Christmas in The City

The Man and I just got back from a lovely weekend in San Francisco. We went up to see The Nutcracker and to enjoy the city in all its holiday bustle and cheer. The big tree was set up under the rotunda in Nieman Marcus, and there were huge groups of people cooing at the puppies and kittens (courtesy of the SPCA) in the windows at Macy's.

Even the cable cars sported seasonal decorations.

Best of all, sewist + San Francicso = Britex!

It's so easy to get overwhelmed at Britex. I have a two-pronged strategy. First prong: I try to go in with a mission in mind so that I don't end up wandering about fondling fabric and then leaving with empty arms. This trip, I decided I wanted to get material to replace a few pairs of pants that had finally bit the big one.

Prong two of my Britex strategy: try to go on a weekday. We went on Friday afternoon, which meant that the place was not as mobbed as it can be on Saturday. I was able to collar one of the nicest fabric ladies ever, who advised me on suitable fabric for pants.

Two pairs of pants and a blouse to be.

My prizes: two lengths of twill. One is a nice blue-gray and the other is a kind of an olive-y green. I also got a yard of rayon challis to make some kind of blouse out of. I seem to buy from a pretty small color palette - mainly greens and blues, with the occasional brown or burgundy thrown in. I don't consciously plan it that way, it just seems to happen. Maybe it means I'll have an easier time coordinating my wardrobe?

While we were shopping around town we kept seeing groups of 20-something folks dressed as Santas. We started out spotting a couple here and a couple there. Then it was groups of 5 or 7. It was cute at first and then it started getting a little creepy. We finally asked someone what was up. Turns out there's an event called SantaCon, where people dress up like Santa and then cruise from bar to bar, sampling the holiday cheer.

Next year we'll have to remember to bring a hat!