Snowman fail.

I broke out the kit today to practice on a small patch of snow that is on my balcony from last week's snow. So I could be ready in case we get enough snow this weekend.
I had no idea how to place the pieces...

I googled the kit and tried again on my little patch of snow.

BOOM! Now it looks a little more legit.

Now i'm going to have to google how to build a snowman. I've heard from my native Midwestern coworkers that you have to make a snowball first, and then roll it around on the ground to pickup more snow. I'll have to test it out this weekend if the conditions are optimal for snowman construction. I just can't envision how I could create 3 large snowballs to make a 3-4' tall snowman...


-xaar