The Streets of San Francisco: Thank you Santa!

Above: Zach giving Santa a hug!

Christmas in Boston was great - it started out with all of us (Paul, Carrie, Iggy, Zach and I) flying to Boston on Thursday night (Dec 20th). Our flight was going to New York first and then we had a small layover there - then flying out to Boston. Zach could not have been better on the flight, Zach has probably flown more than I have - he's a world traveler already at the ripe old age of 4 years old! Zach slept most of the plane ride to New York and was in great spirits. We hit a bit of a snag in New York and thought we might have to sleep at the airport until the next morning but we were lucky to get on the last flight heading out of NY to Boston. There was another flight headed to Boston that didn't make it out that night - so we were lucky! Once we arrived in Boston it was ass freezing, I knew it would be but I guess I didn't prepare for it. Paul and I waited for a cab for a good 1/2-hour ad I kept saying I wanted to go back to San Francisco. I was only in Boston for less than an hour and I already wanted to go "home." LOL

Above: Zach on the plane.

So once we arrived at Paul's mother's house at 4am we were beat. We crashed immediately. We eventually woke up on Friday and were amazed at all the snow in Boston. It was truly a winter wonderland and the first thing we did was go outside and jump around in the snow. I love the snow - one thing I do miss about Boston is the snow. We drove around a bit and noticed little changes to the city - Boston is still Boston but it was nice to be back, it felt like forever since the last time I was there. We did some last minute Christmas shopping and walked around the ole stomping grounds, great memories.

Above: Me crazy in the snow.

Above: Winter wonderland in Boston.

Later that night we met up with our good friends Kevin, Charlie and John and headed to a Celtics game. I am not a basketball fan but I had never been to a Celtics game AND they are doing amazing this year so I thought I would go. It was a blast! After the game we all went out to good old Club Cafe - one of the few gay bars in Boston. I cannot believe how many people we actually saw out that knew, it was like everyone we had known in Boston was out and about and it was great to catch up with everyone. It was one of the highlights of the trips.

Above: Our nosebleed seats at the Celtics game!

Above: John, Jamie and me at Club Çafe havin' fin!

Above: Andy and Charlie at Club Cafe.

I really was anxious for Christmas to come. I wanted to see Zach open some of his gifts (he still has more in San Fan to open). It was great to see the smile on his face at all the great gifts he got and it was hilarious when he opened a box with clothes in it and said, "I wanted toys!" I laughed so hard - we all felt that when we were kids. Zach was so excited as you can see in many of the photos below. Paul and I exchanged a few gifts in Boston. I got Paul a nice leather bag for his new job!! Yes, Paul got a new job - very excited for him and his next phase in his career!! I will be posting more on Paul's new job in the near future. Paul got me an amazing new camera - it's the Nikon D-40 and it's a "real" camera. Stay tuned for some amazing pictures.

Above: Zach opening his Star Wars guys in his Astronaut costume.

Above: Zach and his Star Wars guys.

Christmas Day was filled with family and fun. Paul had a large family and every year they do a Yankee Swap. This year there were nine people that participated in it so it was a decent size. I picked number 7 so I was not expecting to get the best gift. Paul's brother Eric had number one so he had his pick of the final gift. One of the gifts was pretty creative as in it was a cardboard box and the instructions in the box were not to open the contents until after the swap is complete. So Paul was left with the mystery box at the end, I was left with a really cool power drill that I much needed. So Paul opened the box and there were three white envelopes in the box. The instructions were to pass one envelope to the left and one to the right and keep the last one. So I was sitting next to Paul so I got one envelope and Paul's brother Scott got another. We all opened them up and it each of us had a scratch ticket. We all started to scratch off the tickets and it appeared Paul had won $1,600!!! But he read the ticket wrong and only won $10.00. Scott also won $10.00 on his ticket. I on the other hand won $500.00 on my ticket!!! I couldn't believe it - it was by far the best Yankee Swap gift I have ever received. Thanks Mike!! I sent Mike (Paul's brother in-law who bought the scratch tickets) the same exact scratch ticket hoping that the winning will continue.

Above: The actual winning $500.00 ticket.

Above: The Johnson family. Back Row (left to right): Ashley, Jake, Andrew, Julia, Matthew, Ruth, Mike and David.
Front Row (left to right): Karen, Paul with Zach, Me, Tori, Marlene and Scott with Hailey.

Above: Zach and Paul reading a Boston Christmas book.

Our last full day in Boston Jon and Josh were kind enough to offer having an old time game night like the good ole days. It was a blast to see the majority of the game night crew! We played Taboo and the favorite True Colors. So great to see everyone and catch up with old friends.

Above: Josh and Tony at game night.

Above: Tom and Jack focus on the game at hand.

Above: Andy in mid-sentence playing Taboo!

I do have to say I was ready to go back "home" to San Francisco. It's funny that I can call it home now because I feel like it’s "home" for me. I really have no ties to anywhere in the country and I really feel at home here in California. I love everything about it. The best thing I did was take a chance and move to a different city. I know we will be moving back to Boston someday, but San Francisco is an amazing place!!!