We Made It!

Thank you to all of you who sent your good wishes and thoughts, it really helped. Well, we made it here safe and sound. The trip was very long and pretty stressful, but it wasn't as bad as it might have been and for that we're really grateful. Our flight out of Buffalo on Saturday morning was delayed so that meant we missed our connecting flight from Washington D.C. to Denver. We were in D.C. for over five hours, but at least we got a flight out.We reached Denver at 10:00 p.m. and we debated over whether we should stay the night in Denver rather than drive to our destination in Breckenridge. The roads were supposed to be rather clear and even though it was very late we decided to drive out.

Unfortunately, the roads were rather snowy in some stretches, but we're used to that type of weather and driving conditions. M. is an excellent driver so I know we're always in good hands, but I just felt stressed because I knew how tired he was and it's no fun driving on strange highways when it's snowy and dark. It also didn't help our stress factor when we saw two cars that had driven off the road into ditches(police cars were already at both scenes) so we didn't have to stop to help.

The kids were amazing travellers. There was barely any whining or complaining. And considering the fact that they had been at the airport since 8:00 a.m. and we didn't reach our townhouse until after midnight, they were awesome. We told them how proud we were of them and that they really helped make a tough day go pretty smoothly.

Well, the place we're staying. To sum up BoyChild's words "Mommy,the people who live here must be rich." The kids were super excited in the morning, they ran around looking in all the rooms and when they came back they reported their findings. They were extremely excited over the fact that there were t.v.'s in all three bedrooms as well as two more in the living room and family room and a jacuzzi and hot tub on the back deck. I think my favourite feature is the heated floors, there's nothing that feels more decadent and cozy as stepping out of a shower onto warm floors...I could get used to this type of life! The view from our windows is breathtaking, we've taken photos and I'll post them when we get back home. We can actually ski in and out of the place and there's a chairlift right in our backyard. We could never afford to rent this place and the reason we're staying here, a business friend of my husband's very generously offered to let us use it for free..normally during this peak season it rents for $700/night. Colorado is a truly beautiful state. The mountains and the scenery are breathtaking. Driving from Denver to the mountains, all I could think was look at those office buildings, the view from their windows is absolutely gorgeous, how can anyone work when they have that view?

We went skiing on Monday and it was great. The kids loved their ski school and had great instructors and the weather was wonderful. I started to feel the stress and worries start to melt away.

We took the day off from skiing yesterday and went outlet shopping where I scored some amazing deals. One of my purchases was really out of character for me. I am usually a non label person but I had seen some Coach bags lately and I really liked their design and style. The most expensive purse I have ever bought was about $180 and I got it when we were in Spain over 10 years ago. I used that purse every day for almost three years until it fell apart. I have never bought a designer purse.

GirlChild and I walked into the Coach store and I saw rows upon rows of bags and I felt like my head was swimming, they were all so gorgeous. Even though I was in a Coach store I held true to my character and I immediately went to the SALE section, yes, I have no shame. The sales people were really friendly, I had been worried that they might be snobby or cold. They were really helpful and let me know what the prices were with the added discounts. GirlChild and I had fun looking at the different styles, I liked the classic styles, after all I reasoned if I did buy a purse it would last me for years and years and I didn't want anything too trendy. GirlChild really liked one style and I liked another...and I kept going back and forth, I loved both of them.
I needed M's opinion, he really has good taste and I always trust his judgment. He liked both bags and said it was up to me, and then I made the decision...I would get BOTH BAGS! The look on M's face was priceless, he was so shocked and surprised. He knows how cheap I am and also this was totally out of character for me to spend this much money on myself. But he was so great, he said that it was fine and it was my decision. Guess how much I saved? Just guess...did I save $50, what do you think I am an amateur? $100, yes, that would have been okay I guess. $200, would have made me smile and gloat for a week. I know you're dying to know, I saved over $350, basically I got two purses for the price of one. The savings were over 50%, I know that every time that I wear those two bags I'm telling everyone I meet how much I saved. I told you, I have no shame.