Utah Snowboard Map - Scratch Off!

Utah, snowboarding, and maps. Three things I love so much combined together to make this. I am thrilled how it turned out. 

There are 11 resorts in Utah that you can snowboard at, wouldn't it be so rad to say you have been to them all? Use this beautiful map to document your adventure in visiting them all.

HOW IT WORKS: Each resort is represented by black scratch off paint, once you have visited a resort, scratch off the paint to reveal a surprise watercolor pattern underneath. Each resort has a different unique pattern.

Buy one for yourself and snowboarding friends HERE.

Snowboard Lapel Pins

I love pins and patches. I think all proper mountain women do. I have an entire box filled with pins I've collected from out of town thrift stores and estate sells. When enamel pins started popping up on the blogs I follow I was smitten! Check out the collections here, here, and here, oh and here... and you will see that you can find an enamel pin for everything and anything right now!

I soon discovered that there wasn't an enamel snowboard pin out there... and a proper mountain woman who enjoys riding needs one! So I designed a simple snowboard pin... it comes in two color options, red with gold and white with black. I decided to put the words "Let's Ride!" on the pin... the pin is small, only 1 1/4" long... so, when you wear it on your lapel the snowboard shape is recognizable, but when someone leans in to read the words, it will be like you are whispering a secret to them, "let's ride!".

I think they are adorable, and you can buy them now at the Girls Pearls & Powder Etsy Shop!

Why I Love Blogs and My Goals For This One.

In high school many of our guy friends were really into the local music scene, and for us back then, the genre was pop-punk, or emo-punk, music influenced by Saves The Day, The Ataris, Taking Back Sunday, and Blink182. So we spent a lot of evenings at weird little venues to watch other local bands play, and some nights, cheering our friends on as they took stage.

Anticipating one of their shows was exciting. The guys would go crazy making flyers and passing them out at school, hanging them on bulletin boards around town, and leaving stacks of them at skate shops and the entrances to these small music venues. These flyers were actually one of my favorite parts of the show. I loved the creative punk lettering, the old school clip-art used, and the crude attempts at making it all come together in word or paint.

At shows I was always happy to take other bands' flyers, and usually made my way over to the front entrance to peruse the upcoming shows and flyer selection. One night, I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon, not a stack of flyers, but a pile of home-made magazine looking things. I picked one up and thumbed through it completely delighted. Someone had designed their own magazine! This someone had written their own articles, drawn their own illustrations, and lettered their own headline! This someone had made copies of all these pages at a copy store somewhere, folded them all, and stapled them down the middle like an actual magazine... and was now distributing them! For free!

I thought it was genius.

Come to find out, this lovely home-made magazine was called a 'zine' (sounds like spleen), and people in the punk scene were making them everywhere. I loved it. I have always loved the idea of creating something interactive to share with others on a community scale, like a comic strip or radio station. Not necessarily because I wanted to be showy or famous, I just liked the connection it might bring. I wrote a paper in high school about how everyone should be required to watch the ten o'clock news every night, along with the 10:30 seinfeld episode. That way everyone would have a reference point to begin a conversation the following day. I just like the idea of creating and connecting with people. The same feeling when I know everyone is reading the same book. I like the community feel.

Which is why I have always been a complete sucker for the online diary and blogging world. I think it's the most wonderful thing. Back in 2003 we all started little diaries in diaryland dot com.... and that era is still one of my favorite internet eras. Everyone posting, leaving funny messages on message boards, learning how to code in HTML, and sharing thoughts and jokes for everyone.

Today my facebook page is inundated with buzzfeed articles and articles that are quickly produced, and written with the only goal of getting you to click over, and then share the article on your own facebook page. I don't consider myself to be an expert writer by any means, but these quickly produced and quickly forgotten articles are slowly dulling my brain.

I fell in love with blogs, and my friends' blogs, because they didn't have an agenda. They weren't trying to sell me anything or get more page views, they were merely sharing something. Just like the girl that gave away the homemade zine at the punk shows... it was something she made and wanted to share. My favorite blogs, my long time favorites, that I have read for years and years without being annoyed, are ones that aren't trying to get a page view out of me (and their entire post shows up in my RSS feed reader), and you can tell they are posting because they simply love to post. These blogs make up a happy online community.

That's what I want this blog to be about.

I want it to be like that zine being distributed for free at a punk show. I don't want to worry about keeping the lazy internet reader interested, by constructing short paragraphs and bullet point lists... just so I can sell you something at the bottom of the article. Nope, here at Girls Pearls and Powder, we are keeping it old school, and hopefully you'll be able to feel how genuine we are and want to keep on reading.

This blog is a guide for the Proper Mountain Woman. A woman who loves the outdoors, conquers her own mountains, is interested in interesting things, and delights in being a proper lady. I love blogs that share interesting articles, links to other blogs, music they are listening to, products they use, along with positive thoughts and stories. And that's pretty much what this blog will be doing. I am a lover of the mountains, snowboarding, and always have the goal of becoming a better person and a more proper lady.... so expect some posts about those things as well.

