Pour yourself a glass of wine or brew a cup of tea at the end of your day to enjoy this post…it’s longer than usual with lots of pics that will transport you to the idyllic Stowe, Vermont…

Hooray! We’re back!! We’re back and I’m not sick!! If you remember my post from last year, our trip to Vermont was cut short because I was so sick with the flu…not this year! 🙂 We arrived early afternoon on Thursday, stopped in town for lunch before checking in at the fabulous Edson Hill…

Ahhhh! Sooo serene…sooo charming…so happy to be here!

Lodging at this inn consists of two room options: either a room in the main manor house, or in a little cottage a short walk from the main building…both times we have stayed in the cottages – while you do have to put on your outwear to go to the tavern/restaurant, it just adds to the romantic feeling of staying at a cabin in the woods!

Everywhere you look is a visual delight!

Here’s the entrance to our cozy bungalow with plenty of wood for the fireplace!

Come on in!

The rooms are ‘elegant country’…spacious and bright…

Simple yet luxurious…

With a working fireplace (real wood) in every room! Whether you ski or not, this is wonderful place for a winter getaway…

Friday arrives (Valentines Day), and while we had fully intended to ski, with the temperature at a mere 1 degree, I opted out and hubby decided on the same…so what did we do?? You guessed right! Eat, shop, drink – repeat!

Stowe is not a shopping mecca, but that’s ok, it is really not why you come here…in fact there are really only three shops that I love: Well-Heeled (clothing/jewelry boutique), Green Envy (another boutique), and Chalet Life, a home decor (and more!) shop, pics below….

Chalet Life is a small shop absolutely jam packed with unique European items – so much beautiful handmade jewelry that you really need to take your time and look around in every nook and cranny…

Then there’s the fabulous home decor pieces and the taxidermy! I came very close to bringing this beauty home…still considering the smaller plaques on the sides…

This little cutie, not for sale! She is Lily, the owner’s dog…keeping herself toasty on what used to be the ‘man chair’! Sorry Peter!

After a few purchases, a leisurely lunch, and a few cocktails, it was time to get ready for our Valentines Day dinner…as usual, we did not make a reservation, preferring to wing it at our favorite places hoping to land seats at the bar…but first – what did I wear? Well, not what most gals were wearing in Stowe…

My one rule for this occasion: must be sexy or feminine. Sooo, I wore a blazer with nothing but a hot pink bra underneath, deliberately showing it as part of the outfit…it might not look very risqué in this pic, but in the sea of bulky turtlenecks, it was!   Haha!

No, I didn’t freeze! All bundled up with my warmest outerwear, perfectly toasty…

Peter wore a beautiful black suede blazer by John Varvatos that deserves a closer look in a future post. After a cocktail at the Edson Hill Tavern, we headed out and waited less than ten minutes before we got seats at a fave bar for dinner…yay! One nice perk about not making a reservation is the leisurely pace, eating on your own schedule – but admittedly it is risky on V-Day…

Okay! Fast forward…it’s Saturday morning, we are going to ski, and Peter wants to be the first on the slopes. No problem, I don’t mind getting up early…

BUT I DO MIND THE TEMPERATURE! This was at 7am and it did not stop my husband…he just piled on the layers like he never has before, and just as intended, he was the first on the mountain…

I found myself a cozy spot in the lodge and was entertained between my Kindle and Instagram, waiting patiently for Peter to return and for the temperature to improve…

After a few speed demon runs on double black diamond trails (never with me), he returned, completely happy and not cold in the least…time for me to layer up and join him!

Bought this purple face mask so I could pull it up over my nose and have minimal skin exposure…

The conditions were great and the sun shone brightly…not our longest day of skiing, but it was still fun…

Happy hubby…

And happy wife…

Skiing is not for the faint of heart…it requires significant effort even before you get on the mountain – heck, just carrying your equipment and putting on your boots is a workout! Peter is definitely more passionate about this sport than I am, but take me to a place like Stowe and I am completely delighted – people are super friendly, it is stunningly beautiful, restaurants are great, and the aprés ski scene is a blast…

Whether you ski or not, Stowe, Vermont is a great place to visit! Cheers! 🙂