"Rum Balls"

We got a late start leaving the hotel today.  By the time we all got up and moving, breakfast was out of the question.  Kristen was on a mission to try a good deli, but the one she directed us to was not what she was expecting so we ditched those plans and made our way to the Ferry Building.  We checked out all of the shops and I bought some yummy olive oil from Stonehouse.  

We decided to have lunch at Gott's Roadside.  Mom and I ate here last year when it was called Taylor's Automatic Refresher.  I just found out that the name was changed because Taylor's was already taken so the Gott owners renamed the restaurant after themselves.  I think when I tried them last year I had the mini corn dogs.  Mom and I split a bacon cheeseburger and chicken strips so we got to sample more of the menu.  We also had regular and garlic fries which were both yummy.

We got back to San Jose in the early evening and I spent the rest of the night hanging out with family.  Josh read me one of his school books and then he and I watched Home Alone.  One of my favorite movies and definitely one of the best holiday movies out there.  I never got into the sequels though - as with most movie franchises the original is the best.  I don't have much planned for tomorrow so I'm looking forward to a relaxing day.

"The Jew Who Cooked a Ham for Christmas"

I finally got to meet Shannon's son, David, today.  I drove out to Hollister this morning to catch up with them.  We haven't hung out or really talked to each other much since high school, but it was so refreshing to discover that even though time has passed, we can still pick up and carry on a five-hour conversation just like we were back in high school.  We had lunch at Progresso Tamale Parlor which has excellent tortilla chips.  After lunch, we finished our chat at Shannon's house, but I had to cut the visit short to meet up with my mom and sister in San Jose.

The three of us hit the road after 6 and headed up to San Francisco for our own Christmas celebration.  We decided not to exchange gifts this year and instead treat each other for a nice dinner.  Somehow that turned into an overnight excursion in San Francisco, but I'm not complaining.  We checked in to our room at the Parc 55 hotel in Union Square and then headed out to dinner.  We found ourselves at Little Joe's where we shared a bottle of their inexpensive house chardonnay and had a decent Italian meal.

After dinner we walked around Union Square and checked out the tree and decorations at Macy's.  We then found ourselves at one of the hotel's rooftop bars which had a beautiful view of the city.  Kristen ordered a spiked hot chocolate, Mom had some apple martini, and I had Nonna's sangria.  Kristen called it a night after this since she had worked all day so Mom and I found our way to Johnny Foley's because we heard live music.  Turns out we had stumbled on a dueling pianos bar.  Very cool.  These guys played some Christmas music and one of them even played Adam Sandler's "Hannukah Song" when the audience called for it.  Dueling pianos always makes for a fun night!

We tried going to Mel's Drive-In for a late night snack after we shut down the bar, but they were closed so we wound up at the Denny's across the street.  Definitely time to call it a night at this point, so we walked back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Today's media mention is one of my favorite Christmas songs - The Eagles' "Please Come Home for Christmas."  When I worked at Calico, anytime this song came on the radio, Robbie and Nancy would start singing this and I loved hearing it.  I love the mood of this song.