Ocean Shores Trip 2015

^^Natalie, Ambur, Erin, Brittan and I super excited to be at the beach!^^

Friday after work, Dustin and I drove to Ocean Shores, WA, to meet our friends (Ambur, Adam, Rob, Brittan, Natalie, Erin, Pat and Paul) for the weekend. We rented a huge house on the beach that sleeps like 37 people (overkill? maybe.), it was magical.

We immediately headed to the beach on Friday when we got to town because it was sunny and warm and beautiful. The beach was magical minus the fact that millions of these blue jellyfish had washed up on the beach and were now decomposing on the sand… Once you got used to them, though, it wasn’t too bad.

^^Ambur, Erin, Brittan, Natalie and I^^

Friday night we had a fiesta complete with margaritas and tacos and games and decorations and hats and an end of the night bonfire with birthday cake.

 
^^Pile on Rob’s truck!^^

  
^^There we go, practically a music video shoot^^

Saturday morning I made biscuits & gravy with cheesy scrambled eggs for everyone. The girls then complained about wanting OJ for long enough that Rob went out and got us some (thanks Rob!!). He could have also agreed to go to the store for OJ so he didn’t have to listen to our conversation about getting #reckedthroughyourrectum. No joke. Apparently “booty bumping” is a real life thing (that none of us do/have ever done) but is super funny to joke about when you’re hungover. We spent the rest of the day in the warm sunshine at the beach drinking screwdrivers and beers. We did yoga in the sand and practiced handstands and Brittan and I made up a really awesome dance-type routine that we totally nailed. #skillz

While we were at the beach Natalie and I found a live crab overturned in the low tide. When we realized he was still alive we named him Jesus the Crab, took pictures with him, and then set him free in knee deep water. He immediately swam away when I put him back in the water! Hooray for Jesus the Crab!

^^Jesus the Crab. Isn’t he cute?!^^
 ^^Fake acro yoga^^ 

Late Saturday afternoon there was a lot of napping, eating tortilla chips dipped in leftover sausage gravy and leftover birthday cake and leftover tacos. We watched Step Brothers, and then people started partying again. I didn’t make it up very late or party very hard (am I getting old?!?!), but there was definitely a few who lasted until like 5am taking shots of beer and then slapping each other (I don’t understand either?! But the Snapchats were hillarious). Ha!

Sunday there was waffles and eggs for breakfast and clean up time and then Dustin and I headed back to Seattle where we ate seafood for late lunch (because we failed at that activity while we were at the beach) and did chores and watched The Interview and called it an early night.

Now, I leave you with the funniest picture from the whole weekend:

^^Senor Brittan and Senorita Dustin^^

The End!

Great Wolf Lodge & Gaslight Concert Weekend

Two weekends ago Beth came up to visit for the night on Friday. Her (our) friend Ashley had bought us all tickets to see Gaslight Anthem play in Seattle for the second time and we’d been talking about the show for months. I was able to leave work a little early on Friday and go hang out with Ashley and Beth on Ashley’s house boat for a few hours before the show. We eventually got hungry and decided to go grab some Mexican food and margaritas for dinner downtown. I could probably eat Mexican every day and be happy about it. It was a delicious pre-concert choice!

When we were finished with dinner we headed to the Showbox where we met Justin, a friend of a friend, because Ashley was selling him an extra concert ticket (her girlfriend was supposed to join us but missed her flight from Kansas and was stuck in SLC). Justin ended up hanging out with us during the show and we all had a great time together singing along from the elevated bar area in the venue.

^^Beth, Justin, myself and Ashley at the show^^

^^I ruin good pictures, sorry friends^^

It was so fun to hang out with Beth in Seattle, even if it was only for one night!!

The next day I woke up early and picked up Dustin from his apartment before heading down I5 South to the Great Wolf Lodge where we met Dustin’s sister’s family for a night of fun at the water park to celebrate niece Isabella’s 13th birthday!

