Catching up...........Busy, Busy

What have I been up to???? I have been busy over the last two months, so much so that I haven't had time, (or the motivation to be honest) to update my blog. So....catching up on things. In May I went to New Orleans to go to a 50+ housing conference and to receive an award for my company. I realize in typing about this that I haven't written much about my company and what I do. I think it is mostly because I wanted to dedicate my blog to writing more about personal things and my adventures.


My career isn't really something that I am sure anyone would want to read about, but it is actually a lot of fun so I can give you a quick overview. I have taken over my Mother's Commercial Interior Design Company that she started 26 years ago. It has been an interesting journey. I do not have an interior design degree as my Mother did, but instead chose the entrepreneur path and went to college for business. I have a BS in Business Management and since graduating 11 years ago had been in Sales, Business Development and Regional Management roles. After almost 10 years of that, I was burned out on the high-pressure sales career. Especially at start up companies!! Very stressful.


My Mother and I started talking about the fact that she was getting tired and wanted to slow down. She had grown her company to the point where it needed a business person to run it. I started warming up to the idea of running her company so she could take a back seat and that is what brought me to where I am today. It has been a lot of fun, a ton of work and more stress than I anticipated. But I have really been enjoying it. I enjoy it much more than sales. What we primarily focus on is interior design for builders and developers who build large residential housing developments. They generally have several floor plan options that require a designer to come in and pick their selection and molding packages as well as design and furnish their model homes.


We actually enter our work into awards competitions because it helps us a ton with industry recognition and gaining new clients. As well as, making our builders happy and wanting to continue to hire us because we provide them with award winning design. It is huge when we win an award, especially a National award.



The Award we won in New Orleans was for the Gold in Best Interior Design for the Clubhouse at an active adult community we were involved with in Shrewsbury, MA. It was very exciting for me, my company and our builder. They were all there, we had a great time at the banquet and went out on Bourbon Street after to celebrate. I actually wasn't a huge fan of Bourbon Street because it was very scary to me. It was fun to go with a large group, but I went down to have lunch there alone when I first arrived in New Orleans. That was a huge mistake. It freaked me out. It just seemed like everyone there was on something and / or drunk and there were a ton of "adult entertainment" clubs with their "employees" walking around outside. At 2:00 in the afternoon!! I left promptly after lunch. The Cajun food was awesome though!! I definitely enjoyed eating in New Orleans. I love spicy food! :-)

Bourbon Street:

Our board at the awards banquet demonstrating our work that was up for the award:

The Builders came up to help me collect our Interior Design Award:
This is the entire team who came to the awards banquet: (Builders, Marketing and Design)

I also made it to a Red Sox game. My Friends Mike and Tracy from Sunday River, (Who live in Boston) invited me and their other friend Dee to the game. It was a lot of fun. I was actually at the game where Coco Crisp was hit by the ball when the pitcher threw it at him, taunting him from a fight from the game the day before. It was nuts, Coco Crisp threw down the bat and charged at the pitcher, getting in a few punches before the field was filled with the ENTIRE two teams and their management. It was so crazy. I have been to a lot of baseball games, but not where a full on brawl broke out. You should have heard the crowd at Fenway, they were going nuts!!

Dee and Tracy:

Mikey....doesn't he look like he is really into the game? Look at those attentive eyes!

I have gone dirt biking a few times. I haven't gone as much as I would like, because I have been wakeboarding more and have been up in Maine a lot with Steve. (Which has been great too). I have been wanting a four stroke for a while because I originally bought a two stroke before I realized I would favor trail riding more than motocross. It is tough to ride trails on a two stroke. It worked out great because Steve is really into Motorcycling and enjoys dirt biking, so once I bought my new four stroke he had a bike to ride and we have been riding together which has been a lot of fun. I had been riding with my friend Regina, which I still do. But it has been fun riding with my boyfriend now too.

Here is Steve modeling my new bike: (Sweet huh?)





















