Whistler, Part 2

Quote of the day:

AJS: "Methinks is one word."

Kelsey: (disbelieving this, I look it up to find he's correct)

AJS: "I read a lot of pirate books."

Here's a short and sweet, quick and dirty synopsis of our last 48 hours . . .

- The tour of Vancouver was AMAZING! BS drove us through Stanley Park (the largest public park in North America, evidently) and around the city, where we were ultimately caught up in a belated St. Patrick's Day parade and couldn't find a way to get back to his apartment. The luck of the Irish was not with us.

- Coffee with (the other) BS was super fun. He hasn't changed a bit since the last time I saw him, which, unfortunately, was almost four years ago.

- AJS and I hit the road around noon and stopped in Squamish to hike The Chief. It reminded me a bit of a hike I did outside Glenwood back in the day (you can see pictures here), even though the views were totally different. Again, I'll post pictures later.

- Skiing today was absolutely incredible. There are no words for how rad Whistler is. My legs are completely shot. As soon as my brain can give it some credence, I'll post some pictures and an idea of what we skied.

We're skiing again tomorrow and taking a hut trip to Duffy Lake on Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll likely post another update when we return on Thursday night. Adios, amigos. It's been real.

Whistler, Part 1

Hello, comrades.

My next few blog posts will be written with the intent of keeping my family (and friends who care) up to date on my international travel over Spring Break, rather than detailing the random US I encounter. Okay? Okay.

AJS and I left Berkeley on Friday around 2pm in a super-full VW Passat - we have gear for skiing, alpine touring, running and yoga, clothes for a chic city and apres, tons and tons and tons of books, enough grub to feed an army, and an iPod, the contents of which were meticulously chosen. We literally drove for 10 hours straight, stopping only once for gas and a quick bathroom break at a Shell station at the foot of California's fabled Mount Shasta. (It was breathtaking.)

We stayed in Portland on Friday night at the home/apartment-thing of some college friends (who weren't actually there). Their cats were really, really unsettled by our presence.

Saturday morning (that was just yesterday - it feels like a week) we hit the road around 9am, bound for Seattle. The drive was fine but traffic sucked - we hit the city pretty early but it took well over an hour to get through it and meet our buddy RC for lunch near the University district. Lunch was a blast, and the rest of the drive to Vancouver was a breeze (including the border crossing - we made it across with two oranges!).

Last night we laid pretty low, grabbing some take-out and watching SportsCenter. We're staying with my high school bff, who lives in an incredible 20th-floor apartment in downtown Vancouver. I'll post pictures later.

Here marks the end of this post. Our tentative plans for today include:

- Having coffee with AJS's cousin, BS

- Possibly taking a tour of Vancouver with BS (my bff - too many people have those initials!)

- Hitting the road to Whistler pretty early

- Hiking "the chief"

Wish us luck! The weather is incredible and is supposed to stay that way, so me thinks we're in for a pretty good week. Happy Sunday!

Photo Blitz!

I have found the world's greatest time suck. Readers, I present to you: pinterest.com.

It's like an online bulletin board: as a member, you can "pin" the pretty things you find online to your board in whatever category or order you like, and the site displays your finds altogether. I'm not doing it justice, but trust me, it's wonderful. I'm so anxiously awaiting my invite (because they don't have enough bandwidth to support as many memberships as, like, Facebook - I am literally on a waiting list for a membership).

Anyhow, I sat in the back of History of Christianity II on Tuesday with my dear friend CK, both of us listening to our professor and blissfully clicking through the "best of" board. It was parallel play at its finest. I saved my favorites to repost here.

(File this post under "sometimes you just want to write about things that aren't very important.")

I will argue it until I'm blue in the face: our president is absolutely remarkable. I love this.

So fun! I would make popsicles every day with these molds!

I don't know whether I like this photo because of the instructions or because of her striking coloring - what great red hair!

Everyone needs a teddy.

Cute.

I think I might make some of these wings out of felt and sew them onto my running shoes.

I LOVE this because the little one looks just like a kiddo I babysit - so sweet!

Pretty.

It doesn't hurt to admit it.

Such a great new take on the family photo

I hope this catches on

I'm going to print this and frame it and hang it in our apartment. It's my motto and it's SO true.

Ah! I want! What a fantastic piece of furniture!

I'm glad.

This is too cute to be true

I think we should do this - it's a nice use of space, and goodness knows we have enough books

I actually made this for lunch today after my run and it was AMAZING: apple slices with peanut butter, granola and chocolate chips. It covers four of my food groups (fruit, nuts, carbs and chocolate chips) and it's delicious!

*

I'll close today with the video for my current favorite song, "Airplanes" by Local Natives. When I showed AJS, he said, "Yep, that's a Kelsey song." As you listen, keep in mind that it's a tribute to the keyboardist's late grandfather. (His name is Kelcey!)