Honeymoon: MNF Packers Game

At around 4pm, I couldn't wait any longer, so we got a cab from our hotel to the stadium. One of Kyle's old co-workers is a huge Packers fan and was already tailgating, so we met up with them. I was so excited to bust out one of my purchases to cover my beer.

 

And a necessary selfie to show off my new hat (with rain in the forecast it was a necessary purchase (or so i tell myself).

For a non-Packers fan, he sure looks like he's having a good time. AND he's even wearing green!

 

Packers colors are green, gold, hunter orange, and on occasion: rain gear. Glad we snagged ponchos for a buck before we head over. It rained on and off throughout tailgating, but clearly I didn't care. At one point I uttered, "I'm....just....so.....happy!" to Kyle and almost exploded on the spot.

 

I wasn't quite to their level of busting out dance moves, but good for them.

 

And when it was finally time to make our way in, the skies just opened up. 

 

Like a little kid on Christmas morning over here.

 

Go Pack Go!

 

Surely not the best photo of the newlyweds, but it's the only one we got in the stadium, so it'll have to do.

 

Best. Honeymoon. Ever.

Honeymoon: Green Bay

I woke up the Sunday after our wedding with the typical (or so I've heard) post-wedding blues. Until I realized that I was going to see the Packers play at Lambeau Field for Monday Night Football the VERY NEXT DAY.

We got a really late start to Green Bay on Sunday. I had planned for us to be on the road by 10am. Six hours later......

 

We didn't get to our hotel until 12:30pm and we were exhausted. Luckily I got to watch the Blood Moon eclipse the entire drive to Green Bay. 

Monday we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Kyle hightailed it off to some bait shop while I got ready for our day. He wanted to have the infamous cheese curd burger that I had the last time I was in Green Bay, so I obliged. For a 7pm football game, there was already $20 parking at the restaurant we went to. 

I ordered a beer, even though it late morning, I still got a beer, and the server asked why Kyle wasn't having a big kid soda. When in Green Bay, man.....

 

 

 

 

A whole page of Wisconsin brewed beers? ahhh.....

Buffalo and bleu cheese cheese curds. Good god.

 

I made Kyle take a picture with this giant beer can because it's his favorite kind of beer (yuck).

Next we went to the cheap-ish Packers/Wisconsin store near the stadium. Last time I was here I discovered this place AFTER i spent way too much at the Packers Pro Shop. I almost had Kyle convinced to buy this Badgers zip up. #babysteps

Next up: Titletown Brewery!

 

The restaurant was full, so we went over to the tasting room which was stellar. Why don't I have my own brewery? I enjoyed a delicious flight, and even found a light beer for Kyle to enjoy. The actual bar was broken beer bottles in resin over the top. So cool.

The events manager took us up to the recently opened upper bar so we could see the view from up there. They recently started doing weddings there, and the mayor's daughter used it for her wedding reception. #jealz

From there we went tailgaiting, but the game will be a separate post (this should not be shocking). Tuesday morning, we went back to Lambeau to say goodbye to my buddies before we were on our way to Door County.

  

I tried to justify a life sized wall hanging of Aaron Rodgers, but couldn't quite do it. I did manage to come under budget with my Packers Pro Shop purchases though, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

One last pic before we left the atrium.

Bye bud!

 

Until next time Vince!

Four Eyes + Broken Heart

If you follow football at all, you know that my heart has a major sad.  Green Bay lost last night, and... I'm still tore up about it.  And likely will be until August when pre-season rolls around.  On the bright side, I will have an extra 3 1/2 hours of my life per week to study with.  Nope that doesn't help.

Moving on.

Because I was in a state of mourning today (and last night, and likely the rest of the week, month, again until August) I did some retail therapy to soothe my wounds.  I've been saying I'm going to get a new pair of eyeglasses for the last 3 years or so.  I don't have vision insurance at work, so I've been saving my pennies (dollars in my Health Savings Account), but every time I get a nice little stash of money saved up in there I have some sort of medical bill that eats it up.  Annoying.  Finally after checking my balance last week, coupled with a Groupon I bought that was $50 for $200 worth of lens+frames I could do it!