^^a pretty terrible iPhone pano of the giant indoor water park^^

Dustin and I arrived before everyone else and got ourselves some bracelets to the park before heading inside to grab a beer and check things out (the fact that you could walk around the park with a beer in hand was a major PLUS for all the grownups in our group:). The park is totally indoors and it’s heated to about 85 degrees F which was really nice. Inside the park there were a bunch of fun and kind of terrifying waterslides (some required a tube, others you went down on your back), a wave pool (my favorite), some kiddy pools, hot tubs, and a giant structure that dumped a 1,000 gallon bucket of water over everything every few minutes. It was a really fun time.

Isabella and her friend, Becca, mostly did their own thing at the park, but I did join them for a few rides down the super scary water slides that required inner tubes, and I did teach them that spitting on someone can be considered a felony, so knock that shit off, and also I taught them the “tampon” game (where one person says tampon, then the next person says it a little louder, and so on. Apparently now the 2.5y/o won’t stop shouting TAMPON! Definitely my fault, sorry Dana! Haha). Dustin and I spent most of the afternoon hanging out with his sister, Dana, and her boyfriend, Justin, and their 2.5 year old daughter, Alessandra. We all had a good time, especially once Alessandra warmed back up to us.

When it was time for dinner we all went to the Buffet in the adjoining hotel for some delicious kid food (think: pizza, mac and cheese, chicken strips, etc.). I love me an all-white plate of food. That night the adults and Alessandra hung out in the hotel room (with some beverages for the adults) being silly while the mortified 13 year olds went to roam around the hotel (which is totally safe and there are lots of activities for kids to do around the hotel, like a magic quest).

^^Selfies with Alessandra^^

^^Photo cred: Alessandra^^

^^And again, Dustin and I in wolf ears, thanks to Dustin’s 2.5 year old niece, Alessandra^^ 

The next morning we got breakfast at the buffet before hitting the water park for a few more hours. Eventually Dustin and I called it a weekend and headed back up to Seattle where we grocery shopped and watched some March Madness and some Netflix before sleeping for a million hours because being at a water park with kids all weekend is exhausting but also super fun!

Valentine’s day weekend 2015 at Disneyland

A while back my friend Katie and her husband Josh had some airline miles to use before they expired. They decided to book a flight to LAX over President’s day weekend and figured that they would decide on details later. They ultimately decided to go to Disneyland and invited Dustin and I, as well as our friends Art and Amy to join them. I’d never been to Disneyland (I know, right?), Dustin had (and loved it) so we were in.

Dustin and I took the Friday the 13th off of work and flew down to California midday – after I had some day-off-work-drama trying to get this multi-million-dollar-deal closed that I had been working on for months. I got it figured out, ultimately on my phone, from the airport, then we were off #STRESS.

Dustin upgraded us to first class for our flight, another first for me. First class is the most magical thing. How come I hadn’t been flying this way all the time? (I know why, don’t answer that). I sipped dranks and chatted with Dustin and looked out the window because it was so sunny and clear and ate a yummy thai wrap and listened to a lot of Beyonce. It was my favorite flight.

^^First Class^^

^^Flying over Mount St. Helens^^

^^Flying over Mt. Hood and the Homeland^^

We booked a shuttle to take us from LAX to the Disneyland Hotel where we were staying. We probably should have given our flight times, etc. a little more thought, because we got stuck in really terrible LA traffic heading to our hotel. I did snap a lot of really excellent SnapChatting while sitting on that shuttle, though:

^^Snap game so on point/little child photo bombing so hard^^

When we finally arrived at the hotel it was getting dark so there wasn’t much time to get in the pool like we’d originally hoped. Instead we went to our room and got ready for dinner with Goofy at Goofy’s Kitchen!

I’m pretty sure Goofy’s Kitchen is for children, as evidenced by the food at the buffet (and I guess the fact that it’s at Disneyland, haha), but I gave zero fucks because that food was GOOD. Mac and Cheese pizza, you guys! Holy yum. Also, dirt cups for dessert. Plus Goofy and his “friends” danced around the restaurant and we took pics with them, including a selfie with Minnie Mouse.

^^Dustin, Goofy and myself at the beginning of our Dinner with Goofy^^
  ^^Selfie with Minnie^^

^^Dustin and Minnie Mouse would probs make a really cute couple, you know, if you’re into that^^

After dinner Dustin and I walked around the hotel property for a bit before finding the most awesome Tiki Bar ever. There were flaming drinks and it “rained” inside and they would ring a bell that made the lights flicker and the pictures of volcanoes on the wall erupt and it was so, so cool. When Katie and Josh landed we forced them to come join us for a drink.