Steve and I:





















Reggie and I:




















Steve and Reggie:

Look at us cramming three bikes onto my trailer! It is designed for three bikes, but it is TIGHT!!!




















Steve getting Sweet air!




















We made it to a Black Crows Concert with my friends from Sunday River which was a lot of fun. I had seen the Crows years ago, when I was in high school and it was great to see that they can still jam. It was Steve, myself, Mike, Tracy, Bobby, Stacey, Matt and Leslie. You may remember them from my winter Sunday River posts.

One really fun weekend I went up to Sorrento, Maine with Steve to hang out with his sister, Renee and her husband, Chip and their two kids Graham and Simon. The two boys are super cute!! I really enjoyed hanging out with them. They are really funny too. They made me laugh all weekend.

Renee and Chip rent out this beautiful log cabin that is right on the water every year at the end of June. It was so quiet and peaceful. What an awesome relaxing weekend. I got to cook for everyone all weekend which I loved. The boys told me that they loved my cooking too which was great. I had a really amazing time and loved getting to know Steve's family. The views were amazing. Out of almost every window you would see the ocean and the rocky coast. Beautiful!!!

For Graham's birthday, Steve gave him his skateboard, (long board) that he bought on his Caribbean adventure. Graham loved it! Look at that smile!




This was Renee's hang out spot. She chilled out there the entire weekend we were up there. I don't blame her!! Look at that view! We lucked out weather wise too. It was a great weekend.


I unfortunately don't have any pictures as of yet of any of our wakeboarding adventures. Skip has taken some video of that, but no still shots. Steve and I have gone with Skip, Megan, Becca, Suzette, (while she was visiting), Steve's nephew Alex and his friend. John, Jordi (from Audax) and Kate want to go soon as well. So I am sure I will have more pictures of those adventures later on.

We also have gone to the beach, to some dinner parties and my friend Jannie's 30th birthday party. We have been super busy! One of my favorite weekends was when Suzette came to visit. I have been trying to get her to come visit me for the last year and a half. Finally when she made the plan to come out, I booked up the calendar of activities because I wanted to show her everything. She only had 4 days to see Maine, so I had to pack it in! :-)


I took her to Five Islands for some Maine Cuisine. Then we went to Boothbay for drinks at the Boat House Bistro which is one of my favorite spots to hang out. We went wakeboarding, Lobstering with my friend Brett. We had two parties to go to: Steve's friend Cory's annual 4th of July party and the Audax Reunion party. We ran in a 5 mile road race, went to the beach, hung out at Steve's parents camp in Harpswell, ate lots of yummy seafood, went to the Water's Edge restaurant by way of John's Dad's boat, went kayaking, art shopping at Jillian Herrigel's house. It was very busy, but super fun. Suzette really enjoyed herself and felt like she had the full Maine experience. We ended her trip by relaxing at my place before her flight. We had a nice breakfast and talked a lot. It was great, I am really glad she came to visit. I miss her already.





















Suzette finally got to meet my infamous friend Skip Foster. She liked him a lot and fully understood why he and I are such good friends and connect so well.
















































Steve and I at the beach in Phippsburg. He showed Suzette and I his "hole trick" which I do have pictures of, but I won't embarrass him by posting them. But I do have to say, I am not sure how I feel about the hole trick. I guess I can see how it can get you out of a jam, but when I have kids some day I am fully inspecting the sand they play in prior to them ever touching it in case this hole trick becomes a recreational phenominon.





















This is my buddy Brett who was my neighbor when I lived in Georgetown. He is a stellar guy. Suzette was super excited to see him work. She had no idea what being a lobsterman was all about. She thought it was really cool.




















































































The 5 mile road race. I am glad we did this race and it was a lot of fun to do a race with my friends, but man....it was pathetic, I had little kids passing me!!! I am a SLOW runner and the hills we had to run up didn't help at all!!! It was a great time regardless. Not to mention that I didn't feel as guilty eating everything you eat when on vacation. ;-)






















This is Steve's Best Friend, Cory. Cory is a super nice guy with an adorable wife who is expecting! Very exciting. His party was a lot of fun. They served up a New England Lobster Bake as had a fabulous fireworks display. Thank you!!!

