For my friends.....

Sierra and Michael who just had their baby last week - Savannah.

I made these announcements for them, just have to mail them. I hate the Post Office so the thought of going anywhere near the place gives me hives. I usually avoid the place like the plague and use those mailbox etc places. Since I don't have one by the house, I have to go to the PO. :( I can do this.

I made them girly, but not too girly. I think all of the brown kind of counteracts the pink. Since Sierra is pretty much like me, I know pink is pretty much an unheard of color.......

God help me if I have a girl.......

Some pictures of the Prince.

Someone knows his place in this house. This is my little Prince. Thanksgiving was stressful for this little guy. Begging for food and attention can wear a pug out, ya know?

Thanksgiving....

Its just the beginning of the holidays isn't it? After a day filled with family and food, the holiday season began. Did I mention food? We had a 24 pound turkey and a 20 pound ham. Did I buy too much food for 11 people? You bet! But the leftovers were so worth it. I'm of course, turkey'd out at this point and ham doesn't sound so good right now either. Now I have less than a month to recover in time for Christmas. More food.

Some pictures from my Thanksgiving.

Happy Turkey Day!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Eat a lot and enjoy your families!

:)

Kings Rink Tour....

Coming to a rink near you!

So, after a long debate, I decided to hit the Aliso Viejo Ice Palace. Originally my mother was going to hit that one and I was going to go to the one closest to the house - Riverside Rink. But then!! The Kings announced WHO was going to be at which rink so I decided against Riverside and made the drive to Aliso. Boy, was it worth it. :)
Michael Cammalleri, Alyn McCauley and Marty Murray were the Kings there. And David Courtney, the Kings PA announcer at Staples. I gave the man props for the good job he does at Staples compared to that loser over at the Ponda Center. They have fake cheering, recorded cheering. How sad. And the announcer screams. It scares the you know what out of you whenever he speaks. And you never know when he's going to do it, it just sort of happens. You're sitting there watching the game and then this voice from above shouts, making you jump out of your seat. Okay, dude, its just a goal.

Anyway, moving on. So they did it a little different this year. Instead of strictly a Q&A session like last year followed by a small workshop with the kids, they just did the workshop. You could submit questions for the players to answer. They'd call them over and ask the question. Not bad, but I liked having them stand there and answer the questions. Of course, their moronic 'bodyguards' were there - like a bunch of kids are going to hurt the players. This is supposed to be for the kids, for the fans, but the fans can't get anywhere near them. And the rink wasn't that packed - not as bad as last year. I think everyone went to the rink Anze Kopitar was at. :)

But Cammy did see the jersey, pointed and winked. And My mom got her picture with him. he's such a sweetheart. Great personality and a great hockey player. And cute. Terribly cute. Make you want to toss your panties at him cute.

Cammy Q&A - Wears #13 because when he was 7, his dad lied about his age to get him on a team. When they handed out jerseys, his dad told him to wait because he was the youngest. the only number left was 13 so he took it. Only one other player wore #13 at the time. Since its not a lucky number, he makes sure he sticks to his superstition of putting his equipment on exactly the same way every time.

Also, he loves playing with someone like Kopitar. This year, Coach Crawford has him in more of a defensive role which he's getting used too. He said he likes to play the entire ice and this is his chance.

Cammy

Crowding the goalie

Team picture. Cammy is laying on the ice in the front row.

Whats better than a Ducks loss?

A Kings win. Three games in three days for me. I'm tired, but its all worth it. Now I have a week off from games. The Kings are on a Road Trip.

So, after the disappointing loss by the Kings on Thursday to Philly, the Ducks were treated to a loss by Chicago. Chicago took waaaayyyy too many penalties to win a game, but win they did. Normally, when I go to the Ducks games, they win. I'm a good luck charm or something. :(

And then tonight, the Kings beat Phoenix - not necessarily a hard thing to do. Gretzky is too emotional to coach. He's still in the mindset of a player. Just because he was a great player, doesn't mean he'll be a great coach. And Gordie Howe trumps Gretzky any day. Howe played the entire game, Gretzky, well, we'll save my disgust for him for another day. I dont' want to ruin the awesome feeling of a win with that man.

And JR got laid out by Cowan. Not exactly a clean hit, but a hit. JR was booed every time he touched the puck. In an interview after the game, JR apologized for sucking last year and even went so far as to say that "if I were a Kings fan, I'd probably boo me too". Guess what JR:

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Not only did my Kings win, but the Monarchs put on a good show in Manchester. I'll get back there one of these days.....

Jason Labarbera - yes, my goalie - stopped 46 shots for a shutout. YEP! You heard it here first. A shutout. My boy! Must have been the mojo from the jersey. I've been wearing his jersey to the Kings games and whenever I do, he wins. The one time I switched up and wore Cammy's jersey, he lost. So, whenever the Kings have a game the same night as the Monarchs, the JLB jersey makes an appearance.

They even voted him one of the 3 Stars for the game too.

#1 Patrick O'Sullivan - Hat Trick

# 2 Jason Labarbera - 46 saves and a shutout

#3 Noah Clarke - 2 goals

More Europe!