^^Katie, me, Dustin and Josh with Disneyland’s version of a Scorpion Bowl :) ^^

At the end of the night Dustin and I walked Josh and Katie out to the front of the hotel to catch their Uber then we stopped to look at the light-up-map-thing at the front of our hotel. While we were standing there, a security guard named Rob came up to us and starting chatting with us and telling us tips and tricks for navigating the park, etc. I mentioned it was my first time there and Rob took us up into some super secret, fancy-as-fuck suites in the hotel and showed us around. It was sooo cool. One of the suites had an open air living room and I wish Rob had the power to upgrade us, sadly we had to go back to our (already upgraded, already super nice) room and go to bed, as it was like 1am at this point.

Dustin and I woke up bright and early the next morning. Apparently staying at the Disneyland Hotel entitled us to an extra “Magic Hour” in the park before everyone else was allowed to go in. We entered the park at 7am and immediately went to get in line for Space Mountain. I was mildly hungover and super tired at this point and hated Space Mountain with a firey passion – it was terrifying and dark and the only redeeming part about it was the cold air it blew in my face the whole time. (side note: I think I wouldn’t have hated it but for the circumstances surrounding when I rode it) Also I felt dizzy when I got off. Fuck you, Space Mountain. This picture says it all (OMFG, so bad):

^^it looks like I was crying, I think I was a little bit^^

After Space Mountain we went on Star Tours which was fun. We then went to Indiana Jones to get a Fast Pass because the park was opening. Art and Amy got there around 8 while we were on some jungle cruise right next to Indiana Jones, they got fast passes and we walked over to our breakfast reservation on Main Street. Breakfast was good but even with a reservation we had to wait about 20 minutes. So we took some pictures outside in the sunshine.

^^Art, Amy, Dustin (I think Art and Dustin were jokingly fighting over Amy here)^^

^^Dustin and I waiting for breakfast^^

After breakfast we went on a few rides (Indiana Jones, Pirates, Dumbo) before meeting up with Josh and Katie around noon.

^^Amy and I on Dumbo. Photo courtesy of the boys who didn’t want to ride Dumbo (whatever)^^

^^Art, Amy, me and Dustin before lunch^^

At this point is was getting so, soooo hot in the park (like 90 degrees, in February! It was amazing but also exhausting). Also, there were SO MANY PEOPLE there. Like way more people than I expected. It was CRAZY busy. We eventually stopped for a hand-dipped corn dog and some bottled water. After lunch we went on the Thunder Mountain Railroad rollercoaster which was my favorite ride of the day. Amy and I also purchased Mickey ears which we got embroidered with our names and were s’cute.

^^Amy and I with Mickey Ears^^

We went on some other rides too then took a time-out with Art and Amy to head to our hotel pool for a bit. We all had a drink and some fries by the pool and Art, Amy and I got into the water for a bit before heading back to our room to get ready for dinner.

We had a triple-date Valentine’s dinner at some Creole restaurant. 3 of us got the Monte Cristo sandwich, which was so, sooo good at the time but now I never want to think of it again. It was deep fried and fatty and the thought of it makes me want to vomit for some reason. But really, it was amazing, and if you’re ever there you should definitely eat it. 

After dinner all 6 of us stood in line for the Haunted Mansion. We finally got inside the ride, were ready to go and it never started. Apparently the ride was broke down. Huge bummer as it was the longest line we waited in all day. After that Katie and Josh went to ride a fast pass ride and Dustin and I went with Art and Amy to do the Star Tours ride again.

Eventually Art and Amy walked over to California Adventure and when Dustin and I were heading back to the main part of the park after that we spotted Mickey Mouse! I was so excited as I heard that he rarely makes appearances. Obvi we stood in a line that was short at that point but grew rapidly, for a picture.

