Tag Archives: tahoe

Summertime and the Livin’s Easy

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No. “Livin’s easy” is not a euphemism for being a skank…In fact, despite it being Summer of Single Dudes Part II, I’ve been more focused on getting some sun than getting some…

Last I wrote, Christay and I had headed south(pun intended) for a quick trip to Mexico and from there the Summer season really kicked off. Tahoe on the Fourth, a Wedding in the East Bay, a Sweet Sixteen for a princess, Christay’s Birthday, Vegas for a week, Outside Lands Weekend in the City, more East Bay and finally a weekend in Somerset with the roomies. I’m back in the city as of two days ago and it feels great to have a bed to myself and a quiet night to catch up on Jersey Shore, Real Housewives and Teen Mom.

A couple hilarious highlights from the past couple of months…

Boobie Burns…I practically had a third degree burn on my big boob from laying out in Tahoe right after getting back from Mexico. I had to use special plastic surgery tissue repair cream to fight the scaring. I’m an idiot. But for the record, I’m still really freakin’ tan.

 

Lola Loves to Swim…How ridiculous is she?!

 

My Cousin and the Bride to Be, Megs… Chugging a Beer Before the Ceremony at the Church…She’s so classy!

 

The Cupid Shuffle…If you don’t know this song and/or dance. Please download it now. My entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins and parents) learned it and performed it at both the wedding and sweet sixteen. Amazingness.

 

Christie’s Birthday Magnum…While hosting birthday cocktails at our place, our neighbors stopped by and realized it was Christie’s birthday. Only moments later they showed back up at the front door with this and a card. Is Christay a midget or is that a HUGE bottle of wine and wine glass?!

 

Maggie McGarry’s Creepy McCreeperson…Check out the expression on the girls’ faces and Mary’s blatant index finger point at his fake cigarette. WTF Creepy?!

 

Annie & I at the Vegas ER…While at our conference for work, Annie’s previous week’s injury landed us in the ER. While the hospital was clean and the staff attentive, the patients were absolutely horrifying. The icing on the cake was a 60+ year old man, in an electric wheelchair, wreaking of BO and growing a beard to his chest, who shared the following (and yes, these are direct quotes), “Honey…you’re my type of woman,” and only a couple minutes later, “I’m a sadistic mother fucker and I’ll take him back to Alabama and kill him southern style.” Seriously?! The only good out of that trip was the sweet set of wheels we had for the week!

 

Outside Lands Saturday in the City…Due to my stay in Vegas I, unfortunately, missed out on the Outside Land’s Festival, but was able to hang out Saturday PM with those who had attended during the day. That night we met up at our favorite restaurant, Wasabi & Ginger, where we were joined by Mary and her cousin, Mikey. Upon getting seated, Mikey turns to the waiter and requests 6 Kamikazes on his own separate tab. The waiter looked at him funny, clarified the order again and walked away. Now granted Mike is 6’6, but even a dude that tall couldn’t put away 50+ pieces of sushi. Turns out…Mike thought he was ordering 6 Kamikaze shots, not 6 Kamikaze rolls. Classic sushi mix-up, right?

 

Somerset Wine Country…Lo so kindly hosted a group of us at her family’s cabin this weekend where we learned not only do they have delicious and inexpensive wineries within a short drive, but they also have an awesome river to cool down after a long day of boozing and no A/C. Only a short walk from the house, we headed down and met three local mountain dudes to swim and chillax with.

Little did we know, those three local dudes, had made friends with Lo and she had invited them over for drinks that night. Not surprisingly Lo got drunk and passed out only a short time after one of the dudes actually showed up at the house. Alex grew up in the area and had never left. A bonified, but not boneable, mountain man who blatantly attempted to sleep with Crispin,Christay and I. Gross. Absolutely gross.

 

 

All in all…a great summer and can’t wait for what’s to come this Fall.

