the week I tried to go skiing 3 times.

This winter I had big aspirations.

I was determined to hit the slopes on as many days off as I could.

Everything was turning out great until all that snow in December.

Zero inches.

Well, fine then.  There will always be January, I said to myself.

My new (used) skis were sharpened, hand warmers purchased and new fleece ready.

I was pretty much unstoppable.

Then the country had one of the first Winters in history with the lowest snowfall across the country.

Of course we did.

However, because I live in the lovely state of Washington, where it is gray most of the year, we got Snowmageddon.

As you all know, this meant 3 inches of snow in Seattle, but

107 inches at Steven's Pass in 14 days!

The snow has arrived.

I could finally get that ski fix I had been waiting ever so patiently for.

Until it was the week when I tried to go skiing 3 times.

During the week I tried to go skiing 3 times, there happened to be just a few days when it was either snowing or pouring on the mountain.

The few days happened to fall on the days I went to the mountain during the week I tried to go skiing three times.

Seriously?

Day 1 was the best.  I skied all day, but couldn't walk afterwards for two.

Day 2 it was white out conditions, ended up turning the car around, but got to go on a shopping spree.

Day 3 it was pouring, fell out out of my car on the ice, soaked through my Uggs (these are not rainboots, just in case anyone was wondering), had to get the car jumped, left the mountain (again) and spent the day on the couch watching terrible television.

All during the week I tried to go skiing 3 times.

Luckily, there was still day 1.

MegO and I.  Psyched!

Weeeeeeeeeeeee.

Pretty mountain.

MegO and Blake.

We skied together for a couple of hours until my legs were throbbing, I couldn't see 2 feet in front of me and the lift lines were on my last nerve.  Oh yeah, the backside was closed due to high winds.  Of course it was.

Oh, the joys of skiing.

Fortunately for me, I ran into a bunch of friends in the lodge.  Made some new friends.  Bar hopped.

Yes, we bar hopped at the ski mountain. 

Chicken wrap, 3 beers., and 1 shot later.

I was ready.

Skiing all afternoon was a breeze!

Note: Always wear your ski goggles, while taking shots, for protection.

Afternoon skiing.  I made another new friend, Heather, on the ski lift.

Got to visit a special dinosaur on the way home.

If I had only known what the end of the week I tried to go skiing 3 times would be like.

Probably better off that way.  

It's all about Brady.

AFC Championship 2012 Champs.

The New England Patriots!

Brady, you can come hang out with us anytime.

Let's go Pats . . . Superbowl XLVI

Don't let the Giants repeat '07.

That would just be a tad bit embarrassing.

SnOMG.

Seattleites get very creative (props to Miss. Beringer)

Despite having to work all 3 nights of Seattle's winter weather event of the year, I came out of it alive.

Thank. You. God.

Because downtown is filled with incredibly steep hills and there are no plows or salt in sight, I decided to "hunker down" at my friend Audrey's place.

I just wasn't interested in plowing down ice into the railroad tracks off 1st Avenue.

Or sacrificing my sleep.  I mean, c'mon people.

Luckily, Audrey lives down the street from the hospital because my goodness who would ever be able to drive to work in 2 feet of snow?

(Note: Seattle got about 3-5 inches.)

It turned out to be a 2 day sleepover adventure. 

We survived on diet coke, tea, bagels and pizza.

Turns out it's pretty fun to see a California girl's reaction to winter weather!  No gloves.  No boots.  

But Audrey was quite the trooper.

As was her 5 pound toy poodle, Teddy.

He pretty much just hopped over the snow.  Like a little bunny.  Adorable.

Our courtyard view in downtown Seattle.

Seattle Children's main road.  Post-night shift day 1.

My CRV saved the day.

Everyone here just thinks I love wolves or something.

Audrey's driveway.  Looks like about 2 inches.

Pretty trees at the hospital.  Post work night 2.

Pretty snow covered houses.

I'm not really sure how we survived such a storm.

I definitely don't owe my life to a snow plow.  

Let it Snow

Snowpocalypse.  Snowmaggedon.  Snowzilla.

Seattle was going to be "dumped" on.

I love how people are calling it "getting dumped on."  This causes me to become hysterical.

The weekend "snowstorm" started out with an email from the hospital on Friday afternoon explaining to us that we are "essential" personnel.

Just in case we didn't know that already.