Oestergard - a mile long pedestrian street. Lots of shops, churches, fountains - you get the point.

Town Hall in Copenhagen. At one of the Pedestrian street was our hotel and at the other, Tivoli Gardens and Town Hall Square.

Parliament Building - 4 dragon tails swirled. Pretty cool to see.

Statue of the founder of Copenhagen - Bishop Absalom. We were told on our tours that anything that looks like gold, is gold. This is on the front of the Town Hall Building.

Teresa is coming!!

Teresa Collins is coming to my lss. Yeah. In January. Yeah!
Tuesday January 30 th @ 7pm.
Yeah!
And the Kings don't have a home game that night - amazing! That almost never happens.
So, the Oasis needs to hurry up and open already so I can call and reserve my spot.

More pics!

The Opera Hotel. Where we stayed before the cruise.

Tivoli Gardens - one of the entrances.

Nyhaven - the canal street with restuarants and shops. And the Little Mermaid statue.

Interupting the Baltic pictures....

....for a little more love. This time, from the Union Leader in New Hampshire.

Last night provided a rock-em, sock-em 4-2 victory by the Monarchs over the Toronto Marlies that saw too many hits to count, fights and hard-earned goals that sent all 5,332 in the Verizon Wireless Arena home a winner.

Monarchs goalie Jason LaBarbera (5-5-1) once again was Mr. Everything, making 35 saves. He saved a Toronto penalty shot. In fact, a penalty shot has never beaten LaBarbera in his career. Just before Stephenson's insurance goal, LaBarbera snuffed Westrum on the blind side during the 5-on-3.
"What a great save by LaBarbera," said Morris. "That was the turning point. Just took the pressure off."

Roussin's first was a finish in front of T.J. Kemp's rebound at 7:10 of the second period. At 11:00, Toronto's Marc Moro beat LaBarbera on a sharp wrister from the left circle. And 2:34 later, Roussin got his second on a power play. He almost lost the handle on the shot as moved at the net from inside the right circle and that alone may have fooled Marlies goalie J.F. Racine (35 saves).

I will be sporting the Labarbera jersey at Staples Center tonight in honor of the win!

A little teaser...

So many people have asked for pictures from my Europe Trip in September so here they are. Just a few every day. These are from Copenhagen, Denmark.

The first one is the happy group. My family on the way to the airport.

In the air. Just before we started our descent into London.

Landing in London. Bryan was fascinated with the little plane beneath us as we circled. I HAD to take a picture of it. It is kind of cool.

Sunset in Copenhagen. Finally there. After hours in the air and battling the horrible security measures in London, we made it.

The love worked!

Jason won tonight - 4-2. I wish I could see these games, but I'm stuck listening to them on internet feed radio or waiting for the update from the Monarchs Season Ticket holders 3 hours away. Well, the reports came in tonight that he played awesome! Stopped shots on a 5-3 penalty kill and a penalty shot that was awarded. Thats my goalie!!

A little love....

For my frustrated goalie. Jason is having a tough time with these back to back games. Not sure why Morris isn't playing Brust on the first or second of the games. Jason still looks good. My sources in Manchester tell me he pretty much stands on his head most of the game. He has his off game but he's usually on top of it. The last game he played in, they lost. They said he had some good saves, but didn't really show any flashes of brilliance. So, Brust got the last two starts. One win, one loss. Ha! In your face all of you Barry Brust lovers in Manchester who have been calling for my boys head! You all suck! Jason is better than Barry Brust. Barry Brust - doesn't that sound like the name of a porn star? I'll give him credit, he's better than Hauser - the 'round mound of no rebound'.
So, here's to my goaltender! My frustrated goaltender in Manchester.

2 points!

Yeah! 2 points. A clean win too. No OT, no shootout - just a clean win over the Sharks. The Sharks. The same team that cleaned our clocks last Thursday saw the other side of the Kings. The Kings that are 'reloading'. With the talent this team has, there is no excuse for the poor play. Dustin Brown said it best last night in the post game interview that normally the team would have been deflated after the Sharks first goal, but they battled back and tied it up at 1. The Sharks scored a second goal (a soft one too) and they battled back again. They didn't let the Sharks into their zone and when they did, the defense was right there and Cloutier was hot. Did I just say that? I did. And the fact that he didn't get at least 1 of the 3 stars of the game last night, kind of upset me. He did have a good game and I do want to give him credit. I won't go any further than that, but he did have some spectacular saves. He's trying to play the short side (where most of his goals slip by) and he left 2/3rds of the net open for Michalek to score. The second goal Cloutier let in was weak. But he stayed in there.
Okay, enough good karma for Cloutier. He still has a lot of games to win before I even consider him a King. Yes, I DID say that!

So, some pictures from last night (courtesy of Yahoo Sports!):

Anze 'Saviour" Kopitar. (Fo'shizzle-kopitizzle). This kid is awesome and the future of the Kings.

Dustin Brown - 'Feelin' YOU!' What can Brown do for you?

Cammy-licious.

The Paper Source...

