Enough for Hallmark, Christmas 2019

Christmas was spent both in the West and in the Mid West - we ventured home to Ohio after exhausting San Francisco of its Christmas charm. Traditions are alive and well this time of year, and each time spent seeing friends and family means faithful memories are being made. It was so wonderful that a cold front came to San Francisco, and helped us pick our Christmas tree with festive “cold” toes. We ice skated properly with hats and coats, and cozied up at the Palace Hotel for High Tea. We got artsy one night and took family photos that turned out scarier than we intended, and did our usual photo shoot at the Fairmont Hotel by the life-size gingerbread house. The santa run was as funny as ever, and we had a party at our house to introduce Miracle on 34th Street to our friends. Which meant pulling the mattress of our bed to the ground so that we all had a place to sit. We popped holiday crackers, and discovered the competitive side of us all.

Once in Ohio, we spent our days closely with our parents. Jamie and her family made tunnels out of wrapping paper Christmas morning, and I got to hold Conor by the tree. We unwrapped wedding shoes and Harry Potter bedsheets. A Christmas Story was on repeat at one house, while football games streamed at another. Hallmark did its job of making us shift uncomfortably during its classic corny moments, and yet we kept watching it to Bill’s delight. By the time we returned home to San Francisco, we were content and happy. It was another successful year for traditions, and felt like its own Hallmark romance.