After Mickey we stopped to watch the fireworks at Cinderella’s castle, which was covered by a tarp because they were doing repairs for the 40th Anniversary celebration. Actually, a number of the big rides were closed for 40th Anniversary updates/repairs (Splash Mtn, Matterhorn, etc.). Despite that, though, the fireworks were awesome. I love fireworks and I was so excited to see some in February!

Dustin and I stopped and got a picture with Tinker Bell around this time too.

^^Valentine’s day smooches with Tinker Bell^^

After the fireworks Dustin and I met up with Josh and Katie to ride It’s a Small World before heading over to grab a seat for the 10:something PM Fantasmic showing. At this point I was f-ing exhausted. We sat and watched the Fanstamic show which was really cool and included fire and Mickey and dragons and water and dancing neon monkeys on a boat. I loved it. After the show was over Dustin, Art, Amy and myself went on Haunted Mansion which was finally up and running again. It was like 11:30pm when we got out of the ride and I was sooo dunzo. Dustin wanted to grab a beer Downtown Disney and I just could not. We went back to the room, I looked at my Microsoft Band and saw that I had walked like 27,000 steps that day. My legs were a very painful jelly. We immediately fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up before Dustin and almost fell trying to get out of bed, my legs were so sore and stiff. I decided to walk down to Starbucks and get us some coffee and breakfast sandwiches. It was sooo gorgeous outside that morning. I wanted to stay in SoCal forever. 80 something degree weather in February? I mean…

^^Palm Trees are the best trees, outside of our hotel^^

We hit the gift shop before meeting Art and Amy by our pool for a bit before heading back to the airport around 11am. We left Art and Amy our room key so that they could enjoy the pool for the day before they left on a way later flight (they stayed at a different hotel than Dustin and I). We flew first class back as well, and skipping the security line was my favorite. So was watching St. Vincent on the flight and drinking all the Blue Moon and seeing Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams, the homeland, AND Mt. Rainier out the window all at once. It was so cool, I was nerding out hard.

We got back to Seattle at a decent time and peeked in the window of a house that is currently for sale, stopped by the grocery store and watched SNL’s 40th Anniversary show before calling it a night/day/weekend. I had a great first visit to Disneyland (minus the crazy crowds). I mostly really, really loved the sunshine and warmth. I loved collecting Disney pins for my lanyard that held my room key and park pass; it’s now hanging in my office. And I was a little disappointed I didn’t find the plain, crewneck sweatshirt with Mickey on the front of my dreams, but I did come home with a sweet Mickey mug and a magnet and lots of good memories, so at least there’s that. I think we’ll be back in the not too distant future, next time hopefully with Dustin’s nieces.

Holiday Things 2014

This past week has been full of fun holiday activities. When Microsoft bought Nokia, my legal group absorbed two members of the Nokia legal team. They were in town visiting last week so we moved all of our usual holiday festivities to last week so they could join in. This included a lunch and toy exchange (where the toys were donated to charity after) at my boss’s boss’s house, and a smaller group lunch at Maggiano’s. It was an exciting week.

In addition to my work holiday events, last Thursday Dustin and I went to Sun Liquor’s first annual Nog Ball. Sun Liquor’s Erik Champan hand makes the eggnog from fresh eggs, cream, apple brandy, bourbon, rum and sugar. Sun Liquor’s Aged Eggnog is made in small batches and aged for 30 days in glass, a process that breaks down the fats and proteins, making the nog silky smooth and delicious. The nog is usually only available on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, but this year they decided to offer it at a party as well, along with some amazing Seattle snacks.

 
^^Dustin and I in our ugly Christmas sweaters^^

We had a great time eating fry bread tacos and eggnog topped Top Pot donuts, and sipping Seattle bourbon, boozy milkshakes and of course eggnog. I think I gained 6 lbs just at this one event. #worthit

On Friday evening I attended the Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure (&) Operations Holiday party as Dustin’s date. (sidebar: can we please note that the below is Dustin’s Microsoft group’s holiday party, while mine is a gift exchange in someone’s livingroom and we don’t even keep the gifts?! Must be nice to work for a group that makes money and has a substantial morale budget haha.) It was the fanciest holiday party I’d ever been to (granted, I don’t have much to compare it to) and we had a blast. It was at the Hyatt in downtown Bellevue which is huge and beautiful to begin with. There was a prefunk for Dustin’s smaller group at one of the restaurant bars in the hotel before the main party. The prefunk included chicken quesadillas and an open bar and I got to meet some of Dustin’s coworkers and their dates before the actual party began which was nice.

