Snowed In

Here’s a bit of a recap, with photos.

Dinner tonight: Aloo Gobi

It was quite a weekend. Friday was the Cognitive Science Happy Hour, wherein we stood outside in the freezing cold making small talk. Met some new folks from Sociology I think. These things run together…

Saturday morning woke up at 5:00am, Paul picked me up and we swung up to get Matthew in La Jolla, and were on the road to Big Bear for a day of snowboarding. That “day” turned into a half day, as we got lost, had to buy chains for the car (parts of california require chains even if there’s no snow on the road. Sissies), had the engine overheat, and then finally, at 11:30, waited a half an hour to get the half day discount.

ooh, drama

Snowboarding was wonderful. It was only my second time, but it was much faster to pick up this time around. I did a couple runs on the kiddie slope, until I felt like I could at least make a reasonable turn on both front and back edges. I then took the lift half way up the mountain, was soundly schooled by gravity on the intermediate slopes, and quickly went back to the kiddie slopes, tail between my legs, to practice some more.

Snow outside the car window calms my soul

It’s kind of nice on the kiddie slopes. People are forgiving when you crash in burn a few feet above them. They know you subjected yourself to that pain in order to avoid smashing into them, and they are thankful. Folks on the lift are chatty, and we’re all quick to point out how terrible we are and laugh about it. The slope isn’t steep, which makes for a lot of waiting for your board to Just. Start. Moving! but after a few runs you start feeling ambitious again.

When I traversed over to another half-mountain lift, this one with green circles all the way down, I caught up with Matthew and Paul, and that was a nice coincidence. We took a couple runs, and everything started coming together for me. I was slaloming, back and forth… inside edge, outside edge, inside edge, outside edge, avoiding people well and having a blast. I was having so much fun I snuck on the last lift up at 4:30 as Paul and Matthew were heading into the lodge, so I could get one more run in.

Sunset at the Getty

We got back around 10:00 on Saturday night, after a gluttonous dinner at the New China Buffet. Dartmouth-style Pong was in effect at my apartment. Kerry and her friends, boozing it up in the awesomest possible way, not a man in sight. I took a shower, debated sticking around to play a round of Pong myself, but then, feeling shy, snuck out the back and took a cab to Kensy’s.

Cupcakes on the patio

The party was great fun. I performed the beer bottle party trick, for a crowd of about 30. If you haven’t seen it, ask me the next time you see me and there’s a beer bottle nearby. Most of my friends have seen me on YouTube, which means people sometimes agitate to get me on the dance floor. Lauren, Anna and I are generally pretty good at getting the dance party going, and this was no exception. Rumps were shook.

Boutique cupcakes

After some late night antics, and a lazy Sunday morning, Kensy re-invited me to take an afternoon road trip with him, Anna and Leo up to L.A. I was in the mood to hang out with people I felt pretty comfortable with, so I went. Debate about genetic engineering raged in the car. Cupcakes from boutique bakery “Sprinkles” were purchased. We went to the Getty, which is one of the most stunning buildings I’ve ever seen, and ate our cupcakes on the patio overlooking the gardens, high above L.A., with the ocean in the distance.

Leftovers: greens, red peppers, cashews

I’ve been spending a lot of energy lately worrying about romance and about my life plan, and it was good medicine to have a weekend where I was surrounded by people who were excited about our future together and appreciative to be around me. There was a little adventure, a little learning, a bit of decadence, some romance, some snow, some sun, and a decent helping of relaxation. A pretty good weekend.