Category Archives: Park City, Utah

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Three Days In

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The first day we went out I made it down one green run twice. I had kind of forgotten how to ski like a rockstar. It was humbling and frustrating and a little funny. As a matter of fact, I fell down the very first moment as I was putting my skis on. It had me afraid it was going to be a long season.

But Sunday we went out and tried it again. And I got better. And more confident. And remembered what I think is the most important rule of skiing, it’s easier the faster you go. But something didn’t feel quite right, even though my legs weren’t completely worn out, I was more sore than I expected. Sore of the feet. My ski gear is all new this year, and I had a feeling the boots that I was so excited about were to blame. I did, however, get about 7 runs in – and a picture with Santa.

santa1

There was also a celebrity ski event going on that we tried to check out. I did my best and think I might have seen Dennis Quaid and Matthew Modine. But they were in ski gear, made it a little tricky. The event airs on CBS so we’ll see how I did. This is a pic of the tent they all hid in and up to the right the run they skied down. Rumor has it Heidi Klum fell and they made it easier.

celebs

So after taking Monday off to let the real snow accumulate, we headed out again today. MK had me rent a different boot, and it made all the difference. Not only did I ski the steepest blue, I almost murdered a few trees. Flying around like a nut makes you run in to things. It was a blast. I felt great and ready to ski every day. Even now I’m not all achy and stiff like usual. So sad to say it might be goodbye boots. And goodbye Christmas presents – new boots in the middle of winter are not cheap. I’m wondering if I should just suffer. I could always just cut my big toe off…

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It’s Gorgeous (Trust Me)

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I had planned a post today about how freaked out we are that Deer Valley (our Winter Playground we pushed back homes and children to pay for season passes to) opens Dec 6th – that’s two days from now – and there was no snow. It was pretty funny, really.

I had to delete it, it turned in to a lie. Thankfully, it has been snowing all day. I haven’t seen weather like this since being a kid in CT – and it’s so much more kickass when there’s a point to it. Up there we were just suffering, here I get to ski all over it. These giant flakes are serving a purpose this winter.

So I’m just a little frustrated because I wanted to share adorable pictures of me shoveling the driveway and goofing around, and the snowfall. It’s really beautiful here right now. But you’re just going to have to take my word for it. No matter what I do I can’t get the pictures to come out. Like, with snowflakes. You’re just going to have to imagine me, cozied up in a sweater, under a throw blanket, by the fire, looking out the picture windows.

token snowflakes

token snowflakes

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You Can Skip Provo Now

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We took a drive out of Park City yesterday and headed toward Heber and Sundance, the ski resort Robert Redford opened. It was really beautiful. We saw wild mountain goats. We drove to Provo and didn’t see anything even worth getting out of the car for. Then we headed back to SLC. The drive through Pleasant Grove, Alpine and Lehi was amazing. My pictures aren’t that great but wow, there were some super giant mansions out there and I’m pretty sure the deal is buy one, get a horse or three. The whole trip took maybe three hours with a stop to shop in SLC before we made it home. Fortunately we also got to see an amazing sunset.

mountains

Here are the pictures.

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Park City Party

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There’s not much to exploring the nightlife of Park City. But at least now that the slopes are open there are some tourists and things are starting to pick up (and get more expensive, boo). Those that did ski tend to favor happy hour or the bars on the slopes. We wanted to see if anyone would be out you know- at night time. The Main Street down town has maybe a dozen bars. We had a drink at Kristauf’s Martini Bar and when that place cleared out we headed to the biggest group of people on the street and discovered a basement bar appropriately named “Downstairs”.

Imagine my surprise to find out that we not only stumbled upon a super busy bar, but one with no cover, good drink prices, and a guest DJ. A celebrity guest DJ. Danny Masterson. That’s right. He was great. Turns out he owns the place. It was pretty exciting to know that although we might feel like we are in the middle of nowhere, there will still be things to do and goings on. It’s going to take at least that to convince me to get dressed up and head out in the freezing cold.

Updated Nov ’09 to add: Follow Downstairs on Twitter!

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Mall Madness

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Did I totally forget to tell you? Oh my. Well, there is a giant Tanger Outlet in my backyard. It’s the only one in Utah, as a matter of fact. We’ve been quite a bit. Wednesday before Thanksgiving all the sales had begun. We got MK some sweaters and I got a new pair of jeans. Some of the sales were over 50% off.

Thursday night MK and I played video games until midnight. Upon noticing that it was midnight, we decided to take a peek and see if people were heading to the mall for the sales that started at midnight. We took a back road from our house and decided that the economy can’t really be that bad. Either that, or it’s soooo bad that sales at the outlet were the logical answer.

There were cars parked up and down the street. People that had taken the wrong exit were stuck in the roundabouts. The parking lot was full. The store lines were long, both inside and out. We didn’t bring the camera but if you’ve ever done Black Friday morning shopping I’m sure it’s similar. It was a zoo. We laughed as we turned around and headed home.

The next morning MK checked the ads and found a few things he was able to order online. We did go to WalMart and scored a dozen DVDs and some PS2 games for 2$. Good stuff to have for the winter! The store was fairly tossed, and fairly busy. Quite a few shopping carts were balancing flatscreen TVs.

When I lived at home Dadd and I would go to the mall Christmas Eve to make fun of the last minute shoppers. It was almost just as fun to have MK take me to see the late night/early morning Black Friday madness.

