This year for Christmas we did a little something different and went on a vacation just the three of us. We had a wonderful time exploring one of our favorite cities and soaking up as much sunshine as possible. Upon arrival, we made a quick stop at the farmer's market for greenery for wreaths, Britex for ribbon and CB2 for some twinkle lights. Within a couple of hours I was able to put together a simple, yet festive environment for our stay.

It felt different waking up in a hotel room on Christmas day instead of our own home, but later as we walked the streets of San Francisco and passed by many homeless people it was a stark reminder just how blessed our lives are. It is often easy to forget gratitude after Thanksgiving, especially when you are constantly surrounded by abundance during the holiday season. I am grateful for this paired down, poignant and reflective Christmas day this year.

It would not feel like Christmas without a few of our things from home, so I made certain to pack our Christmas stockings, a bag of fake snow, bottle brush trees and of course a box of Sees candy. With a few little touches I was able to transform our modern hotel room into our cozy little home for the week.

Jasper has done his fair share of traveling in his short life and I love to see how quickly he makes himself at home in new spaces. I am proud we are raising a flexible, social little boy who loves people and exploring more than being at home.

Christmas morning was filled with new books a plenty. Jasper has become really interested in space travel over the past few months and continues to be fascinated with trucks. This year, I tried my best to find books which would foster his current interests. I know in a few months or maybe even years he will be interested in other things, so it does not bother me in the slightest to indulge in his current obsessions.

During the holidays I thought Seattle was a very festive place, but it only takes a few moments in a world class city like San Francisco or New York City to realize Seattle could be a lot more festive. Every hotel we entered had an enormous Christmas tree and garlands and wreaths were as frequent as trash cans and litter.

Christmas is not complete without citrus!

Even the streetcars were festooned with small wreaths! And these giant ornaments were my favorite decoration we saw.

A highlight of our trip was Jasper getting the chance to sit in the driver's seat of this vintage fire truck. In my experience, firefighters are some of the kindest, hardworking men I have ever encountered. They always take the time to interact with Jasper and usually offer to give him a sticker or let him sit in their truck.