Goodbye Lockout, Hello Hockey.

-My favorite sport is finally back!-

It has been a long and cold winter so far without the warmth and happiness that hockey brings me.

For the first time ever, I have joined a fantasy hockey league. I mean what else should I do? Its only a half a season so I gotta make the most of it. I am the only girl in the league with 19 other guys, which happen to be my boyfriend's teammates and our classmates from high school. Since I am the only girl, I thought I needed to play that up which resulted in me deciding to only draft good-looking/hot/sexy players. Ohh, and if you went to Miami University, my alma mater, you were an automatic pick. In other words, the drafting process was easy.

After plenty of homework and Internet-stalking.... Here's how my draft turned out:

John Tavares, Forward, New York Islanders

Tyler Seguin, Forward, Boston Bruins

Jordan Eberle, Forward, Edmonton Oilers

Gabriel Landeskog, Forward, Colorado Avalanche

 

Brian Boyle, Forward, New York Rangers

Shane Doan, Forward, Phoenix Coyotes

Cam Atkinson, Forward, Columbus Blue Jackets

Mike Fisher, Forward/Utility Player, Nashville Predators

Now for the best part... Defensemen:

Kris Letang, Defense, Pittsburgh Penguins**

Dan Boyle, Defense, San Jose Sharks

Alec Martinez, Defense, LA Kings

Brendan Smith, Defense, Detroit Red Wings

I dubbed my team, "The Dream-y Team" and hopefully we have a good season. I need to prove to the boys that attractiveness does in fact affect the game of hockey. Even if I lose, at least I get to see these gorgeous boys play all season.

Wish me luck. Any other fantasy-playing women out there?  

What I Love Wednesday.

I thought I would share what I am loving this Wednesday morning.

I love:

Seeing The Hobbit in 3D on Monday. I adore date nights with the boy. It is so much fun to go out in public and act silly.

My brother's rendition of how to wrap Christmas presents.

My company Christmas party date.

Putting together my best friend's "hostess basket." I got her a few things from downtown Petoskey. Cranberry wine, Mango Habenaro Salsa, and blue chips. Perfect items for my favorite hostess.

Getting reminders from lunch's fortune cookie.

 

Thanks to Pinterest... I will be making these the next 2 days for our company wide potluck.

 OR

What I love most?
We are about to be hit with a huge snowstorm.... I put a red dot on the map to show where I live.

It's going to be a very white Christmas! Bring it on. I am finally ready for some (or a lot) of snow.

 

What are you guys loving this Wednesday? I want to hear.

Great Wine Paired With A Bad Movie.

After cleaning my apartment and making dinner, I decided to just chill and catch up on TV shows I have been neglecting in my DVR... That was when my boyfriend knocked on my door. He just smiles, holds up a bottle of my favorite wine, and says "its a movie night." While Mike was preparing some appetizers in the kitchen, I poured us some pretty heavy pours and we got ourselves situated in front of the TV.

I have been wanting to see The Apparition, a scary movie starring Ashley Greene for awhile now, so I figured it was the perfect pick for the night. Boy was I wrong.

We hated it.
Between the wine and the two of us trying to be funny, we ended up ruining the movie by pointing out EVERYTHING that is wrong with each scene. Needless to say, I will be completing the movie on my lunch break today because I need to know how it ends, but we ended up turning it off and getting another bottle of wine out of the refridgerator.

The rest of the night was spent on the couch with a glass of wine in our hands just talking and laughing. It was beyond perfect. Sometimes you just need nights like that.

Nights with no plans...

Nights of staying up...

Nights of hanging out with your best friend....aka your boyfriend.

Such a goodnight! (bad movie and all.)

Boyfriend's Christmas Gifts.

This Christmas will be the second time my boyfriend and I will celebrate together. Last year, he ended up loving his stocking stuffers way more than his big gift. I think its because I can find things that he would never think he needed or wanted but I wrap it up and boom... its the "best gift ever."

So Mike's big gift this year is this baby:

He is constantly stealing my iPhone in order to check his football fantasy team, baseball fantasy team, e-mail, or the ESPN app. So now he will have all of that and more on his own iPod touch. Thank goodness. Plus he is a painter so I don't know how he has lived without his own music to motivate and recharge him throughout his long days.

