Our 2016 Holiday Letter

What a year it’s been! It seems like every year I talk about huge milestones for us and 2016 was  no different.

Pat and I both got new jobs this year. I finished my pediatric residency (whoop!) and got my first ‘real’ job. Sure, I’ve been gainfully employed for well over a decade (I got my first job bussing tables at the ripe age of 14), but this is a job job. No more trainee status. Oh, and I passed my certification exam, meaning I’m a board-certified pediatrician. I took a job in the pediatric ICU at the children’s hospital here in San Francisco. It’s a great job and the flexible schedule has given me more time to work on A Side of Sweet, which continues to grow and place even more demands on my time.

Growing the blog has been incredible. There are almost twice as many of you reading the blog this year as there were last year! It’s such an amazing feeling to share our lives with so many of you. We’re so grateful for your kind comments, emails and support. It’s also so much fun to see people sharing their versions of my recipes on Instagram and Facebook.

I’ve been really focused on improving my photography. Here’s an example of how it has improved in the last three years: 

Pat started a new job over the summer at Grocery Outlet working as a forecaster. It’s challenging and fast-paced, and no day is the same. The company is great and growing really quickly. I’m looking forward to meeting his coworkers at his holiday part so I can put some faces to the names. He’s continued to ride his bike all over the Bay Area and did a few cyclocross races this fall.

We spent a lot of time exploring the Bay Area this year, including our first visit to Paso Robles. Paso is the new Napa! It’s a little further from San Francisco, but has great wine and is way less touristy. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, or even Los Angeles, it’s a great wine country weekend getaway.

Of course we made a few trips to Big Sur too. It continues to be one of our favorite places in the world. Based on the photo below, I’m sure you can tell why.

We spent a week in Montana exploring Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley. What an incredible trip! We fell in love with the small towns, friendly people and amazing hiking.

Our big trip of the year was to South Africa. It’s been a dream to go for years, and Cape Town did not disappoint. It has everything, from a gorgeous wine country to majestic ocean views to great food and culture. We almost didn’t come home!

Next year will have even more adventures. We already have a trip to Iceland planned for the spring and we’re spending a week in Glacier National Park in the fall.

We’re so grateful for the friends we’ve made here in San Francisco. Our home has a great setup for entertaining, including a beautiful backyard. I love having a group of people over to cook for! We hosted a Friendsgiving, which was absolutely epic. Cooking for twelve people was intense but so much fun!

Our Thanksgiving celebrations continued in both Minneapolis and Wisconsin as we made the rounds to see family. Pat’s family cooks their turkey on the grill, and it’s honestly the best thing ever. We spread the grilled turkey tradition to the Egan side this year too. I’ve made him promise to buy a grill this year and make me turkey all year round.

We continued our epic holiday photo tradition this year with a little help from my friend Daniel, who is one of the best photographers I know. All of these photos are from Land’s End in San Francisco. You definitely need to check it out if you find yourself in SF!

We’re so grateful to have such amazing family and friends spread all over the world. Thanks so much for all of your support this year. We wish you all the best in 2017.

So much love,

Kelly & Pat

P.S. – Check out our other holiday letters from other years!

Holiday 2015 Letter
Holiday 2014 Letter