Hi friends! Matt and I are back in DC after an amazing reunion with my grad school friends out in Breckenridge, Colorado.
We planned this trip back in November in honor of my friend Libby’s 30th birthday, which is later this week. Perfect excuse for a reunion! Libby’s dad owns a place in Breckenridge, so she invited us out west for some wintery fun.
It was so nice to see my grad school crew again. I really miss those ladies! Loved the time to catch up, especially in such a beautiful location.
Considering we only had two full days in Breckenridge, we packed in a TON of adventures. Here are the highlights, not including hot tub happy hours and a couple delicious dinners out in town.
MY OTHER RECIPES
Skiing with Matt on Friday
Matt and I were the only ones in the group who hadn’t skied out west yet, so we headed off first thing on Friday to get in some time on the slopes.
It wasn’t too crowded, which was awesome, and we had fun getting our ski legs back. Matt was nice and stuck with me on the easier slopes for the first part of the day, but I made it to the blues pretty quickly!
Snow suits, helmets, and goggles are so attractive:
Colorado skiing is definitely a big step up from east coast skiing, as we had heard. I didn’t notice TOO much of a difference in the snow quality (it was less icy, but otherwise pretty similar – I think normally it’s more powdery but it hasn’t been too snowy out there yet this year), but I really loved that the runs were so long. On the east coast, the runs are all so quick you spend a ton of time on the lifts. In Colorado, the lifts had you so high up that it took awhile to get back down, which was awesome.
It was also SO beautiful out there – the views were unreal.
We also had the greatest ski lodge lunch ever – amazing tacos from a place called Vista Haus up on Peak 8. Beautiful, right?
As for snacks, we enjoyed the last of my Tart Cherry Pie Snack Balls. :) These were a big hit with the group!
Such a fun morning with my favorite guy. :)
Yoga at Meta Yoga
On Friday afternoon, I left Matt on the slopes (he had a blast hitting up some of the harder runs) and headed back to meet the girls for yoga! Elle had booked all of us a private afternoon yoga session at Meta Yoga in downtown Breckenridge as a special treat to Libby for her birthday (Libby is an avid yogi).
We all LOVED the class – the instructor was amazing and so nice, and it was really fun to get some alone time with the girls, too. <3
We followed yoga with coffee/tea and cookies at a nearby coffee shop so we could catch up. :)
Snowshoeing for the first time!
On Saturday, all of us had a huge epic brunch – Libby made this recipe for Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and Feta, which came out awesome (although it took way longer to cook than expected thanks to the high altitude situation)!
Plus bacon and fruit!
Once we were fueled up, a big group of us headed out to snowshoe!
This was my first time trying snowshoeing and it was really fun. A lot like hiking, just with tons of snow around. ;)
We were out there for about 2.5 hours, enjoying the gorgeous sunny day and beautiful views.
I think it must have been some mistake that I wasn’t born in Colorado… lots of outdoorsy adventures + sunshine = happy place.
Cross country skiing!
Another first – I’d never been cross country skiing before, either! After snowshoeing, I fueled up on some leftovers back at the house for lunch (we made a big pot of Elle’s delish Vegan Quinoa Chocolate Chili with cornbread on Thursday night).
And then it was time for another adventure! The rest of the crew wanted to rest up, so my friend Lauren and I headed out for a solo cross country skiing adventure. :)
We drove over to Frisco Nordic Center and headed out from there – Lauren is from Colorado and actually owns cross country skis, so I was able to borrow some from her. Perfect!
It was such a blast – Lauren had been to this area before and loved it, so she was excited to share it with me. Check out these views:
I absolutely loved cross country skiing, too! Very intuitive. Lauren and I had a blast catching up while gliding along.
We ended up being out there for about 1.5 hours – it flew by! We even saw this beautiful horse drawn carriage near the end. :)
So there you have it! A fun and action-packed weekend. Matt and I were so sad to say goodbye to everyone yesterday! We’re already thinking it’s time to plan another reunion, perhaps back in Chapel Hill. :)
Have you ever skied out west? Where?