 

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Wasatch Weekend

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We got to drive almost to Mirror Lake, near the top of Wasatch National Park. I say almost because at 9000 feet elevation or so we met up with some icy roads and were forced to turn back. That was further than we expected to get and the pictures will show you that we got to see quite a bit anyways. The views headed out of town of Deer Valley and into the forest were great.

Then we headed downtown to explore, and MK let me get closer than ever to crazy Mormon land. We checked out Trolley Square, which will someday be a great little shopping district.

Sunday was the funniest day in a long time. Considering MK works hard for the money he hasn’t had to do too much before. But this is a big house. So he had to help clean some things and replace some light bulbs I couldn’t reach. These two things (and maybe watching me do the laundry, dishes, kitchen cleaning, and floor mopping) wiped him out. He still may not be prepared for the concept of home ownership. Or at least upkeep. Wait until tomorrow, when I force him into stringing our Christmas lights. 🙂

Here are the pictures.

someday we'll ski here

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Good For Everybody

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BB and MK are in the same business. And business is good these days. In all sorts of ways. BB is getting famous, and not from repeated blog mentions! TB and I are in the same business – having fun and getting skinny. Business is picking up. 😉

It’s not just waiting for the skiing and the guests and the friends that’s fun, it’s right here and now. I’ve been working on that and enjoying every morning I wake up to coffee in my big house, and every night MK falls asleep in front of a fire. I’ve enjoyed working on my all but horrific pool game. And finding my way around a new place. Hanging out with the world’s cutest kid is good. I’ve learned a lot from some great parents about what the future could hold. My kids just won’t be allowed to go to the zoo. Even if they are cute.

So that shot glass I bought MK today as a joke, the one I was going to use as my outgoing message tagline, that says “Eat drink and be merry, you might end up in Utah” well, that’s funny and all to joke about, but it’s not so bad here. In fact, it’s pretty amazing.

I mean, I saw three moose yesterday. I didn’t get a picture of them, but I did catch the snow-bow.

snowbow is a rainbow when it's snowing...

Beat that. 😉

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Where Do I Start?

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How about some pictures? Click to enlarge!

the-resort

The house before the first snowfall. The day we moved in.

the-canyons2

The Canyons before snow. Our first day out tour.

deer-valley1

Deer Valley before snow. Ditto.

temp-home

How the B’s let us trash their home. For two weeks.

bobs-jeep1

BB’s super sweet new ride.

gateway-mall1

The mall in DT SLC. Actually pretty nice.

the-longhorns

Super cute Longhorn fans.

learning-hook-em

Teaching SB “Hook ‘Em!” Gotta start ’em early.

sunset

The B’s backyard light show. Epic sunsets where ever we go…

cousins

Visiting family in Austin.

cs-house1

That family’s amazing new home.

snowoncar1

Back from 76 degrees in Austin to snow on the car at the airport.

first-snow

How the snow looked that night.

house1

And the next morning.

snow-view

The backyard view after the first snowfall.

slc-night-out

Our first drinks on a night out in DT SLC.

early-morning-fog

Fog early Sunday morning.

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Normal Is Chaos

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Oh, by the way- we’re in Austin. We moved into our new home on Halloween, spent the night checking out the kiddo’s costumes at the B’s, then grabbed a plane at the crack of dawn. MK wouldn’t let me party style announce our trip because apparently we had so much to do – I think that was mostly he wanted to be in peace while he had his Rudy’s, Taco Cabana, and Rudy’s breakfast tacos. And Brick Oven, and more Rudy’s.

We did accomplish going through all our things and I now have nothing to whine about missing besides my desk. It at first felt depressing but I can remind myself better now than I did years ago that it’s all an adventure some people wish for. PH was hilariously thinking it was a dream come true without any drama, setting her straight on our virtual eviction from paradise was fun. Also letting the H’s know if they don’t visit us in Winter Wonderland they are dead to us was hopefully productive – and hilarious.

Important to note is that it is November. If you feel like perusing- here’s last November. For the last two years I wrote books with NaNoWriMo in November. Last year I also blogged every day for NaBloPoMo. This year, I am going to focus on publishing a book instead of starting another one. And this bog clearly didn’t make the first week, so I’m going to keep it normal around here this month. That’s plenty.

Most importantly, there was this election- maybe you heard about it. It meant something very meaningful to me. MK and I got to take his mother to vote for the first time in her life. Regardless of the outcome – you know I’m not going to fight with you about that here – moments like that make a statement too. It was fun to watch the news into the night with her and hear MK answer all her questions.

We’ll be back in Park City soon – apparently we already missed the first snowfall. But I’m not too worried – something tells me there will be more.

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Let It Snow Already

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I’ve got the boots. I’ve got new ski pants. TB and I have sweet Orage coats. And it’s 65 degrees. I’m beginning to wonder if this is really the same place I came to before with all that snow. Maybe I was mistaken. If I were home alone, I’d wear the full get up around the house. All day. I’m trying to be somewhat of an appropriate guest. Drinking and eating all the B’s goodies is bad enough. No need to let them know I’m also crazy.

We’ve played at the park and gone out walking and seen the sights. We’ve been working out on the super fancy brand new PreCor elliptical that BB bought TB. Like, we should be skiiiiny. Again. Already. It’s been two days…

I’m full of anticipation for moving and company and ski days and Cranium nights (yeah, still waiting to crack that open). There’s that big life lesson about enjoying the present and not spending too much time expecting what’s to come. But you might have sensed from the theme of posts this week I’m having a little trouble with that one.

I went through all the road trip pictures and decided it’s best if I spare you. I’m terrible at that job. Here’s us just being cute.