Suzette's first Maine Lobster!!! She loved it!!




























This was the Audax Reunion Party.......

It was so thoughtful, the Herrigel's gave everyone who made it onto the boat a polo shirt with Audax embriodered onto it. I thought that was really nice. They then did a group photo of the whole group. It was amazing to see everyone together and just how many visitors they had on their trip. Incredible. Keep in mind that actually not everyone made it to the party that visited the Audax on its adventure. There were people missing! I can't believe how many people visited. What an amazing adventue it was for them!





























Steve's parents, Jackie and Guy made it to the party too! They had a great time.




















I thought this was great, they found chairs like the ones they visited frequently while in the Carribbean and had them at the party. I had to take a picture with the guys sitting in them.

It was a great party!

Thank you Suzette for coming to visit me! It was a blast! I am excited for you to come back in the fall with our spitfire friend, Kimi.....now that will be an adventure!! I will keep you posted on that trip for sure!!

So far it has been a really fun summer.

Until next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's "A Little Ditty...........

About Chelsi and Steve".........

I wanted to finally tell everyone about what has been going on in my personal life with respect to my relationship with Steve. If any of you have read the beginning of my blog, you may remember a post way back in December that talked about my situation with men and primarily Steve. I also have had posts here and there about my adventures to Florida and the Caribbean to see Steve. I haven't been very forthcoming about what has been going on between he and I because it has been complicated and the timing wasn't right.

To give you a recap of what has been going on since, actually last March....yes, there is that much history.... Steve and I have always been just friends. For a couple of years previous to March of 2007 we were more like acquaintances. I was friends with his now ex-wife, Adrienne and knew him through her. He and I have been friendly, we have gone skiing, hung out at The Osprey, (A local bar where I used to live in Georgetown, Maine) and we have been to a few of the same parties. We never really thought much of anything other than we just knew each other from the same social circle.

We were both married when we knew each other. I ended up getting a divorce in 2005. Steve and I skied together the winter of 2006/2007 and became more friends than acquaintances. He had been going through some huge life changes during that time and we started talking more. I remember really noticing a difference in him that winter particularly one day when he was having a phone conversation with someone he was concerned about while on the chairlift one day and that is when I noticed what a truly nice and caring person he is. Before that, I honestly just knew him as "a local party dude".

Shortly after that is when, out of the blue, he reached out to me. I was someone he hoped he could talk with because I had been through a divorce and he was going through one and wanted some advice. He asked me about my divorce and we talked about what I went through. He did more listening than anything because I think he wanted to keep his divorce very private which I really appreciated because I was friends with both he and Adrienne. I noticed that they both had a very amicable and private divorce which is very rare. They are still very good friends today which is great.

He and I communicated on a regular basis and he actually invited me to go river rafting with him that fall. That trip was very interesting and was definitely the turning point in our relationship. We both had a great time and realized that we both had a crush on each other. This was actually very awkward at the time because for one, I had a boyfriend and I also felt like I was backstabbing Adrienne in some way.

As I mentioned in my December post, Adrienne and I spoke about the fact that Steve and I liked each other and she was very cool about the whole situation. There was really nothing we could do about it at that time, which I now realize was perfect for us. Steve and I went our separate ways for a couple of months. He dated a few people, I had a boyfriend and he was also planning on leaving in November to live on a sailboat for 6 months.

Just before he left, I ended up breaking up with my boyfriend. Steve and I started talking quite a bit when I became single, but it was drag because he was leaving. I realized then that I still had a very strong feeling about Steve. He asked me to come visit him while he was on the boat once they hit the Caribbean. I was all about that and booked a trip in December to see him in March. But for some reason that wasn't soon enough for us, we were both really excited to see each other. So we made a plan to see each other while I was in Florida at a trade show in February.

