What happens after hitting a tree while skiing:

Seattle is experiencing a "winterstorm warning" at the moment. First for the season. Took these this morning before it started hailing. I know the mountain shot is a little out of focus, but the rooftop was a sheet of ice and the tripod was having issues.

So you know you are having a GREAT ski day when:

1. From the chairlift, you hear yelps of "whooohooo" "yeeeaaaooowwwww" and "iiiieeee" from the skiers below.

2. You stop, and you can no longer see your skis.

3. Doing high fives with skiers you don't know seems like the right thing to do.

4. The "singles" line at the chairlift is huge since everybody has abandonned their group because there are no friends on a powder day.

You know it is a good ski day when:

1. "Wheeeeee!" is the most common thing coming out of your mouth.

2. You start skiing with regular skis but by the end of the day you need your fat sticks because the snow's got so deep.

3. Everybody in your party makes it down the hill without the aid of a sled or snowmobile.

4. You repeatedly ask yourself... where IS everybody????

5. You have at least 5 "last runs."

Gas to mountain: $7

Night skiing season pass: $300

Replacement neck gator: $10

Skiing under the full moon and being able to see the snow capped peaks around you:

PRICELESS.

You just can't make this stuff up....

So a friend of mine asked me if I could procure a photo of my Master of Pain (MOP), and I was more than willing to oblige. What is really interesting is just how willing MOP was as well...

Larissa: I need you to pose (as I hold up my phone). Friends want to meet you.
MOP: Wait, I'm not ready...

*click*

MOP: Let me see it. Wait...I look stupid. Let me take off my shirt.

(Apparently, my reputation for taking pictures of men without shirts has become so wide spread, that I don't even need to ask them to indulge me any more... FABulous!)

Believe it or not, Seattle, in the middle of January, is having a sunny, yet very cold spell. When I say cold, I mean like below freezing at night and around 40 during the day. For the most part this "winter," I've been marching around outside with only a fleece. All those coats I own and that I used to live in for winter months in NJ are officially obsolete. I LOVE it.

Pictures from yesterday:

And the winners are....

Last night I went to a photography peer review. I was supposed to bring my "top 12" for 2007. The two photos that made the most splash were surprisingly black and white. who knew that those would beat out all my colored sunsets. The one of the sailboat was up for discussion the longest. Apparently half the people in the room thought it would be even better if I were to turn it upside down.

So I'm sure you've heard of the weird weather Western WA has been having - last night we had a hail storm. Today.. you would never know.

One of the reasons I picked Seattle to move to is because it is pretty darned close to one of my most favorite places - Whistler, BC. This weekend I went there for a little skiing since they were getting quite a bit of snow. The highlights from this weekend include:

1. Sushi Village - Literally, this was our first stop. It is tradition with our group to head there more or less upon arrival. Pitchers of sake margaritas (margs) are the only way you know you have offically arrived in Whistler.

2. Phat Luvs - I finally christened these powder skis with over a foot of fresh pow on Friday. Having never skied fat sticks before, this took a little getting used to. Again, I have to credit my Master of Pain for making me fit enough to turn those suckers around as well as I did.

3. Whistler Creekside - Never even knew there were runs in that area that were worth skiing. I stand humbly corrected on that. We were up to our knees in powder... even had the runs to ourselves. And no, I don't have any pictures. I can't ski with a camera on my back. Too stressful to worry about getting it wet or broken.

4. Snowball fight crossfire - On my way into Earls yesterday I got smacked in the face by a very hard snowball. At the top of the stairs a group of men were having a fight and I bought it. Did they apologize? NO... they just suggested I join in. Typical.

5. Discovering I still have it - Got hit on by a college senior. The guy thought I was younger than he. (YES!) He was a very nice young man, goes to UW, orginally from Kiev, Ukraine. Boy did I throw him a loop when I out of the blue asked him a question in ukrainian. He bought me shots. I got loopy. Thanks, dude.

6. I'm also a comedian - My cardkey to the hotel lobby didn't work all weekend. Last night I got back to the hotel (loopy, remember) and while using Christine's key, announce to the people waiting to be let in with the help of my key, "My key's been broken. But now this key works and I'M broken."