Another One Bites the Dust

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Yes…another one is soon to be off the market, so of course, it was time for a bachelorette party. Only one week past, friends and family of my eldest female cousin, Megs, joined together in South Shore Tahoe to say good bye to her single days! Although I don’t consider myself a connoisseur of the south shore, I do consider myself a professional planner of good times no matter the destination.

With food and beverage in tow we headed up Friday afternoon for check in at the cabin. A quaint little home for ten, it was the perfect place to celebrate. We quickly settled in, decorated the house and prepared for our night on the town. Megs had selected this place called Fire & Ice near Heavenly (no offense Megs), but I was not terribly impressed. Quite honestly I was happy to walk out of there without food poisoning. The drinks, however, were perfectly strong and everyone was definitely ready to party and dance by our last trip to the buffet. From dinner we walked through the casinos, heading to our ultimate destination of Mont Bleu.

On our way there we ran into a couple friends from Folsom, as well as some new friends made during a random dance off. Distracted there we imbibed a couple shots while Megs downed her xth glass of Chardonnay. So classy. Finally, after the bride to be had tossed her last set of beads, we made our way to the club, Opal Lounge. Lucky for us, it was Ladies Night, which meant $10 cover and free unlimited cocktails. (Winning!) We danced our faces off until our feet were so soar I could barely make it to the cab line.

Saturday afternoon was filled with a whole lot of nothing. Sun bathing, a jacuzzi and movie classics from the 80′s and 90′s helped to pass the time. I was glad to see the girls resting up because despite the fact that we were staying in, I had a surprise named “Timothy” coming their way.

No bachelorette would be complete without a stripper, however this is my second experience booking a performer and both times I’ve been jipped! (See Sharon Says Shalom to Singledom).

See I ordered this 28-year old guy…

But instead, I got this 40-year old guy…(and yes, that’s tiger print with fringe.)

Despite the mix-up, the night was hilarious-fun and a great closeout to our weekend… Oh and in case you hate reading (lazyass) and just want to skip to the good stuff, here’s a quick video recap. Enjoy.


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Sharon Says Shalom Singledom

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You’ve probably read about the beginning to this weekend (Oh Tahoe), but Shay-rone’s bachelorette party was one I won’t soon forget. Once we left North Shore Tahoe and made it onto the south side, Christie and I had a couple of surprises in store for the 18 girls making the drive up 50.

Christie had completed 99% of the planning for the bachelorette party in the weeks prior, however, there were a couple ‘to do’s’ we had to settle on Friday before everyone arrived, like pick up the keys to the house, for example. So on Friday morning we had planned to contact the rental agency and make arrangements to get into the house, but instead,we awoke (hungover) to a voice mail from the agency. Apparently our mansion had a gas leak and would not be available for the weekend. WTF? After several hours of stressing they found us an alternate location AND provided us a hefty refund for all our troubles. At this point we were left with a dilema: refund 18 people an insignificant amount of money or treat everyone to an awesome night out at the club on Saturday?! Well I’m assuming you know what we chose…

So around 3pm we checked into the house, unpacked the cars and set up for everyone’s arrival. The girls was scheduled to arrive by 7pm that night. The plan was to stay in, have a home cooked dinner and play some girly games. Or so everyone thought that was the plan. Christie and I, however, had another plan in mind. One that involved several cocktails and a stripper named Lee.

Yes. In the above photo Lee appeared to be a decent specimen of man. In the flesh…not so much.

That’s Shay-rone, the bachelorette, horrified as the real Lee dry humps her flailing body. He was approximately 45 years old, balding with a beer belly and a bright blue fringe g-string. Thank goodness we fed the girls copious amounts of spider (spiked cider) and beer before he arrived. It’s the only way we survived. $400 and several lap dances later, Lee departed…thank gawd. After he left we proceeded to have our pants off-dance off…one much more fun than the performance of our paid professional.