When he came to visit me in Florida, that was the very first time we had ever hung out alone and were both single with the fact that we liked each other out in the open. It was very interesting because going into it, I wasn't really sure what would happen. Would we get along? Would we still like each other? I mean, it had been September since we had seen each other even though we spoke all the time. I have to say, that was it for me. We clicked so well, we got along great, we had a blast. All we did was laugh and have really deep talks.

It would be three weeks after that trip that we would see each other in the Caribbean. I couldn't wait to see him! We had another amazing 7 days together. Again, laughing, talking, becoming closer and closer. It was such a strange situation that we had from Florida until he came home. We had a very open relationship at the time because we knew we couldn't really be a couple until he came home. It wouldn't make any sense and I don't think either one of us wanted the pressure of a long distance relationship. It is too difficult.

Plus, this trip for him was very important that he focused on himself, self discovery, growth, etc. I completely understood that because after my divorce, for about 1 year I needed it to be all about me. I needed to focus on myself and my rebirth. A divorce really puts you through the wringer and I feel like you learn a lot about yourself and change. I really appreciated that time I had and I knew he would as well.

The timing wasn't right for Steve and I, he needed his time and I was perfectly happy focusing on my snowboarding season. I get a little OCD about Snowboarding season. (Good thing Steve Ski's!) ;-) We remained in constant contact, but there wasn't pressure on either end. I continued to date and he had "visitors".

Once he got home, which was 5 weeks ago....we knew we wanted to be together because we had grown so close over the last 7 months and we knew it was right. The timing finally came and I have to say, it has been amazing. I feel like my boyfriend is my best friend. We get along so well, we laugh, we communicate really well, have the same interests. We have been "officially" together for 5 weeks now and it has been great. Not a fight or an awkward moment.

It is funny how things happen. We started off as friends and now we are a couple. I was really worried at first about it being a bad situation because of Adrienne. I didn't want to be malicious to her as being a friend that is now dating her ex-husband. The fact that we all were very open with each other and communicated about it, I think helped. I also think that because Adrienne and Steve are still friends has been good for both of them.

That is my Steve and Chelsi story, officially out in the open.

I am sure my future posts will involve Steve as my blog is mostly about my life's adventures and we both love adventure. We have done a lot together already: a wedding in California, dirt biking, boating, family gatherings, etc. We also have a lot planned so far for our summer together. We have some concerts coming up, more dirt biking, wakeboarding, BBQ's, friends and family parties, etc. It is shaping up to be a fun summer already.

Until next time...........

A plane, a car, a wedding, add some Rock - Now that's a good time!!

What a whirlwind!! Steve and I flew into LA this past weekend to go to my friend Sue's wedding in Newport Beach, California. It was a very quick, but very fun 3 day weekend. My friend Sue is one of my girlfriends from Colorado whom, ironically enough, I met at a Bachelor auction shortly after she moved to Colorado. She is from California originally but needed a change of scenery. Colorado is the best place for that for sure! Sue and I hit it off right away, she is a lot of fun. She met Stuart shortly after I moved away and the rest is history. Stuart is a sweetheart of a guy who I know will take amazing care of Sue. It is awesome to see her so happy, to see both of them so happy!




Steve and I stayed at the hotel where the wedding was being held. What a BEAUTIFUL hotel in a beautiful location. We had an amazing time.

Here are some pics from the wedding:

























Sue had incredibly beautiful centerpieces! I loved all of the flowers, they were so well done. Very artistic.

CHEERS! Here's to Sue and Stuart!! And no, that is not champagne that Steve is drinking. It was sparkling cider. They thought of everything! Stuart doesn't drink, so it was perfect for Steve.



























