Back in the Bay.
I was in a really happy mood when we landed back in the Bay Area. I really do love my boyfriend's family and I had a relaxed good vibe about this Christmas.
I have to admit that I experienced a rather large paradigm shift of philosophies as we were driving through the Walnut Creek-Pleasanton area. While in high school and my trips back to the Bay I've always understood it's appeal theoretically: wealth, security, opportunity, ect. However, on this trip I think I finally got it. As we drove past the esteemed companies I understood the desire for work. As we drove past the nice houses I understood the desire for large families who have a safe place to grow up in. As we drove past the hills and trees I saw it for its beauty I didn't realize I had missed. There is a good life to be had up there and I got it.
We arrived at the house and thanked his parents again again for the gift of travel this season. It has been such a treat, and I really do mean that, to be able to see everyone. The bf showered and I unpacked presents under the tree.
We headed to his brothers/sister-in-law's house for Christmas dinner--which btw was at dinner time. I don't mind dinners in the afternoon, but I dunno, I've always found it a little weird that holiday dinners are always served at lunch time.
The house was beautifully decorated and festive for Christmas. :) I got to try butternut squash soup for the first time, which was much sweeter than I expected (yummy). There's a funny picture somewhere of everyone at the table smiling at the camera and I'm caught with a spoon full of soup in my mouth, haha.
Delicious turkey, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, tons of marshmellows on sweet potatoes, and I very much regretted eating that dark chocolate bar on the plane since I couldn't fit anything more in my stomach.
We watched Love Actually, which has more nudity and more men-in-power-taking-advantage than I remember. Hey I really love the movie, but why do you need 3 male bosses falling in love with their housekeeper/secretary? Can't you have 1 woman in power? Seriously. Anyway, it's still one of my favorite Christmas movies and Colin Firth could be my boss any day. So dreamy and British...
Christmas morning and everyone was up in an assortment of pjs and jeans. As I said in an early post, this Christmas really wasn't about the presents and it was about the people, so while I was really happy with my gifts, I'm going to skip the details and just say that it was a wonderful thoughtful and playful Christmas with people I care about :)
I went to San Jose briefly to see my grandma and headed back in time for ham dinner. Truthfully, I'm not a ham fan since it usually makes me sick but I do like the well-done ends that are slightly singed, and this ham was ridiculously tasty.
And it was nice to be with his family. I very much enjoy all of their company and I wished that his other brother/sil/nephews could have been there too.
To cap off the night we went to War Horse, which let me tell you was much more war not so much horse. As it was discussed in the girls bathroom once the movie was over, it wasn't exactly what we were expecting.
Hugs and kisses, and by 7am were we on our way to San Francisco to fly home. Goodbye, Bay Area. Thanks for the love and inspiration!
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