Alison O. Bender

Happy 2012 and hoping the New Year brings you all health, happiness and prosperity! Topping my resolutions is to finally get my novel completed. In the past few months, I decided to change viewpoints, which is kind of like starting from scratch. However, I’m more than 12,000 words in and pretty excited about how it is now shaping up. Hoping the momentum continues throughout the year!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here! Between the start of the holidays and visits from family, I feel like we’ve been pretty nonstop. Nora started walking about a month ago and has quickly moved on to running, which definitely adds to the chaos! With everything happening, I haven’t done too much writing, though I am working on three write-ups for the TQ Mountain Home Awards. The houses are all located in Martis Camp and are all very cool: An interior design project by Cathy Nason, a Ward-Young home defined by its curving copper roofline and a Clare Walton–designed mountain-style bungalow that sits on a small lake. All beautiful houses—and all inspiring me to tackle some renovations at my own home!

I just entered my first writing competition! I submitted a 4,000-word short story in the Writer’s Digest thriller category. Months ago, I scribbled down a few paragraphs about a murder with the first scene taking place in a library. I hadn’t touched it since then, but when I decided to write a short story, that premise came back to me. I’d never written anything that I considered thriller or suspenseful, but had a fun time writing it (then less fun editing it again and again!).

Tuesday marks the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I’m planning on kind of participating—I have a work in progress that I’d like to complete enough (like get to at least 50,000 words) to begin the rewriting process. But best of luck to everyone who takes the full challenge!

The glass hallway in a Greg Faulkner home allows more light (and a sense of vertigo) in the home.

It’s my favorite time of the year—not only are the aspens changing color and the temperatures dropping, but it’s the season for the TQ Mountain Home Awards! This year, we’re checking out about 20 homes. I missed the first two days of touring (including the glass house in Crystal Bay that I was pretty bummed about!), but tagged along on Thursday to see a property in Northstar and about seven at Martis Camp. Martis Camp is remarkably impressive. At a time when building has stalled around most of the country, the development, located near Truckee, has some 80 multi-million dollar homes in various stages of construction. What’s even more incredible to me is that the people who are sinking all this money into the houses will probably spend no more than 10 to 15 days a year in them. Regardless, it makes for very interesting touring.

At Northstar, we viewed a very impressive remodel by Diana Vincent of High Camp Home. While it was an alpine style home, she used light-colored woods and rocks to make the house feel lighter than the traditionally heavy Tahoe feel. In Martis Camp, we visited one of interior designer Cathy Nason’s home (always nice), two Greg Faulkner–designed projects (SO thoughtful and impressive!), a Clare Walton lakeside home, a Mark Tanner rustic/industrial house, Ward-Young home with curving copper rooflines and the Martis Camp Grand Lodge, where we were treated to an excellent lunch! I’ve learned a lot about architecture in the past four years, and I can actually see the shift in architectural trends—how big wrought-iron fixtures are giving way to recessed lighting, barn door sliders are being replaced by pocket doors, glass tiles are taking over from travertine, and massive 8,000 square foot properties are downsizing to something a little more livable. Another tour next week, then I get to call dibs on which houses I’d like to write up!

This weekend is the annual Lake Tahoe Hyatt Wellness Weekend! I was fortunate enough to have been a part of the first annual event, which was held in January 2010. It was a blast—yoga while looking out at Lake Tahoe, breakfast in bed, enlightening seminars from health and beauty experts, a wine reception with complimentary mini-facials, not to mention a full weekend of relaxing in the Hyatt’s outdoor heated pool, dinner at the Lone Eagle Grille and enjoying the awesome ambiance of being right on Lake Tahoe.

This upcoming Wellness Weekend, held October 21–23, promises to be even better than ever. Offerings include two yoga classes and one to two balletone classes, $100 credit to the Stillwater Spa and optional outdoor activities like biking and kayaking. If you find yourself in Lake Tahoe, I highly recommend this luxury weekend dedicated to health, beauty, food and fun. Find more information here, or contact Jane Flandez at (415) 392-2211. See you there!