Saturday was filled with sledding, manicures, movies and the regret of being touched by Lee. The day flew by and before we knew it, it was getting-ready-party time! The theme was Head Over Heels…we had top hats, hot shoes and black cocktail attire. We are so incredibly classy!

The party bus picked us up around 8 and the rest is a bit blurry.

Christie had booked us an amazing booth at Mont Bleu Hotel’s club. It was right off the dance floor, could seat over 30 people and, best of all, came with several bottles of vodka (not that we needed it)! There was definitely a lot of dancing, a little more boozing and a whole lot of inappropriateness in the booth.

Around 2am Christie received a text from “Spencer” saying he had come to south short to say hi. (Check out Oh Tahoe to find out more about Spencer.) She promptly ignored that text, until she walked out of the club to catch a cab and he was just standing there. Creepy!

Even so, she was able to dart his advances and caught a cab home alone. Despite all arriving to the hotel together, we each seemed to leave the club one by one. The last to make it back arrived at 4:30am and was locked out in the snow. Sorry Mish.

Speaking of snow…we weren’t exactly prepared for it. Saturday the ground was dry, but Sunday morning we woke up to this. It took us chains, taco bell and over six hours of traffic to get back to San Francisco. I have to say…it was all worth it.

PS Congrats to Sharon and Jason…The wedding was amazing. A great start to a great life together! Mazel tov!

Whoa Tahoe…You’ve Really Shown Me Who’s Boss

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As you probably know by now Tahoe is one of my most favorite places to visit and play. Personally I’m a bigger fan of the northern shore verses the southern, however, when it came to my friend Sharon’s bachelorette party, the casino strip was a must for “Sharon Says Shalom to Singledom!”

Christie did 99% of the leg work on the planning, but we decided to take care of the final details together a couple days prior to our weekend getaway. So on Wednesday morning we left behind the beautiful city of San Francisco and headed out east to Tahoe.

My family had graciously allowed us to stay at their place on the north shore Wednesday and Thursday night before we headed to our rental house on Friday for the bachelorette. We had a full day of family visits and errands to do before we could make the drive up highway 80. After our last stop at Costco we rejiggered the beetle and finally hit the road for what we thought was going to be a couple days of rest and relaxation.

We arrived at the house around 7pm, where we were (initially) determined for a quiet night in. As we unpacked the car and settled into our bedroom, however, our bellies were aching and our mouths thirsty for a treat. Instead of laying low, we headed to my favorite place, Garwoods, to satiate our needs. We arrived around 9:15pm and were greeted by the restaurant manager “El Jefe” and seated at the bar. There were only four other people in the entire restaurant when we arrived and within thirty minutes everyone was gone but us, the bartender, “Mickey” and El Jefe.

Christie and I ordered a couple appa-teasers and two wet woodys. After the first I offered to drive us home and cut myself off. The bartender Mickey had a different plan.

After our first drink he insisted it was safer for us to take a taxi home and provided us a round on the house. Several drinks later and now it’s around 11:30pm and we requested a cab number for the ride home. After a fake taxi number or two, El Jefe grabbed the phone and told his buddy (yes, he knew the driver) that he could instead plan on picking us up around 3am at stateline’s Crystal Bay Club.

So now Christie and I are asking ourselves, what the duck just happened?!? As we’re finishing our last woody, closing down the bar, locking the back door and heading into El Jefe’s car en route to Nevada, I realize this is going to make an amazing blog! (This is us in the back of El Jefe’s car and our favorite drink, the wet woody.)

So we arrive at the CBC (the local’s term for Crystal Bay Club) and we instantly realize we are THE best looking people there. Although visibly intoxicated I’m sure, we are not wearing flannel, are not puking in the bathroom sink, are not wearing a beanie and are NOT covered in tattoos. Despite not fitting the mold, the locals seem to love us. They’re buying us drinks, taking photos, exchanging numbers, laughing and all around enjoying our company.

