Perfect day at the beach. Big Island, Hawaii!
Waialea or Beach 69
Puako and Big Island residents love this gem! Waialea Beach and Bay is known to local residents as "Beach 69". The name of the beach is a reference to an old telephone pole that marked the turnoff between Puako and Hapuna Beach. The current pole is numbered #72!

ski Hawaii

Yes ski girl and the fam are in Hawaii!!! And no we aren't skiing, it's August. I have yet to ski Mauna Kea but let's just say it's a dream that may come true soon. Possibly a winter trip, pack some old rock skis... Do I have old rock skis?  February and March are the months to try it.  All I need is a four wheel drive and a non skiing friend to shuttle me up the mountain.  How about a combo trip, compete in the Lavaman Triathlon in March and then follow up with some recovery skiing.  That will be a lot of gear to get on the plane. I wasn't able to keep it to one bag for this trip. And all I was packing were bikinis, and sundresses, and running clothes, and yoga clothes, and...

Something very exciting occured last week.  Something that skiers wait the whole summer for... and no it's not snow. Just as we were about leave for Hawaii I checked the mail and all three of my favorite magazines had arrived.  Ski, Skiing, and Powder!!!!!  I somehow managed to save them for the airplane and as we headed towards Hawaii I was deep into the 2010 gear guides and plotting my ski season.  So far I'm loving the Line Pandora.  They are the fattest women's ski out there.  Coming in at 115 underfoot.  Perfect for all the Colorado powder I' m going to hit with my Epic Pass!  You know all about the Epic Pass, right?  $599, 1 Pass, 6 Mountains, Unlimited and Unrestricted Access!!!  Yippee! 

The most important thing I learned from the Gear Guide is the answer to the ever pressing question.
Why do I need new gear?
1.  To ski better
2.  See #1

For now my dreams of powder are on hold and I'm going to enjoy Hawaii. This is the sunset view from our beach house in Puako.  My absolute favorite place to be when I'm not skiing.

Aloha,
ski girl

spring cleaning

Sporty me at the All Women's Triathlon

I know, I know, I'm off by a season or maybe even two. According to the calendar it's August. Summer, right? But according to TV and all the inserts that are stuffed in the paper it's time for "Back to School" shopping. So Fall? I've been thinking about cleaning since spring. Does that count? My problem is that sporty me hasn't come to terms with designer me.

Designer me in Vegas, baby!!!

So while my closest is full of lovely items that I rarely wear or even have an occasion to use. My bedroom floor is covered with piles of the things I actually use on a daily basis. Workout clothes, running shoes, swim suits, swim caps, a wet suit, gym bag...

My closest has become a shrine, a museum to a me that doesn't really exist anymore. At least not at the moment. Some people say designer clothes are an investment. An investment in what? Doesn't an investment, at least a good investment, need to increase in value. I could have(and have in the past) taken some of these clothes to a resale shop and find out just how good of an investment I made. Last summer I sold a beautiful Pucci dress (that never really fit right) and a pair of Christian Dior sunglasses (that made me look like a bug) and earned enough money to pay for a new pair of skis. But was that a good investment? Probably not but I was a whole lot happier with the skis.

I know shades of Confessions of a Shopaholic here. We all have our Rebecca Bloomwood moments. Don't we? Well at least I do.

So now as I go through the closet... trying to find the balance between the new me and the old me, I realize the only person this stuff has value to is me. And I just need to decide what to do with it.

xoxo,
ski girl
p.s. Maybe I'll trade it all in for that tri bike I've been dreaming about?! Is sporty me going to win?