8pril

 I know, very late, but it's still 8pril, right? I saw this video today of the celebrations and had to share.  Still so proud of my CATS. 

WILDCATS - Short Film from No Def on Vimeo.

Still Bleed Blue

First, I am sorry I am such a crappy blogger lately.  I promise to finish posting my South America pictures this week, come hell or high water. 

So, someone's hubby left her high and dry in Lexington while he is partying it up in Houston.  He somehow got to work a business trip into the deal, so he only had to pay for his ticket.  Since his brother works at Rupp, the managed to pull off lower level 4th row tickets for face value.  I would hate him so much right now if we had won... 

View from their room of the stadium (I have a feeling that bottle is no longer that full...Cam's down there with his brother and his friends from high school)

I don't feel too bad that he made the big trip down there--he's been to two Houston Rockets games (in UK garb to cheer on Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes), a Kenny Chesney concert, and saw his friend Josh Teater play in the Houston Open.  And, he still has two more days down there and the business front of the trip is a huge success.  Funny enough, my cousin goes to VCU and went down there as well. He and his buddies are staying in the same hotel as Cam.  Too random!

Our friends from Louisville came in town for the big game.  We went to, where else?, Two Keys and watched the game. 

Brittany, Lauren, and I outside of Two Keys

It was a heartbreaking loss because it wasn't that UConn was a better team--we lost that game ourselves.  We didn't seem to have the heart/drive, we couldn't capitalize on any turnovers or hit any free-throw shots.  It hurts so incredibly badly that one measly point kept us from the Championship game.  

But, at least we have a lot to look forward to next year. Still so proud of my cats for bringing back a final four banner to hang in Rupp.

Don't Wake Me Up...

...Until after the championship game on April 4th. I know I was planning doing South America posts before anything else, but this is really too good to be true. 

So proud of my CATS! So happy to be a part of the big blue nation this week! I am going to have to break down and buy a pair of jorts to watch the game in next week (don't worry, I already have the jersey...) because we're in the FINAL FOUR. YYYIIPPPEE!

[All pictures from the Herald-Leader]

Jorts, we are just as happy as you are (but most of us just can't jump that high)

I don't think people understand the love that I have for this man today :)

The boys

proof that I'm not the only crazy fan out there...here's Lexington today. A reported 13 couches were burned and they had to shut down traffic in parts of downtown. There are literally hundreds of people at the airport waiting to welcome the Team back to Lexington right now...all for the CATS!

Jorts Day

Cam still hasn't uploaded the pictures from Rupp, but since today is Jorts Day, I just can't resist going ahead and doing the post with the pictures I have.  

Jorts Day you ask? Just in case you aren't up with the lingo, jorts are jean shorts (generally on men, but I don't discriminate).  Jorts are just not okay, people.  

On that note, tonight is Senior Night for the basketball team.  In honor of our only senior, Josh Harrellson, tonight has been dubbed "Jorts Day" in Kentucky because the boy wore jorts on his campus recruiting visit.  

Who is the man behind the jorts? This fellow here: 

Locally, the fans are planning a "jorts-out" and we are all hoping that Coach Cal does a throwback tonight to the denim uniforms of the (national champions) 1996 team: 

With all that background, here are the long awaited pictures of our trip to Rupp last week: 

Cam being awesome.

Close to dunking

 I actually made a basket on the floor of Rupp (although clearly not with as much style as Cam)

Us in front of all of the national championship basketballs in the locker room.

The boys with their momma

Cam in front of Brandon Knight's and Enes Kanter's lockers.

This is Christmas card material for next year...LOVE LOVE the banners in the background

 HAPPY JORTS DAY :)

What Kind of Mascot is a Quaker, Anyway?

Okay, so this is clearly a post you Kentucky girls will appreciate. Cam's brother got us tickets to Monday night's UK/Penn game as our Christmas gift--it was so great to finally go to a game coached by Cal, and it went perfectly with my UK themed Christmas for Cam. Thanks Drew for such an awesome present!


The game was closer than I would have liked in the first half, but we looked as fabulous as I expected in the second. Love my CATS!

Here are some of my pics:

 Cam in his UK embroidered pants, being the "Y." His pants were such a hit that Brandon Knight's mother stopped him and took a picture of his pants.

Love him.

  Crazy guy who dances in the aisle in the third quarter? Oh yeah, he was two rows in front of us...comedy.

