dashing thru the... ?

Although we're loving most new experiences here in SF, we must admit that Christmas time in sunny California leaves something to be desired. We hearty Minnesotans are left longing for the white winter wonderland that qualifies the beautiful holiday season... poor us. *Definitely NOT missing the freezing temps though! {Let me just say, San Franciscans would not jive in the cold midwest. It hits 49 degrees around here and peeps are bundled in their puffy down jackets + hats + scarfs + mittens... not kidding. wimps.}

Anyway, while we're kind of longing for snow (maybe not all 3' of it... ;), we were having a hard time getting holly & jolly the last few weeks. Doesn't help that we're miles away from fam & friends... 'tis the season, afterall. Last week we got over our slump when Dan brought home a baby pine tree-- a sweet gift from one of his clients. It prompted a quick trip to the adorable neighborhood crafty shop, and a few hours later our home was as jolly as could be... as were we!

Since we don't have many people with whom to share our warm + happy home in person, we're sharing with our friends via cyber space :

*never mind the lack of curtains on our extremely stark white windows.... I'm still on the hunt...

Finally bought a bookshelf... our books & photo albums finally have a home!

I potted our mini-Christmas tree in a fabulous pot sporting a Nativity scene... two birds with one stone!
(Pretty proud of that one ;)

Nothing says 'holidays are here' quite like a batch of my mama's cookies from her annual Christmas cookie swap with her girlfriends. I was thrilled to get this little surprise in the mail! Thanks mom!
*As far as cookie quality goes, umm... I think the annual event is mostly an excuse for them to enjoy good wine & good company ;)
So even though the caramel popcorn balls were riddled with seeds that darn near chipped my tooth, they were most importantly packed with Christmas cheer & we ate 'em all :)

Gifts wrapped and proudly displayed under our tree! Ready to be boxed up and shipped off to fam and friends...

Presents packed, labeled and ready for Mr. Mail Man.
Yes, my hair is in curlers... 1950's housewife syle. I was headed on a fancy date on Saturday night with my new SF friend Nikki (also a MN transplant!)

Nikki and I planned a fabulous girly holiday date... we went out for a delicious Italian dinner, strolled/window shopped around downtown on our way to the beautiful San Francisco Opera House to enjoy the Nutcracker ballet!
*Our manly men were definitely not excited about the date night we had in mind, so they played Wii instead :)

The Opera House was absolutely gorgeous... the kind of things holiday-date dreams are made of! The best part was all the sweet little girls so proud in their Christmas dresses with bows in their hair.... oh so cute!

The view from our seats way up top (all our holiday budget would allow!) Notice the orchestra-- so dreamy! I'd never been to the Nutcracker before, so I never realized how many 'traditional' Christmas songs are actually from the ballet. How many? A lot. Watch Home Alone again and you'll see...

Ready for the show!
It was an awesome night... I think a fancy holiday date is a new tradition... for me. ;)

Dan + Amber have date nights too... especially in celebration of the end of semester #1! We went to dinner and then headed downtown to Union Square to see the big Christmas tree this weekend.

Although snow is noticeably absent, downtown is magical. Notice the big tree and ice skaters? The store windows decked out with lights and wreaths? Spectacular window displays in the store fronts? Cable cars for touring pleasure? Even street vendors with steamy hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts... very festive! The place screams Christmas California-style... especially the palm trees wrapped in twinkling white lights ;) Even holiday music added to the ambiance... most notably: "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." ha. Californian's don't know what they're missing!

We can't gripe too much though... afterall, we're not even making a trip home to MN for the holidays. Instead, Kayak.com tempted us with a stinkin' sweet deal to Hawaii... and the thought of beach bumming and sipping mai-tais for a week was way too tempting to pass up! So next post will be a snap shot of our Hawaiian getaway :)

We wish all of you a happy and healthy holiday season!
May your Christmas be merry + bright and your New Years be full of joy!

big trees & tasty turkey

On this year's day of thanks we traveled to Eureka in northern CA (Redwood region) to celebrate with some dear friends. Dave & Tracy currently live in Eureka where Dave is in school, and Kyle drove down from his home in Portland, OR. We had a fabulous weekend of delicious food, good company, & a couple treks through the great Redwood forest...