Just opened up in South Coast Plaza. Normally I avoid that place like the plague. Too many people and the traffic is horrible. Not worth the experience of shopping there. But, if you're going to tempt me with a Paper Source, I might have to break down. And break down I did. My husband was there to witness the breakdown.
But it was for a good cause. I have two friends expecting babies in the next few months and I need to make announcements. One boy and one girl. So, I picked up a few things.......

Of course, there are a few things for me in this stack. How could I resist? It was hard to keep focused with the wall of coordinating card supplies. Envelopes, cards of every shape and size, scalloped cirlces, squares and ovals..... All to be drooled over.

Christmas Lists.......

Do you know how hard it is to wait for Christmas? I'm this instant gratification person. I don't like to wait. I have gifts already purchased for some people and I can't wait to give them out. I hate waiting. I hate waiting for my stuff and to give my stuff. I'd rather just go out and buy what I want. I only have two things on my list this year. My husband wants more ideas, but there are only two things I want.

An Anze Kopitar jersey and a new 30 GB iPod.

And along with that new iPod, I can get a new skin. Since Apple doesn't make a blue iPod (in anything other than a Nano or Mini) I must dress my regular iPod with cool clothes. I've begged and pleaded with Apple to reconsider the blue iPod. They really need to come in colors other than Black and White. Thats just so.....boring.

So, my new iPods first outfit will be......

A Los Angeles Kings skin. You just have to love the NHL shop. www.shop.nhl.com

The Ribbor Jar

If you haven't checked this place out, do it. www.theribbonjar.com They have monthly jars with a color/seasonal theme that you can buy. They come in cute jars - different jars every month. And then they have yards of ribbon for sale. I couldn't resist last months jar - brown and green ribbon. My favorite color combo. I have two of the dress forms to decorate, and they might be getting a green and brown dress.......

Scalloped everything......

With this baby, I can scallop everything. Thats right, I bought one of these little suckers. No more trying to cut in a straight line with those scissors - I never did scissors. I'm kicking myself for not buying the extra package and getting the other two blades. But, there is always the next Expo right? :) So, I've scalloped a few things already and I love this thing. So easy to use. I have no use for the deckle or victorian blades so they'll stay neatly tucked away. I will be purchasing extra scalloped blades though. :) Lots of them. If I could scallop my house, I would. Everything in this house would be scalloped with lots of swarovski crystals on those scallops.

Last weeks loot.....

Shopping - internet and at the store. I don't care, its all the same. This was last weeks haul.

All kinds of goodies. New Lil Davis Designs Rock Star and Vanderbilt.

Bazzill Mini Blossoms.

Stamps (Technique Tuesday, Hero Arts and Cats Life Press)

Lots of goodies......

Back to the Charity game....

So, the other big names were some of the old Kings - Iam Turnbull and Rick Chartraw. Bobby Hull Jr - the son of Bobby Hull - The Golden Jet. Some actors that were there included Michael Vartan (Never Been Kissed), Jason Priestley (yuck, Beverly Hills 90210) and Alan Thicke (Growing Pains). You can find out more about the Freeze the Disease Foundation at www.freezethedisease.com

More pictures from the Game:

Bobby Hull Jr.












Igor larionov - 4 time Stanely Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings.

Ducks @ Kings

So, that Kings Ducks game I mentioned in the last post, well, I took some pictures. not the greatest, but it will remind me that at one point in the game, we led them.

Until they tied it up and we had to go into OT and a Shootout. O'Sullivan and Kopitar had a chance to win this one and they both kind of blew it.

Charity hockey....

is always fun. Especially when you include igor Larionov and Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe. Forget Gretzky, Howe is the real deal. Gretzky doesn't hold a candle to this man. He did it all. he could shoot, skate, pass, score and most importantly - fight. This man has fists of steel.
There was a charity hockey game at Staples after the last Kings Ducks game (which the Kings managed to squeeze a point out of...) to benefit Cystic Fibrosis. A worthy cause. the Staples Center ushers screwed the seating up. Even though you paid for seats, they stuck you in the non-paid seats. I didn't know you didn't have to pay to see the game. I thought it was ticket purchases only. I still would have bought the tickets because it went towards charity.
Well, come to find out, I could have sat in the good seats, the ones behind the player benches but because all of the ushers at Staples never graduated from High School, they can't follow directions.
It took almost an hour for the game to start - they had to go through the player introductions and a presentation by someone who has Cystic Fibrosis. The one bad aspect - the fact that Gordie Howe didn't sign autographs. In the email I received from the Kings it stated that there would be a Meet and Greet with Gordie. When I got there, I found out they were auctioning off 2 lucky winners to meet with him and get their pictures taken. Only two. People were walking away. Do you know how much money they could have raised for CF if they guy had sat there and signed autographs? But no, only two people won that honor. That sucks. I really wanted to meet him. How often does someone like Gordie Freakin' Howe come to town? Seriously.
So, how close did I actually get?
Jumbotron close. Thanks to the Ushers at Staples Center....

I guess that will have to do for now. One of these days, I'll get to meet him.