Bright Lights in the Big City

After packing up and saying our goodbyes in Sacramento, we headed over towards Berkley and San Francisco for the afternoon and evening.

When I realized that we'd be going through the area on our way home a few weeks ago, I got in touch with Patrick to see if his family would be in town for the holiday weekend. I was in luck, and so the planning began. My parents and Patrick's parents have known each other since before I was born. There are pictures of me, Patrick, and his older sister, Jennifer, all as kids in Iran back when I was just a few months old. I remember our family visiting theirs one time in Florida when I was in JR High. Small worlds collided when both of our families moved to Katy in 1991. I ended up at the same college as PJ too. Our Moms are still the best of friends after all of these years. Well, I hadn't seen Kim and Patrick since before they had their first daughter, so it was a treat to not only catch up with them, but meet both of their girls too!

We got to the Berkley area a little early and took a quick drive through campus. I have no idea what this building is used for, but it was my favorite. I loved the big C on the campus lawn in front of this one.


We got a tour of Patrick and Kim's place and then headed over to a local pizza joint that they raved about for some lunch. It ended up being all the rave, and we downed the slices. Sydney was an absolute sweetheart and Sam was all smiles!!!

So great to be able to catch up with one of my oldest family friends. We reminisced about old stories and new. Fun times!!

Brett and I paid the toll to get on the congested bridge to get us over to San Francisco. I found us a sweet deal on a hotel right in the Union Square district on the way over (thank goodness for WiFi) and we were on our way to being all set.

Turns out that Union Square is the craziest place to shop.....ever!! It seems that everyone was out doing some Christmas shopping in this block. Insane!!

The lights in the mall were incredible. Brett and I went up every escalator, to the very top, and looking over the edge was a little crazy!

We found a few more spots where the lights in SF shone super bright. The Macy's Christmas Tree was beautiful and so was the night in SF just walking around with Brett. We went out with intentions of doing some Christmas shopping but ended up not buying a single thing, and instead just enjoying each other and the city.

We had a little sushi for dinner at Sakana before calling it a night!! It was a wonderful weekend, but I'm anxious to get back because we can now officially start setting up the place for Christmas!! Ho ho ho!!