Recap of the holiday season

Ryan and I are both originally from New Hampshire, so we typically split our holiday time between our families in NH; however, last spring year my parents sold their house in NH and moved to the Florida Keys full time.  So this year for the holiday season, we split our time between Florida and NH.  We discovered that this was the perfect way to spend the holidays with our families, as we were able to stay for one full week in each location, enjoying different experiences and many consecutive, relaxing days in each others' company.  The only "challenging" part to the trip was trying to figure out how to pack one suitcase with two completely different sets of outfits for beach + snow weather ;)

Week with the Kwist family in Florda

Dad's specialty, jalapeño margaritas

Cooking up the fish that we caught on the boat that day

Mom and dad, love these two!

Tuna nachos at the Island Grill, a delicious discovery!

Our family dog, Mickey

Family photo at happy hour 

Another day, another location, another happy hour

Snuggles with Mickey 

Week with the Snow family in New Hampshire

Spending time with our nieces and nephew

Two of my best friends, Sarah and Julia, came to visit for the day in NH

Snuggling with my brother-in-law's adorable dog, Tedy 

Baby shower for my sister-in-law and our soon to arrive new nephew!

Cheers to the new year at a friend's wedding

Amen!

No trip to NH is complete without a lobster roll!

First ski of the season!

This weekend we headed to the mountains (Chamonix) with some of Ryan's coworkers for a ski trip.  Chamonix is only an hour drive from Geneva so it is an easy weekend trip for us.  Meteorologists have been stating that 2014 was Europe's hottest year in recorded history (!!) and the result has been a slow start to the ski season this year, with pretty dismal conditions and almost no snow.  Given the lackluster conditions, we delayed getting onto our skis until this past weekend and amazingly the snow gods listened to our prayers and it started DUMPING snow on Friday night into Saturday night.  The result was 20-50 centimeters of fluffy powder beckoning us. While most of Saturday was quite foggy and the conditions were challenging for an average skier like me with the combination of low visibility and lots of new powder, the clouds lifted on Sunday.  We spent Sunday cruising down the slopes, adventuring off piste, and enjoying lunch at one of our favorite spots.

What a great way to kick off ski season 2015!

Snowy day ahead! 

Foggy might have been an understatement

Powder to my knees 

Exploring a new way to eat cheese and meat - the "Doublette" meal, a charcoal grill in which you can cook meats on top and raclette cheese on the bottom

Platter o' meat

The Doublette in action, cheese in a shovel on the bottom with the meat grilling on top

Beautiful conditions on Sunday

Winter wonderland in Les Houches ski area

EAT: Munchie is hands down my favorite restaurant in Chamonix (Asian fusion cuisine), Le Monchu was a fun new restaurant discovery this weekend (the home of the "Doublette" in the above photos), Les Vieilles Luges for lunch on the slopes in Les Houches is an adorable little chalet restaurant serving local specialties
STAY: L'Auberge du Manoir is a hotel chalet that is beautifully decorated, great location, impeccably clean, and has the most fantastic owners/hosts
PLAY: Grand Montets ski area for higher altitudes and tougher skiing, Les Houches ski area for tree lined trails and fun areas to explore off piste

Florida moments

I'm kicking off my updates with a recap of my remaining trip to Florida in early December!

I spent the first half of the week in Orlando for a training.  It was a fun change of pace from cubicle life as I was able to attend interesting classes, catch up with coworkers that I hadn't seen in awhile, and explore some of the surrounding Disney attractions. Orlando is a fun place to have a training because after a long day of serious classes, it is refreshing to run around Disney and feel like a kid again!

"Chillin' out" out at Sea World

0 minute wait time for rides!

About to ride the Kraken at Sea World

Catching a wave!

After the week in Orlando, I jetted over to the Tampa/St Pete area for the weekend to visit one of my dearest friends, Sarah (aka Slac).  We spent the weekend experiencing Sarah's life in Florida, including my first time attending a pure barre class!

My review of the experience: Well, unfortunately I didn't really understand the whole "tuck" concept, so while Sarah looked like she was getting the workout of her life, I spent most of the class awkwardly trying to understand what was going on and how exactly to place and configure my limbs and body to do the moves.  However, this shouldn't necessarily be a reflection on the class itself - it seems like a great workout and, as my sister can attest from my childhood attempts at dance class, trying to get my body to be flexible or twist in any shape or form can be ridiculously impossible…. or entertaining… for others.

After class we met up with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law (who also live in Tampa!) for a wonderful lunch by the water, then went for a walk on the beach, and after one of Sarah's friends gave us backstage/front row tickets to a Fall Out Boy concert in town (thanks Tim!).

Although living abroad can be tough due to how much I frequently miss my family and friends, I left my week in Florida extremely happy that I was able to spend such treasured time with so many loved ones over the course of the week!

Lunch with Rob and Coralie!

Here are my eat, stay, and play recommendations for the St Pete area:

EAT: Castile Restaurant for inventive food by the beach and Red Mesa for mexican food
STAY: I highly recommend Casa de Sarah for lodging, it was conveniently located near the beach, beautifully decorated, and the host was extremely accommodating -- thanks Sarah! ;)
PLAY: Madeira beach provided a relaxing mid-afternoon stroll. I also thought the bars in downtown St Pete were fun and varied.

HOME!

After spending essentially the past month in the US, we are finally back on Swiss soil for the foreseeable future.  We had a fantastic time visiting our families and friends over the holidays, although I do have to say - there is nothing quite like being in our own home!  Recaps of the past few weeks to come soon...