last Saturday my friend Erin and I made the trek from Cleveland to Columbus for the Blue Jackets vs Flyers hockey game. (it's about a 2.5-3hr drive).
on the way down we jammed out to the usual, Backstreet Boys, Nsync, country, lion king music, etc. and we only got slightly lost when my gps told me to get off at an exit and as I'm on the off ramp it rerouted and decided it was a different exit that I should take.
once in Columbus we were going to grab a bite before the game, we attempted to eat at Thurman's which was featured on Diners Drive-ins and Dives, but that was a 40min wait. after that we decided to just park by the arena and walk to a place nearby. we didn't have too much time tho, so we tried Steak Escape, which was a Subway type place but better in my opinion. I got the rajun cajun wrap with chicken. topped with tomatoes and lettuce, some grilled onions, and finished off with hot sauce. it was pretty good.
then we headed into the game. I was rocking my Flyers jersey. (it was the first time I ever rooted for the non-home team.) I got a few high-fives from other fellow Flyers fans. and did a few "woos" when we scored. the Flyers lost 6-3, but it was such a fun time! I even got to see my boy Schenner get in a fight!
Brayden Schenn, or as I call him, Schenner.
to start the game we went up to our actual seats, which were just in the nose-bleeds, but for the 3rd period we went down to better seats and were 20 rows back from the ice. it was awesome. I love the energy at hockey games, the fans are so intense, it's fantastic.
I saw this on Heather's blog, thought it was quite festive, and seeing as it's Christmas Eve...
eggnog or hot chocolate?
I like both. does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
wraps, and labels "from: Santa." the handwriting is very similar to my moms.
colored lights on tree/house or white?
colored. for sure. we do Red, White, and Blue on my house. MERICA! do you hang mistletoe?
nope. I think one year we put one up though. when do you hang your decorations?
typically the weekend following Thanksgiving. and get our tree either that weekend or the next, depending on how busy we are. (this year my parents decided to get a fake tree without preparing me for it, and I'm pissed about it. I hate fake trees, I think they're stupid.) favorite holiday dish?
Christmas breakfast. my momma makes a huge breakfast after we're done with presents and what not. eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, hashbrowns, the whole shebang. I love it. favorite holiday memory as a child?
going to my papa's on Christmas Eve and my gram's on Christmas. my cousins, brothers, and I would spend Christmas Eve searching for Santa on one of those websites, and playing games we made up. what is on your Christmas wish list?
headphones, a new Browns shirt and Tribe shirt, Are You There Vodka It's Me Chelsea, new hair straightener. and then stubhub giftcard, livenation giftcard, kohls/jcpenney giftcard.
do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?
nope. well, kinda I guess.. we go to my cousin's and exchange gifts with them. snow, love it or dread it?
love it on Christmas and Christmas Eve.. otherwise, it's just eh. real tree or fake tree?
REAL. no question about it. do you remember your favorite gift?
I've gotten so many fantastic gifts, I don't know what would be my fav. whats the most important thing about Christmas for you?
spending time with the fam. whats your favorite holiday desert?
idk, Christmas cookies...? whats your favorite holiday tradition?
going to my cousins on Christmas Eve and my grams on Christmas day. do you prefer giving or receiving?
receiving. lets be honest. I like both actually.. I enjoy the look on their face when they open your gift and see something they wanted or something they like but didn't expect. whats your favorite Christmas song?
thats a tough one. I love all Christmas music, I guess I'd say...
candy canes, yuck or yum?
yum!!
favorite Christmas movie?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (which also happens to be Luke Bryan's fav too) but I also really love Elf. and Home Alone. and Rudolph. and Prep & Landing.. which isn't technically a movie, but whatever.
what do you leave for Santa?
we used to leave cookies and milk, with a few carrots for the reindeer.
do you prefer to shop online or at the mall?
online I think. this year I basically ordered everything.. but I do love Black Friday shopping.
Christmas letter or card?
we used to send cards out, now we don't send anything. but I like getting cards sent to us.
(Luke Bryan is my real husband, but I haven't met him yet..)