Duh.

I personally feel that the patients could use a night off from us nurses.  I guess other people beg to differ.

Thus time to prepare for "Extreme Weather Conditions."

Now, let's go back 2 years ago and remember Winter in Boston.

I wore a full snowsuit to work.

No, this is not a joke.

I would throw on long-underwear, long-sleeve shirt, scrub pants, fleece and puffy socks.

Next would come the fleece scarf, gloves, snowpants, winter boots, and a fluffy coat.

Imagine a down comforter from your bed.  Yes, that was basically what I was wearing.

Final step, don a knit hat, zip up my blanket coat and try getting a backpack to fit on my back.

I looked like the Pillsbury dough girl gone bad.

Of course, no good day is had without coffee, so i'm also attempting to steady a mug in one hand.

Living in Newton meant walking through the neighborhood to get to the train.

Imagine.  5:50am.  2 degrees.  Dark.  Snowpiles.  Highway.  Cars still driving at least 60 mph.

(average driving speed on Seattle roads in peak Summer at 75 degrees and sunny is 30 mph)  Just saying.

Within minutes there was snow up to my knees.  I mean, through my snow pants on my actual Popsicle stick legs.

Do I even need to mention winds whipping sideways trying to knock me over?

By the time I got to the train my eyelids would be frozen, my coffee now iced, and a really bad hair day.

If the train was actually on time, i'd be giddy (this never happened).

After about 10 seconds of being on the train, you felt like it was time to party on a tropical island.

90 degree forced heat.  Time to strip.

30 minutes later the train arrives at Longwood and it's time to trek up the hill to Children's.

By the time I walked through the door I had sweat running down every part of my body.

At least I knew where to get good scrubs.

Now, let's talk about heading to work in Seattle.

Thin fleece coat, my regular Dansko clogs, scarf and my coffee.

Throw on some lovely Pandora music (to calm my road rage) and glide calmly into the parking garage.

Car temperature says it's 43 degrees.

Yeah, i'll take this look instead.

Despite it being easier to get to work, it may be because us New Englanders have an advantage.

It's called, "we don't abandon our cars in 1 inch of snow."

Boston

20 inches, maybe.

Seattle

1 inch.  Laughing ensues.

Oh, Seattle.  What to do with you.  Maybe the Mayans were right.

Dusty the kitten.

This week we got to be honorary pet owners of Dusty the kitten.

Okay, by technical standards he is a cat, but don't tell Brittany because she thinks he is a kitten.

And what a kitten he is.

Meow, Meow, Meowmeowmeowmeow, Meow. 

This is how I have been greeted every morning and evening for the past 10 days.  I kinda like it.

Although kitten mainly stayed downstairs in his own home 

(i'm not good at getting woken up to meowing at 5am)

he did spend quite a few afternoons and evenings with the two of us.

He mostly slept (apparently cats can sleep up to 20 hours a day), but was so lovable when awake.

Helping me write a blog posting.

Belly-rubbing.

Holding hands while watching Jeopardy.

Ignoring Dan (I think kitten prefers the ladies).

Just another little kitten nap.

His reaction when I told him Brittany & Ron were coming back a day later.

Back to his cat-nap (quite literally).

And for all you out there wondering about cats, here are some fun facts:

• The high rate of Polydactyl cats in Boston, MA has led people to refer to 8 toed cats as "Boston Thumb Cats"
• The taste buds of cats cannot detect sugar (no wonder he didn't like the cupcake I made him)
• Cats can see in the dark (that is 1/6th the light level humans can see at)
• President Lincoln kept 4 cats in the White House
• Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine (26 purrs a second!)
• Cats can hear ultrasonic sounds (dogs and humans cannot)
• Cats can run at 30 miles per hour
• The Pilgrims introduced cats to North America

Oh, Dusty.  What a little cuddler.  You can come hang anytime you'd like.

Wishing every hour was Happy Hour.

Hands down, best hour of the week.  Happy Hour.

Unlike in Boston, where Happy Hour is forbidden due to some 1800 rule made by Benjamen Franklin,

Seattle knows how to do Happy Hour.  And boy do they do it right.

This was noticed about Seattle during week 1.

Although we quickly became slush snobs at our favorite place Joey's, our appetites have explored places

all around the city.

Tavolata, Umi, Black Bottle and Amber top off as my favorite in Belltown.

