Skiing Northstar

Reunited and it feels so good :)

I was back on snow this weekend for the first time this season! My friend Julia (who I worked with at the USSA and skied with all the time over the last two years) recently moved to South Lake Tahoe to work for Heavenly Mountain Resort, one of the resorts Vail owns in the Tahoe area. I've already been up to visit her once since she moved, but we weren't able to go skiing that time. This weekend, though, we went up to the north side of Lake Tahoe and spent a day on the slopes at Northstar!

It was an absolutely beautiful day! Unfortunately, there hasn't been a ton of snow in the Tahoe area yet this season so the conditions weren't perfect, but it was still a lot of fun. As the odd skier who enjoy groomers, it was great for me. I did have the challenge of skiing in skis that were in desperate need of a tune up (the edges were pretty much nonexistent), but that was fine! My legs were another story, though. Running clearly does not work the same muscles as skiing because I was hurting by the middle of the day.

Northstar itself was a great resort. It definitely had some Deer Valley vibes to it (in a good way). The groomed runs were very well done, the lake views were stunning and the on-hill staff were incredibly positive and friendly. Even with it being a busy holiday weekend, we were still able to find plenty of runs to ski that weren't crowded or chewed up. Both my morning coffee and afternoon Mexican food were delicious (although, as with every ski resort, they were overpriced). I love the fact that all of the Vail-owned resorts give you your on-hill photos for free, too! It's a nice touch.

It was an awesome day and I can't wait to get back up to Tahoe for another day on the snow! There's no such thing as a bad day when it involves skiing :)

2013 in Review: Part 4

Missed the other posts? Check out Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

October

After the excitement of September, October was a little less exciting. I attempted to keep up with running despite the weather getting colder.

But, alas, that was sidelined by a stress fracture in my foot. I ended up spending two months in a boot.

There was a lovely rainbow outside my apartment.

And Julia, Katie and I carved some pumpkins for Halloween!

November

Korey and Ashley moved to the Avenues in Salt Lake City. Their new apartment has some killer views!

The Colts and Texans played, so Julia and I went to Billy Blanco's to cheer for our respective teams. Naturally, the Colts won in a crazy fourth quarter comeback.

Starbucks red cups were released, which always makes me happy.

Another happy seasonal item...Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars! I may or may not have stockpiled these.

11:11 11/11. Made a wish!

A long track speedskating World Cup was held in Salt Lake City at Utah Olympic Oval, so I went down to watch for a day. The USA went 1-2 on this particular event.

Opening day! Park City Mountain Resort opened at the end of November and Katie, Julia and I went out for a few runs to celebrate. 

I went home for Thanksgiving, which means lots of puggle time. 

Home also means lots of games! We played Cranium and Hillary and I had matching answers in Mind Meld. It was kind of wonderful! 

December

I kicked off the month with my first-ever NFL games! Despite being under the weather, I joined my dad and brother for tailgating.

Lucas Oil Stadium!

I worked with the Today Show on a shoot at aerials practice.

A bobsled World Cup came to Park City and I went out to take a few photos.

I continued skiing regularly. We had tons of sun dogs in December for some reason, and I couldn't stop taking pictures of them!

The FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup came out to Soldier Hollow, which was a great chance to watch some of our B-Team athletes (as well as Olympic Champion Billy Demong) and take some photos!

I had to climb some snowbanks for optimal picture taking position.

I went home for Christmas.

Merry Christmas! We added a few people (and dogs) to our annual Christmas cookie photo. 

Christmas Eve service. 

Olympic Trials came to Park City! Todd Lodwick earned a record-breaking sixth Olympic spot. The weather was amazing all weekend and it was super fun to watch everything! 

Finally, I closed out the year with some New Year's Eve skiing with Julia.

Happy New Year! Can't wait to see what 2014 brings!

Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival is a little shindig put together by Robert Redford that you may have heard of. It happens every January in Park City so, since I live here, I figured I'd check it out!

While I can't say I was the best Sundancer ever, I did make it to one premiere. I waitlisted (didn't actually buy any tickets despite signing up for the locals pre-sale) with my friend Julia and we made it into A.C.O.D., a comedy about adult children of divorce starring Adam Scott (from Parks and Recreation), Amy Poehler, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O'Hara and Jessica Alba. It was hilarious!! I highly recommend seeing it if it gets a wide release! To make things even better, I got to sit in the front row during the premiere...about three seats away from Jessica Alba!

 

Unfortunately, I got sick the second weekend of Sundance (and the first weekend was half-marathon/Las Vegas weekend), so I wasn't able to experience much of the nightlife. But, hey, that gives me something to look forward to next year!

Excedrin for Nobel Peace Prize

Whoever invented Excedrin needs to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Yesterday afternoon, I had a migraine. This was one of those throbbing, can't-see-straight, please-turn-off-all-the-lights, I'm-about-to-vomit migraines. Every possible symptom of a migraine was in there. It was like the perfect storm of migraines.

Of course, this happened two days after I decided to take Advil out of my purse, so I was sitting at work feeling like my head was going to implode at any second. And, one hour after work ended for the day, we had our company holiday celebration...aka lots of people and noise (which are just great when you have a migraine!).

Fortunately, my friend Julia and I carpooled to work, so she delivered me home right after work and I downed a glass of water and two extra strength Excedrin, then laid in bed for ten minutes with all the lights off.

Lo and behold, by the time I was arriving at the restaurant less than an hour later, the throbbing was subsiding and I could see without big blurs on everything.

And the holiday party was fantastic :)

Are you listening, Nobel Peace Prize committee??