it's christmas time in the city... {december life lately}

this december has been hectic returning from india,

flying to be in a wedding, going to holiday parties, chase

getting a new role at work, and catching up before leaving

town again...but in between all of that we've soaked

up all the festive holiday cheer around san francisco

-- and i've never loved our city christmas more.

the day i got back to the city i woke up to this cute text

from chase. he is all about christmas & the city and i 

gladly took his advice and walked down california street

through nob hill on my way to work that day... and

every day since! love his love for all things christmas. ^^

what is it about city sidewalks lined with christmas trees?

i guess it looks like the movies or something. LOVE it. ^^

city sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style...

in the air there's a feeling of christmas :) // also,

ghirardelli peppermint bark for the WIN. ^^

^^ we passed this cute santa mailbox in macy's

and chase decided to stop and ask for a his wish

from santa ...haha a kid at heart, that one!

i love what he asked for- it wasn't an item!

^^ sent out some christmas cards with our very favorite

tinyprints. we had so many favorite pictures from 

this year that it was really hard to choose, but i

decided to go with a fun one from our amazing

trip that we'll always want to remember. now of 

course i regret it and really wish i used this pic or

this one, or this, but i'll blame it on the jet lag :)

^^ addressing addressing addressing

speaking of christmas cards, what is better

than getting them in the mail? here are a

few we got before leaving town for slc ^^

kept it festive in our kitchen with two of my mom's

classic holiday recipes: this chicken-cranberry wreath,

and our very favorite cranberry caramel cake. yum! ^^

can't handle these huge pretty 

wreaths at the intercontinental ^^

^^ a little outing to see the amazing giant gingerbread house

at the fairmont hotel just down the street from us..the

smell of the gingerbread was the best part! // also, love

all the lights & decorations on little shops on polk street.

^^ a girls night to ghirardelli for sundaes on a rainy night

was one of my favorite outings in the city this month...

{get the sea cliff warm cookies sunday, it's not on the menu!} 

the prettiest golden wedding invite i've ever seen,

and packaging up some sugary treats to deliver! ^^

^^ i had to pull out alllll of my 5 muffin tins to make

this giant batch of cinnamon sugar muffins 

^^ just a few flights this month

^^ back to SF in time for a few weeks of 

christmas in the city before heading out again.
i love seeing this sign each time i fly back into this city.

always sweet notes when i get back to town ^^

more city christmas-- ornaments on the street,

and macy's with the best makeover ^^

our neighborhood has been really showing off lately.

we live just at the top of that hill on the right, and

when i was walking home one night i could hardly

believe this sight. san francisco, you're a beauty. ^^

lots of wrapping while also watching christmas movies...

which makes my wrapping a little less than perfect..oops!

^^ really- cheeriest greenery on the sidewalks.

^^ we stumbled through santacon one day

which was quite the experience...drunk santas,

crazy santas, even a few clothes-less santas ;)

^^ feeding the homeless in SF one night = 

our best night of the holidays so far.

found my new favorite mag which i read on the

plane home, and also my new favorite instagram

account ever >>> french words per day. love. ^^

^^ healthy breakfasts this month // but also lots of

pizza cravings after attending an event with tony 

speaking from SF's famous tony's pizza! yummm.

^^ macy's union square - happiest entrance

^^ blue skies in december, and pink skies every

single morning from my bathroom window. i don't

know how this city manages to wow me constantly.

we had a festive steak dinner which we were

craving after india! this filet mignon was the

best best best and i will be writing more about

this hidden gem restaurant on lombard street. ^^

then we went to our favorite movie theater with

friends and took the escalator 20 floors up.

^^ i found chase in trader joe's stocking up on our 
favorite dark chocolate stars // also we love our
little taj mahal we brought home from india

^^ saw this cute girl who came in town for work! 

she works at google in provo so we loved meeting up 

at headquarters in CA and showing her around! // 

also, my new obsession - CAKE POPS. best idea.

^^ it's started to get cozy in california with lots of rain,

which i've met with big sweaters + warm oatmeal.

we've been in a few airports this month, and these

 signs always give me the biggest wanderlust -- i just

stare and pick the place i wish i was heading! ^^
am i the only one?

^^ we had a layover in beijing with the WORST

air pollution in the world, and we had to go

outside to get on the next flight. it was the first

time i've gotten chase to wear a scarf because i 

had one from india and he took it to cover his

mouth and breathe! had to capture it :)

ps -- that picture is just a normal sunny day 
in china... HELLO POLLUTION.

^^ the SF macy's windows make me believe! :) 

cookie decorating messiness ^^

rainy morning walks to work ^^

^^ christmas sleepover at our besties apartment --

at least they decorated for the holidays since
we don't have the time / space to!

have i put enough union square pictures here yet? :)

those clouds = lots of BIG rainstorms this month.

we even had a "rain day" where things shut down,

schools closed, freeway flooded, & no one went to work.

polk street christmas shoppe ^^

merry christmas from my favorite view!

^^ so true.

we've loved you, december.

now we're visiting home and ready 

to celebrate the holidays here!

{let's hope for some snow}

cheers!

xo