Union Street Shops, San Francisco

Our California trip is continuing to go well, and we're in awe of all this amazing state has to offer. Such natural beauty at every turn! I think it's so fun to visit a different city right before Christmas, to see how other areas rev up for the holiday. A few years ago we were in Malta, and we loved seeing the elaborate nativity scenes, beautiful festas (community festivals honoring various saints), and decorated churches. A few nights ago, Gabriel and I walked to the Union Street shops, hoping to do some Christmas shopping here in San Francisco. I always love shopping in the US, as there are so many different stores than the ones we have in Canada. I was especially thrilled to visit Z Gallerie, which I've heard about via design blogs, but never saw in Canada. There were so many beautiful gift ideas there, and I loved their black, white, and silver holiday palette. If only we could have found some gorgeous tv tables, to ship back to Canada for Gabriel's massive flat-screen, our condo wishlist would have been complete!

Gabriel ended up savoring a crepe from Crepes A Go-Go, before we continued on our shopping mission. We didn't purchase anything, but were definitely tempted a few times. There was an especially cool antique furniture store that I loved, complete with a 1940s mechanical Santa in the window! San Francisco is SUCH a fun city, I can't wait to share all of our adventures with you!