Yesterday I woke up almost as excited as if were Christmas.

Which makes sense, considering it was my birthday! And that I was about to go skiing. I actually haven’t skiied since I started this blog, but growing up, I went on a ski vacation with my parents every year. My dad went to college in Montana, and when he moved back to NJ after college, he brought with him a love for skiing that he passed on to me. He taught me the ropes in Vermont as a kid, but as soon as he thought I was ready, we started going to Colorado every year. Our favorites were Breckenridge and Beaver Creek/Vail.

Anyway. The birthday girl went for a bagel with half cream cheese and half Barney Butter to fuel for a long day of skiing.

By the time we go to the mountain, it was around 9. Since I’d lost so much weight, my dad suggested I get my bindings checked on my skis–part of how they configure the binding settings is based on weight. By 9:30, I was ready to go.

Having skiied so much out west growing up, I’m definitely a little bit of a ski snob. East Coast skiing is notoriously icy, and I was a little nervous for the conditions. I was wrong! The conditions in the morning were gorgeous, and I felt like I was back in Colorado. I was a little nervous that I’d forgotten how to ski, too, but it all came right back.

Still, I was excited for lunch.

And a hard-earned Long Trail beer.

I went with a grilled chicken sandwich…

But had a little order envy of these nachos.

Charles, Leslie, and Meghann

I need to get ready to do it all over again, so I’ll be back later with pictures from my birthday celebration!