Greg, Sam, Jo, and I will be spending Christmas and New Year’s at home in Seattle. It’s extra special this year because dear friends from South Africa will be spending it with us! We can’t be more excited about our time together. 

The decorations are up and we’re ready for our guests of honour. They arrive today, which is also our 27th wedding anniversary. Extra celebrations tonight! Sam and Jo have been awfully excited since the day after Thanksgiving when the tree went up. They play, shout, and zoom around the loft, spreading lots of good cheer. They are extremely curious about the presents under the tree, checking in on them multiple times a day. They will be shuffled around and pawed a bit, but still intact on Christmas morning.

We have small and meaningful holiday traditions that this time, we’ll enjoy with our friends. We love spendng time on Whidbey Island before Christmas, soaking up the unique Pacific North West Winter island atmosphere. Back in Seattle, we get dressed up and go to our favourite Japanese restaurant on Christmas Eve, and come back early to watch Christmas movies. We’re hosting a full and festive house on Christmas Day. 

For the rest of the holidays, we’ll be hanging out with our friends, showing them the sites and our local favourites. We’ll go on outdoorsy adventures and lots of walks. We will shop, bake, and cook up a storm. Music from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s will be blaring as we relax, slow down and take our minds of work and the usual stresses.

This is the last post of the year. We at YLF wish you happy holidays, safe travels, peace in your hearts, great style, good eats, fun festivities, memorable moments, alone time if you need it, and lots of laughter. We will be taking a break until the new year. Regular blog posting will resume on January 3.