Have you gone snowshoeing or cross country skiing? Did you like it?
The eggs look incredible! Trust me to comment on the food first! I’ve never been skiing…I bet it takes it out of you without you even realising! I’m not really a cold weather person but I reckon I need to brave it at least once in my life!
What a fun weekend! I have never been showshoeing but really want to one day! And you need to frame that first picture of you two! It’s beautiful!
I’m pretty terrible at skiing but this looks awesome!
I went snowshoeing two weeks ago in Sweden, had a blast! A great workout too, we warmed up quickly! What mountain did you go skiing at?
We skied on Peak 7, 8, and 9 I believe! And I think Matt made it up to 10.
It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. You can’t go wrong with such beautiful scenery! I haven’t done snowshoeing since elementary school, but I’d love to try it again soon.
Great looking trip! I’ve also only ever skied on east coast slopes (and not many, at that), and will be attempting to make my way down the slopes at Park Slope in Utah in three weeks. My boyfriend is also practically a competitive skier, too, so hopefully he won’t be too bored keeping me company. Fingers crossed for minimal wipe outs!
Have fun! You’ll love it!
I am so jealous of your snowshoeing! That looks like so much fun!
All the food and views look amazing! I havent been skiing in years but I know I like it. I have only been on the east coast, so it was cool to see the differences that there may be. The views are definitely more impressive where you went than anywhere I have been on the east coast!
Looks gorgeous! I’m not much for skiing but I think I can get in to snowshoeing. I would love to visit the breweries in CO too. :-)
I live in CO! So glad you had a wonderful time in Breck! For a really good workout, try skate skiing next time :)
Ooo that sounds fun – will add it to the list for next time. :)
Ah, photos of Breck make me smile – that was one of the first places my husband & I skied together. Now we live in Idaho and we have four ski mountains within an hour or so, but Big Sky in Montana is probably my absolute favorite!
I’ve never been skiing. Ever! I’m not sure if I’d like it, but I think I would like being at a ski lodge – I’d just prefer to be sitting by a fire with a coffee (wine) and reading a book :)
You look like you guys had an amazing weekend, and the views are beautiful!
What a fun weekend! I definitely want to try snowshoeing one of these days. :-)
I’m from Canada, my husband and I go snowshoeing with our dogs. They love jumping through the deep snow! We also x-country ski on local trails and head to the mountains a couple times a year to snowboard. All fun winter activities!
I was surprised to see my hometown (Breck) on your blog!! Glad you had fun!
That’s a cool hometown to have!
I lived in Vail for 5 years and I miss winter so much! Work relocated me to New Orleans for a bit (can’t complain too much). I was born on skis, and this is my first winter with no snow :(. Totally digging the hat you’re wearing for snowshoeing. Where did ya snag that?
Matt bought it at the ski shop and I stole it for the day. :)
Wow, what an awesome weekend. A lot of fun, fitness, and friends packed into two days. Well done!
I was in CO in December and went snow shoeing for the first time; it was amazing! The views were breathtaking and the cold, fresh air was so needed. We also went snowmobiling for the first time and it was quite the adventure. Looks like you had an amazing trip! The pictures are gorgeous!
That looks like a great Breck trip. Breck is my favorite mountain town. I love snowshoeing! I went once and was hooked.
Yay colorado! I just learned to ski (had my first lesson) in Breck about a month ago. It was awesome and it’s sooo pretty out there :) I would LOVE to try snow shoeing and cross country skiing too! Looks like you had a blast!
What an amazing weekend! Exercise fun together, as always :) The yoga class and our XC ski trip were my two favorite memories!
Missing you already! ♡♡
This looks awesome! I”m dying to ski out west and to try cross country and snowshoeing as well! one of these years we need to get back on the slopes together!