Sunday, March 29, 2009

Last Day at Whiteface

Once again the stars were in alignment for a perfect day for the Ladies of the Adirondacks! Although winters are long and arduous here in the North Country, nothing makes us appreciate where we live more than a beautiful spring day when you can actually feel things coming alive again...people as much as plants and wildlife. It was to be the final hoorah for us at Whiteface. The plan was to have a park-b-que followed by some live tunes on the deck outside the Cloudsplitter lounge. The weather forecast made us feel like the luckiest people alive. Almost nice enough out to make a trip to Florida seem like a waste of money.

After a busy morning of prepping food and running errands, Jenny, Jason, Amber and I finally made it up to the park so the games could begin.



Jason lit the grill for us, and we quickly filled it up with chicken legs, hamburgers and hot dogs. We were also equipped with plenty of chips, potato salad and Oreos, not to mention refreshing beverages!

It wasn't long before the crowd showed up and helped us to devour every last little bit.









Once the vittles had disappeared and the food comas had set in, we decided to gear up and head down the final leg of the trail to hit the deck. Once there, the other two Ladies of the Adirondacks joined in on the fun. Lauren and Sierra showed up, and all was right with the world.



What a party that was! The deck was packed with all sorts of entertaining people. Bob was there with a beverage cooler full of Kamikazes, Jenny with her choice of margaritas or rum runners and me with my beer. I'm not sure what Sierra brought, but I know that Lauren was enjoying her beverage of choice, Diet Coke.



I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the live music was pretty good. Then again, I'm slightly biased, but it appeared that people were truly enjoying themselves.



I even got to give a few things away!



All in all, it was a fabulous day. We even finished it up with a table for 10 at the Wilderness. Thirteen hours later, I returned home to last only another 1/2 hour before falling into bed. Thanks, Ladies!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

An Evening with the Serino Clan

Let me start off by saying that I'm absolutely and completely stuffed! Yet another entertaining evening filled with good food and good friends. I'm surprised that I'm able to move enough to type anything, yet the events of this evening have truly inspired me to share. Mike, Ri and I were invited to have dinner at Susan's house to celebrate the return of the prodigal son, Silver. Sierra highly encouraged us to meet at 20 for a cocktail before dinner while her mom watched the boys. We exchanged some lively conversation, and it was nice to see 3/4 of the Serino siblings laughing together.



You see, Silver is somewhat of an infamous "dude". He pretty much survives on his incredible snowboarding talent, living a life supported by Analog and the love of his fans. He is also a very kind man who really knows how to party. A good combination for a guy in his 20's.



After our cocktails, we headed to Jersey to Susan's house. The smell of all kinds of goodness hit us the minute we walked through the door, not to mention the offer of cold beverages. There were a dozen of us in all, and we hung out and either enjoyed the sunshine...







wrestled in the living room...



or watched the action in the kitchen....



Once that action was completed, the real entertainment began. It was an all out feast. Susan outdid herself again with a meal fit for, well, a prince (Silver!). Spaghetti with meatballs, hot sausage AND sweet sausage, ravioli with Alfredo sauce, a killer salad, and garlic bread that melted in my mouth. It was an extremely enjoyable meal in both taste and conversation.







Susan even topped the feeding frenzy off with a birthday cake for all of those birthdays that hadn't yet been celebrated. It was red velvet cake, which is my favorite. Susan, if you are reading this, thank you so very much for a great time. You really know how to make us feel like part of the family!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spectacular Sunday

Spectacular day today, I really must admit. I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning because my mind was all ready to go for some insane reason. The three of us (Ri, Mike and I) were all headed to the mountain, and I had some prep work to do. You see, doing really fun stuff and not spending any money to do it in places that would otherwise be a ripoff is like a game to me. A challenge you might call it. Why spend $8.00 on a burger that was cooked three hours ago when you can just heat up some homemade chili that tastes WAYYYYYY better??? I know. My point exactly. Well not only did we have the chili (with grated cheese and corn chips to boot), I also made a pitcher of margaritas. That's right...margaritas. With the backpack cooler set to go, we headed out the door.

