Birthday Fun and a Run

Monday, February 18th, was my birthday, so I decided it was fair to claim this past weekend as my "birthday weekend".  I know you are only supposed to get a day hence the word birthday, but mine landed on a Monday- the worst day of the week- so cut me some slack.

I love cake and attention so naturally I love birthdays.  I planned out a fun weekend to ring in 25 and start the slow crawl to 30.  

Saturday

 First on the agenda was a ski trip to Killington with Thatcher.  It was only a half hour past Okemo, less than four hour drive, and we had never been to Killington, so we packed up the car and headed North for the day.

Views of the mountain while driving in. 

89 dollar lift ticket...I got the "golden ticket"
 why is skiing so expensive. 

Let me remind you that this weekend marked a holiday weekend, and the start of many school breaks.  What this meant was everyone and their reckless child headed out to go skiing for the weekend.  We left at about 5 am and we were on the mountain by 9:30 along with everyone else in New England. 

Lift lines were long but moved along considering the mass of people that invaded Killington.  A few runs in and the conditions were okay, the mountain was okay, and the trails were okay. The weather was pretty perfect, no wind and fairly warm for February.  The views were gorgeous and it was nice to be playing outside without running. 

 I had to stop and be a tourist and take pictures in front of the ice.  Thatcher was starting to get a little angry about my constant photo taking.   Calm down Thatcher... the readers wanna know.

 The mountain was big and we never skied the same trail twice, but the layout of the mountain was really confusing, and the lodges were really hard to get to.  We decided to stick to the black diamonds to avoid the crowds and dipped into the woods for some tree skiing and fresh snow.  

Tree skiing was a lot of fun because the area was barely skied and there was no one else in there.  Not to mention all the fresh fluffy snow!

As the day progressed, the conditions decreased as the slopes were skied off by the masses and the ugly yellow ice/snow took over.  The lift lines got longer, lunch seemed impossible through the masses, and my anxiety was shooting through the roof.  We stopped early in the day to share a waffle, and later in the day for a beer and slice of pretty awful pizza after 4 attempts to sit down for lunch.  After another lunch fail and an icy run, we called it quits and headed home

Will I ever go back?  Eh.... Okemo is closer and laid out much better in my opinion.  But.... I will give Killington credit for the abundance of Waffle Cabins and Empanada huts.  Love me some fried heaven on the mountain.    

Sunday 

Sunday I decided I needed to squeeze in my long distance run before I had any birthday fun.  The weather outside was about 20 degrees and extremely windy so I threw on a tank top and shorts and headed to the gym.  I had 12 miles on the agenda so I decided to break it up into 4 three mile runs, with a minute break in between to grab some water and recollect my sanity.   I made up a little interval workout for the 3 mile run to break up the monotony, changing my speed between 6 and 7.5.  

Four weddings is probably the only thing that got me through that run.  The yummy food, awful dresses, over the top weddings, and bitchy brides kept me entertained while I ran the road to no where.  Two hours and 12 miles later I looked around for an applause (never happened) and decided that running on a treadmill for two hours should be illegal.  

I ran drove home, showered, and headed to meet some friends at the local vineyard for a wine tasting.  The vineyard was very picturesque with a tasting room that was very cozy and a new bistro with a menu that made me drool..... but....... their wine kind of sucked.   I had a good chardonnay there last year but they must have been holding out on that one this year...

After tasting five different wines, I could not decided which one I hated more.  Chamard Vineyards..... I am no wine snob..... but your wine just did not taste that great.   I will come back and try the bistro when you put a decent wine on your tasting menu... I hope you have one!  Take a look at their bistro menu here and try not to drool on your computer.


We decided on the cheap bottle of wine back at a friends house that was half the cost of anything on that tasting menu, twice as good, and relaxed with some home made french onion soup.   It was a great Sunday afternoon spent with some sore legs, white wine, french onion soup, and good company.  

Monday

Monday was my actual birthday and after a long day of work (another thing that should be illegal- working on your birthday), I headed out with some friends for some sushi at my favorite sushi restaurant located in Groton, Connecticut,  Koto check them out here.  Vegetable Tempura and a Kani Salad started off the night with a cocktail of course.    Kani salad is just cucumbers, fake crab and a few fish eggs topped with spicy mayo... so simple, sounds gross, but is so heavenly.  

Then came the time for my faaaaaaaavorite roll/  The angel hair roll is shrimp tempura, avocado and cream cheese, topped with kani salad.  I love cream cheese in sushi rolls and while the combination sounds very odd, you need to try it.   Because it was my birthday and I was being a fatty, I got another roll as well made up of eel, salmon skin, and avocado.  

After dinner, I headed into Mystic, Connecticut, per birthday tradition to meet a few friends at the Harp and Hound for a few drinks to end the birthday celebrations.  It was lovely to be around friends, getting spoiled with cupcakes, gifts, and booze.  

My lobster sweater from JCrew from Chelsea... feeding into my lobster obsession. 

Adorable striped Kate Spade bangle with cute bow earings, and awesome hair ties from Kristen. 

An amazing little chocolate cake and red wine from Christine. 

A bottle of wine and cupcakes (vanilla with a nutella chocolate frosting) from my sister and her fiance.  

And my favorite gift... a new Lululemon running jacket.  (Will give a review of the jacket pants and head band when this snow melts!)

Skiing, vineyards, sushi, presents, family, and friends.... what more could a birthday girl want?

24 wasn't my best year and I am really looking forward to what 25 has to offer.  So far I have two amazing trips planned, 2 half marathons to run, and if all goes well my first marathon....26 before 26!

25 Show me what you got!