I'm excited to announce this blog will also feature an etiquette column called Ask Amanda Jane, I love studying etiquette (I know, it doesn't show) and have a stack of etiquette books here on the table beside me... so when my best friend, Amanda, asked if she could start an etiquette column... I was stoked! She's one of the best writers I know, and my number one go-to for advice. Some of the best counsel and wisdom I have received, for big or small life questions, have come from her. Her phone calls always make me happy. So, I hope you enjoy the new etiquette column as much as I do, and decide to write your own etiquette questions in. It's going to be awesome.

Anyways, here's to old fashioned blogging and digital home-made zines! May we continue to share and feel connected!

Love,

Whitney

What Is A Proper Mountain Woman?

She loves being a woman.

She loves the mountains and spending time outdoors.

She is traditional, with high morals, and old-fashion common sense.

She is prim and proper. She studies and practices good etiquette and manners.

She relishes the changing seasons in nature, and celebrates the changing seasons in her own life.

She enjoys quiet moments and finds the time to be silent and reflective.

She does something every day to improve herself. She is deliberate in her daily habits.

She is a woman of faith and integrity. She goes to church, she prays, and nourishes her soul. She considers the great outdoors to be a blessing and gift from God.

She knows how to chop wood, bake bread, shoot guns, and write a poem.

She spends time educating herself, she is a lady of culture and interesting hobbies. She is well-rounded, well-dressed, and well-spoken.

She is kind, happy, and quick to smile and laugh.

She is prepared. She spends time taking care of both the big important things and the small details.

She appreciates the finer things in life... good music, good books, nice bed sheets, and quality outdoor gear.

She is an artist. She seeks out and applauds beauty and creation.

She doesn't give up. She accomplishes hard things. She climbs the mountains and challenges in her life with grit and determination.

She often wears flannel shirts, warm socks, and hiking vests.

And... she snowboards whenever she gets the chance.

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A Delightful Dinner Guest

Etiquette has been on my mind quite a bit the past year... etiquette and the direction of who I am becoming as a woman. I always wonder what type of lady I will be in the later years of my life. What stories will be told about me, what stories will I tell about myself, will it be said of me that I am a wise and proper woman who is full of grace and charm? Or will I communicate and interact the same way that I do now? I always picture the older version of me to be more polished and more refined than what I'm like today.

I sometimes try and figure out what makes some people so delightful to be around, and what makes others less delightful. In my experience, when I am at a dinner party or social gathering there always seems to be one person, whether you know them well or not, that you hope to sit by. Not for any romantic reason or interest, but because you want to be part of their conversation and positive energy, you want to hear their fascinating anecdotes and witty opinions, and you want to be the one who hears the funny jokes. The table this cheerful person sits at is commonly referred to (mostly by those less convivial party patrons who are most likely jealous not to be among the merriment) as the "fun" table because everyone that sits at this table seem to be happier and having a better time.

How does this person do it? What kind of characteristics and traits does it take to become the lady that people feel lucky to be sitting by at a dinner party? I want to be this woman when I'm older. I want to be a lady who has good table manners, who is graceful and witty, who can save an awkward situation or lull in conversation, who can listen captivated or can wildly entertain, a woman who you can't tell is making things up or who is quite possibly telling the truth, a woman who has lived life and has stories to tell, a woman who keeps you guessing, who uses colorful words, and knows fascinating things, who keeps things light, positive and refreshing... a woman, where at the end of the night, you go home and exclaim "I'm so glad I got to sit by her tonight, she was delightful!" Someone that makes you feel happy and inspired.

In my observation, these type of people... who we all enjoy being around, all have three things in common... one, they are happy... two, they seem to seek out and soak up life... and three, they practice good manners and etiquette.

I think these three things are critical in steps to being a proper mountain woman. And oddly enough, these are the things that I feel like aren't celebrated in today's world... I am bewildered in the lack of manners people have today, and the perverted idea of happiness and life. A huge part of the reason I wanted to start this blog was to do my part in celebrating the good, and promoting proper women in this modern time. There are enough blogs that praise chevron patterned throw pillows, cutesy party food and perfectly plucked eyebrows... I need a blog that celebrates using proper etiquette, living a life of light and adventure, and becoming a better well-rounded woman who can tackle the mountains of life.

I realize more and more, the older I get, how fundamental the use of etiquette and manners are, they encompass and effect so many aspects of life. In social situations knowing proper etiquette can give you an edge and a boost of confidence, not only does it help put you in a good light, manners and etiquette make everyone feel at ease around you. And to me that's just lovely.

I've been reading a couple books on etiquette... one of them is a kids book my mom read to us when I was younger called "my little golden book of manners", and the other is the 17th edition of "emily post's etiquette" by Peggy Post. Allow me to share some of my favorite lines from them:

"Good manners help to make a person nice to know." - my little golden book of manners

"Courteous people enrich their own spirits by making other people feel good." - peggy post

Both of those quotes get the same message across, and help answer my question as to what makes someone more delightful to sit by than others. In the quest to become a proper mountain woman in a modern day, I'm happy to have the simple answer. May we all strive to be that funky mountain lady in her late sixties who is absolutely delightful to have sitting at your dinner table.

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For more posts on etiquette, CLICK HERE.

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Girls Pearls and Powder

I like snowboards and simple pretty things. And combining those two things together.