The actual party took up two ballrooms on two floors. There was an Alice in Wonderland theme and it included a million open bars, servers walking around with plates of really delicious snacks, an oxygen bar that may or may not have saved us from terrible hangovers the next day, a sit down dinner, a photo booth, gambling, dueling pianos, karaoke (with a live band as your backup) and at the end of the night, they brought out a tater-tot bar and it might have been the best thing that has ever happened to me.

 
^^Posing with the flamingo croquet^^

^^I put all my dollars on 4 numbers, then 17 hit and I won like $500 fake dollars and immediately gave up when I realized there was no point in playing with fake money and no prizes ha^^

^^Holiday Party Selfie^^

 ^^Awkward smilez^^

 
^^Giant flowers FTW^^

We had so much fun at the party, and we were glad that we got a room at the Hyatt so we could order $10 room service beers and then immediately fall asleep after the party. Good times.

Saturday we did a lot of Christmas shopping. We shopped in Bellevue first and then Saturday evening we headed up to the Seattle Premium Outlets to finish up things. While we were there we stopped in the Kate Spade store because they were having a crazy sale (50% off everything + and additional 20% off handbags). I scored a cross body bag, originally $248 for $35! Best score everrr. After the outlets and watching Marcus Mariota win the Heisman while snacking on fries at the Ram, we headed back to Seattle and stopped by Sephora on our way home to get some makeup for me as well as some spa-night-essentials. We then had a spa night and I fell asleep on the couch right as SNL was starting (fail).

^^Activated charcoal mud masks^^

^^Super moisturizing masks that make us look like serial killers^^

Obiv we had baby skin on Sunday. I even refrained from wearing makeup all day. I’m sure Kate really appreciated that during our dinner together that evening ;)

It’s been fun doing holiday things even if my pants are a bit tighter this week. I’m sure this work week is going to feel a million years long with no holiday events planned and as I look forward to my trip to Ecuador happening a week from today (eek!). I hope you’re all having a happy holiday season as well! xo

normal Seattle weekend things

I’ve been wanting to post on this space more often. I regularly find myself thinking about substantive things I’d like to write about, usually at inopportune times like while I’m driving or in the shower, but then when I sit down at my computer to write all I ever think to write about is what I did this weekend. So, that’s what you’re going to get today too. Hopefully I’ll have something different soon. Or maybe I’ll just stick with my usual Dear Diary, I did these things and it was so fun approach. Who knows?

This weekend: Friday night I got home from work and I sat on my couch watching New Girl on Netflix which has been so funny and amazing and it has made me weirdly nostalgic for all the regular network TV shows to return in the fall despite the fact that I’m not a huge TV watcher. Anyway, I sat there for a good long time thinking about how delicious a drink sounded (ok maybe how delicious some friendship sounded more than anything) before I finally decided that I needed to get out of my apartment and do something about it. I text my friend Caroline and ended up meeting her and our friend Ashley for a drink on Queen Anne. Well, technically I met Caroline at her house where we found the HUGEST SPIDER EVER on her floor and trapped it under a jar and I took a picture of it but I don’t want to share it here because it was too gross and huge and I hated it. When we finally we out and met Ashley, we didn’t stay out long, but at least I got out of my apartment for a bit. Win!

Saturday I ran my errands on foot to kill two birds with one stone (exercise + get shit done). When I got back to my apartment a little later, iced coffee in hand, I cleaned for a bit before picking up Dustin and heading into to Ballard (which is currently one of my favorite Seattle neighborhoods). Side note: weekend morning cleaning is so sooo satisfying to me, anyone else? In Ballard we got pedicures (his first ever), then grabbed Happy Hour at the Ballard Annex. After that we met my friends Natalie and Kate at the Ballard Beer Co. for a beer. Saturday night was spent in, with me falling asleep early after all my plans fell through and I was too tired to make new ones.