It’s now probably close to 3am and Christie and I decide it’s best we get our butts home to address the big day ahead of us prepping for Sharon’s party. So we walk outside, call back the cab we had previously contacted and wait patiently for our ride home. While shivering in the cold, out walks El Jefe, Mickey and their new friend “Spencer.” They urge us, instead, to go back to their place and hit up the hawt tub. Well since Christie and I have on our bestest thinking caps, we too agreed this was a great idea.

So off we go back to California to their place in Tahoe Vista. What an evening…Let’s just say the next morning we woke up a bit confused and not so well rested, but I’m pretty sure I won’t have to pay for my  next round at Garwoods. We missed the opportunity to say goodbye to Mickey and El Jefe, as they had to open up the restaurant that morning, but we had Spencer give us a ride back to our car. We then stopped at the old Post Office for a little brunch and headed back to our house where we promptly changed into PJs and slept until 5pm.

When we woke up that evening we realized Christie had accidentally taken Spencer’s wallet in her handbag (swear it wasn’t on purpose), which meant we would have to meet up again to return it. (Oh and did I mention Spencer told us that was his name, but in reality it was “Glen Louis.” Ew.)

So that night we headed to Bridgetender for some grub and made friends with the bartender. She introduced us to a rather roudy bachelor party crowd sitting at a nearby table. We ended up hanging out with them for a while there, and then headed to Fat Cat Cafe for a little karaoke and cocktails. It was at Fat Cat that we officially realized North Shore is a man mecca filled with all sorts of colorful characters. They were on us like white on snow.

Around 2am we opted out of the late night party at a stranger’s house and headed back to my family’s humble abode, cuddled up on the couch for a late night movie and  engaged in some much needed shut eye. After all, the bachelorette party hadn’t even started…

Eat, Drink & Be Mary: Winter in North Lake Tahoe

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I’d like to introduce you to Mary. You probably recognize her from Walk a Mile in Mary’s Socks…if you think her socks are ridiculously fun, you should spend a Friday night out on the town with the girl. This is exactly the reason I will now be featuring her new guest blog “Eat, Drink and Be Mary.”

I met Mary five years ago on the opposite side of a flip cup table and from that moment she’s shown me how to make the most of any person, place or situation! She’s the one who first introduced me into Festival Season, Napa and the fun of San Francisco!

Every Thursday, in preparation for your upcoming weekend, Mary will provide tips on restaurants, shopping, day trips, outdoor activities and more throughout the greater bay area and Northern California. You’ll notice many of her recommendations are featured in other blog stories, which means we can personally attest to their amazingness!

If you have any suggestions or requests, just comment here and Mary will do her thing!

Enjoy!

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Winter in North Lake Tahoe


In the words of Buddy the Elf, “First we’ll make snow angels for two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.” If you’re not up for snow angels or cookie-dough, here are a couple recommendations for shopping, eating and enjoying the North Shore great outdoors!

Must Of the Week:
Apres Skiing Squaw Valley
I tend to only ski at Squaw, and it’s not because I don’t like other mountains. I simply prefer the lunch and après skiing options at Squaw to any other location… And if you know me, that’s really what it’s all about. So In the Squaw Village, I have some musts…

Le Chamois, Squaw Valley
If you come here to eat, they make delicious pizza, but that’s just about it. Their salads are kind of lame. Pizza and a pitcher of beer for a sunny mid ski day lunch is just perfect. Be sure to grab one of the picnic benches outside that surround a big fire pit. PS They also have a sports bar upstairs that is fun to go to after skiing.

Blue Coyote, Squaw Valley
Great for lunch and/or drinks post slopes. The food is Tex-Mex. They make good wraps, sandwiches, nachos, etc. They have great outdoor seating on a sunny day, I’ve also eaten at the bar which has always been great and is much faster than waiting for a table.

