New Years in Chicago

Bringing you up to speed on the events of 2011 ...

After a hectic couple weeks of traveling to Vegas for Soph's second birthday and to Pittsburgh for Christmas, we opted to stay in Chicago for New Years.  On New Years Eve, we put on our party gear, swung by our friend (and down-the-street neighbor) Mona's place for a glass of sangria, and then rang in 2011 for the second year in a row at at our friend Amandeep's apartment.  Amandeep had recently proposed to his fiance Vari, so we enjoyed hearing their proposal story (an involved tale including a homemade scrapbook, a white lie about family car troubles, etc.) and using the night's festivities to celebrate their exciting news.

 

New Years Day we hosted friends in our home for a chili party we marketed as the Khera-Kothari Chili Bowl.  Last year we had enjoyed having a small Cincinnati style chili get-together to celebrate the Cincinnati Bearcats bowl Game against Florida, so we decided to keep the chili party going this year, despite the Bearcats lackluster season.  This year's affair was much bigger than the original version: we had thirty-some friends and kids come by for various apps, 2 types of chili --vegetarian Cincinnati style and spicy Southwestern (PA) chicken -- with all the fixings, salad and English trifle.  Mihir Bakhru's little brother Samir and his friend Shank were in town spending the day with us, and we appreciated all their help before and during the party.  We also appreciated their restraint, despite their affinity for Ohio State, in choosing not to ridicule us (too much, at least) about Michigan getting blown out by Mississippi State in its bowl game.  Special thanks to Samir and Shank for serving as this year's celebrity cheese shredders.  Kiran Sangha had set a high bar during her 2010 cameo appearance, and, while the boys couldn't quite match Kiran's stamina and grace, we commend them for putting forth a valiant effort.

Here are a couple of our underage guests hanging out by our Christmas tree during the chili party.  Note the company we keep:  Shreyas is sporting a Bengals shirt and Devin is wearing a Wash U shirt. It's important to maintain the circle of trust, even with one's little friends.

On a  random note, we borrowed a page from Masiji's book this year and strung our holiday cards on a string.  Such a genius way to display the cards without taking up counter space or the entire outside of the fridge: