Woodswoman

Well hey there guys. Life has been so good lately! Yesterday I had the day off so I made oatmeal whole wheat pancakes with strawberry, mango and ginger sauce for breakfast, and went on a beautiful hike to Eagle Lake with my friends Rachel and Bobby. The hike was pretty snowy; we had record breaking amounts of snow this year (in some resorts the last time they experienced this much snow, almost 700 inches of snowpack, was in the 1880's) so lots of it still hasn't melted! Luckily we came prepared with our hiking boots and Tahoe mettle and we made it up the mountain to the lake, which was deserted, since everyone else had turned back because of the snow. We watched some blue jays flitting about through the trees and took lots of pictures. Last night I had the last spring session of my writing class, and then headed out to get some post writing drinks. It's interesting, I feel like I know so many intimate details of these women's lives because of reading their stories and poems, yet I've never really talked to them outside of class. It was so much fun to hang out with them without writing, they are such a hilarious bunch! After our drinks I headed back to my house in the boonies, where the local pizza place was having a going away party for my friend Kim. They had a DJ, jello shots, unlimited serve your own beers on tap, and free pool, so it was a great party! I am sad to see her go but she's moving to Portland, so she will definitely be one more friend to visit on my list of people-I-love-who-live-in-awesome-places. Today I drove back down to San Francisco because I have to get my fingerprints taken because I am getting my US citizenship(!).







Fascinator, Shorts, Belt, Earrings: Vintage; Cropped Tee: Ross; Sandals: Steve Madden
I really like how these photos turned out. I just took the camera I am carrying, a Pentax, into the shop because the shutter wasn't coming back up again after taking pictures. Of course when I went into the shop it was working perfectly fine. Boy, did the camera repair guy make me feel dumb!







What do you like to do on your days off?

What does a concussed girl wear?

Hello people I adore! Here are some shots of me oh so nonchalantly chilling by my woodpile. My neighbor came home and caught me taking these and it was awkward. I'm sure all of you have been caught trying to take outfit photos in a weird place at some time or another. It's kind of hard to explain to whoever is giving you weird looks, right?

Those of you who follow me on twitter know that I have been having a quiet week because I got a concussion on Tuesday night after a semi-unfortunate, partly hilarious sledding incident. My resort's ski patrol has a race every year which involves lots of dressing up, drunkeness, and a bit of speedy skiing. This year, the theme was saucerboy, Shane McConkey's alter ego. Here is a video of the race; our patrollers are the ones looking like they're having a ridiculously good time. (Some other patrols who shall not be named take the race waaay to seriously and don't dress up which I think kind of ruins the fun!)

I dressed up as "saucerette", the female version of saucerboy, and while saucering down to the lodge I got hit by one of the patrollers who was unsuccessfully trying to use an ice axe as a brake. All I remember is waking up in the back of the ski patrol sled and watching the sky go by, wondering how the heck I got there. After a few hospital visits I've been back on the mountain, and tomorrow I'm doing a backwards ski race with the other instructors, so hopefully my brain stays firmly in place! Tonight I spent the night baking 100 cupcakes as prizes for the kids who are racing (facing forwards, of course) against us. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share!

This outfit is totally made up of recent thrift finds. All from Reno, which seems to be the best place in the world for thrifting. I wish I lived closer so I could go more often!

In other news, my godsister/soul soother/stylish thrift buddy started a blog, and I love all of the posts she has done so far. They make me miss her and her lovely Scottish accent and also San Francisco. Check her out over at A Fine Day for Sailing.

Do you guys have any new blog discoveries you've been loving lately? I'm looking for some new blogs to check out! Hope you're all having a happy weekend!

Welcome Home

Hi all! Sorry to have disappeared from blogland for a moment, life has been throwing me some crazy surprises that have taken precedence over my usual posting!

First of all...I moved! My new house is tiny and darling, and I love everything about it. There is a pot bellied stove that heats the whole house, I fall asleep at night to the sounds of snow shifting on the roof, my oven is called the "Magic Chef", I have two awesome roommates, one of whom is a ski patrol dog, there's plenty of room in the closet for my clothes, and I have been using our tiny kitchen to bake bread and make some awesome cookie creations! I LOVE living here and there are so many friends close by; as we live in the ski patrol compound, at least that's what we've taken to calling it because most of the patrollers live on our street. We've been having bonfires and guitar playing get togethers, and it's been wonderful.

Everything in this outfit is thrifted except my shorts which are from UO. Aren't those shoes darling? They are one of my Reno thrift trip finds...the shoes in every thrift store I've been in in Reno have been fantastic.

