Skiing, Spas, & Sushi!

We kicked off 2018 with a bang! After ringing in the new year at the Mayer’s home, we took this year by the horns and jumped right in! Brayden spent the night with one of her BFFs, Marli, and Trent and I enjoyed a tasty dinner with Nina, Keith, Amy, and Walter at Stagioni. Hanleigh attended her BFF’s (Mila) birthday party. Hanleigh had been coming home from school complaining that her eyes hurt and that she was having headaches, so we took her to get her eyes checked and while her vision is pretty darn good, they did give her some glasses that she can use when she reads. They are Ray-bans and are super stylish!

I attended my company’s annual Americas Sales Meeting in Lake Tahoe and it was awesome! The week kicked off with a welcome reception followed by a half-day of meetings the next morning. After that, we were set free to explore the (hardly snowed upon) slopes. Apparently, Tahoe had seen record snowfall in 2017, but this year was quite the opposite. Regardless, it was still a million times better than what we have back east! I was very cautious on my snowboard since it had been a few years since I had gone, but I had a blast. It was fun to cut up on the lifts and trails with my friends and end the day with some après ski drinks! We had all-day meetings the next two days and concluded with a dressy awards gala that recognized our top sales team members and celebrated their success. We also honored my boss, who is retiring soon, so it was great to see great friends of his over the course of his life make surprise appearances. Trent flew in that night and the work trip turned into a vacation! We skied Friday-Sunday (ok, about a half a day because our calves were pooped!). On Friday, we skied with Chris (my co-worker/friend) and her husband, Dan, for a few hours…then made a pit stop at the slopeside bar for beers. Apparently, high altitudes + beer + skiing = no bueno for Becca! Somehow, I turned into an 80-year old lady and was scared since I was so hot buzzed after one measly beer. We enjoyed a delicious dinner out on Friday night with Chris, Dan, and another couple and were back at it again on Saturday. Trent and I skied mostly by ourselves that day and traded out our crappy rental skis for demos instead. I don’t know if I was just more confident that day or if it were the skis, but we were owning the slopes! We found this tree stump that had been turned into a jump, so that became my favorite place the rest of the weekend. In my mind, I was catching mad air, but I’m sure I was only a foot off the ground. Either way, I felt like an Olympian! HA! I also discovered the most hidden gem EVER on the slopes…a DJ! Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I could hear hip-hop in the background and my body just naturally skied in that direction…when lo and behold there was a little pop-up tent with a DJ cutting it up on the 1s and 2s! Incredible. There were all these Adirondack chairs around it and people drinking beer. I would’ve stayed there for hours, but there was terrain to discover! As it turned out, my BFF from junior high school just happened to be at the same resort as us. Small world! I don’t think I had seen her in over 25 years at least, so we decided to meet up with our families! We skied with them for a couple of hours and then met back up with Chris & Dan for dinner at a delicious pizza joint, followed by dancing at an Irish pub…all in the Squaw Valley Village (it is so adorable!). After our last (half) day of skiing, we met back up with Stephanie and her friends for dinner. It was awesome!

Even though it didn’t snow much while we were in Tahoe, apparently we brought snow back with us because the kids had about three snow days off of school due to about three inches of snow and the freezing overnight temps. Snow days are fun, but in my opinion, they are overrated (definitely when there is three of them!), especially for a full-time working mom. They had a blast having snowball fights with the neighbos, drinking hot chocolate, and sledding. Trent took the girls to a nearby hill in the corporate park to go sledding and I took a break for a fun snowball fight in the backyard with them to shake off some work-related stress.

The next weekend, I joined Leslie, Steph, Carol, and Laura for a ladies-only weekend at the Pinehurst Resort & Spa. It was MUCH needed and we had a blast. Steph made all of us little welcome buckets that consisted of Prosecco, Advil, and eye mask, a trash magazine, bottled water, and some chocolate. So considerate! We went out to dinner on Friday night then Les and I woke up on Saturday and went to the gym…then we were ready to relax! After the most delicious breakfast, we made our way to the spa for our appointments. It was incredible! We lounged around the indoor pool for a bit before going to our treatments (I booked a massage and a facial). Once we were done being pampered, we relaxed in the sauna, steam room, and hot tubs. Calgone, take me away! After getting cleaned up, we walked to the golf course, took in the scenery, and had a drink/apps at The Deuce, the clubhouse bar. Then, we ventured out for another delicious dinner, followed by a band at the Jefferson Inn, dancing at (total dive bar!) O’Donnell’s pub, and 3am pizza at SoPies. Whew. We were in need of some detox come Sunday morning, but it was a blast. I will DEFINITELY go back and do that whole thing over again! Pinehurst runs an amazing deal in the winter to lure people to the property. It was less than $600pp for two nights, two breakfasts, and two spa treatments!!!

The next week, I had another work trip…this time to San Antonio. It is my company’s largest presence at a show that isn’t one we host ourselves. I help with the messaging for our stations and the logistics for how it is all represented in the grander scheme of our solutions. So, it was nice to see months of planning pay off! I was able to meet up with my longest friend, Susan, for a delicious lunch one afternoon. We have been great friends since 1990 (28 years!) where we met in junior high. I hadn’t seen her in a year or more, so it was awesome to catch up on how she’s doing. I also presented an overview of our software and services to our Latin American sales team (an audience of about 25 people), which was fun and challenging (talking slower than normal). I even brushed up on my Spanish a bit! My company rented out Howl at the Moon for a private party, so it was awesome to get some dancing in while I was there, too!

Myers continued taking his dog classes, and we discussed what we are going to do about getting (or not) a new car. Both of our cars have been paid off for years, but they also have 130k+ miles on them. So, at some point in the near future, we need to get a car so we aren’t buying two at the same time one day when our cars give up. We test drove an M3 and a Range Rover, but are still in discussions about what to do and get. Time will tell. We enjoyed a fun and delicious date night at O-Ku, a new(ish) sushi place here. The fish was so tender that it literally melted in my mouth. Crazy how I didn’t even touch sushi until after college, but now, I can’t get enough of it! Especially poke bowls! Be still my beating heart! We followed up the sushi with an ice cream sundae at Pike’s Soda Shop! YUM!

In other exciting news, Terry and Fran closed on their house in Fort Mill. They will now be about 20 minutes away from us, so it will be awesome to have them so close!!! Now, they just have to sell their house in Arlington!

Brayden-ism:

• When getting ready to show me a magic trick, she said she needed to “pre-do” it. I said, “Oh, is that a technical term for getting the cards ready for the magic trick?” She said, “No, that’s what all the kids are saying these days. Those kids.”

Hanleigh-ism:

• When I was reading a book to her, there was a boy in it who was wearing shark underwear and she says, “Well, at least you can’t see his penis.” HA! I just said, “Yep!”

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Chapter 1: The Slide (00:00)
Chapter 2: Squaw Valley Ski Trip (00:50)
Chapter 3: Snow Day (22:00)