#LifeLately // Birthday Weekend

Friday I had my 24th birthday, and while I was anticipating the possibility of moving to a new city, those plans have been put on hold, leaving me clueless on what I should do to celebrate. When your birthday lands on the coldest week of the year, options are slim. Sure I can drink myself silly, but honestly, the Green Bay scene isn't all that exciting unless you're either a Packer fan or love country music, both of which I exaggeratedly roll my eyes at. 

Sadie, that pup in the photo with me, doesn't really have a birthday, or at least I don't know it. All I know is that she was about a month old when I received her for my 14th birthday, meaning this year would also be a momentum of having this fine mutt for ten years. 

When Friday came around, I ignored my alarm to wake me up early, instead lazily slinking out of bed while I piled on some layers and packed the car for the hour and a half drive up to Door County. Sadie and I were both getting a bad case of cabin fever as January has been a never-ending cold spell of subzero temps. I barely glanced at any forecast or thermometer, I was satisfied enough not seeing a negative symbol before the number.

Our first trail was the longest in the park, where we were alone with the freshly fallen snow... in the 2 degree Fahrenheit temp (-20c). Like I said, I had no idea of the actual temperature as we hit the trail, and about halfway through, we were both starting to feel how much we underestimated it. We were outside for roughly two hours, the first half we were both took our time, Sadie was taking in all the new smells while I constantly took photos. The second half, we were practically jogging back to the car. 

The second I saw the car, I clumsily dug out my keys with my numb hands, jumped in and started the car as quickly as I could. I sat for a while, only feeling about half of my body while I debated climbing the Eagle Tower. I've climbed up it several times before, most recently during my autumn road trip, but have never seen the scene during winter! Oh the dilemma!

As you can see, my curiosity overcame me as I justified letting the car warm up for another ten minutes during my climb. I didn't last long as I made it to the windy top, but I at least got the newly blanketed view of the lake and outlying islands! Worked for me! 

After the hike, I decided to stop at a couple of my favorite Door County shops before having dinner and ice cream cake with the family. The next day I also was able to see my kindergarten niece wrestle for the first time! Unfortunately they had placed her in the wrong category, meaning she was wrestling kids two years older than her. Her usual second place title was compromised to last because of the fluke, though the disappointment was quickly overshadowed by a trip to Happy Joe's with the rest of the family. 

In the meantime I'm still exploring some my options both home, out of state and abroad! Fingers crossed something good comes my way!

Cheers! 

Christmas Present and Past

This is the first time in two years I am home, having a white Christmas in Wisconsin. Pretty much all of the typical traditions and family celebrations happened early, this weekend. But I thought I would take some inspiration from my years in Australia to mold some new traditions for the holiday itself! The first step was loading my pup in the car and getting outdoorsy! 

A short drive away led us to Point Beach State Park, where the office fortunately was open so that I could snag a 2014 annual Wisconsin State Park Pass (woo!). Oddly enough, this state park is practically down the road from me and I'd never been here. Crazy! So after realizing how big this park actually was, I took some notes on dog-friendly trails, donned my snowshoes and we crunched our way through the miles of forest and beaches. 

It's amazing the transformation Sadie goes through when I get her out of the house and take her for an excursion, she goes from a grumpy old dog to a springy, young pup. It's taken her about ten years to be the perfect combination of lazy and energetic which in turn has made her a prime, leash-free hiking buddy. She is also patient enough to not wander too far while I snap photos like crazy of the thickly blanketed woods. 

This wasn't my first time going hiking or to a beach during Christmas. In fact, what inspired this outing was my past couple years' holiday experience as an expat in Oz. With it being summer in Australia this time of the year, staying inside and huddling around a fireplace, drinking hot chocolate while watching Christmas movies isn't exactly ideal when you have blazing temperatures and the Pacific at your doorstep.

In 2011 I experienced my first Sydney, summer holiday season. I was still pretty fresh to the area and was with my then boyfriend who didn't celebrate it, meaning it was pretty anticlimactic. Though the day was gorgeous and perfect for strolling along the beach and seeing all the families having their Christmas barbecues while the bay was busy with jet-ski's and windsurfers.

Last year, in 2012, one of my best travel buddies and fellow international student planned a couple days stay in the Blue Mountains where we'd spend Christmas hiking the trails. We left sunny Sydney on train and two hours later landed in Katoomba, where the thickest, most eerie-looking fog had taken over the town and surrounding mountains. Being an avid lover of fog, I kind of loved it.

As we approached the viewing platform of the mountains and literally only saw white, we starting getting nervous about the conditions for hiking. We did one of the smaller trails, not impressed with it's drenched conditions, especially with our novice hiking gear of tennis shoes and rain coats. But, we made the most of our couple days by admiring store displays and discovering cozy coffee shops to kill time in. Our hostel even had a fireplace and a full, festive lobby. We took over a couch and read most of Christmas night, feeling more like Christmas than we had expected. 

Now it's officially time for The Christmas Story marathon!

Merry Christmas!

Cheers!