Once at Whiteface, Mike and Ri headed off to do their NYSEF thing. I was on my own. It wasn't more than two minutes before I got a text from my good friend Pam. She was asking me if I was at the mountain. Hey! I was and so was she, according to her next text. That's pretty much when the real fun started.

I met her and her husband and one of their friends at the Face Lift. We quickly segregated ourselves into our respective genders for the ride up the lift. How liberating that 8 minutes was! Pam and I co-counseled each other like there was no tomorrow. In fact, I think we both rode down the mountain for the sole purpose of getting back on the lift to continue our conversation. Not really the sole purpose, but you see what I'm getting at.

We spent the morning riding together. During our last run before lunch, we took a detour and took and break near the terrain park. It was great to hang out in the sun for a bit watching those incredible kids hit those huge jumps.



After that we headed to the lodge for lunch, and went our separate ways for the afternoon. That's not the end though...not at all. I still had that pitcher of margaritas you know. It ends up that Jenny had been over at Kid's Kampus all day learning how to snowboard! I think that must be cause for celebration (most everything is as far as I'm concerned)! More words at this point would be unnecessary, because I think the pictures say it all....









Thursday, March 19, 2009

Product Testing


As mentioned in a previous post, the Ladies of the Adirondacks spent an exhilarating evening together. Part of our evening was spent at one of those sales parties. It was kind of like a Pampered Chef party, but the available products had absolutely nothing to do with cooking, trust me. Each of the products presented easily sparked our interest and curiosity, but there was one product in particular that really got our attention. The friendly sales person presented the group with a bottle of this lotion called "Coochy". This woman claimed that it was the best shave lotion to use for eliminating those irritating and completely unattractive bikini line bumps that you get from shaving. Let me tell you...we were all over that product. Now I can't speak for the other ladies, but I have tried just about everything. The list of failed attempts includes an electric razor, Veet wax, conditioner and bikini shave gel. I had high hopes for each method, but my hopes were dashed each and every time.

Now back to this stuff that the friendly sales person referred to as "Coochy cream". There was very little consideration involved in ordering this product, and I anxiously awaited the arrival of my order. Finally my order arrived, and it wasn't long before I jumped in the shower to give it a whirl. HOLY COW!!!! She was right. The stuff worked like a charm, and just a little dab goes a long way. Does it completely eliminate the bumps? Not completely, but pretty darn close! I am officially a fan of this product, and highly recommend it. For more information or to order, here's the website: www.athenashn.com

Saturday, March 7, 2009

One of those days!

Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks, when nothing seems to be in your favor? Well, I'm having one of those weeks (actually more like two of those weeks).

So my husband decided that this would finally be the year that we should splurge and buy plane tickets for Ri and I to fly out to Nationals with him. Woohoo, you might say. Well, during Mike's last absence for World Cup my car starts hesitating. You know, you press on the gas and it doesn't move until you least expect it. So I take it to Devin's, where I do believe we should have at least one bay dedicated to us, and they give me an estimate of around $600. The exact same cost of the plane tickets we just purchased! After I picked my chin up off the floor, I reminded myself that at least we could afford it. It hurts, but it'll be o.k. All is well you may think, but nooooo. Actually the rest isn't that bad, but when you pile it up on top of playing the single parent for almost two weeks in less than a month, the dog getting hurt and the satellite dish being out of commission for three days while I'm alone with a nine-year old...well, you get the drift.

So in comes the friendship theme that I seem to have going here. Sierra and her sons come up for a visit. Ahhhh. Two of the ladies sitting at the kitchen table drinking beers with their feet up while the three boys keep themselves entertained with the Wii. Pure heaven in my eyes. Later on, Lauren gives me a call, and we discuss the fact that all the crap seems to happen when the husbands are away. It was a fine discussion that made me feel better by the minute.

