After nearly half a day of planes and airports, I am finally home for Christmas. I can’t even describe how happy I am – it feels like forever ago that I woke up in my own bed with Stella next to me.

All I wanted to do today was sleep in, but because I’m apparently still on Ontario time, I was up really early. Stella and I ended up delivering presents with my parents – not my favourite thing in the world to do, but something I’d pick over a contracts lecture any day. The best part was when we stopped at Thomas Haas for hot chocolate (the best in my opinion), vanilla macarons and quark cheese danishes.

It never really feels like Christmas until I find myself in the line that snakes around the little patisserie past truffle trees and Christmas stollen, a cappuccino bar on full speed and customers calling out their macaron and cake selections. My mom ordered our buches de noel today – tiramisu as per usual, along with pear caramel – and enlisted me to pick them up on Christmas Eve. Normally I would try to get out of picking anything up on Christmas Eve, but I miss Thomas Haas so much that for the first time ever, I will brave the craziness of Christmas Eve drivers on the Broadway corridor.

Thomas Haas
2539 West Broadway
Vancouver BC