In other news, the snow has been totally crazy here! We had 4 days where we got almost 100 inches and then a few days later got another 4 feet. Last night we also had a mini snowstorm, so it looks like we're in for a long season with lots more powder days!

Can you see my goggle tan in this picture?

I have been loving life lately; being out of my old house which was a stifling and negative experience has a lot to do with it I think. There have been trips to Reno, weekly fish taco nights, so many baked goods, adventures in the health food store, some exciting thrifting finds, wine nights in with Gossip Girl or Greys Anatomy, many powder days (and I demo-ed Volkl Mantras...such awesome skis!), hiking Quail Face for the first time, silly card game nights, friends friends friends everywhere, visiting home for a few sweet days, my birthday bonfire/happy lovefest, "kiss me in the water mister...it's like a rainforest", pizza/apples to apples nights, and plans for the summer. I hope you are all having a joyful time as well!

Give me a little update on what you've been doing with your lives, I've missed you!

Focus: Softly

I've had a bit of an introspective week this week. After chatting with my writing class teacher about what my goals for writing are, I got to thinking about my goals for the next year or so. I am enjoying being a ski instructor so much; the happy kiddos, amazing coworkers, and of course being on a beautiful mountain every day make my job so fulfilling. BUT, the mountain will close for the year in April, and then what am I going to be doing? I have a couple of ideas percolating at the moment, but it is hard to settle on anything right now because there is so much stuff that I want to do before I settle down somewhere and get a "real" job. It's also difficult because I have no idea what I want that job to be!

This velvet skirt is a thrift find that I didn't wear for ages because it was too tight. Luckily skiing for 6 hours every day has worked off my muffin top sufficiently for me to wear it! Though god only knows what will happen when I stop skiing so much and I'm still eating two dinners like I am at the moment! I never realized how much energy you need to be teaching kids all day.

The hat is a lucky find from Beacon's Closet, and it's so beautiful. It's difficult to wear for everyday (my roommate had a laughing fit when he saw it!) but I am looking forward to wearing it this summer. Maybe to some weddings?

Boots, Skirt, Hat, Coat: Thrifted

Top: FCUK

I hope you're all having a happy week. Are any of you having as many problems deciding your

future as I am?

Snow Lady

As you can tell from my scantily clad shoulders in these pictures, it is warm here! So warm that all the snow and ice has been melting. It's been fun, but now I want the snow gods to do their thing and bring back the powder. I have been getting a serious goggle tan, which I'm not sure is all that cool, as much as my ski obsessed roommates tell me it is.

I'm going to start learning telemark skiing so I can give my body a break from alpine skiing for a day or so every week. I'm really excited to learn something new, and I'm hoping that all the lunging is going to do wonders for my poor legs, who haven't visited the gym anytime recently.

This is the first time that I've worn this dress (actually a skirt) because it squishes me in all the wrong places, but I figured I may as well give it a try. I love the print; it has little strawberries and flowers all over it. This whole outfit is thrifted. I love it when that happens!

I went on a trip to Quincy over the weekend, and had so much fun eating sushi, snowshoeing, and buying tons of food with my roommates. I'm going to post some pictures of our snowshoe trip as soon as I have a moment. Snowshoeing was great fun, but as soon as we got to the top of the mountain I wished I had my skis on. I'm totally addicted to being on my skis. I think I would rather ski than walk anywhere! I used to feel that way about swimming. It's funny how things have changed!

Do you have a sport that you practice almost every day?

A Thrifty Christmas

Sorry I am a bit late in posting these, but I promised that I would share some pictures of the vintage gems I found for Christmas presents, so here they are! I decided to incorporate my thrifty vibe into my wrapping paper and I used old paper bags, because much store bought wrapping paper is not recyclable. I added some pretty bows with some leftover wool from my knitting and beautiful glittery gift tags.

For my mother I got an amazing gold brocade dress from Beacon's Closet, as well as some dishes which are the same pattern as her wedding china, such a great find! I also got her a coronation plate because she has quite a collection of them. For my father I got an old copy of The Wrecker. My sister received some beautiful Italian leather shoes and a bow brooch. The only person I didn't manage to thrift a present for was my brother. I ended up getting him the latest Teton Gravity Research ski video, Light The Wick, which still goes to a good cause because it is a small company and their videos are amazing. The only person left to get something for is my sister who lives in Vietnam. I have been racking my brains trying to think of something small that would also be useful and easy for her to travel with. Any ideas?

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years. Any exciting stories for me?