2011 NHL All-Stars

Congrats to Team Lidstrom for winning the 2011 NHL All-Star game today!

As some of you may not know but I have become a HUGE hockey fan (all thanks to my boyfriend for dragging me to his hockey games) and I enjoy watching talent from many teams play together.

But more importantly my future husband (I wish) Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks was the assistant captain on the winning team (a.k.a Team Lidstrom).

So Congrats on the 11 to 10 win today!

And I would also like to give a shout-out to the MVP of today's game Patrick Sharp who is also on the Chicago Blackhawks

110 Days

110 days from today I will be greeting everyone with a friendly "ciao" and admiring the beautiful breath-taking sites of Rome, Florence and Paris. The School of Art and Art History here at Iowa is offering a trip for anyone who wants to spend 14 days in Italy, France and Belgium. 

St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

We will spend the majority of our time in Italy and then travel via train to France. There is an optional extension to Amsterdam, Belgium for anyone that was interested.

Here is the itinerary...

Day 1 Fly into Italy.

Day 2 Rome.

Day 3 Guided Tour of Rome (Visit Colosseum and Forum Romanum)

Day 4 Visit Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica

Day 5 Visit the Basilica of St. Francis

Day 6 Florence. Visit the Uffizi

Day 7 Florence

Day 8 Paris. Visit Notre Dame Cathedral

Day 9 Paris. Tour of the Louvre

Day 10 Paris

Day 11 Paris and Amsterdam

Day 12 Amsterdam

Day 13 Amsterdam

Day 14 Depart for Home

Needless to say, I am SO excited and I can't wait!!

I have been overseas before but to a completely different part of Europe. When I was a freshman in high school I got the amazing opportunity to travel to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Lichtenstein. I took 4 years of German in high school and wanted to experience a completely different culture. The trip was amazing and I hope to one day go back to Germany and experience Oktoberfest.

Ciao!

Balloons

Overall last weekend went really well and I was very happy to celebrate my boyfriends birthday with him this year. We got to NIU around 5:30ish and after Billy left for his hockey game at 7:30 (the game was at 10:30pm) we were instructed by Billy's brother John to immediately start blowing up balloons. A typical person would think a few balloons would be fine... John had other ideas...

This was Billy's room after three 75 count bags of balloons. Yes, do the math that is 225 colorful balloons that we all blew up with our own lungs. The picture does not do justice because we shoved them all into this closet! 

Maddie, Jessica and I had fun decorating his room with streamers and baking him a delicious birthday cake.

Even though he didn't come home until 2:30am we still had a lot of fun. The three of us (Maddie, Jessica and I) experience the game Dance Central for Xbox. It was a lot of fun and very tiring. We loved it so much we are thinking about getting it for our apartment here at Iowa. 

On Saturday night before his second hockey game my parents and sister met the four of us for dinner at The Yard House. It was very good and the waiter brought Billy a special dessert for his birthday! 

  

After dinner we all went to Billy's hockey game. This was a special game because this was Maddie's first hockey game EVER! Jessica had come to NIU before and had seen his hockey games before, so she was a pro! 

NIU played Loyola University and the ending result didn't go as planned for NIU. Even though NIU lost it was still a very exciting game. Maddie and Jessica got to spend time with my sister who they adore!

Jessica, Kelsey (my sister), and Maddie "watching" the hockey game.

Billy on the ice. Sorry it's blurry he was moving fast!

I am glad everyone had a good time and hope to return very soon!

Ready for the Weekend!

I know its only Thursday afternoon but I am finished with all my homework and ready for an exciting weekend! This is a special weekend because Saturday is my boyfriend of 3 plus years 20th birthday. Since we go to separate schools two of my three roommates (the same two that went to Wicked with me) are going to pack up and travel with me to Northern Illinois University to celebrate. It is a long and boring three hour drive from the University of Iowa to Norther Illinois but it should go by fast with Maddie and Jessica in the car!

Me, Maddie, and Jessica  (January 2011)

We have an eventful weekend planned for us because Billy (my boyfriend) is on the NIU Hockey team and he has games Friday and Saturday night. We plan on seeing the Saturday night game, which should be fun because Maddie and Jessica don't follow hockey. Billy introduced me to hockey and after 3 years of dating I am hooked on hockey and can't get enough! After the hockey game we plan on celebrating his birthday after with a LONG night out with friends!

Billy and I (December 2010)

Happy Birthday Billy, I love you and hope you have a wonderful 20th Birthday!

Wicked Sorry

It has been forever since the last time I blogged and I will admit it was out of pure laziness and nothing to blog about. School has started back up after what seemed like a 2 month long winter break. It is nice to be back in the swing of things and having TONS to do all the time. However, I am thankful this semester I have a lot of "free time" which will be put to good use. It is only the first week of classes and I already have a lot of things due. So much for Syllabus week being the "Best Week Ever!" 

 On a better note, I got the opportunity to go see Wicked (the Broadway musical) in Chicago with my two roommates/ best friends over winter break. The play was AMAZING to say the least even though our seats were the last row on the third level. I would highly recommend it for anyone who loves plays and/or wants to find out the untold story of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The plot was fantastic and kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire performance. I would go see it again in a heart beat!

Maddie and I in front of the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago

(Sorry Jessica)

"Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music. Your days are your sonnets." 

-Oscar Wilde