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 ;)
*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...
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!
May your Christmas be merry + bright and your New Years be full of joy!