These were all fantastic until MegO brought me to Japonessa.  Then all those places went out the window.

Seriously.

We waited about 10 minutes for two seats at the bar, wine glasses in hand.

White for me.  Red for MegO.

We ate an app of calamari (no convincing needed there). Mouthwatering.  Mmmmmm.

We each got rolls.  Shrimp tempura roll for me.  Seattle roll for Meg0.

And lots and lots of talking between us.

3 glasses of wine and a full belly later we figured it was time we give up our seats.

I'm already planning my next trip there.

Great friend, fantastic conversation and amazing food.  Love nights like this.

If I ever tell you I hate sushi again, hit me.  I am clearly in a coma.

Y'all want some cheese-wiz?

What better a way to spend a Saturday night (post-Christmas/New Year holiday hoopla) than at a trailer park?

Pretty much nothing.

So, we grabbed all our best redneck attire and headed over to the East side for some Twinkie eating, beer pong playing, cheese-wiz spraying fun.

Bass Pro hat - check

Flannel - check

Tattoo - check

Duct taped jeans - check

Purse made out of a Ziploc bag and twine - check

Looks like we are ready for a redneck party!

The ladies.

The gentlemen.

Alena, her baby-bump and some flip-cup (and an extremely over exposed photo).

Flip Justin, flip!

Redneckin' all around.

Blair really impressed us all with her Twinkie dipped in hot cheese and cheese-wiz sprayed on top.

No, joke.  She really did eat it.

All our tattoo art.  Yes, Angelia's is the real deal.  We are just posers.

Dan's smile just sums up the night.  Fun times had by all.  

Thanks Alena & Jason for throwing such an amazingly, trashy party.

Portlandia

It was a four day weekend. Dan and I had gotten so stir crazy in our apartment from

too many episodes of Mad Men, staying in our pajamas all day (yes, for consecutive days), and just plain staring at each other.

So, what to do, what to do?

Then, while working the only day I worked last week, I had a brilliant idea.  Let's visit Portlandia!

Okay, to most of you it's known as Portland, Oregon.  However, to those television and Youtube savvy folks, it is most definitely known as Portlandia, where the dream of the 90's is alive. 

We packed our bags, filled our mugs with coffee, set the station to Pandora and hit the road.

That's when the skies opened up.  Pouring rain ensued.  Awesome.

However, we didn't let that dampen the trip (no, we were more like drenched).

We check in to our hotel and immediately know what we have to do.  Eat and Drink!

First stop - Henry's Tavern.

Dan was so excited.

I wore my plaid and pearls just for the occasion.

Finally, toasting our brews!

Next stop, Powell's bookstore.  I had no idea a store like this existed because otherwise I would have been here way sooner!  One of the biggest bookstores in the country with every book imaginable.  

Amazingly, I only bought four.  I could have stayed all day, but Dan wanted more beer.

Next stop, Deschutes Brewery.  Established in Bend, OR. in 1988.  The bar was insanely crowded, but we managed to grab a corner and get a sampler.

Delicious!

Now that we had managed to drink a few beers, read some books, and walk in the rain, it was time for coffee.  We visited the famous Stumptown coffee shop and got some lattes to warm up.  As we were leaving the coffee shop and were walking around, we noticed multiple people carrying around these pink bakery boxes.  Knowing it must be a good place, we figured out there was a donut shop a few blocks down.  We walked there in record time as there was a line out the building going down the sidewalk.  Voodoo donuts.

Some were a little crazier than others, but all were delicious.  Yum, yum, yum!

The rest of the evening included lots more cocktails, beer and some of the best food at a hole in the wall place called 'Slow Bar" that our good friend, Mike, recommended.  Boy was it good.  We split a burger and fondue app.  That might seem odd together, but it was so worth it.  We stopped by the Doug Fir lounge for some drinks by the outdoor fire pit before calling it a night.  Well, not before stopping by the infamous Marriott bar, Champions for a nightcap.

As some have told me, a trip to Portland is not complete without a breakfast brunch at Mother's.

After standing in line for what seemed like an eternity, we got seated in a cute dining room and had some amazing Portland breakfast.  We also had Manmosas.  Because little mimosas just don't cut it.

All in all, a good first time visit to the city of roses.  Next time we visit we have decided it will be in the Summer and we will actually check out the roses.  Hopefully the rain will stay in Seattle.