My current specs are from 2002 (the last pair my mother was willing to buy me when I was in high school, which is understandable) and they are more than a little beat up.  The last couple of months I haven't been able to wear them at all because my eyes are so messed up.  I thought I had an eye infection of sorts, but turns out my blind eyes are just blinder (or to be fair, my blind eye...ol' lefty... is even blinder).  You know those people that brag about being legally blind?  Well that's what my vision was BEFORE this eye change.  I'm so awesome.

Anywhosits, armed with 17 different forms of payment and coupon options I hit the store today.  Naturally this was after spending the entire morning scouring their online eyeglass selection and sending the links of the ones I liked to Kimi for her review.  Speaking of, have you met Kimi?  Because if you haven't, she's my twin.  I'd planned to get glasses similar to hers because she looks gorg in them, and obviously then I would too.  All plans were set in to motion until I arrived in the store and was met head on by their new Kate Spade section.

My bank account started to cry.

Trying on glasses is my favorite thing.  They're so fun.  And cute!  And now that I'm beyond the anxiety ridden four eyes complex of my youth I actually like them.  Before I knew it I had 12 different glasses that I liked and had to begin the narrowing process.  For a few seconds, I considered taking part in their buy one get one promo... in ADDITION to my groupon'd pair.  And then I quickly remembered that I'm not made of money.

When I asked for a quote on my lenses I almost died of a heart attack.  Remember me mentioning that I'm blind?  Well I have to get reduced lenses so they fit in frames, which isn't cheap.  Like... at all.  But then I reminded myself

And it was all good.  One hour later and my new glasses were ready to go.  Pretty happy I decided against a Kate Spade birthday bag.  I much prefer the four eyes instead.

And in running news, I knocked out week 1 of marathon training.  Only 17 more to go.  I had the worst long run of my life on Saturday.  Apparently eating a mountain worth of goat cheese the night before *cough when you're lactose intolerant cough* is a bad idea, who knew?  It wasn't pretty to say the least.

The Superbowl Made Up for Some Super Crappy Runs

This weekend I had some super de duper crappy runs.  Friday night I had 5.35 miles to run and I felt like I was going to die for 99% of it.  Mental note:  scarfing down wheat thins and hummus 5 seconds before heading out for a run because you're "starrrrrrrrrrrrrving" will cause your stomach to be pisssssssssed.

Saturday I had big plans to hit up my local Barnes and Noble to treat myself to my new nook, and then to take it for a test drive on the treadmill for my ten mile long run.  Long story short (for now) I wasn't able to get the library book I wanted downloaded on to the Nook, and it took me much longer to get to that conclusion than I had initially planned.  So by the time I started my long run, I was already hungry.  And I've been feeling under the weather.  And I quit the run at 3 miles.  Dedication.... I haz it.

I briefly considered making up my remaining 7 miles Sunday before the Superbowl, but that was pretty far-fetched.  Original Superbowl outfit included super sweet green sparkly clover headband (see right) until I realized that the boy probably wouldn't be seen with me sporting them (just wait for St. Patty's day kid....muhahahahhaha) and that I wouldn't be able to wear my lucky gold hair ribbon/headband that had been providing GB with excessive luck over the past 5-6 weeks of wearing it.  For some reason, no photos were taken of Superbowl celebrations.  At one point, I had made a deal that if the Packers won, I was going to go streaking outside after the game.  The fact that we watched the game at a bar, coupled with the fact that it was a gazillion degrees below zero out, PLUS the fact that I didn't actually utter this thought to anyone, allowed me to wuss out.  Yayzies.

But seriously.... talk about a happy camper on Sunday.  GO PACK GO!  :D :D :D :D

And of course on Monday morning I had to continue to represent:  rocking a yellow stripey sweater and my Packers scarf.