Kip Moore came to the House of Blue Cleveland for the last stop of his tour this year on Saturday. it was the second time I've seen him in concert. Erin and I got down to CLE early, drank a few margs, and headed over to wait in line.
(side story:: while drinking margs, a group of adults were ordering drinks next to us at the bar and they brought light-up ice cubes. they were so cool, I asked where they had gotten them, they told me Amazon, and then the one guy threw one in my glass and said "Merry Christmas" I was so pumped. free light-up ice cube! thank you random man. it will get used often.)
when we got into HoB, we headed straight for the stage and got a pretty prime spot. dead center and pretty close too. Kip did awesome. he sang a bunch of his songs, some that he said he hadn't played in a while, and may have messed up his own lyrics once or four times. he said it was the Jack's fault. it was hilarious, and his dance moves were priceless. it was a great time.
those arms.
that backwards hat.
his voice.
when Kip came back out for his encore, he said since it was the last night of his tour he'd be at the merchandise table and sign anything we wanted. Erin and I bee-lined for the merch table, and were third in line. I thought I was going to pass out, I was so excited. he signed the inside brim of my Mossy Oak hat (the hat I wear to basically every country concert), and I shook his hand. I was freaking out.
it was one of the coolest nights of my life. I got to meet Kip Moore!!
Lynch and Jennings did well, and Dawson killed it. all around everyone put up decent numbers, Cooper the only one on the low end. I'm happy with this weeks performance.
at the beginning of this week my lower back was killing me and I started to develop my yearly cough. but I stuck with my workouts...
12/9. for a work out I did 200 situps, 25 pushups, 25 squats, 25 calf raises, 60sec plank, and 50 jumping jacks. as for eating I've tried to cut down on my dinner portions, and eating more veggies//fruit. along with drinking more water.
12/10. I did the same thing as a work out. (but when it comes to the situps I switch up the kind of situps so I'm not doing the same exact thing every time.) eating wise I did well during the day but had a work party to attend. pizza, wings, and salad.. salad was healthy, pizza and wings not so much. I limited my portion to one slice of pizza and three wings.
12/11. ran//walked three miles, and did all the other things still. and even upping the jumping jacks to 100. I feel good (minus the cough I still have). as for food, I had a protein drink, a banana, some leftovers (not the healthiest), and for dinner mom made chicken with rice and asparagus. eh, could have done better, at least I had a good workout.
12/12. did another three miles, accompanied by the usual (200 situps, 25 pushups, 25 squats, 25 calf raises, 50 jumping jacks, 60sec plank) and I also added another 30 side ab things. I had two eggs, a little leftover chicken, and a hotdog with fries. again, the dinner killed me. I gotta get my mom to make healthier meals.
12/13. the usual stuff for a workout, but didn't do any running. food wise, I had a little vegetable soup, and some leftover chicken and rice.
the weekend I did good eating wise, but just didn't have time to get in a workout. I'll make up for it this week.
I love Christmas time and I love movies. put them together and I am one happy girl. so today I'm linking up with the fabulous Chelsea to talk Christmas movies.
my absolute favorites::
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. my all-time favorite Christmas movie. it's ridic funny, and so many good one liners that fit into everyday conversations. "dad, that thing won't even fit in our yard." "it's not going in our yard, Russ, it's going in our living room." I love the Griswold family.
Elf. I believe this should be on every favorite Christmas movie list. oh how I love Elf, second favorite Christmas movie. if you don't recall last year I watched this movie 4 times in 5 days (it was on 25 Days of Christmas, and I don't have self-control) "son of a nutcracker!"
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I love the island of misfit toys, the abominable snowman, and Herbie. who doesn't like this movie? it's a classic.
Home Alone. I don't think there was one Christmas season, since I was old enough to watch to watch it, that I didn't watch Home Alone. or Home Alone 2 for that matter.
honorable mentions:: Jingle all the Way, Four Christmases, A Christmas Story, Surviving Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Holiday, Just Friends and Die Hard (if those count), and basically any ABC Family Christmas movie.
