Trading the Florida sun for the Vermont snow, as soon as I got back from Disney World, I packed up and joined my friends for a weekend in Stratton, Vermont.

I had big plans to spend last Saturday skiing.  I hadn’t skied since high school so I couldn’t wait to hit the slopes.  Plus I wanted to burn lots of calories after some indulgent eating while I was on vacation.  We loaded the car and headed to Stratton to meet friends who had left 30 minutes earlier to beat the crowds.

Unfortunately our day of skiing wasn’t meant to be…

Jared, the man in charge of the key for the ski rack, forgot the key in our rental house.  We didn’t realize this until we arrived at the mountain.  Renting was out of the question, much too expensive.  Since we didn’t even have a house key to get in the house, no one felt like driving 30 minutes back there to attempt a break in. And  so our skiing ideas were abandoned.

Determined not to let the lack of skis spoil the weekend, we donned all of our ski gear so we could walk around the lodge and pretend that we were snow bunnies.

We browsed in all of Stratton’s ski shops and attempted to find a bar open at 10 am.

A coffee shop that served alcohol was our best option.  I had a regular apple cider, but my crew opted for spiked hot chocolate, glog, and spiked apple cider.  Mmm!

With so much extra time, we also went to the grocery store to get all of the essentials for a lunch buffet: ingredients for a Caprese salad, buffalo flavored chips, bread, vegetables, a rotisserie chicken, and alcohol.

The snow was still calling my name.  So after lunch I donned my jacket and snow pants and romped in the snow outside of the rental house.  My friends happily joined me.

{Little Yorkie, Big World}

{Shooting the BB Gun}

{Fun in the Snow}

{At the top of the Sledding hill}

{Natalie making a Snow Angel}

{I’m a regular Snow Bunny}

{He said yes; probably cuz they’re actually already married}

We went sledding.  We shot a BB gun.  We made snow angels.  We climbed a huge hill.  I felt like a kid again!  Playing in the snow was so much fun and a great form of exercise.  I was tired and sweaty when we finally decided to head inside to warm up by the fire.

Sitting by the fire will make 11 people really sleepy.  Naps and showers all around and then the entire gang headed out for an Italian dinner at Garlic John’s.  It was a delicious meal and I snapped photos.  I plan to review it in a later post!

After dinner, we hung out by the fire again.  Playing games and laughing for hours!

We were obsessed with looking up words in a Webster’s Dictionary printed in 1980.  We even placed a few bets on whether or not certain words would be featured.  For the record, fiesta, siesta, and sombrero are all in there.  That was my guess and I was 100% correct.

It felt like a slumber party.  Natalie even styled my hair.  Look at all of those braids.  So pretty!  Now I wish I could recreate this look on my own.  Not gonna happen.  I’ll just have to walk the 1.5 miles to her house so she can do my hair every morning. Just kidding, kind of…

We stayed up long into the night.  The fire began to burn out and we took that as a sign that it was time to head to bed.

Up and at ‘em the next morning, our ski weekend had come to a close all too quickly.  We had just enough time to prepare a giant brunch and clean the house.  Then it was time to load the cars and drive back to Boston.

I still want to go skiing before the season is over.  I don’t have much time left!

Even though my Ski Weekend was a bust, I still had SO much fun in Stratton.  I loved playing out in the snow and staying warm by the fire.  Our rental house was cozy and the smiles and laughter were contagious.  It’s not what you do; it’s the company you keep.  It’s healthy living and happy living at the same time. 

*Do you have a close knit group of friends?  Have you taken a vacation with your friends?*