It's Christmas In San Francisco

Christmas is my favorite time of year. There are also about 8 million other photos I could have put in this post so I am using great restraint.
First up, was the annual lighting of the Christmas tree at Union Square. On the day after Thanksgiving I slept late. No Black Friday sale madness here unless you factor in the damage I did on Amazon.com in the comfort of my bed. That evening I slipped in to the my favorite Burberry coat, which I got as as an amazing Black Friday score in 2008, and finally made my way downtown.


My first stop in an attempt to get some photo was the Holiday Ice Rink at the Embarcadero Center. Unfortunately, the settings on my digital camera were incorrect so my photos didn't turn out at all. I didn't even realize it until later so no photos of that.

I finally boarded the 21 Hayes to make my way to Union Square. The first display I got a photo of was the window at Louis Vuitton. A lot of color there! The crowds were already out in full force. I wanted to get a few shots of Neiman Marcus and their gigantic tree that spans multiple floors but I had to go reserve my spot.

I made my way over to Macy's, which was about half a block away and managed to score a spot at the front of the barricade. It was a good thing I got there when I did because it was packed. We waited. And waited. And waited. You can kind of make out the crowd in some of the photos. I am someone who is not in to crowds. I am really private, I am really low key so this really isn't my kind of evening, but this is one of my favorite activities of the year. Seriously. So finally they start the show, a bunch of songs were sung... someone from American Idol even sang a few. He was actually really good. I don't watch that show so the name meant nothing to me. I should have paid more attention solely for my blog post, but oh well. Just as we were counting down to the lighting, the 38 Express pulled right in front of those of us by Macy's and I thought the people next to me were going to push it over to get their camera shot. Luckily, the bus moved just in time and I was able to get my photo. : ) And that was it. All of the pushing, the crowds, the people for 5 seconds of glory. It was worth it.

The last photos are of some of the decorations at 101 California Street. These are some of my favorite in San Francisco. I love the huge ornaments. These things have got to be about six feet tall.

I have a few other Christmas decoration photos from around the city I'll try to post but I hope you enjoyed these. So, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. I want to thank all of my readers who have had such a positive response to this blog. I love doing it.

Happy Holidays!