I'm going to start posting weekly (hopefully) about how my workouts//eating have been. I think (and hope) by doing this it will keep me motivated and on track. we'll see how that works.
week one::
12/3. the dayI decided I needed to do something. It's not that I'm gaining weight, it's just that I'm losing muscle. I'm still the same weight, but I'm not as toned. I want to get that tone-ness back. that's my goal, I'm not setting a weight goal because I think those are ridic, after all, muscle does weigh more than fat.
food wise today wasn't that great, which is another reason I decided I need to start eating healthier. I didn't eat much of anything at work. but when I got home I had a corned-beef sandwich, some chips, and then a chocolate chip cookie. with maybe a few handfulls of popcorn. not the healthiest.
as for a work out.. yea, I didn't work out. I did go to work though. so I was on my feet and up and down stairs a few times.
12/4. the official day one started off with a bang. ran//walked 1.5 miles, and did 140 situps followed by a 60 second plank. for lunch I had a healthy wrap, one of those 90 cal wraps with a little bit of ham, some spinach, tomatoes, and lite balsamic vinaigrette, accompanied by an apple. and for dinner just a little corned-beef. but I did have three margs before the Cavs game that night, oops.
12/5. I was starving like Marvin while at work so I made myself two scrambled eggs. when I got home I snacked on some peas, then mom made chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn for dinner (not the healthiest, so I tried to limit my portion). workout wise I did 180 situps and 25 pushups.. after a long day at work I didn't have the energy to run the treadmill. but at least I still did a little something.
12/6. I had to work so all I did for a workout was 180 situps, 25 pushups, and 25 squats. I can already feel my abs getting stronger, and I definitely felt sore in my arms today. as for food, all I ate the entire day was a leftover piece of chicken fried steak, and a can of soup. I feel great, I'm not craving sweets as much, and I'm already down about 2 pounds.
the weekend I continued with my workouts, I'm up to 200 situps, 25 pushups, 25 squats, 20 calf raises, and 60 sec plank. eating wise I did decent as well, for a weekend.
so far so good! do you guys have any tips for staying on track?
well, Boykin did nothing. Luck sucked, again. Walker got hurt in the 1stQ, that's the third TE I've had that's gotten injured. but Gordon rocked it out (first player in the history of the NFL to have two back-to-back 200+ yard games!) and Bush finally did good again. now I'm playoff bound!
warning:: I'm hungover writing this, so bare with me.
Thanksgiving day began just like every other year, a little football at the Malone household. this year was pretty cold and we have snow on the ground so we didn't play to our usual 10 touchdowns, instead we stopped at 6. one of those being from yours truly. (most valuable player? maybe.)
after football it was home to get ready to feast. I helped mom prep the meal by peeling potatoes and opening cans (who says I can't cook?) the fam came over, we monged on the usual fixings, and I blew out my ice cream cake candles.
oh, and opened my awesome birthday gifts! parents got me a Brayden Schenn Philly Flyers jersey, perfume, and Kohls//Amazon gift cards. Randy&Melissa got me Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan and a new Ohio State shirt. Brian got me pink camo wine glasses and perfume. Gram got me a Bob Evans gift card (fun fact:: Bob Evans is ridic delish). Erin got me a bottle of vod, Browns ornament, and a shot glass. thanks guys!!
with a full belly, it was off to begin the black friday shopping. every year I go with my cousin Mo to help her shop for her kids. this year we started off at Walmart, before hitting Target, Kohls, the mall, Kmart, Half Price Books, and Kohls again. we got everything she needed, and I even scored a few things.. a pair of texting gloves, Monsters University bluray, a Mike Wazowski, some little things for my cousin, and items for my old lady (I took an ornament off a giving tree). 14 hours of shopping later and 24 hours of no sleep it was time to call it a day.
fast forward to Saturday night, it was time to celebrate 24 years. my friends bought me way too many shots, and I tried my first Irish Breakfast shot, which was delicious and if you've never tried it I highly recommend ordering one next time you're out.
and that was my Thanksgiving weekend. how was yours?