Before the wedding, Steve and I had ample play time, it was awesome! For those of you who don't know Steve very well, I need to give you a little background so you understand some of the following photos. Steve is EXTREMELY into music, very passionate. His genre of choice is Classic Rock. When he was growing up, he was super into the LA music scene. Not in such a way that he hung out down there, but in that the bands that were born from that scene he loved and always dreamed of going to the Sunset Strip and seeing one of his favorite bands play. Well, years later, here he is, finally on the strip, in his glory!! The only missing piece is that we unfortunately, didn't get to catch a show. And to add insult to injury a band he would have LOVED to have seen, played the NIGHT BEFORE!! Bummer! Camp Freddy is Dave Navarro's band who has "special guests" pop in now and then to jam with him and we heard that Slash and Tommy Lee made an appearance the night before. Oh damn!! Sorry Steve!!

Steve in front of The Roxy - His dream club, The Whisky-A-Go-Go and the Viper Room. He was like a kid in a candy store. It was broad day light, in the middle of the day and he was all fired up. I can't even imagine what he would have been like at night when shows were in full swing. Look out!!

Right here, Steve is thinking to himself, "FU%K!!!"

I rented a really fun car while we were there. Speaking of cars, holy crap the cars there are RIDICULOUS! We saw the usual BMW's, Mercedes, Lexus, you see everywhere in New England. But what was so crazy is that in addition to everyone owning an expensive vehicle, there were just as many Ferrari's, Lotus's and tricked out Hummers; falling into the ridiculously expensive category. It was crazy! Very beautiful cars. I have no idea how these people have so much flippin money because the cost of living out there is crazy. Well, that lifestyle isn't for me, but it was fun to people watch.

We were able to also check out Laguna Beach. The weather was kind of cold for California, but the beach and surrounding area was very pretty. It was fun to see. We also ate very yummy food while we were there. We found an amazing Asian-fusion restaurant in LA that was so delicious. Checking out different restaurants is one of my favorite things to do when I travel. The food was a treat!

Thank you, Sue and Stuart for inviting us to join you on your special day. The wedding was wonderful and we had a great time checking out California.

XOXO

The end of one season.....the beginning of another.

I love spring skiing! You can be outside on the mountain with your buds, enjoying the awesome conditions all while not freezing your ass off. It is all about great turns, wearing tank tops, getting a tan and BBQ's. It is great. This spring at Sunday River was particularly awesome because we had so much snow this season that the base was incredible. I couldn't believe how many trails were still open until the bitter end. My last day was April 27th. What an amazing season.




At the beginning of the season, I questioned whether it was a good idea to switch from Sugarloaf to Sunday River. I really enjoyed Sugarloaf, the terrain is amazing, (For the East coast) the apres ski and nightlife is a lot of fun and I know a lot of fun people up there - Skip especially. I really enjoy hanging out with and riding with Skip. I missed all of that, but I just couldn't do the drive anymore. It took up way too much of my time and it was killing me how long it took. I was always half asleep by the time I finally got up there.

I have to say, even though I miss Sugarloaf a lot, I am so glad I made the switch back to Sunday River. I met up with all of my old friends and met some new ones. I feel like I have really bonded with everyone again and have some good friends that I will see more than just at the River. We all have plans to hang out this summer. There is talk of dinner out in Boston, Red Sox games, a Black Crows concert, and even a girls night out on the town. That will be a great time. I am looking forward to that. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs this winter.

So, thank you Sunday River peeps for hanging out this winter and giving me such a memorable experience this year. I am looking forward to next winter already. Here are some pics from one of the last weekends up at the River. Until next season!!!

Mikey ripping it!!


Another Mike......visiting his Doucette peeps from Hunter Mountain..... air guitar....

(This guy rips by the way!!) His girlfriend is a sweetheart too.


Spring skiing season brings out crazy outfits and crazy looks.....this guy thought he was Glen Plake.