 Cam's brother took us down to the tunnel to high-five all the players after the game.  Don't worry, I haven't washed my hand since..

Hope ya'll have a fabulous Wednesday! My car's headlight went out, and when I took it in, they told me (surprise, surprise) that my car's part of the recall so I'm going stir crazy today and just reading some books until its ready, so be ready for some book reviews tomorrow...

Jersey Chasin'

So clearly Blackberry's pictures aren't great quality, but I can already tell this football season will be full of jersey chasers as we are two rows in front of the basketball team.  And I may or may not be one of those chasers. 

 Hmm...is it just me, or did I capture Enes looking directly at me? Bahaha!

Life's a Beach

Latest vacation pictures from our *tear* last day. It was the best weather yet, so we went down to the beach and stayed in a tiki hut.

 

We loved how the flags on our chair said "Paradise Found"--it was an omen from the post yesterday.  

We took a long walk on the beach and found these beautiful shells. We also saw a baby (one foot and one half long) hammerhead shark.  I also accidentally stepped (with both feet) on the head/body of a huge jellyfish, but somehow managed not to get stung.  Clearly, I'm a lucky girl. I do feel bad that I think I killed it, but we saw about 10 and they have stung me before as a child, so I'm not too upset. 

 

The lobby has beautiful clear columns that are filled with jellyfish. I like them a lot more behind glass than I do under my feet.

I got a little fire red and its killing me burnt, so we headed in and then went up to the smaller pool this evening and hung out in the shade until it was time to watch the CATS!

Cam, I, his mom and his stepdad all cheered on the CATS against Wake. We could not have asked for a more fabulous game. We are ready to take on the winner of Cornell/Wisconsin. My bracket is going down with Villanova and Kansas losing, but I am absolutely LOVIN' my cats!

A view of the sunset from the screened-in lanai. 

What a great end to a great vacation! Why do we have to go back to real life? Le Sigh.

MADNESS!

In Kentucky, we LOVE our COUSINS!

It's the most wonderful TIME of the year! 

Anyone else excited for March Madness?  I love college football and basketball, but it's even better when your team actually has a chance! I clearly had to pick KY for my bracket, although I'll be so proud of my cats if they make it to the final four.

This morning, I thought it would be super-fun to have a blogger bracket of some sort, so I just created a blogger bracket.  Go here to create your username for the bracket. Then go to "user tools" on the sidebar and click "join a public bracket." The bracket is entitled "Bloggers Brackets" (i'm clearly creative). Please join! I know its a tad bit late (you only have until 12:20 TODAY TO JOIN), so if no one joins, there is always next year to start one earlier. If enough people join, I'll do some sort of giveaway for the winner.

Who are your choices for final four, tournament game, and the champions? Anyone have any fun plans to watch the games?

Stan's Sunday Dancing

Cam has played two rounds of golf and we went to Stan's this afternoon. Ah, Stan's.

 

For those who have never been (poor you), it is a biker's bar and Sunday afternoon hang out in Marco Island, FL. It is home to the Mullet Festival and to the Buzzard Lope.

 

It is absolutely one of the most fun places on a Sunday afternoon. Note the two KY license plates underneath, representing the bluegrass.

  

The bridge over to Marco. 

Me, drinking Sutter Home out of the (mini) bottle through a straw. Did I mention Stan's is a super-classy place? Cam took this picture and immediately deemed it "blog worthy."

 

A really flattering picture of Cam and I at Stan's...ignore his popped collar please, his neck was burnt. And just ignore everything about me, thanks.

Cam and his stepdad, showing off their blue and drinking LITs.  Notice Cam wearing the belt I made him--what a good husband.

This is Cam and I in 50 years. Seriously. Please take note of his "Irish potatoes" hanging from his neck (they may not be visible from here, but don't worry, they are there).

And of course, Kentucky is dancing! SEC Champions--good job boys. I am glad they admitted we have the toughest road to the championship. I am little surprised Miss State is out, but since they threw water bottles at us, I'm not overly concerned. Come on UK, let's dance March away! 

Best comment of the day, "That's so Billy Gillispie" when saying something is absolutely awful. I completely concur and think it should catch on as a popular slang term.  Let's have it catch on, okay? 

 

 

I'm Green...

...with envy! 