So I have finally officially arrived in the PNW. A major reason for me moving to this area of the country was so that I could be closer to the mountains and ski better stuff with less drive time. Yesterday, I went night skiing.

How is this possible, I hear you cry... Well, there are mountains 40 mins from my condo that have about 10 runs that are lit by very powerful lamps until 10pm. Now, "lit" in this case, is a very relative term. If, for example, you felt like referring to your trail map at somepoint, you could find that a little difficult. You can see well enough to identify other skiers, trees, lift poles, etc, but you definitely need to be paying attention to what is in front of you. If only to make sure you know exactly what you are skiing on. (as in, is that a flat bit of snow there or is it a bump?) And if you are skiing this mountain for the first time, as I was, said concentration becomes very important.

There were several really cool things about skiing last night:

1. I didn't have to take off from work to ski in powder conditions.
2. It was dumping snow (as in sheets and sheets) the whole time we were skiing.
3. There was absolutely NOBODY there. THIS I found astounding. If it were a powder day on the East (espeically within 40 mins of a major city), and there was night skiing, I can promise you there would be endless queues.
4. The ratio of men to women (which is always skewed in the women's favor on a ski hill) was ludicrous. I think I saw ONE woman the whole time I was there. And she was a liftee.

There is definitely a learning curve to night skiing. Your depth perception is off. I know I am no rocket on skis, but last night I felt as if I was on turbo. The shadows are a little freaky too. At times, you think there are skiers on either side of you, when really, your shadows are following you down the mountain. Several times I actually stopped to let these very annoying tailgaters go past me and was shocked to realize they were me. And when night skiing with friends, unlike during the day when you look for specific outfits to recognize people on the hill, you better know your companion's ski styles very well because colors are no good in the dark. Yelling also works.

The following three posts came from the same day at Mt. Rainier National Park. Needless to say, it was a great day.

For New Year's Eve, I had a party at my apartment. I've never had a NYE party in my life, mostly because that kind of party tends to be the longest party ever and I'm usually done with partying shortly after midnight. But having only been in Seattle three months, having made a handful of new, reliable friends, I thought a party at my place was the best way to go for the following reasons:

1. I didn't have to figure out what to do that night or where to go or how to get there. Being in a new city and all, I had no desire to try to figure out what my options were or how expensive they might be. Bring the fun to me, I said.

2. My apartment has an amazing view of the space needle, which is where all the fireworks were to be set off. Both from my roof as well as from my bedroom you can see the needle perfectly, so I figured even if the weather was poor, we could watch from inside easily.

The party was very small and intimate - totally different from the large sized bashes i'm used to throwing, in which many preparatory trips to Costco are necessary, but just as fun. The fireworks, however, were very disappointing. You would think that using the Needle as a point from which to shoot them would be really cool, but the end result looked like a water sprinkler. And one of those really sad ones that dribbles water down its post more than squirting it out. Seriously hope that the fireworks over the Sound are more impressive on 4th of July.

So you know when you are at an open mike night in Seattle when:

1. Every musician has worn either sneakers or hiking boots.


2. Every musician's wardrobe most probably came from the consignment store down the block.

3. There are limited number of mikes on stage, so they get swung around to a mouth, guitar, drum, whatever is currently making the music.

4. From the bar, you can smell the weed coming from the musicians' clothing.

5. Most of the participants are better musicians than they are singers.

It is a new year, so time to do new things! My out of town guest and I went to the Olympic Peninsula yesterday - a first time trip for both of us. It is a really fun and beautiful drive, and not just because it includes a ferry ride. I have been viewing the Olympics from my apartment for months now and it was very exciting to get much closer to them.

But not too close. The weather in these parts, during the winter, i'm finding out, tends to be quite severe ... and often. Our destination was "Hurricane Ridge" in Olympic National Park, and yesterday we found out how it got its name. The wind was so bad on the Ridge, no cars were being permitted for fear of them being blown off, i guess. A bit of a disappointment, considering the 3 hour drive we took to get so close, but undeterred, we headed to the lowlands for some PNW style rainforest.

I hadn't seen one of these really ever either, so it was quite a treat. Thank goodness for tripods. Here are some of the winners from yesterday's trek. The one of Mt. Rainier is from the Bainbridge ferry in the morning. Happy New Year everybody!