I am not quite sure what this guy was thinking. I think he was a little confused about his gender. He appears to be going for the Madonna / Dominatrix look. Most men are not the dominatrix, they especially do not carry whips! Hummmm?? As a matter of fact, one of the girls in our group thought he was a woman at first as she commented on, "at least she has nice legs".....ummmm.....that is a dude, dear!! Not quite appropriate attire at a family oriented ski resort!!

This guy was sporting the beach look....go grampa!! I think he forgot to consult with the local beauty salon prior to his unveiling for the season though....his back needed a little TLC. ;-)

During the week he leads a normal life, living in disguise as a mortal man. On the weekends, he is known as, "Beer Man".....quenching the thirst to all of those in need of a buzz. Thank you Beer Man!!!



I have never seen Bobby - D get so excited before until we spotted, "The Hammer" from the Chairlift. To all of you who are not familiar with "The Hammer", please allow me to enlighten you. The Hammer is a self proclaimed professional Ski bum who makes it his life's mission to work all summer as a landscaper just so he can ski bumps all winter long. He is featured in a local movie series by a film company called, Meathead Films. One film in particular that Bobby owns and loves is called, "Snow Gods". I watched it with him after we spotted The Hammer. It is a pretty good film, mostly consisting of Killington Footage....but I have to say, this guy DOES rip on the bumps. Check out some footage here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqb9w1ZLz4E

This is the Movie if you are interested.

http://www.usoutdoorstore.com/outlet/ally-snow-gods-dvd.html

Bobby was extra excited when he was able to get and give, "knuckles" with The Hammer. Giddy like a school girl!!

Here is The Hammer on a bump run which they happened to be filming at that moment.





Here is a close-up of the Hammer and his buddy, "Radio Ron" who is also featured in these films. I chatted it up with them for a bit and it wasn't until after I took these pictures that I realized that the Hammer was giving me the Shocker in these pics. Nice dude! What a classy guy, huh? LOL!!




















"What is in the cooler Ron?" I asked. "Oh, this? It is filled with Vodka. You need something to quench your thirst after skiing bumps all day." He responded. Mikey thought that was hilarious.




















Here is Bobby with his Kiddos. He is raising two little rippers. His son Henry was flying down black diamonds no problem....faster than most of the adults! He is super cute! His daughter Gracie is trying out the Teli's. He is starting them young. (Silly Pinners!!) ;-)

She is 8, willing to learn and kicking butt!



















Tracy, all smiles as usual!! Love that girl! She is soooo funny.....did I mention that yet?? ;-p

Chuck and Mary.......they are so cute!!

Look out for the patrollers!! Mike and Chip......

Whoa! Look out Tracy!! Don't fall!!!

Well, here's to the end of another really fun season.....onto other fun hobbies of mine. Dirt Biking and Wakboarding / boating. I can't wait!! As my friend Regina said to me recently, "enough already! Time to put the flippin snowboard away and to get out the dirt bike so we can ride!!" LOL! She was a little passionate about the fact that we don't get to hang out much in the winter because I spend my entire winter up north every weekend. SORRY! Stay tuned for photo's and stories about my summer adventures.

I have a lot to tell you about already....but I will save that for a different post. :-)

Parrot Heads and Crack Heads

Yes, it is that time of year already!! Can you believe it? SPRING is HERE!! Spring skiing at the resorts equals all the fun festivals, the funny costumes and the crazy contests. Every April Sunday River has their Parrot Head festival and their Bust and Burn contest. What this entails is 4 days of party, party, party. Everyone busts out their wild shirts, grass skirts, crazy hats and hits the slopes to the sounds of Jimmy Buffett cover band after Jimmy Buffett cover band. It is a lot of fun. The weather is always warm, the sun is shining, good spirits everywhere.

I haven't been to Parrot Head in years, I had been in either Sugarloaf at their Reggae Fest or in Colorado for the last five years. It was fun to be back and do it all again. They had a HUGE turn out. I heard some people say it was the largest they had seen in years. I think it was the amount of snow that we have gotten this year that had everyone coming out of the woodwork. Look at the crowd! It was amazing!