Plaza Bar, Squaw Valley
Perfect for drinks after skiing. You feel like you’re back in the 80’s, as the décor seems to be perfectly preserved. All I want to be wearing is day glow! The bar is on the second floor and has great views of the mountain and high ceilings, as well as some outdoor seating. Side Note: On game days, the place gets pretty crowded due to the big TV’s. Super fun!

More on Eating & Drinking (Listed in Alphabetical Order):
Bar of America
I love the half sandwich and a cup of soup deal for lunch! The BBQ beef sandwich is awesome and their soups are usually creative and delicious. I also like eating dinner in their bar area after a day of skiing. The menu is a little limited but still has some really nice bites. The bar crowd here can be really fun and it’s a great place to watch a game. Dinner in their dining room is okay, but a tad overpriced.

Fire Sign Cafe
1785 W Lake Blvd
Tahoe City, CA  96145
(530)583-0871
Great restaurant for breakfast &/or lunch, ideal for brunch. Tons of egg dishes, great sandwiches, and yummy salads. No small portions exist here.

Pete and Peters
395 North Lake Boulevard
Tahoe City, CA 96145
(530) 583-2400
Great sports bar. Complete with shuffle board, pool, and many TV’s. They also have some nice big booths to hang out in, which I love! Perfect to play a game of cards or dice with friends. I love coming here for a few drinks after dinner.

Smokey’s BBQ
So good after a long day of sking. Decent beer and wine selection. The menu is huge and I’ve been happy with everything I’ve ever tried with the exception of their mac & cheese, which tastes to me like the kind made for little kids and lacks quite a bit of flavor. The atmosphere is casual…you order, seat yourself, and they bring your food to you. They also will make your food to go which is nice.

Squeeze In
If you’re in the mood for eggs, this is a great place to go. Their list of omelets and other egg dishes is huge! They also make good sandwiches and salads. Breakfast and lunch only.

Tahoe Creamery
The Tahoe Creamery is a bit of a mystery to me. I’m told the ice cream is actually made in Reno and it is sold at several places by the pint in the Tahoe/Reno area. I’ve only ever been able to find it sold by the scoop at a coffee shop in Tahoe City. It is so good!!!

Tahoe House
It’s like a coffee shop meets a gourmet market meets a deli. I’ve had a breakfast sandwich before and it was delicious. They have a nice selection of deserts, specifically their cheesecake is heavenly, wine cheese.  I always leave with a ton of jams and sauces that are all homemade.  It’s a great place to stop if you need something for dinner and just don’t have the time or patience to deal with a supermarket. They make wonderful soups to go, raviolis, different appetizers, etc. Rumor has it their deviled eggs are to die for but they’re always out!

Wild Cherries Coffee House
11429 Donner Pass Road
Truckee, CA 96161
(530) 582-5602
Cute and casual place. I love stopping here for a quick muffin or bagel sammie before hitting the mountain. They also have really fresh salads and sandwiches for lunch, great coffee drinks, and homemade yummy deserts, like my favorite, chocolate chip cookies!

Shopping:
ACE Mountain Hardware and Sports
This ACE Hardware has everything you could possibly need in life from the boring hardware details to nice active wear, fun dishware, gifts, camping gear, a whole shoes and boot aisle, a games aisle, Tahoe themed house décor, etc, etc.  I remember my first purchase from there included San Francisco themed wine charms, an adorable winter hat, and a Christmas ornament. Just go. You’ll love it.

Porter’s and Porter’s Dam Fine Outlet
I love Porter’s. It’s a nice adventure gear type shop. They have a location in Truckee and Tahoe City, but they also have an outlet store in Tahoe City. At the outlet store you can find great deals on gear if you’re the right size!

Tahoe…You Make Me Happy

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For this year’s Memorial Day Weekend the kids and I headed up to our favorite vacation spot: Tahoe. We had originally planned to stay at Mary’s house in Truckee, however, plans were changed last minute and we ended up at my family’s place instead. (And yes, we absolutely realize how lucky we are to have options.)

