Next to traveling, shopping is another love of mine.  I love to shop.  While I now try my hardest to control my impulse buying, it has actually been very easy not to purchase anything in the past year.   

In the last year, San Francisco's main shopping area, Union Square, has changed dramatically.  While the big department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Macy's are still there, and upscale boutiques like Hermes, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton are still open, my most favorite stores like Uniqlo, H and M, and Marshalls are gone.  Now that they're gone, I have fewer reasons to shop.  I do pray these popular stores will return once the hustle and bustle return to the city.  Union Square is just not the same anymore.  All you will see there are empty stores and boarded up hotels block after block.  It's like a ghost town.  So sad really.