Sunday morning I had brunch at Bastille with Natalie and Brittan before we headed outside to the farmer’s market. Brunch + farmer’s market is one of my favorite things. I bought peaches and blackberries, cheese and bread, and flowers. After the farmer’s market Dustin and I went to an open house. Guys, buying a house in Seattle is SO. EXPENSIVE. (median price = $543,500 WFT?!) and SO. STRESSFUL. I had stress dreams about it that night and it’s not even really my house to buy. Yikes!

We de-stressed by watching WWE Summer Slam since I’m very into wrestling now ;) and eating the snacks I got at the farmer’s market. After wrestling, we went across the street to grab a beer on the patio and talk about the house we looked at earlier. Dustin’s friends Ben and Greg ended up joining us at the end and it was a good end to a successful weekend.

Also I failed at taking pictures all weekend, minus the spider, so this poorly lit, straight-faced, cell phone selfie is all I have for you:

FIVE things

Today I have like FIVE things for you that probably (mostly) deserve their own posts, but sometimes life gets in the way, you know? So here they all are, an update of sorts. Enjoy!

ONE.
I got sworn into the bar the other week. It felt like more of a hoop than a monuments occasion, but it was nice to get dressed up and celebrate my last law-school-ish-related-thing, nonetheless. Hello being a real lawyer.

Dustin went with me to the ceremony and acted as my cheerleader/photographer (he may have been more excited than me, considering he had to deal with my stressed out self for like three years of law school and bar studies - someone give him a high five) and afterward took me to the Ballard Annex Oyster House for seafood - I had oysters, bites of Dustin's clam chowder, and a lobster roll - and champagne to celebrate.

TWO.
That same week, I went back to White Salmon where it was beautiful and fall-like, to do some hunting. I ended up getting a deer opening morning which was so, SO exciting and after tracking it through the woods with my dad and brother Jim, I took this picture in which I was exhausted and so happy.

Note to self: it might be a bad idea (or the best idea) to spend Friday at a coffee shop working really productively (Hood River is the most magical for all things), then go get a manicure (which held up so well through my hunt) before meeting up with pretty ladies for dinner and then letting them convince you to go out for a drink or two and dancing at Jack's until like 1am. But it was really fun and I was really exhausted when I had to get up before daylight to go hunting and when my dad let me go inside and nap while he finished skinning my deer for me, you'd better bet I did just that.

 

And then, that evening, instead of hiking through the woods looking for a deer, I was able to go to dinner with Josh and Sarah, and then grab another drink with everyone in Hood River before I called it an early night because I was SO tired, you guys (spoiler alert, see: THREE below).

 



And, this last weekend, my really cool brother Jim got his deer. I wish I could have been there. Also, jeal that his was bigger than mine (it ALWAYS is).

 

THREE.

I definitely got strep throat last week, which was a total bummer. My tonsils swelled up to the size of cherries and got all white and disgusting, even the Doctor was shocked when he looked at my throat which made me LOL really hard, because you don't expect a doctor to freak out when he looks at your throat, amiright? After not getting sick at all last winter coming down with strep so early in the season was not a fun one. Hey antibiotics forever.

 

FOUR. 

Sunday someone had a birthday. We celebrated with Ba Bar for dinner followed by a drink and a shot for him thanks to our gracious bartender, then home for cake (vanilla with raspberry filling, made by yours truly) and presents.

FIVE.
This next month is going to be full of travel for me and I'm so excited. This weekend it's back to Hood River for some Halloween fun, picking up a freezer full of deer meat and getting my teeth cleaned.

Then, next week I fly to Tampa to swoop up my friend Gaby and drive with her back to the northwest. I'm really excited for our cross-country road trip. We're doing the whole thing in 5 days, Tampa to Seattle (to White Salmon for her). We're definitely stopping in Nashville, St. Louis, Cheyenne(ish) and Boise. Does anyone have any must-sees or dos along the way?

Then, right after my birthday, Natalie, Danielle, Brittan and I are going to San Francisco for a long weekend. Again, if anyone has any must-dos in San Francisco please let me know. I am just so excited about all of it (my bank account, on the other hand, is not, but YOLO, amiright? ha)!

xoxo

Whistler and Other Goodness

Last weekend Dustin and I went to Whistler, BC, with our friends Art and Amy. It's a little over a 4 hour drive from Seattle (maybe more depending on the line at the border and traffic), so we left directly from work on Friday afternoon.

