Hello world!
My first blog post comes to you in a state of extreme anticipation and excitement! After the summer (can we call it that?) And before autumn kicks in and the road adverts with hedgehogs and singing children graces our screens, I have the pleasure of disappearing on a skiing holiday.
This excites me for two, perhaps three reasons. Firstly – it is a holiday – full of fresh air, good exercise( a plan for), and where I’m staying, the best post run hot chocolates this side of the equator. (The secret ingredient? Copius amounts of something so alcoholic it borders on medicinal. )
2- I get to catch up with friends and hopefully catch up on The Tan That Never Arrived- see previous comment re: our missing summer, and 3) Shopping!
Shopping for skiing clothes is like shopping for a week in Narnia. The fabrics are all different. The possibilities are endless. From goggles to ski passes to poles and water bottles and, my favourite- sun block (girlish squeal) you enter a shopping world reserved only for events.
Events shopping can be stressful- christenings and weddings for example have all have trappings of choosing not what you want – but what you think you should get- meaning it’s bye bye, bordering on rather short skirt- hello, floral number you thought were curtains. Eep.
But with skiing you can truly indulge. First up is the jackets. Since the 80’s and skiing trips with school, which photos inform me gave us all the look of Michelin men out on the slopes, things have changed a bit, thankfully.
I’m loving the Quicksilver and Roxy range, full of flourish and girlish charms- from the heart shaped ski passes, Mp3 players and inbuilt areas for just about everything. In fact – their jackets are so lightweight but with enough down to keep a whole family warm for a week with just a sleeve alone that i’ve said boo to the credit crunch (it’s over – surely?) and have bought up pretty much their whole AW09 range- from the salopettes which fit just bang on the hips- to sweaters and basic t-shirts which I plan to wear at every opportunity.
Another guilty pleasure- Ski boots. Now, with a fashion for Ugg boots having hit our shores via WAGS a few years back, filtering into the high street quicker than rain on a bank holiday barbeque, I have had a fond appetite for these beastly looking shoes. The sex appeal of road kill combines with the I-don’t-care-comfort of a duvet day- all on your feet! Ski boots are a perfect chance to wear outfits like this:
(Oh Coleen. Money DOES buy style.) And the socks! Merino wool, plush fabrics, they just make me want to pad about with a big mug of hot chocolate and a Jilly Cooper novel.
But enough of the lazing and après ski- back to the main event. I have sat on my case and the zip is now making strange holes, akin to my jeans after Christmas dinner- strained, I think the word is, or perhaps I have a ‘voluptuous’ case.. Anyway, what started with an order to bring ‘The bare essentials- and no fancy stuff!’ has turned into a mass of ski jackets (2) , ski boots(2- and uggs) , ski socks (More on that later), ski goggles and 1 pair of glasses- plus a visor, a heart shaped ski pass cover. And a star shaped one.. .
Now for the aforementioned socks- I think i’ve packed 1 for each hour of exercise I plan on doing. Which, if you’ve got the jist of the blog so far, is not that much at all.
I’d ask you for encouragement in the form of ‘break a leg’ but that is probably called tempting fate… Until my next update, think of me, wobbling like Bambi and clock watching for my next nip of the hip flask…
Elaine x
