On our evening walk...back to our cool embracing fog.

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12.22 Three More Sleeps

Today is the 1st day in over a week that I've felt well enough to venture out for a walk, searching for my daily Christmas tree.

I've been keeping mental a list of trees I wanted to see, but since I missed that whole week, I won't get to all of the spots I had hoped to.

But I did make it to the 50+ foot tree in Neiman Marcus at Union Square.
It's so tall, I couldn't fit it all in a single snapshot. We've lived here for 4 1/2 years and this was the 1st time I've been in this department store. I've walked by it a hundred times, but just never had the need to step inside till today.

I think today was the 1st time in over a week that I saw sunshine. It was a beautiful day!

So beautiful, I couldn't help but admire the blue skies behind the scary crane.

I wrapped the last of my Christmas presents tonight. Check!

And I'll end with a little silly camera fun...
Jimmy got this hockey nutcracker a few years ago from his sister.

And I couldn't resist making these heart bokeh lights around my guitar. Still obsessed with learning how to play. Honestly, I don't have the talent for this. It's still a huge struggle, but I'm super focused and have a lot of determination.

I stumbled on these quotes somewhere and they are the epitome of how I've been feeling about my guitar playing:

12.8: Star Light, Star Bright

Tonight was the Parol Lantern Parade and Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens. The lanterns are amazing to look at and fun to photograph plus it's a pretty cool Filipino cultural event, too.

There were probably over 1000 people there enjoying the celebrations.

The Parol is a star shaped lantern designed to evoke the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Kings to the manger.

Different groups make their lanterns and compete for first prize. Some do a little performance at the end of the parade route, to help their chances of winning.

This group was a crowd favorite:
"Filipino Style!"
The video is really blurry, but you can get an idea how fun it is.

I changed my 'heart' bokeh filter for a 'star' filter and played around with the lights around the square.



Even the lights from all the traffic...

can turn into a magical starry night.

But sometimes you don't wanna change a thing. Sometimes it's absolutely beautiful just the way you see it.

12.4: Bright Lights, Big Love

Christmas time is one of the funnest times to play with your camera.

You can't help but smile when you can turn the lights from the office building across the street...

...to one filled with glowing hearts.


Or when the courtyard for the condos next door...

...is suddenly aglow with love.


And isn't it nice to turn this sad, empty parking lot...

...into a spot where a few hearts can light up even the darkest spaces.


Of course, I love the colored lights on my tree...

But when each colored light is transformed into multi mini hearts, I love it even more.


I did it all with this little DIY bokeh filter.
I learned how to make it last year from this website.

So go on...make one for your camera and play and experiment! It's a lot of fun. I promise.

In the meantime, I'll share with you today's box of wonderful winter fruits and veggies...
It was packed to the brim today! It had 2 yellow onions, 1 pound red potatoes, 3 fuji apples, 3 gold bosc pears, 3 eureka lemons, 6 satsuma mandrain oranges, 1 pound baby bok choy, 1 bulb fennel, 1 bunched broccoli, 1 bunched carrots, 1 bunched spinach and a bag of baby mixed lettuce. YUMMY!

I couldn't resist making some roasted veggies for dinner. I used 1/2 the bulb of fennel, all of the carrots, 1/2 of the broccoli, most of the potatoes, some fresh thyme, a little bit of olive oil and a light sprinkling of kosher salt. Is your mouth watering? Plenty for leftovers, too. Unless I have some for a midnight snack!

Hearts of San Francisco

Late night fun photo shoot at Ghirardelli Square.

Playing Ketchup

...or catch up. heehee.
We're at the hideaway for a few days and I'm taking advantage of much needed downtime. In fact, I haven't been outside in 2 days. I know that sounds kinda pathetic, but I've been enjoying the warm fire and reading my book, made some lasagna and watching some junky tv.

So I'm also going to backdate and catch up on my Daily December posts...

Friends and Family{December Daily 23}

I thought I had everything done except for a quick grocery run. But since Eric, Molly and Dave weren't leaving till 11, I met up with them for breakfast at The Grove. So glad I did because we chatted for a couple more hours before saying our goodbyes. I'll see Molly again on Monday, but Dave and Eric are heading up to Yosemite. I haven't seen Dave in over 2 years, so it was nice to see him.

When I got home, I realized I missed a call from Doris. She was coming into the city to pick up a raffle prize in Japantown. She came over and we had lunch at Mo's Grill before heading out to Jtown. Since we were there, we did a bit of window shopping then I dropped her off at BART before finishing up the rest of my errands.

Family Incoming {December Daily 22}

Eric and Molly drove up and Dave flew in tonight. We won't see them on Christmas day so we had a late dinner with them at Oola then headed back to our apartment to eat up almost all of the delicious cookies Molly gave us. Yummy!

Is this a little nutty? All these packages came today from Amazon.com. I hate battling the crowds so I do 99% of my Christmas shopping online. I asked the doorman how many packages come from Amazon and he said at least 50%. Now I just need to wrap 'em up...

All Play and No Sleep {December Daily 19}

I have a few sleep issues, which on a positive note, allows me a lot more time to do stuff I can't do when I'm sleeping.

Like play with my camera and a technique I learned a few years ago but my attempt wasn't quite as successful. I've since learned that it's all about the lens.

On another note, spent a few hours tonight writing out my cards... Christmas is 5 days away and these need to get to the post office asap.
It's nearly 3am...I suppose it's time to try to get some sleep.

Oh Christmas Tree {December Daily 18}

Spent a few hours in Union Square today.

The Bowens were in the City to see A Christmas Carol so we met up with them for a late lunch and a little bit of window shopping before their play.


Tomorrow I have packages to mail and deliver so our spare bedroom looks like a tornado hit it. Still lots more to wrap, but very happy for free 2 day shipping for the other family members who we won't be seeing this year and who live far, far away.

We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup. {December Daily 14 & 15}

Had dinner at a wonderful The Peasant and the Pear in Danville with my second group of crafty friends. This was the 1st time most of us had eaten here and we all left happy and full, each with a crafty Christmas exchange present.

Wow, is this a terrible photo or what? I forgot my camera in the car and my battery on my phone was dying so the flash wouldn't turn on. But I still had to capture some photo even though the lighting is bad (I even attempted a fix in photoshop).

In addition to a crafty present to exchange white elephant style, I made these little treat bags the night before for each of them.

Yesterday, the 14th was super quiet. Jimmy worked late and after I got home from Habitat, I spent a few hours working on the Family Christmas Calendar for 2012. And enjoyed my Christmas tree. These are the only 2 ornaments on my tree so far. The butterfly just arrived in the mail today from a friend in Arizona.

Union Square {December Daily 2}

Had about an hour to shop at Union Square this afternoon. Mostly window shopping and taking a few photographs at the Christmas Store in Macy's, but I did manage to find a present for the 14 and 16 year old nieces.