So here are his stocking presents all wrapped up:

And here's whats under the BEAUTIFUL wrapping:

1. American Spoon Food Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
{His favorite snack. Put this over cream cheese and the boy is in heaven.}

2.       MLB The Show 12 PS3 Game

3.       AXE Excite Body Goods

4.       Havoc Hockey Stick Bottle Opener

{For his hockey celebrations in the locker room, perfect for his hockey bag zipper.}

5.       Chaps Golf Water Bottle and Sleeve

6.       Nike Juice Golf Balls

7.       iTunes Gift Card

8.       Battleship DVD

9.       Gym Towel with a Hidden Zipper Pocket
{This is the most practical of the gifts… yet perfect! He can have his wallet/phone on the bench for away games so it’s not left in the locker room.}

10.   iPod Hockey Goalie Case

There you have it. I think it is going to be a great Christmas and I cannot wait to see his reactions.

Anyone else have more fun finding/buying stocking stuffers instead of big gifts? Any ideas for a golf playing, hockey obsessed, and music loving boyfriend?

Life Lately.

I thought I would update my blog with what I have been up to lately. Let's see... I have been wrapping Christmas presents like crazy. Everyone on my list this year is done and now all is left is pretty homemade wrapping touches.

All I want for Christmas is...

My next DIY project for this weekend is this:

 I've been waking up to the best text messages from the boyfriend whose been away this week.

Tonight is one of my favorite hometown events... Downtown Open House. All the boutiques and shops downtown Petoskey stay open late and serve drinks/cocktails/appetizers to their shoppers. I just love how downtown looks all lit up and the sounds from the Petoskey High School Steel Drum Band as they play music in the middle of the street to make things festive.

 Here's a video from last year's open house night:

Nothing like Christmas decorations and music to put you in the mood to bundle up in a huge coat and hat to venture downtown to shop, eat, drink, and be merry!

Any big plans for this weekend? Anything full of Christmas spirit?

Work Party Inspiration

So after texting, emailing, and pinning ideas with my best friend Emily, I have come to the conclusion of what I will be wearing for this year's Company Work Party. I am an engineer so getting dressed up has been dress pants and a nice top for the past few months. Not to mention that I have to be at work at 6 in the morning, so when I get ready at 5 am, I throw my hair up and quickly apply some makeup. Now I will get to throw on a dress and look put together for a night in front of my coworkers.

My mom got me this gold sparkly dress a week ago and I knew I had to pimp it out with color and jewelry... which is honestly my favorite part... accessorizing! So here's the look:

With this hair:

And these nails:

OPI's Skyfall

The only problem is I have to drive 45 minutes away to a nearby town in order to buy these beautiful shoes, but while I am there I will be looking for some sort of cover up, either a cardigan or coat to put over the dress at times.

So what do you think? Any ideas for this look? Trust me I need all the help I can get!

Random Friday Rant.

Thank God it's Friday!

Ahh, this has been a crazy and hectic week so I am ready to kick back and relax. I love how I say that but in reality I need to make 2 dozen cookies for my first ever cookie exchange party tonight before I can "relax." But I am excited regardless. I feel very grown up by being asked to participate in the party... I am sure there will be plenty of wine drinking but still, this event screams "grown-up" to me. I am planning on making Corn Flakes Wreath Cookies (glorified rice crispy treat) and Andes Mints chocolate cookies.

I was an impulse buyer last night and purchased this print of my alma mater's pub scene. Yeah Miami University! As soon as I saw this I thought "oh that's funky and cool," but then I realized I had to have a copy... It seems only fitting since I have spent many nights dancing, drinking, gossiping, and hockey player people watching at those places. Now I need a frame... I bought it so fast that I don't even know how big or small it is. Who does that?

I made my boyfriend a stocking earlier this week, but I finally got around to making my own. So now we have matching Christmas stockings... P.S. How unfortunate to have the initials S&M... I mean really?

While the boy was at hockey last night, I got to watch his pride and joy... Lola.

Not to wish my weekend away but I cannot wait for Sunday's new episode of The Walking Dead. I am upset its the mid-season finale which means I have to wait MONTHS in order to get my fix. My boyfriend and I watch this show religiously. Sundays are meant for getting take out dinner and eating from the coffee table ready for it to come on. So to make up for the hiatis, looks like I'll have this youtube video on repeat. Hello, Daryl Dixon...

Norman Reedus is my ultimate celebrity crush. Love love love.

Wow, this has been the most random post I have ever done. I like it. So that is what I am loving this snowy and cold Friday morning.

 

What are you loving? Any Walking Dead fans out there? Enjoy your weekend, loves.