Sweaters & Sunshine. If you looked around at the beginnings of green grass and blooming flowers you would never believe that just last week we had a snow storm. And the week before that. A whole 23 inches in April, more snow than we'd gotten all Winter! To celebrate the returning warm weather, I threw on a bright coral sweater and white lace skirt. I paired it all with comfy beige boat shoes and a gold watch, perfectly casual & cute for hanging around campus and heading to class!
It amazes me how quickly all of the snow melted, I think it took about a day and a half. I can't say I'm disappointed with that though, I'm not much of a snow person. Or a cold weather person. The slope frequenters were quite happy though and I suppose I would be too if I enjoyed skiing or snowboarding. But much to the utter shock and disturbance of all those who inhabit this mountain state, I do not. I'll go down the slope on my skis (with no hope of stopping until I crash or gradually slow on flat terrain) once and be dying to peel off the puffy warm layers of waterproof coats and sweaters and scarves and relax somewhere very indoors.
Before I moved to Colorado, I had only skied once and it was on a man-made course... Which turned out to be totally different from skiing on a mountain (who'd have guessed that?!) so I was in for quite the surprise. My friends took me skiing a couple of months after I moved here and I was feeling really nervous and feigning braveness.
When deciding which run to go down first they asked me if I'd skied before and I said yes. They asked if I was pretty good at it and I stupidly said yes, I hadn't even fallen on the man-made "slopes" (hills) that now seem so dinky and pathetic. So they decide on a blue run (for those non-skiers/snowboarders, the order of difficulty is green (easiest), blue, black diamond, double black diamond (hardest)) and get on the ski lift. And we sit there. And we wait.
The wind is howling, snow is being blown in our faces and falling from the sky. The weather had turned less than ideal in an instant and we're just sitting there. For what had to have been at least 20 minutes. 20 minutes of anxiety, I couldn't imagine how long it could take to get to the top and I was getting more nervous by the minute. How big could this slope be? We get to the top and I always recall it as being the very top of the mountain because it was seriously high up there. I was scared out of my mind.
We slid off the ski lift and I just kept on going, I couldn't stop. I'm lucky my legs even let me get off the ski lift! My friends were yelling at me to wait and I eventually came to an almost-stop after 5 minutes of doing that "pizza-wedge"/"snowplow" deal with my skis--which seems to work for everyone but me, by the way. Can you guess what follows?
As soon as I start moving again there's no chance in hell that I'm stopping in any way except by crashing, which inevitably happens. Numerous times. My friends mom ended up spending half the day trying to teach me (I think it was the skis fault)! Anyway, after falling, falling, and more falling, I lose one of my skis and can't get it back on while I'm on the hill. One of the ski patrol guys (or whatever they're called) rolls up next to me and seeing me struggling, offers to take me down on one of those motorized ski/snow scooter machine things--for the life of me I cannot remember what they are actually called so bear with me--and with the encouragement of my aching knees and battered pride, I accept.
It was the ride of shame, I'll tell ya. Everyone was looking at me like I had two heads, a total abomination in the land of ski-fanatics. I think a few kids less than half my age even pointed and laughed at me. I didn't even realize that I'd almost made it down the slope on my own (it had only taken an hour!)
As embarrassed as I was at my failed attempt, I kept skiing that day. I actually went down a few green slopes without falling on my face (and still not being able to stop). It was quite the adventure and a good story I can tell but it's safe to say that I've never been skiing since and can't say I'm planning on doing it again any time soon--I'll be safely and warmly sipping hot chocolate inside the lodge, thank you!
Sweater & Skirt: Forever 21
Watch: Shoe Dazzle
Shoes: Grasshoppers
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