As we wrap up 2014 with a pretty bow we wanted to take some time to reflect on a few of our favorite things. We've got three volumes of Top Tens headed your way. Some are serious, some not so serious and some of us failed to follow the rules. Here's Vol 1.

From Collin: Top 10 Albums

1. St Vincent - St Vincent
2. Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
3. Todd Terje - It’s Album Time
4. Angel Olson - Burn Fire for No Witness
5. Brian Eno / Karl Hyde - High Life
6. Future Islands - Singles
7. Wild Beasts - Present Tense
8. Aphex Twin - Syro
9. Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
10. Mac Demarco - Salad Days

Even better? Collin made you a playlist.

From Peter - 10 Timeless Chicago Facts

1. A glacial "Lake Chicago" was formed as glaciers receded at the end of the last ice age. Its boundary, at a higher elevation, became a Native American trail and is now Clark Street.
2. Lincoln Park is 1,208 acres, larger than New York's Central Park (843) and San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (1,017).
3. The city's geese were nearly extinct as of 1962. They exist in such huge quantities now because of a 1967 "Cooperative Giant Canada Goose Project" to restore the species.
4. The drink containing chloral hydrate - a "mickey" - got its name from Mickey Finn, a Chicago restauranteur who in 1903 used the drink to drug his patrons and rob them. In 1918, more than a hundred Chicago waiters were arrested for giving the drink to bad tippers.
5. The assembly line of Henry Ford's model T was inspired by the disassembly line of the Chicago pork packers.
6. Chicago has over 7 million square feet of green roofs, more than all other US cities combined.
7. Chicago has more moveable bridges than any city in the world.
8. The flow of the Chicago River was reversed on January 1, 1900, at 1:00pm.
9. Chicago was given its area code, 312, to minimize the rotary "click count," requiring the second lowest number clicks on a rotary dial.
10. Chicago's downtown area, "The Loop," got its name from cable cars whose cables turned around downtown. The name was solidified when elevated rails were built circling the area.

From Sam: Top 10 Chicago Dishes of 2014

1. Grace - Tasting
2. Cellar Door Provision- Anything or a Lemon Poppyseed Scone
3. The Publican- Oysters & Veggie Platter
4. Rootstock - Burger
5. Japonais - Chirashi
6. Mott Street - Jaw Collar
7. Elizabeth - Tasting
8. Hakore- Bi Bim Bop
9. Pollo Express- Chicken
10. Rangoli - Gobi Manchurian

Bonus Prize: Favorite Cocktail Bar - Sportsman

From Chris: Top 10 Web Tech of 2014

Gulp
I was never 100% comfortable saying "grunt" out loud or even typing it into a command line. Now I don't have to. Thanks, Gulp!

ES6
The year is 2026. A virus has pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. The survivors struggle to rebuild civilization against all odds. And ES6 is finally ready to use in real projects.

SVG
Every time you serve a low-resolution image to a high-res device, a puppy sneezes. Think of the puppies. Use SVG.

Browserify + npm
“Aren't you fed up of juggling all those frontend dependencies?” Man stumbles, spilling an armful of Javascript modules onto the kitchen floor. “There’s got to be a better way! Act now.”

Susy 2
Sure, it makes great CSS grids. But it’s also just fun to say. “Susy Too.” Go ahead, try it.

BrowserSync
You’ve got it all figured out. You drive the latest Mercedes. President of your intramural polo club. Imitated but never duplicated. You never compromise and never manually refresh. You use BrowserSync.

Greensock Animation Platform
Remember all of that crazy animation you could do in 2004 using Flash? What a wild time, right? Now you can do all of that stuff again… using Javascript!

Codepen.io
There are lots of great reasons to use CodePen: Create complicated illustrations entirely out of CSS for no good reason. Build an animated preloader demo. Okay, two reasons.

Craft
Searching for help with the hottest new content management system couldn't be easier: 1) Type "craft {your question}" into Google. 2) Scroll through the first page of knitting, scrapbooking, and artisanal beer results. 3) Change your search to "craft cms {your question}".

Meteor
I'm not one to be distracted by the new and shiny but hey what's this Meteor thing… Reddit says its a "rails killer" huh… maybe I'll just try it out…
Editor's Note: Chris was never seen or heard from again.

From Dan: Top ten things that became awesome in 2014

10. Raw Denim
11. Whiskey
12. Mustachios
13. Kickstarter
14. Cronuts
15. Malort
16. People talking about Game of Thrones
17. Ironic christmas sweaters
18. Drones
19. The Nineties

From Tommy: Top 10 websites distracting me from my daily obligations and duties

1. This Isn’t Happiness
2. Brry Bnds
3. Cabin Porn
4. Joan Cornella
5. History In Color
6. Modern Seinfeld
7. White Black Grey
8. Worst Simpsons Page Ever
9. Worst Room
10. Dean Goes to a Lake

From Andrew: Ten Top

Book: The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz
Movie: Only Lovers Left Alive, Jim Jarmusch
Game: Hanabi, Antoine Bauza
Exhibition: Hiroshige's Winter Scenes, The Art Institute of Chicago
Track: Under Pressure (A cappella), Queen, David Bowie
Album: Lost in the Dream, The War on Drugs
Set: Pitchfork 2014, The Field
Opera: Porgy and Bess, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Play: The Importance of Being Earnest, American Players Theater
Collaboration: The Art of Falling, Hubbard Street Dance + Second City

Want to get in on the good cheer? We made it easy to create and send a personalized holiday card.