The Bust and Burn portion of Parrot Head weekend is a Bumps contest and the famous Pond Skimming contest. This is my favorite part!! I cannot believe how crazy these people are! This water is FLIPPIN cold - complete with mini icebergs floating about....NO THANK YOU! You are in your gear and you get soaking wet! I can't imagine hanging out in icy cold, sopping wet snowboard boots. Ick! It is hilarious to see some of the costumes and the belly flops that happen at this event. Full, double ejection of skis, "yard sales", the whole nine. This one guy, (below) was one of my favorites...... in "hindsight" I had wished I was uphill for this one. He started off with just shorts and no shirt...so I am thinking, "that isn't much of a costume"....until he pulled his pants down to expose nothing but a banana hammock thong! NICE!!

He had a nice belly flop finish....

If you look closely in this picture, you can see the thong string...... LOL! NICE! He was very entertaining. ;-)

Only a few people made it all the way across, which was really cool to watch. Here are a few of them...........

There were actually a lot of little kids that did this too.....they were brave little kiddos...but I can't believe their folks let them do it. You should have seen the instant shock and fear that was in their face the minute they hit the water....they were FREEZING!!! Some of them couldn't even talk when they finally got their skis and got out of the water. Poor things!!!

My other favorite part of the Parrot Head weekend is partying with friends, of course! ;-) My good friend Skippa came down for the occasion!

Doesn't Skip look like he was in Brokeback Mountain in this picture? ;-)

Sorry Skip....I had to! I mean, the shirt, the hat....C'mon!!!

This is Mikey getting down on the floor, this kid has the moves!! SERIOUS!!! He can dance!!

Mary and Chuck........

Paul and I.......

Posing? Dancing? Not sure.......
Typical Skippa face...............

This is Tracy getting PISSED! There was a girl who approached she and her husband, Mikey with her friend and wanted to play doubles in pool with them. Tracy is good and this girl kept F'n around and blabbing to everyone in the bar and wasn't paying attention and playing 100%. Tracy was pissed! It was hilarious!!! Tracy is a FUNNY girl! I love her, she cracks me up every time I hang out with her!!

This is me showing off my favorite new T-shirt....my Retallack, BC CAT vacation shirt that says, "Girl Powder" on the back. "THAT'S RIGHT!!"

Sully and I.........

Okay, I have to tell you this story.....this is HILARIOUS. You would have to know my friend Bobby to get the whole picture, but I will try to explain it....I think this is one of those, "you had to be there" moments. So, we were on the chairlift talking about tattoos for some reason. I think it started when I was telling them about my boyfriends tattoos. Bobby has a very thick Mass accent and is very sarcastic in general. So he proceeds to tell me, "Yeah, when I was 18, I wanted to get a tattoo and I went in with no plan and picked something out. Back then, (he's 45) all they had to choose from was an eagle, the Grim 'Reapa' (Mass accent) and a unicorn. So I got the unicorn. Everyone makes fun of it and one of my buddies calls it, 'my little pony'." I was laughing my ass of because I thought he was totally kidding and being sarcastic. I mean, who the hell gets a tattoo of a unicorn unless you are a little girl? Not a man for sure!! So, I started giving him shit, "That is so gay" and, "Your kids must love it, especially your daughter. Who gets a mystical creature tattooed on them? You may as well get the Liger (Napoleon Dynamite) tattoo as well!" etc. etc. I was cracking up. Mikey was with us and was laughing his ass off at this exchange and then Bobby was like, "I am serious, I have a unicorn". It was like a record scratched to a halt...."What?! You have to be F'n kidding me? LET ME SEE IT!!!" I yelled. So, he unzipped his jacket and pulled down his shirt over his shoulder to show me the flippin unicorn tattoo!!! OMG!!! I was stunned and started cracking up even harder and yelled, "WHAT THE 'F' IS THAT?!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THAT!!! OMG!!" We all laughed so hard. I was shocked!! Bobby is a super cool guy, he makes fun of people all the time - but can take it just as well too which most people can't. He is a riot. He makes fun of me for being a boarder all the time because he telemarks. But what is funny about that is when I first met him 9 years ago when we were both Ambassadors, he snowboarded as well. Steve told me a great jab at telemarkers one time which was, "free your heel, slow down your friends". I said that to Bobby one time and he didn't like it at all!! It was so funny. Actually, he did think it was funny and a great jab, but he acted like he was all offended. He says, "gay's on tray's" to me all the time. So....we are even now!!

