La Boutique

Collage using Diptic for Mac.

West Window

Vinyasa and Vin

Mondays are my day off, and I always make time for yoga and wine. For the sake of my health, you know?

January brought me two very wonderful things at roughly the same time: a Vail Athletic Club membership, and these cropped yoga pants from LuLuLemon. They are just instant happiness, in my opinion. Now I can run, climb, and stretch in style. They just make Mondays that much better. 

Wunder Unders ($72 at LuLuLemon)

Apres-Ski Style

I'm always down for après ski. Don't matter if I skied. This hilarious and super-appropriate Kate Spade bag was a gift from my boyfriend, Ryder O'Connell, age 7. Just kidding! 

Kate Spade opened their first and only Colorado location in Aspen this past summer, and this cosmetic bag was designed to fête the new store. I love Ryder for bringing me swanky boozy gifts from Aspen! Way to go, buddy. 

I've been using it for the basics - facial moisturizer, pop-up travel brush with mirror, chapstick, hair ties, hand lotion, perfume samples, and a mini deodorant. Everything one needs for a quick post-mountain, pre-cocktail clean-up. Because après-ski cocktails in your snowboarding pants is cool here. I adore Vail.

Local Celebrities

Above Picking out my ideal outfit (which I never got to wear!) for a TV8 interview. Instead, I lost a proverbial coin toss and ended up in a gorgeous white Erin Fetherston dress with a perforated leather top and accordian-pleated skirt. That doesn't sound like losing, until you factor in the very low temperatures and the fact that the dress was two sizes too big. Luckily, there was a next time. I got to wear a comfy cashmere sweater and jeans that actually fit like a glove. That video will be up later!

A Day Like Any Other

At the request of my readers (hi, Mom) I brought my camera with me to work at Golden Peak this morning and afterwards snapped a few photos of Vail. 

If you look at the sky in the first and the fourth photo you can see the weather progression towards blizzard conditions. Which is totally fine with me because Vail needs the snow and I'm going snowboarding. Catch ya later!

[Finding my bus home ready, waiting, and empty always makes me smile. Little, happy things.]

Let Me Eat Cake!

Yesterday Laurie and I celebrated Perch's two month anniversary with a red velvet cupcake from Mountain Cupcakes (which I photographed and devoured, yummy cream cheese frosting).

This little milestone gave me pause to reflect on my time in Vail, my time at this job, and the trajectory of my life since college (yes, the cupcake succeeded where a New Year did not). I have been living in Vail for two and a half months. Mostly, I revel in the present, but occasionally I think about the past and the future, and where my time in Colorado fits into that. I'm gaining so much here: wonderful friends, solid networking, professional experience in the fashion/retail industry, time in a place of incredible natural beauty, exercise, a fresh perspective. Sure, this isn't where I thought I'd be, but hell, I didn't plan on being anywhere. Just fretted over "my calling," and not having one yet. That's done with. Now back to that red velvet...

I fully believe that cake is the best way to mark any occasion - So look around in your life and find something to celebrate. Three months left of college? Occasion! 22 hours since your last coffee? Way to stick to those resolutions! Did you go to the gym today? Any time in the last week? Whatever, buy yourself a cupcake. In some way or another, your mind will work out a way that you have, in fact, earned it. Biting into cake is great for thinking up excuses like that.