No you are not mistaken….I have been flying back and forth from NYC to western Canada a lot lately. This weekend was the shortest of my recent visits but it is amazing what you can cram into 48 hours.
Yes, that is snow as seen on the car windshield. It is light and fluffy. Just the kind of snow I like.
My trip to Calgary this time around was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a very good friend of mine, McKinnis. To refresh your memory Mckinnis and I went to nursing school together and it is normally with her and her soon to be husband Mikey that I crash with when I am in town. A shower had recently been held for her but this weekend it was all about fun and games as a whole group of us packed up a few cars, braved the cold Alberta weather and headed to Banff for a Stagette Weekend.
Getting ready to head to Banff. Laura did not have her make-up on so was not so happy about having her picture taken.
McKinnis (the bride) was very excited about her weekend in Banff.
I have learned that finding accommodation for a group of 14 is actually difficult in Banff because people cannot rent out houses or cottages or that kind of thing (if you buy a house you have to live in it year round). But party planner Jenn (also from nursing school) did a great job finding us this great little cottage with sleeping spots (double and single beds) for 12, 3 bathrooms, 2 TVs, an air hockey table (we never did get around to playing that), a full kitchen and a huge source of entertainment for us….the wood burning fireplace.
Our cottage for the weekend. A very cute little spot. And yes, 12 to 14 people can sleep in this place.
Upon arrival in Banff (once we found the place, and the liquor store) we checked out the cottage, counted beds and of course made a sleeping chart because we could go no further until we knew where people would be sleeping. But once that was settled, the group started arriving and the fun would begin.
This is what I look like after a cross country flight and a few glasses of wine. Yes very relaxed......and yes very tired.
This is Vanessa, McKinnis and Laura. They were working on starting the fire.
Ok I should go back to the fire because like I said it was a real source of entertainment for us. Apparently none of us paid attention in our outdoor education class because it took 5 of us and about an hour to get it going. The wood was cut a little large (there was no axe….we would have made kindling) and it turns out we had no paper (you should have seen us pulling random stuff our of our purses to burn). Eventually we learned that absinthe is a great fire starter (there was a small incidence which almost resulted in the loss of Hayley's hair but in the end we all survived). Look......the wood was a pretty full of moisture so until we could get the logs dried out nothing would burn but that didn’t stop us from trying.
Yeah this worked for a little bit but really it just resulted in my face being covered with ash.
A little video. Hayley is no longer sitting so close because last time Vanessa ran through the living room with burning paper....Hayley almost lost her hair. It was funny.
Ok so after the fire was burning bright the fun and games began. Mostly there was eating and drinking but we did play a great game of pin the tail on the donkey, the X-rated version (I’m sure you’ve all seen it) there was some living room dancing (see video evidence) and then eventually we fell into our assigned beds for some sleep.
Turns out Laura was pretty good at this game.
Not sure how Jenn and Hayley ended up on the floor. Apparently the picture was taking too long to take and they lost their balance.....or at least that is the story we are sticking with.
Oh.......doesn't everyone just love Journey?
The next day we got up......well not early, and some girls headed off shopping. There was no way I could shop however. Living in Manhattan has spoiled me and well, I must admit I am a bit of a shopping snob and find it really hard to do it anywhere else. I instead thought I would check out some of the prettiness that is winter in the Canadian Rockies. Now let me mention to you that the temperature was -30 C (with the wind chill.......that's around -22 F by the way) and when I left New York it was +9 C (49 F) so I was a little cold. But that didn't stop me from getting a few pictures before meeting up with the rest of the girls for some Starbucks and a stop at Billabong (that's a Skate, Surf and Snow shop).
I think I miss scenes like this. So calming.
It is Alberta after all which means it is never too cold for a little pond hockey.
The water looks cold. I'm sure it was. But it was also very pretty.
At least I was dressed for the weather. I haven't had to wear my winter jacket much in the last few years.
After the picture taking and Starbucks it was back to the cottage to start a fire, start some drinking, pretty ourselves up and head out on the town. Now I am sure some of you have been to a Stagette before so you have to know there was a scavenger hunt. We all started out strong but once we left dinner and hit the club I think most of us forgot the list. Not sure who won....I'm sure it wasn't me, even though I was teamed with Vanessa who made the hunt.
McKinnis all dressed up for the evening. So cute!!!
Yeah, we haven't left the hotel yet. What? The scavenger hunt list clearly stated we needed a picture with a bear.
We also needed a penny with McKinnis' birth year on it. Nessa and I found one!!!!
The rest of the night involved a lot a dancing, some good clean fun with a Stag party who also decided to celebrate in Banff (always makes for a lot of free drinks). We lost the bride a few times but don't worry we found her in time to get her back to the cottage (well at least the few of us who stayed there until closing).
The Stag we found.
I have no idea who this is.
Brooke, Hayley and McKinnis. Trust me....we all had a great time.
It was a great weekend topped off with a couple flights back to NYC on Sunday.....ok, so they weren't so wonderful, but I slept a lot. It was a quick trip but always worth it to spend a few days with a group of girls I have barely seen in the last four years and one of the greatest friends a girl could ever have (yes Mckinnis that is you).
The view at the Calgary airport while waiting for my plane. Yeah, it didn't look very inviting outside but it was pretty warm in the airport.
Julie
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