By the way...if there is anyone reading this right now and is in anyway offended by anything I am writing in my blog....guess what....it's my blog and you don't have to read it....so in summary, I don't really care. Simple solution......go to the upper right hand corner of your screen and click on the red X. Good bye!

Okay, back to the party.........

Chuck and I......

I also met Chuck while I was an ambassdor. I was an ambassador from 1999 to 2002. It was a lot of fun and I met a ton of people....all of them are STILL at the River and I reconnected with them all which was great! It has been a really fun winter. When I first saw Chuck again for the first time in 5 years at the beginning of this season, he said to me, "I can't believe you are here right now. I JUST came accross an old picture I took of you back when we were Ambassadors. Remember when we saw a snowboard that had the funny sticker on it that said, 'smoke crack & worship satan?' and I had you pose with it?" I was cracking up because I had completely forgotten about that picture. I posed with a strangers snowboard all happy and smiling with such a crazy message. It was a funny sticker. Chuck just emailed the picture to me last week, here it is....isn't it funny? This picute was taken in 2002...so I was 27!! I wish I was still that young!! :-(

Skip had fun messing with this girl who had the EXACT same hat as me. (Skip was rocking my hat all night). He loves to mess with other people, especially the ladies. ;-)

Booty dancin.......

This is my game face.....Tracy and I were so ON! I kicked her ass....well, by maybe two seconds. ;-)

This is Bobby and his wife Stacey. She is super nice as well. They are a really cute couple and have two really cute kids.

Mikey and his wife Tracy.....they are the perfect match. They are both soooo hilarious and just goof around all the time. I love hanging out with them. All I do is laugh.

I was so lucky to catch this off the chairlift. We were sitting on the chair watching people going off jumps and this poor guy had a shocker after lift off. I don't know if you can see it from this picture, but I blew it up below.

Look carefully, DAMN!! His frigin ski blew off mid-air...see it BEHIND him??!! Drag. That wasn't a very fun landing for him I am sure.

Speaking of crazy jumps.....so check THIS out!!

Skip and I were riding around over on Aurora peak. We were sitting on the chairlift an saw this CRAZY amount of snow being piled up on one of the runs....one of the steaper runs on the mountain. We went and checked it out and had no idea what was going on. No one was really talking about it, so we hadn't heard anything about it. Most of my friends at the River are Ski Patrolers, so I called one of them to inquire what was going on. As it turns out, there is a pro skier, Simon Dumont, who wants to break the world record for highest jump out of a quarter pipe. The current record was being held by a pro snowboarder, Terje Haakonsen, at 32 feet. So his goal was 34 to 35. In order to do this, he has to come flying at this HUGE jump at over 50 miles per hour and sky out of it almost 7 times his height. Can you say, INSANE?! The plan was to pull this off during the week - after Parrot Head, so unfortunately, I wouldn't get to see it. Here is an example of the jump size and a picture of Simon in action. I would have loved to see this in person. Not only because it would have been incredible to witness, but also in doing some research on this kid, (21 years old!!) I noticed that he is kind of fun to look at too! ;-p

These are pics of the jump they built at Sunday River........

FRIGIN HUGE!!

Simon in action.....and.....um.....hello! ;-)

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