Guess whose husband had awesome tickets to the UK game today. We are talking next to Dr. Todd and Mitch Barnhart awesome. And guess who got to  drop her husband off and then study and outline evidence at home while her husband watched UK win. I'd post pics, but this anonymous husband also forgot the camera in the car. 

I am just finishing up ordering invitations for Joe and Ceci's couple shower that we are co-hosting this spring at Talon Winery.  I loved these invitations: 

But, the shipping on them is rather outrageous and would take forever if i don't expedite them. I think I am going to go with this invitation instead: 

I'm a little concerned it may be difficult to read, but I think in person it should be better (they are 4"x9.25" so it should be big enough to read and see detail). What do you all think?

Also, I hope everyone is watching the UK Hoops team (ladies basketball team)--they are currently up in the SEC tournament championship game right now. Go CATS!

Birthday Weekend and Girl's Get Together

Sorry for the double update, but it all is clearly too much for one posting. Apologies in advance.

C and pup both had birthdays the weekend. C turned halfway to old (or 25 in layman's terms) and pup is now 3.

My favorites playing dead in bed on their birthday.

His dad and stepmom, who live in TN, came in town to celebrate (likely just to celebrate C's birthday, but we won't tell pup that). C and I cleaned around the house before they came, including the dirtiest part of the house: our bengal cat. She literally often refuses to clean herself, and honestly would smell awful if she didn't get regular baths. I laugh that C, the biggest clean freak of a husband I could think of, would own the filthiest cat. Luckily, she likes water so it's not a big ordeal.

On Friday night, we cooked at the house. Everything turned out well--except of course what I made. Who knew that mashed potatoes take over an hour to heat up in the oven if they were in the fridge beforehand? Clearly not me because I served freezing cold mashed potatoes. But, lesson learned. Oh well. Everything else was really good.

Saturday morning I went to a great get together with the girls at Buddy's. It was great to see and catch up with the girls I already knew and fabulous to meet so many sweet ladies. We will all have get together again some time soon! After our meeting, I met up with C and his family at Drake's to eat lunch and catch the second half of a certain game that shall not be mentioned. At least Kansas lost as well, right?

After lunch, C's brother, who works in advertising for Rupp, took us to the holy grail of college basketball itself for a behind-the-scenes tour. As you are probably aware, C and I met at UK and bleed blue, so this was super neat to see all the different parts of arena without having 24,000 other crazy fans around.

Shot of Rupp as the floor was being laid and C and I on the floor.

C, doing the John Wall while "dunking" on the UK goals before they were put back onto the floor.

C in the doorway of the locker room. The giant wall-sized blood bag is my favorite advertisement in Rupp.

That night eight of us went to Euro Wine and Tapas Bar in Nicholasville for dinner. C has been talking about trying to for a month now so I figured his birthday was the perfect time.

I initially made reservations on Friday night without a problem,but then remembered that no one else could eat meat since its Lent and we are Catholic, so I called to switch the reservation to Saturday. I called almost every night they were supposedly open throughout the week and no one ever answered or returned the two voicemails I left. Sketch.

We made the drive to Nicholasville with fingers crossed and a backup restaurant in mind. Luckily, they were open and informed us that they just have policy of not answering their phone or checking their voicemail. We ordered almost every tapas on the menu and C and I really enjoyed the restaurant.

Everyone's dinner, including pup's, was lip-licking good.

This morning we had a fabulous breakfast at Doodles. None of us had been and it is nice to finally have good breakfast-style place in Lexington. I'll admit, I'm still partial to Wild Eggs in Louisville, but Doodles was a great find. Doodles is an eco-friendly and locally grown, which I really appreciate. 

C had a wonderful birthday. Not only did he get to spend it with his family, he received a set of 8 Wusthof steak knives, serving pieces of our silver, a statute of a jockey for our living room, a needlepoint flask, a bottle of Chimay, and much appreciated money.

I loved the card I got him since I am a democrat and he's more conservative (and grumpy about paying taxes):

Next best gift: a signed John Wall jersey from his brother that we will get framed.

But he loved the present he got himself the best: A CAR.

You read it right. He traded in his truck and bought himself a car. I love the car and have made him promise to keep it for at least 4 years. He's a serial car trader-inner (seriously, he's had 8 cars since he has been driving), so we will see how that works out. But so far we love it.

Much love,

Lauren