The Vail Birthday Weekend

Hey guys!  Long time, no blog right?  It’s been a very crazy weekend, and has left one sleepy and physically worn-out Heather in it’s wake!

Saturday morning started off with this great breakfast cookie, again another Tina concoction:She’s totally right, this is WAY more moist and cakey, which I loved.  I added 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder instead of flour because, well, I love chocolate.  I also added 1 Tbsp of 60% cocao chips for the same reason!

Keira wanted some of that action, but I told her no way!

We left at 6 and picked up Amy, then headed out to Vail.  I snacked on an unpictured pink lady apple on the way.  When we got there it was SNOWING!!!  We haven’t had a powder day all year, so it was great that we got one at Vail on Nate’s birthday!  Here’s a shot of the trees on one of the catwalks:

And me and Amy, trying not to be awkward in our ski gear (although I’m not sure if it’s possible to not be awkward in ski gear!)

And one of my sweetie hanging out so he could take the picture of me and Amy.  He didn’t fall, promise!

And finally another fave of the trees.  They were so gorgeous, and since it was snowing all.day.long it was the only scenic picture I could get with the point and shoot.  So beautiful and just utterly peaceful…I went down this run a couple times by myself just because it was so nice to take in the stillness!

Around 11 we stopped for lunch at Joe’s Famous Deli:

Lo and behold, they weren’t kidding about the homemade ice cream thing!  This bad boy was the first thing I noticed upon entering the shop!

I ordered the Hawaiian sandwich (please excuse the greasy ski hair)!

It was on focaccia with ham, swiss, whole grain mustard, and pineapple, and served with a pickle…sooooo good!  I loved the almost cinnamon-y taste of the mustard, and the texture of the pineapple in the sammie was phenomenal!

Then Nate got a cookie the size of his head…

Creeper status…And I got a small chocolate ice cream!  It was perfect…sweet, creamy wonderfulness.  I shared it with Nate, who spread his part on his cookie.

We skied and skied and skied until I thought my legs were going to give out.  The powder was great, but there were a lot of choppy parts, which made it feel like moguls the whole time.  Forced me to learn how to ski moguls though!  We headed back home, but about halfway there stopped at Starbucks for a restroom and snack break.  I got these almonds and split them with Nate and Amy:

And a cup of coffee for the rest of the ride home!

When we got home I went and picked the puppers up, then Nate and I headed to the mall to get a new modem for our new internet we just got this week.  We were getting really poor service with our old provider, and the old modem didn’t work with the new provider, soooooooooooo….we got a new modem!  Nate said he wouldn’t mind getting California Pizza Kitchen for dinner.  We started off with a flatbread-tomato appetizer thing:

And each got a pizza.  Mine was a veggie on whole wheat with Japanese eggplant, broccolini, red onions, mushrooms, and roasted corn.  I had half of the pie and stopped since I knew we’d be getting a cookie for dessert!

When we got home, Nate set up the internet and then we basically crashed out.  I think we were in bed by 9 or 9:30, which is unheard of, but I don’t remember the last time I was so tired!  I woke up Sunday morning feeling hungover, even though I hadn’t had any alcohol to drink.  Breakfast was 2 slices of cold pizza from Saturday night:

And off to church I went.  We’re going through Song of Solomon right now, which is amazing in so many ways.  I would recommend reading it no matter what relational stage you’re in:  married, engaged, dating, or single.  Read it.  Now.

After church, we had lunch with our pastor and his family at Rock Bottom.  Nate, Michael, Cherise, and I split the appetizer combo…

And the full rack of ribs!  These were amazing, it made me super impatient (once again) for summer when we can grill out and smoke food every night of the week!

When we got home, we crashed yet again and took a nap.  We were having people over for dinner (a BYOM – bring your own meat – party).  We made chocolate covered strawberries for dessert:

The puppers wanted in on the action, but I gave them kibble instead.  They were still pretty excited about it!

I had a Diet Root beer:

And my fave, a Pipeline Porter.  This stuff is crack so good!  I thought about having 2, but then changed my mind since I knew I’d be eating…

STEAK FOR DINNER!!! Steak with gorgonzola on top is so good and one of my favorite celebration meals!  This was no exception; perfectly cooked and super salty…YUM!  Had some raw carrots on the side, and a handful of chips with queso.

Phew!  This was seriously a non-stop weekend, and I am still incredibly pooped.  My hope is that this week we’ll start cleaning up our house a little since I’d like to start painting and really making it our own before summertime (so there’ll be plenty of time for hiking!!!)  I’m still totally open for cheap decorating ideas, and would love any help y’all have!

What’s your best cheap (but awesome) decorating tip that’s not super crafty? I’m looking to paint and get friends to help make curtains and whatnot, but could use ideas for cool Mediterranean accents!