The group included Mary, Christie, Jen, Doug, Milo and I…The entire weekend was filled with a shit ton of laughter, rock paper scissors, delicious dining and of course, it wouldn’t be a weekend on the north shore, without woodies.

To keep things contained in one part of the house, all of us decided to stay in one room. Imagine summer camp, but way classier. The highlight for me was most definitely my Saturday morning wake up call. By 9:30am everyone was up and aggressively trying to get me motivated to put on a wet suit and go for a swim.

SIDE NOTE: On Thursday night there were chains required because of the amount of snowfall. Now imagine that snow recently melted creating the lake in which we were about to dive in. Brrrr.

Aside, I gave in. With the help of Mary and Christie, we struggled into our wetsuits and headed down to the water for a very cold morning swim…Hilarity ensued as we counted down for our race to the booeys…Lola following close behind.

Check out our winter water aerobics and more…


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A Birthday Gift Mary Wouldn’t Soon Forget

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You know you only turn 26 once, so you might as well celebrate. With Mary officially closer to 30 than 20, we had much reason to enjoy the weekend!

After a Wednesday evening of shenanigans, including sushi at Umami, Jameson at Notte, Mojitos at East Side West, Tequila at KTs and of course wine at Balboa, we closed out the night with a walk home to drop off the birthday girl (literally drop).

Along the way we ended up giving Mary a birthday gift should wouldn’t soon forget…Somehow (and details are blurry) Mary tripped over Jen and landed face first on the sidewalk in front of her apartment.  As Jen rolled her over, I kept yelling “Oh my gawd! Does she have all her teeth?!” Thanks to the heavens above Mary did have all her teeth, but walked away with a couple scratches and a pretty awesome fat lip. The next morning around 5am the following text exchange occured:

Mary: I had to call in b/c I have a FAT lip. I hate u. I’m hungover and have an oozing fat lip. It’s 5:30am ps. I hate u…but love u.
Me: Dude I know. You fell on your face last night. U and Jen tripped and u went face first to the ground.
Mary: Called in (to work) ’fat lip’…literally. U should c it :) I can’t believe I’m not missing a tooth….I hate u…I mean really? I’m 26 and falling…any chance you have my wallet?

So classic. For the record…more than the amount of liquor she drank, no offense Mary, but YOU ARE SUCH A CLUTZ!

Aside, Thursday night we packed the car and headed up with the girls to Tahoe for a birthday weekend getaway. On Friday, Mary, Brooks and Kel headed up to the slopes, while Stina, Lola and I stayed back at the house…

After a very stressful day (haha…totally not) we headed to the backyard (aka the national park) and popped into the hot tub for some wine and gossip!

That night we had a mini birthday party for Mary, complete with her favorite…ice cream sundaes!

Saturday we decided to take things easy so we headed up to the Lahontan spa for yet another day of hot tubbing, margaritas and girl chat. So much to do, so little time. That night we had reservations at my most favorite Tahoe restaurant, Garwoods! The food is delicious, but the cocktails are to die for! The Wet Woody is AMAZING (note the green straws)!

Of course the tricky thing about the Wet Woodys, just like with any woody, they sneak up on you! We got home and played a couple rounds of “I’ve Never,” learning things about each other we would have never guessed! (Well maybe you could have guessed, in fact with our friends, you could probably just have assumed.)

Aside, the night went on, Bel (Kellan’s alter ego) joined in on the fun…Brooks and I fancied fur…Mary got a 1000yrd stare…so on and so on…

Sunday we got up early (I was shocked too), cleaned up the house (well, okay, I slept in) and we stopped at Red Robin (my former employer and home of the smiling burger). Got back to the city by two and made a delicious family dinner!

Another great weekend…Happy Birthday Mary! Thanks for being born so we could have a fantastic weekend celebration! Looking forward to next year!!

(PS How good do I look in fur? I was totally born in the wrong era.)