Greetings from Vermont!

Each year, Bo and I invite a number of our friend up to my family’ home in Manchester Center, Vermont. This home is my happiest place in the world. Over the years we’ve created amazing memories with our friends and family in this home. A large fireplace, inviting kitchen, space for 15 people, and a location that’s perfect in both the winter and summer.

Last night, we left New York around 7pm after Bo got off work. The drive from New York to Vermont is a simple and beautiful 3.5 hour drive. We stopped for dinner about an hour into the trip and unfortunately our choices were limited to Starbucks and Roy Rogers.  I made the best of it by buying their Caesar salad and adding the sandwich’s turkey, lettuce, tomato.  Sure, my dinner was a bit expensive for a rest stop ($15) but it was filling and surprisingly delicious and filling. We arrived around midnight and within minutes we continued our tradition of opening the wine immediately.

By 7am the house was alive with excited skiers and the oatmeal and coffee were warm for enjoyment.

I enjoyed a warm bowl of cinnamon oats, banana, granola, and peanut butter. This, paired with a cup of coffee, was the perfect skiing fuel.

We spent the day skiing at Stratton Mountain, which is located fifteen minutes from the house.

While the snow conditions weren’t ideal, we all had a blast. There were far less crowds than last year and the sun was shining down on us all day, helping raise the temperature to a balmy 22 degrees.

Since I only ski once a year, I normally start with a half day of lesson. Luckily, Bo’s best friend, Scott, was willing to split the private lessons with me today which meant that I was able to enjoy a full day instead of a half day.

Norm and Scott were a perfect pair for a challenging day of skiing and day drinking!

As my skiing partner know, I have the ability to ski quite well, even gracefully, until I hit a steep pitch. If it intimidates me, I free and immediately want to start crying. What can I say, I’m human. But, today, I conquered my first blue run with their assistance and clearly lived to tell the story.

Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fire.