P.S.  What the heck am I going to do with all my time on Sundays!??!?!?!?  #IHateTheOffSeason

Why You So Obsessed Wit Me?

Channelling my inner Mariah for the post title...nbd.......

My favorite New York runner and blogger Susan posted a blog about her current "obsessions."  And I thought it was super duper fun and wanted to follow suit.  :)  Plus I always love me a good list.  So here goes....

Jeopardy.  I've always been a huge fan of Jeopardy.  As a kid our family would watch it every single day before dinner time.  When we get together for holidays, you'd better believe it's a battle of the brains.  It's not nearly as fun to play without some solid competition, so I'm glad that KK is up for the challenge (and subsequent defeat) lately. 

Lists.  I guess I mentioned above that I'm a bit "list-happy" and it's no joke.  I'm in the process of creating a 101 in 1001 list, I loved crafting my 2011 goals, and I'm obsessing over a 101 books to read before you die list I recently found.  Which brings me to another obsession...

Goodreads.  Being the booknerd that I am, it's fun to see what my other booknerdy friends are reading/enjoying/hating etc.  Please find me and friend me so we can be nerdtastic together.

Stripes.  I've always been a stripes fan, but recently went a little bit overboard on my shopping trip with Jenn in Houston.  We're talking 4 new striped sweaters:  grey/white, grey/white, grey/white, and grey/yellow.  Look out... variety!!!

Green.  Always.  Obvs.

Roxette's Dangerous.  I've been jammin' out to this song one too many times the last few days.

Taking myself outside of my comfort zone.  Ok, this is not something I'm obsessesd with because I loathe being outside my comfort zone, but I'm obsessed with the idea of doing so.  One of my goals for 2011 was to be more social, so I'm going to make myself attend some local book club meetings.  I know it'll be awesome, but the insane anxiety I'll have all day leading up to it will be obnoxious.

Buffalo chicken __________.  Pizza, bites, whatever, you put buffalo chicken in front of the word and I'm allll over it.  Mmmmm.

Ice cream.  Per usual.  I tweeted about needing ice cream for productive studying this weekend, and before I knew it there was a cute boy at my door bearing my favorite (ok, one of my favorites, who could have just one?!?!!?) kind.  Granted I may have texted him the same info that I tweeted as he doesn't have twitter, but let's ignore that part.  Mmmm ice cream.  FYI that half gallon was gone on Monday.  Nbd.

My Packers snuggie.  It's legit freeeeeeeeeezing in my office right now.  I downloaded an app that tells the current internal pressure, and I've clocked it at 54 degrees.  I received a Packers snuggie for Christmas, and you can bet I'm wrapped up in it 98% of the work day.

The Packers.  Obviously I love my boys, and they're doing me proud this year.  I can't wait to cheer them on for the SUPERBOWL.  I was just a little junior high brat the last time they made it this far, and the game ended in heartbreak.  Stupid Elway.  ::grumble grumble::  GO PACK GO!

And since this post is all sorts of Susan inspired, she also tagged me in this survey.  Here goes....

1. Four TV shows that I watch

• Glee
• How I Met Your Mother
• Jersey Shore (no shame here!)
• Real Housewives of ______ (all except Atlanta currently)

2. Four Things that I’m passionate about

• Running
• Green Bay Packers!
• Reading
• Eating

3. Four words/phrases I use a lot

• Holy crapolli!
• Holy guacamole!!!
• Really?!?  Really!?!?!?
• Any phrase where the final word can have multiple repeated letters (ex:  heck yesssssssss!)

4. Four things I’ve learned in the past

• Eating dairy before a run is never a good idea.
• People change, for the good and for the bad.
• Never settle for anything.
• Yellow + blue make green. 

5. Four places I would like to go

• Hawaii
• Australia
• The Superbowl this year
• Ireland

6. Four things I did yesterday

• Ate 4 oatmeal cream pies
• Bought groceries for the first time in 6 weeks (starvin' marvin over here)
• Didn't know the answer to final Jeopardy
• Went to the library 

7. Four things I’m looking forward to

• The Superbowl:  Go Pack GO!!!!
• Marathon #3 in Fargooooooooo
• Hearing back from my grad school applications
• Spring.  I heart spring.