When we got to Whistler, it was snowing!! (Side note: this was particularly exciting because it has not snowed at all in Seattle this winter). When we got there we were all hungry and excited about the snow, so we quickly went to our rooms to drop off our things then met back up to grab some dinner. We were staying right in Whistler Village, so it was super convenient to be in the middle of all the awesome shops and restaurants.

Dustin and I outside our Hotel right when we got to Whistler - it's SNOWING! 

After dinner we grabbed a few drinks at one of the nearby bars. I was being a total baby and was super tired around 11pm so we called it a early night and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning everything was BEAUTIFUL. It was sunny with a little fresh snow covering everything; we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Dustin and I grabbed coffee in the village before meeting up with Art and Amy at the Scandinave Spa.

Me in the village

The Scandanive Spa was amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Whistler. It might have been the most beautiful place I've ever visited. We took advantage of the baths while we were there, which none of us had done before. The outdoor area is completely silent and you go from a warm bath, a sauna or a steam room (where you sit for 15 minutes), into an icy cold bath or shower (for 15 seconds), then you go relax by the outdoor fireplace or in a solarium which looked out into the beautiful, snowy surrounding mountains, before repeating.

At first being totally silent and disconnected (no cell phone, what?!) was really difficult, but after the first round of hot, cold, relax, I felt peaceful and relaxed. It was an amazing experience.

source

(because there were no pictures allowed -- just imagine lots of snow on the mountains and a light dusting on all of the trees around the pools, swoon)

 

After the spa we were all ready for lunch. We grabbed Flat Stanley (side note: my co-worker's nephew sent her Flat Stanley for a school project where she was supposed to color Flat Stanley and take him places and take pictures with him. She took a few pictures with Stanley, but was running out of ideas, so, we printed out 3 more Flat Stanleys for my co-workers and I to take to our various weekend destinations with us. I made my flat Stanley a ginger (with a moustache), put him in a Canadian tuxedo and a beret and took him to Canada with me) from the hotel and headed to Earl's where we had lunch and a round of drinks.

 

Dustin was a little jealous of our love...

 

After lunch we walked around the village for a while before stopping for more drinks with Flat Stanley (don't worry, we also took Flat Stanley to places like the Olympic circles, the gondola, etc. for some 1st grade appropriate pictures). We MAY have had a little too much posing with Flat Stanley...

 

Apparently Flat Stanley and I BOTH like beergaritas, who knew?

 

That night Dustin and I went to a free Nas concert (part of the World Ski and Snowboard Festival) where I re-lived some of my favorite high school jams. We were really far away and it was pretty cold out, so we didn't stay for the whole thing, but I mean, who needs Coachella when you can go to a free rap concert in the snow in Whistler? (just kidding, totes jealous of all the kids at Coachella).

 

 

The next day we had a lazy morning, we walked around and found crepes to eat for breakfast, I got a coffee, then we hit the road to head back to America.

 

Amy, Art and Dustin in Whistler

 

It was a pretty awesome weekend.

 

I haven't been feeling too great since I got back, though. I think I have some severe allergies going on (runny, faucet nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, cough, sinus pressure, tired, you know, the works). Despite that, though, my week has been super happy. My friends Lisa and Natalie moved into a gorgeous apartment just a few blocks away from me and I couldn't be happier. I love the idea of being able to pop over, even if for just a few minute, all the time. Also, my friend Beth was in town for a few days this week (Yay! the only thing that could have made me happier than having Beth in town would be if Marissa could have joined as well)!

 

 

The first night she was in town, we went to dinner at the Latona pub with Beth's friends from Boise, and then went to see the Gaslight Anthem play a show at the Neptune. The other night we had low key a girls night complete with lots of episodes from the first season of Girls, a bottle of wine, painting our nails and eating ice cream. It was perfect. 

 

And now, I'm looking forward to spending the weekend in Seattle, hanging out with some of my favorite people and trying to feel completely normal (and not stuffy) again.

 

Happy Friday, friends!