Drum Roll Please

The company got together last night after the close and put all of their intelligence towards the very complicated and often heated choosing of the destination for the company annual trip. The finalists were: Cannes, Rome, Stockholm, and Prague. Which order would you list them? I will admit my top spot was Cannes but had Stockholm a close second. Ultimately, no one liked the idea of Rome for a party destination and Stockholm squeaked out the win versus the first loser Cannes. I also am giving up my duties as coordinator of the Saturday night party. Kunal (pictured above) was more than happy to take the reigns.

Lindsey vs Patrick

I really had no idea what to expect when it came to Lindsey's level of ability when it comes to skiing. Luckily after our first two days of skiing we concluded that we are very similar and because of this it made skiing together quite enjoyable. I still attempted to dust her with snow whenever the opportunity arose. The other nice thing about the weekend was I did not fall down while traveling more than 2 mph. Once, I fell from a standing position, much to the enjoyment of Lindsey, and another time I was trying to bury a friend in snow after he fell down. I deserved that one.

Nice Outfit!

Thanks to my cousin Christa (Patagonia employee) and Uncle Tom (secret Santa) for making sure I was stylin' while skiing! It was great to be warm and comfortable all weekend. I think my friends would appreciate me having more than one of everything though(especially socks and undies).

Trippin in France!

We had our first trip to the French Alps (Megeve) to hit up the slopes. We flew into Geneva and the plan was to get in the rental and head straight to the resort area. But, 6 missed right turns later and an hour and a half after we caught our first glimpse of the freeway we were supposed to turn right on immediately after exiting the airport, we made it through the city and headed east towards the glorious mountains. Side note - I saw more watch ads in that hour and a half than I have in my entire life combined. I almost felt bad for not stopping to buy one while we were in Switzerland.

Shortly after arriving at the hotel we took a 30 euro cab ride a total of 5 minutes down the mountain to the local "hot" spot. Instead of spending the money on the ride down the hill I really should have used a car to get back up the mountain at the end of the night. Anyways, we ended up sitting in an empty bar and watched a rugby match. Later that night we headed to the casino because I threatened to head to bed if we chose anything outside of going to the casino. Luckily for me we went. I at some point early on had a bet on roughly 8 times larger than the table was betting and thought doubling down on a 9 as the dealer is showing 7 was a good idea. Turns out it was and shortly later I went to bed happy.

The next day we crawled slowly out of bed and after searching for a while stumbled across the ski gear rental shop. Everyone ended up getting equipment that was so enjoyable they reserved it for the following day. I, on the other hand, had bought boots thinking that custom fit boots would treat my oversized feet better. I was wrong - and in pain all weekend. To add to this sensitive subject I saved myself a whole 16 euros by bringing my own boots. I will only have to go skiing close to 100 days to make up for buying boots. Sweet!

By Sunday afternoon everyone was more than happy to trade in their ski boots for the tennis shoes and call it a successful weekend. But before we called it a night we had to drive to the local McDonald's and dive into a Royal Cheese! It was one tasty burger.

I also want everyone to know that I took one for the team and was the rental driver for the weekend. That included hitting the road at 4 am to catch our flight back on Monday morning.

Here is to skiing the Swiss Alps in two weeks. Score: Beginners: 1 Mountains: 0

'Til Next Time

Holiday Party was a blast

The party turned out to be a wonderful event that was very well organized. The weekend started out with team events such as testing bar tending skills and laser clay pigeon shooting. Unfortunately, they didn't let us go fox hunting. Above are pictures of the hotel (Four Seasons Hampshire) and of Lindsey and me breaking it down on the dance floor.

Actually I miss these guys most.......

The thing I miss most being in London.......