The Best Weekend Ever

I know that’s a bold statement. But this weekend was awesome. Five of my best college girl friends, two new friends, skiing, tubing, cooking and lots of red wine. What’s better than that?

Here’s what went down:

I took Friday off from work so that my friend Lauren and I could drive up to Vermont on Thursday night. The plan for the weekend was simple: college girl friends getting together, playing in the snow and relaxing at our friend Teddy’s house (well, her parents’ house) in West Dover, VT.

The drive took about four hours, but I didn’t care — I was happy to leave all the gross NYC snow behind in favor of the pretty, untouched snow up north.

Teddy’s house is beautifully situated in the mountains right near Mount Snow. There are no neighbors, it’s quiet and it’s the perfect getaway.

Lauren, Teddy, Teddy’s boyfriend (Cole) and I woke up early Friday morning to spend half the day skiing at Mount Snow.

I hadn’t skied in two years, but since I grew up skiing in New Hampshire, it all came right back to me. Read a bit more about our adventures on the slopes in this post.

Of course, the best part of skiing is taking a break for hot chocolate in the lodge.

The fireplace was a nice touch, too.

After skiing, we took naps and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive.

Dinner was homemade macaroni and cheese, courtesy of Teddy’s fabulous mom.

And some salad, because we’re healthy people.

We stayed up late — too late! — on Friday night drinking red wine and catching up. It was so nice having everyone together and getting to catch up on our hectic lives.

Saturday morning didn’t get started quite as early as the day before. Let’s just say the wine consumption came into play.

We eventually got moving, had some breakfast (ham and cheese omelette for me) at a local restaurant, then went back to Mount Snow for some tubing!

The tubing hill was awesome, but the best part was the moving sidewalk-like tow that takes you back up top every time. Growing up, we had to walk up the hill every time — exhausting! This method is much better.

After an hour and a half of tubing, several games of Scattegories and another round of napping, it was time to cook.

Note: I didn’t help with the cooking at all. But I was on hand to take photos of the turkey meatballs being made.

We stuffed our faces, consumed more red wine, then headed to a local bar — The Snow Barn — for the night. There was a live band, we danced our butts off, and yet again we stayed up way too late.

Three hours of sleep later, it was time to wake up again. This weekend seriously did a number on my sleep habits! But hey, sometimes you’ve gotta sacrifice sleep in order to spend quality time with friends.

Lauren and I were on the road around 9:30 this morning because I had an agenda: run 9 miles.

That’s right. Though I’m not following a strict training plan leading up to the National 1/2 Marathon in March, I am gradually increasing my weekend mileage on my long runs.

The drive back went quick and after dropping off my stuff, kissing ABS hello and changing clothes, I was ready to hit up Central Park. Luckily for me, NYC was on my side today. The sun was shining, the temperature was hovering around 40 degrees and there was no wind. Stellar running conditions!

Although, I think it’s safe to say that for the first few miles I was sweating out Cabernet Sauvignon. Oops. Again, worth it.

Central Park was alive today, with tons of families out sledding and enjoying the beautiful day.

Minus the wine sweats, I felt good while I was running. I also totally miscalculated my route in my head, because 9 miles turned into, well, more than 9 miles.

I ended up running 10.5 miles in 1 hour 28 minutes. Fittingly, I came back to these in the mailbox:

I showered hours ago and am still in my cozy robe. I have no intention of unpacking or doing anything productive for the rest of the day. I’m just going to bask in my happiness of having just spent an awesome weekend with my favorite girls.

Oh, and ABS is making dinner. Steak. Happy Ali.

TELL ME: What was the single best part of your weekend?