Fulton Street, Palo Alto

Last month, right in the thick of holiday preparations, my hubby asked if I thought I could get away for a couple of days. He had work meetings in San Francisco and thought I could join him for a little R&R.

Really?

Who takes off for a long weekend of playtime when there are gifts to purchase (and wrap), food to prepare and guests to greet? It took about ten seconds to give my answer. How soon can I come?!

When I finally touched down (there's a whole other blog on the pains of air travel during December) we made a beeline for Mountain View, CA. The Bay Area was home to our our family for several years and I couldn't wait for some 'home-cooking' at La Bomba!

My mouth still waters thinking about it!

After stuffing ourselves, we made our way over to Stanford University / future alma mater of our sixteen year. (Positive thinking...right D?) We then kicked around town, dodging rain drops and seeing what sites looked familiar after a twelve-year absence.

Imagine our joy to find Christmas Tree Lane alive and well!

We were first introduced to Christmas Tree Lane, aka Fulton Street in Palo Alto, California exactly 21 years ago. Each year, starting with the year that we we became engaged, Kevin and I visited the festive street.

Come to find out, this tradition has been going on since the 1940's. Read more about its history here.

It's hard to take pictures in a moving car, but since it was pouring rain, I wasn't about to get out and ruin my camera! You can see much better pictures here.

It rained the entire time I was in San Francisco. That's OK. I've been there plenty of times so a little water wasn't about to ruin my trip. The only problem with the rain is that I didn't take my camera out much so I don't have many photo memories. I'm carrying my memories in a different place...(picture me eating!)

Less than 72 hours after take off, my feet were back on home ground, rested and ready for the marathon race that was about to start. I had left the house in decent order; decorated and ready to receive the holiday guests that were due to arrive in 24 hours.

Here's what greeted me... What did I expect given the fact that I had left three teenage boys home alone?!
The good news is that the trip helped me put everything in perspective. I realized that Christmas was coming whether or not I was ready. I let go of everything non-critical (including updates on this blog) and enjoyed the holiday!