8. Four things I love about winter

• Ice skating (although I prefer to do it indoors, still the rinks are only open in the winter time)
• Being outside at night when the fluffy snowflakes are falling
• Christ/birth/mas season
• Wearing scarves every.single.day.

9. Tag four people to play along

• Danielle
• Ashley
• Jenn
• Alyssa

And I'm off for a run in the bitter cold.  And my coat may actually run away from me it smells so bad.  Apparently these things need to be washed on occasion... I dunno.....

Houston Recap

Ok, without anymore ado, the long awaited (ok, not really, but we'll go with it) Houston recap.  I got in to Houston Wednesday and was met by Jenn and Megan at the airport.  Before too long I found myself eating some delicious mexican food and drinking cheap margs.  This is how I like to start my vacas, FYI.

Thursday we all slept far too late and then got our runs in, which may have been the only productive thing we did for the day.  Which is totes fine because I was on vacation.  Random note:  this is the first vacation in 2 1/2 years that I've been on that hasn't involved a race.  Neat-o eh?

Friday Jenn and I bid adieu to Megan and got all gussied up to go to a fun piano bar.  The super obnoxious "look how cute we are pre-bar" photo was a necessity, I promise you.  This was the dress I bought for New Years Eve celebration, until it was a gazillion degrees below zero.  It was about 45 degrees in Texas, and everyone was all bundled up and looking at us like we were loco.  Heat wave yo!

We managed to break a few hearts at the piano bar, and I had to make the difficult decision to not stay behind in Houston to be one of the piano player's love slave (intense sarcasm here fyi).

Saturday morning (ok afternoon) we were up and at em to do my long run.  It was supposed to be a whopping 8 miles, but why not 12, eh?  Please note that we're both rocking the exact.same.pose. as the night before, unintentionally.  We'd make terrible models.

Waiting 12 years for your garmin to find its satellite?  Photo op!

I want this fountain in my back yard.  FYI.

Running through some gorgo-neighborhoods.

When we were done with our run we (read: I) desweated and headed out to watch the Packers playoff game.  

It was Packers' domination, and it made my heart happy.  

Jenn rocked out an extra Packers shirt of mine to help support the team.  Seriously, I feel like I have the prettiest friends....

I was in fine form on Saturday night and Jenn managed to document some of my "awesomeness" via twitter.  Please enjoy:

Jenn:  watching the packers game with @jerilee40. she's intense.

Jenn:  "my blood pressure is through the roof." - @jerilee40

Jenn:  for the record, @jerilee40 really is a douchebag magnet.

Jenn:  "don't fuck with my knowledge about the packers. I will cut you." - @jerilee40 in reference to aforementioned douchebag.

Jenn:  "is someone still cheering for the falcons? that's weird." - @jerilee40

And for the record, these were all rants while sober.  Although you wouldn't know it, as I managed to lose my credit card at the sports bar.  Fail.

I'm really digging the polaroid function/ap/whatevs on my phone right now.

Uh.... at some point we made cookies.  And it was a disaster.  And then it worked out.  But mostly it was a messy disaster.  

A few of the blog appropriate cookies.  Yes, there were some non-blog appropriate cookies.  They were the best.

And I managed to have my 1st and 2nd froyo experiences in Houston.  Yes, clearly I'm an ice cream girl through and through, but I did dig the froyo.  I felt it was very food-bloggery of me to take pics of my froyo experience.

And then it only seemed right to walk to the nearest walgreens all scrubbed out for Texas' finest beer:  Shinerbock.  FYI:  I still can't drink Shiner.... I'm a bit Shiner'd out.

And my final night was wrapped up watching the end of Dexter, finishing my froyo, and enjoying some Shiner.

I miss you already Jenn!!!!