We packed up our sweet potatoes, green bean casserole & pumpkin pies and made the 5 hour drive on Wednesday evening.

Proudly displaying my sweet potatoes before they're packed away for the journey.
*Cute homemade apron compliments of my friend Kelly... don't you think she should sell them??

Before we stuffed our faces on Thursday, we took a mini-hike around the woods at Dave's school.

This is a giant whale skull at the school. Which kind? I don't know... but it was huge.
Apparently the sperm whales' migratory pattern leads them past the Pacific Northwest this time of year. We were hoping to spot some whales in our limited ocean- gazing time, but we weren't so lucky :(

Back to the apartment to create our Thanksgiving masterpiece!

As you can see, the men were oh-so-helpful. *Actually, Dave did make some yummy stuffing :)

Dave & Tracy are moving back to MN soon & don't have a table + chairs... so we sat around the table Japanese-style to eat our very American meal. Made it very easy to relax our stuffed post- dinner bellies :)

The next am we set off for a day of hiking in the glorious Redwoods.
First stop: an enchanted place called Fern Canyon.
Wet, mossy, undisturbed, walls literally lined with ferns-- it was unbelievable.
It looked like a scene from a movie.... Jurassic Park II, to be exact ;)

Continued on our hike through the woods and found some great big Cathedral trees.... absolutely amazing!

First we had to pass the treacherous wild Elk (in heat) that all the trail signs were warning against.
Don't worry, we safely passed 'em and snapped a couple friendly pics too...

This tree is 1500 years old. The trail marker/info calls it simply "Big Tree"... ahhh... very creative :)


It's hard to capture just how big and majestic these trees are... I would say they're a must see!

Our adventure day came to an end.
*Good thing Tracy brought some cheese balls in the car-- Dan was pretty ravenous.
The end.

Thank you to Dave & Tracy for hosting Thanksgiving. It was so nice to spend the holiday with great friends when we're missing our fams this season... you're wonderful pals & we're grateful!

Two years of wedded bliss...

To us, it was this was sweetest day.

My, how 2 years as Mr. & Mrs. Bakke have flown by!

And today, on our anniversary, we're happy to report that
our marriage has been one. fabulous. ride!
Today {& everyday!} we're grateful for our health, love & happiness :)

To celebrate rockin' 2 years as husband + wife, we stole away for the weekend down the coast a bit to a nostalgic, old beach-side town called Half Moon Bay. It was highly recommended to us by some friends, and it did not disappoint. The beaches were gorgeous, the weather was perfect and the food was divine.

Thought you'd enjoy some pics of our 70 degree- November- weekend- beach- getaway ;) {Although we miss friends & fam terribly, we're not missing the snow right about now... it's especially delightful to see photos of the MN winter wonderland on FB!}

Our destination took us down the spectacular Pacific Coast Highway. Bummer we couldn't go all the way to Malibu...

Unfortunately this is the only pic I snapped of our B&B :( It was situated above come crafty little shops on Main Street... very sweet!

We strolled to the beach...

loved the sand and the waves...

Carved our name initials in driftwood... terribly romantic :)

Soon poor little Dan was tired and hungry...

Strolled back to Main Street, my man got a snack, and we perused the sweet little shops... my fave: used bookstore!

Hit up a neighborhood pub and dined at an ultra-foodie restaurant called Pasta Moon... being foodies is not our typical style, but happy we did-- it was absolutely delicious!

Our fab breakfast buffet the next am.

Then we checked out & headed back to the beach...

Quick lunch & watched some shrimp & sailboats in the bay...

And-- sadly-- time to go home again, home again jiggity jig.

At last, the end of our whirlwind weekend away :)