where's my pickle?!?!

there is no greater satisfaction than crawling into bed at night & knowing your day was just how it should have been, even more lovely than you imagined it could be. it's magical & glorious & makes you come alive. 

today was one of those days. here's a brief synopsis of our first christmas eve together:

(i should warn you now, you can skip to the pics if you'd like. the next paragraph is selfishly written for me, to imprint this day somewhere other than my unreliable memory.)

a brisk morning walk for coffee with mr. keen + bumping into 2 sets of friends in the neighborhood + our first run in the SNOW (hello, white christmas!!) + a train ride downtown to Christkindlmarket for a cup of Glühwein & a glass pickle ornament (apparently a German tradiition) + a stroll north on michigan avenue + sprinkles cupcakes! + "lunch" at Dublin's + arriving to a "24hr" grocery store & then discovering we had 15 minutes before it closed to get all of our items for tomorrow's brunch....what an adventure! + more Glühwein @ home by the fire + getting the apartment & food ready for guests tomorrow + listening to holiday tunes & talking about our favorite christmases past + making the year's photo booklet + watching Love Actually + discovering that the city is strangely quiet early on Christmas morning

our train stop: 

a snowy walk across the river bridge:

church on michigan avenue: 

christkindlmarket tree

glass ornaments at the market

i can hardly believe we're awake at 3am on christmas morning....but i just didn't want this day to end. 

merry christmas, friends. 

much love to you...