It wasn't long after Lauren and I said goodbye when the phone rang again. It was Lauren telling me that the cat had a mouse cornered and there was a huge spider on the wall. Now how could I not laugh at that! Two minutes after we hang up, she calls again. Apparently the cat just had the mouse in its mouth when it dropped it and the mouse went scurrying off. Again, how could I not laugh!

My mood has changed tremendously. Friends are good for that.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gentleman of the Adirondacks

Although this blog was primarily created for the purpose of celebrating the friendship and adventures of Jenny, Lauren, Sierra and I, I would be remiss if I didn't celebrate some of my other friendships. I truly am a believer in the theory that the more friends you have, the longer you live. I am also a very social person. There are indeed many different types of friendships that people can have. You have your personal friendships, and then you have your professional/work friendships. They are two very different types of friendships, and it is very rare that a work friendship evolves into a personal friendship. I have decided to dedicate this post to one of those rare occurences. Meet my friend Matt...



Matt is the phys. ed. teacher at our school. He joined the team about four years ago, and I just can't imagine how boring this place would be (at least for me) without him. Like the younger brother I never had, Matt is just one of those guys who you can talk to about anything...and I mean anything. I think I've only made him blush a few times, but that was quite a while ago. In return, I think that Matt feels the same, and frequently bounces ideas, concerns, complaints, etc. off me. Matt recently took a leave of absence for a month to raft/kayak the Grand Canyon. It was during this time that I truly began to appreciate our friendship. Luckily he has returned, and I have my coffee and lunch partner back.

Monday, March 2, 2009

A Quieter Ladies Night

Tonight was the last Ladies' Night at the Hollywood Theatre for a few months. The theatre is Au Sable Forks' newest hot spot, and Sierra was nice enough to offer up a Ladies' Night on an evening when she could have been snuggling with her hubby on the couch. The rest of the ladies were unable to make it, and my husband had just come back from a week on the road, so it was a short night indeed. Other than having the opportunity to hang out and chat with a great friend, the highlight of my evening was meeting the owner of the blog "Along the Au Sable". I can't remember how I discovered that blog, but I've been hooked ever since. One of the last posts on "Along the Au Sable" was about a car trip with one of her cats to check out some of the other critters in their neighborhood. Included in the post was a picture of the author wearing a nice, striped hat. I was helping Sierra behind the counter at the theatre when there in front of me was the hat. Sorry, I didn't recognize the woman wearing the hat, just the hat itself. It took me a minute and then it dawned on me. Lo and behold! It was the "Along the Au Sable" blogger (and fellow lady of the Adirondacks) in the flesh. She seemed very excited about her next blog which will be, of course, about the Hollywood Theatre. I opted out of watching the movie and instead enjoyed a tasty beverage with Sierra in the lobby. I hope that my fellow blogger enjoyed the evening and will spread the word about this wonderful opportunity to spend an evening with other ladies of the Adirondacks!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

An Evening with the Ladies



The Ladies of the Adirondacks spent an entertaining evening together last night. We each put our ducks in a row and were granted freedom for an evening out without any kids or spouses, which always leads to alot of laughs.


After a few beverages and a little chow, we headed to our first stop. One of the neighbors was having a very stimulating party. About 20 people gathered together to celebrate one of the greatest aspects of being alive. Plenty of laughs, lots of "wows" and $40 later (at least for me), we headed to our next stop!




I truly believe that no evening out and about is complete without stopping by 20 Main. The place had been shut down for a week and it was open mic night, so it was pretty crowded. Although some people are positively horrified at the thought of stepping in there, it really is a fun place to hang out. The Ladies and I always enjoy listening to the music, even when it's just the juke box. Last night however, had us listening to and providing some live music.

There were a handful of fine looking gentlemen there, but the star of the evening for us was my brother. He played the dutiful token male like a real trooper!



Eventually the evening had to come to a close. Sierra did the slide a little earlier than the rest of us, but we weren't far behind. DD Goddess Lauren earns the golden star for the evening...we all got home safely. Thank you, Lauren!!!