Happy New Year! in the City

I can't believe that I am back to work tomorrow. It is a bummer that the holidays are over. I waited for a long time, and it came and then it was over fairly quickly. Mijo explained that spending Thanksgiving in Australia maybe the reason why the Holiday season felt so short? He's maybe right.

However short it felt, I did enjoy Christmas. For one thing, I got to see the Nutcracker once again and I discovered that the views from the balcony seats were not as bad as I thought it would be. I've attended the festive Grace Cathedral's Men and Boy's choir caroling tradition which I am including in my Christmas to-do in San Francisco list from now on. I never though I'd enjoy trimming our Christmas tree and found some unique ornaments. I also took so many good pictures of friends and photos of the holiday scenes in the city especially the Christmas trees on street corners. Here are my favorites:

This is the tree in Union Square and is undoubtedly the mother of all trees in the city. Thousands of twinkling LED lights illuminate this giant Shasta fir. where the lighting ceremony happens on Friday after Thankgiving. Locals and tourists alike, dressed in their holiday gear, flock around this tree to have their photos taken. According to the UCSF Beniof f Children's Hospital, this tree has raised almost $900k the past years for the hospital's Compass Care. So it is not only the most festive tree in the city, it is also a good fundraiser. This tree is equally stunning during the day as it is at night.

This one can be seen around the Ghirardelli Square plaza. I was showing an out of town friend around the Fisherman's Wharf area when I chanced upon this scene.

We were walking from the Opera house to the train station when I noticed a a bunch of people were congregating in front of the cityhall. That's when I saw this tree. Luckily, I had my handy camera with me.

This one can be seen on California and Kearny Sts. around the A.P. Gianini plaza infront of the former Bank of America building. The tree has a warm orange color that shimmers and can be noticed from within a three block radius.

I saw this angle from Kearny St using my iPhone.

This is my modest tree at home. Since I am staying in town for Christmas, I thought getting a real tree would be a great addition inside the house for the holidays. I trimmed this tree using a variety of hand painted ornaments, candy canes, LED lights and greeting cards from friends and loved ones.

Happy New Year everyone.

~ rl