Christmas in San Francisco

This year, Todd and I spent Thanksgiving and his 27th birthday in Connecticut and New Jersey with our families, and spent Christmas just with each other in San Francisco. Since we're moving to LA over the summer, we figured it'd be our last chance to celebrate the holiday here.

A few weeks ago, we headed to Rancho Siempre Verde, a Christmas tree farm near Santa Cruz, and chopped down our tree. Here it is all gussied up the day after Christmas (with all of our loot displayed beneath it!):

Todd had to work for a few hours on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we still managed to have a fabulous time. On Christmas Eve day, I picked up a cherry pie and a chocolate cream pie at Marie Calendar's. When Todd got home that night, we made homemade apple stuffing and had a wonderful little feast. The next morning Christmas dawned sunny and cold.

We opened our stockings (we each had two since mom sent us stocking stuffers as well!), and then opened so many thoughtful and great gifts from family and each other.

After all the gift opening, with only an hour until Todd had to leave for work, we drove to Pacifica to Rockaway Beach. We found a flat rock bordering the beach, with a lovely view of the crashing waves in the sunlight, and had a slice of cherry pie (with whipped cream) using our brand-new sporks (a gift from mom, they even included a knife). It was a great moment. After the pie, we crossed a little creek pouring into the sea, and climbed to a rocky outcropping above the beach. Then we drove back and Todd headed to work.

Not wanting to just relax inside on such a beautiful day, after saying goodbye to Todd, I drove back to the beach, and went on a real hike along the cliffside path. I found a comfortable rock extremely high up, settled down, and spent the afternoon reading and basking in the sunlight. Then I hiked back down, and before I knew it, Todd was home and we were enjoying the last hours of Christmas together.

It was an unusual and fun way to spend Christmas, but next year we're looking forward to spending it with mom and my East Coast relatives again, since we haven't done that for a couple of years!

We both got some thoroughly awesome gifts this year, which need to be given their due credit here.

Behold, the terrific assortment:

A little closer:

And of the other side:
My top eight gifts (in no particular order):

1. Recipe Book (from Grandma): Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite thing in the world to eat is Grandma Bib's apple pie. It blows all other pies completely out of the water. This year, she baked one just for me at Thanksgiving, which I got to share with Todd's family. Grandma's gift to Todd and I was a small three-ring recipe binder which included not only her outstanding, top-secret recipe for the World's Best Apple Pie, but also all of her Christmas cookie recipes (she normally makes about twenty varieties, to put in tins to give to friends, veterans, and family over the holidays), and even recipes for breads, appetizers, and vegetarian entrees. It was such a thoroughly thoughtful and perfect gift. Way to go, Grandma!

2. Lett's of London hot pink 2010 calendar book, with all birthdays and important dates written in (from mom): I'm slightly scatterbrained about remembering birthdays and such, and life is bound to be hectic the last semester of law school. Mom gave me this awesome book with all the important dates already inscribed, so I'll be sure not to forget any! This will surely come in handy many times over, and I look forward to using it.

3. Massage Envy three-month gift subscription (from Todd): Law school is stressful. Job searching is stressful. Stress makes my body ache. Thus, Todd gave me the perfect solution: three months worth of relaxing, hourlong, full-body massages! I can't wait. Plus, there's a Massage Envy less than a mile from our place!

4. Awesome books (cheating because I got several which I love, but that's okay)(from various people): I received P.D. James' new book about detective fiction (woo-hoo!), Dave Eggers' screen adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, the hard bound edition of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (now with 30% more zombies), and a graphic novel of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Looking forward to diving into all of them...

5. Hand-blown Golden Gate bridge glass ornament (from Flora): So lovely, so delicate. She's such a thoughtful step-sister, and I'm so glad we're in each other's lives. I can't wait to take out this ornament next year, when we're back in LA, and remember all the great memories we've made up in the Bay Area.

6. Adorable animal candle holders and thin rainbow candles (from Mom): We found these together in a store in Kennebunkport, Maine over Thanksgiving. The candleholder set features a brontosaurus, alligator, shark, and whale, among others. Mom teased that she would give Todd and I one holder for each of our children's birthdays when we had them. I said I didn't want to wait that long! So she gave all of them to us this year, and we're looking forward to using them :-)

7. Fawlty Towers 30th Anniversary Set (from Dad and Ann): I can never get enough of the series, even though I've seen every episode four million times. This new edition features interviews with cast members and other cool extras.

8. The Art of Simple Food cookbook by Alice Waters (from Todd's parents): They gave this to me when we celebrated Hanukkah together at Thanksgiving. It's such a beautiful book, and I'm definitely planning several meals using recipes from it.

The final one is not really a gift, since Todd and I purchased it together using a gift card from Tiffany & Co. that we received for our wedding. It's a simple and elegant right-hand ring called Crown of Hearts, by Paloma Picasso. I'd been eyeing it for awhile. You can see it here: http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=GRP01974&mcat=148207&cid=563630&search_params=s+5-p+4-c+563630-r+101424400-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+.

I love it, and have worn it every day since getting it!

And here's an ornament we added to our tree this year: a 2009 Mickey and Minnie frame with a picture of us on our wedding day. We will look at this ornament 50 years from now, when it's slightly battered, and the photo is faded, and think, "How happy we've been since that long-ago beginning..."