CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST

Pink or red? Apples or oranges? Beer or wine? Nike or Adidas? I have to make a lot of decisions on a daily basis. Thankfully,  the last one is made for me.........KU is an "Adidas School." That means that not only does Adidas sponsor all of our teams here, it also sponosors it's employees, me included. Growing up at a Nike school (Stanford) and then competing for a Nike School (KU used to be Nike)  it took some time adjusting to not having a swoosh on everything. But it's been five years now and it's safe to say that I am fully converted. Side note: Throughout his million of years at Stanford, Dad refused to use his Nike bucks. He had some moral stance against it. Meanwhile, all the other coaches kids were walking around in the latest Nike shoes and clothes and Bo and I had to rock LA Gears with holes in them (Slight exaggeration, but you get the point) . He seems to have no problem using MY Adidas bucks though.....Weird, I'm confused. Just kidding. Dad does EVERYTHING for me. The least I can do it throw a pair of sneaks his way.  Anyhoo....most of the Adidas clothes in the catalog don't necessarily float my boat so I end up buying for my family and friends.  We get to order twice a year and, after I buy all of my running kicks for the season, I usually have a hefty amount left over.  
I got home last night and had two huge boxes waiting for me on my front porch. I won't share the adult shoes with everyone...they are way boring. But I love shopping for the kiddos because Adidas is super creative for the little tykes. So here is what was in yesterday's delivery.........................

Harrison's

Hudson's

Tiny's

In the last shipment I got Molly's son, Jackson, his first pair of workout shoes and she just posted this pic on her facey......

How cute is he in his little Adidas sneakers?!?! Eventhough his Momma is a Jayhawk, his Dad is a Missouri Tiger so I need to make sure he has PLENTY of appropriate clothes to guarantee he doesn't go down the wrong path in life........It's a slippery slope.

I ended up getting shoes for my Mom and Dad too. Sorry, Bo and Robin, it's all about Tiny now. Don't worry though, I hear they are making LA Gear in adult sizes now. HA!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

PEACE, LOVE, AND JAYHAWKS

Why is it always so hard for us to come back to work after the weekend?  Eventhough I got plenty of rest, that alarm clock still buzzed WAY to early this morning!!!! I am committed though, and dragged myself out of bed and hit the treadmil/eliptical. NO EXCUSES.  I have an insanely busy week..... The student-athlete back to school meeting tonight, golf dinner Tuesday night, golf dinner Wednesday night, Football Kick Off Rally Thursday night, PLUS I have to fit a mani/pedi AND a total house cleaning in there somewhere...But if I make it to Friday, I get my reward.....A trip to go visit Coach O. in Virginia!!!! YEAH!!!! We (Hudy and I) leave Friday and I can't wait to see her and give her a huge squeeze.  I haven't seen her since July and I really miss my friend. I am bummed I am missing the first football game, but it will be TOTALLY worth it to have some of Katie's famous nachos.   

My weekend was great.  We got one last lake day in on Saturday and we put the 2011 lake season to bed.  With football starting this weekend (Go Jayhawks!) we are going to start having recruits in so no more "fun in the sun."  It's ok though, I think my skin needs a little break! HA!  Speaking of the Jayhawks....They definetly have an uphill battle this season. I think we were picked to finish last in the Big XII. OUCH.  But I believe we can do better.  Once a Jayhawk, always a Jayhawk and, win or lose,  I will be cheering for them every weekend.

We had a team photo shoot the other night and the pics turned out absolutely ADORBS. I can't share them all since we are going to use them in our media stuff, but here is a little taste. I just love these girls.........

Aren't they cute?!?! So pretty, smart and talented.....these girlies are the total package :) 

The 2011/2012 season is just around the corner and I am getting anxious....Let's get this party started! HA!

That is all for today!

PEACE, LOVE AND JAYAHAWKS!!!!!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

FINAL STOP: LAKE COMO

So we've come to the end of the trip.  Like any other really long trip, the last couple of days were met with mixed emotions.  Sadness because this fabulous trip was coming to an end....back to work, back to school, back to the daily grind.  But happiness because we were going home to our families, friends, puppies, and functioning hairdryers.

Our final stop was Lake Como...Home of the newly single, George Clooney.  That didn't get much of a reaction from the players, but I know of a couple of female staff members who put an extra couple of minutes into their hair and makeup routine that first morning in Como.  Moi included.

We arrived in Como mid-day and had the rest of the day to eat and explore.  I don't think I have been to a more beautiful place then Como, Italy........

This is a for real picture Bonnie took. This is what it really looked like from our hotel.

It was seriously like something out of a picture book.  Our hotel was located right along the edge of the water and directly in the middle of a square filled with bars, restaurants and shops. It was the perfect location. 

We got up early the next morning and boarded a private tour boat that took us around the lake and we got to see all of the famous celebrity's humble abodes:

George Clooney's Mansion.

Keena on the boat tour.

During the boat tour we got a call that we wouldn't be playing our fourth and final game that night.  The team we were supposed to play cancelled on us. They offered to bring the team we had beat by over 100 points but Bonnie and the assistants decided it wasn't worth the risk of injury so we just extended out time in Como.  Dang, I was hoping for one last chance to see my cute officials.  We got off the boat and got to do a little more, you guessed it, shopping. Como is known for it's silk so I picked up a little prezie for my Dad and a bracelet for me.....like I needed one of those.  How do you say impulse buy in Italian?That night the team that punked us earlier in the day paid for a lavish, six course meal for our team. Since it was the last night of the trip, it was perfect timing. We all got dressed up and walked over to the restaurant. They seated us outside at a huge long table and served us family style.  The girls got up and gave a little speech thanking Bonnie and the staff for the trip. Then we presented our tour guide that had spent the last 10 days shuffling us around with a bottle of Limoncello, an Italian alcohol.  We toasted (water for the girls, wine for the staff, Jack Daniels for me) eachother and our upcoming school year and season. There is a lot of pressure on us this year, but I think this trip was a HUGE step forward with our team chemisty.  Here are a few pics from the last night........................

Como Recap:

Shopping: Good..Cheap silk but, besides ties, I don't really have any use for silk. I'm not really a scarf kinda girl.

Food:  Nothing Special...The final dinner was great, but I feel like we could have gotten that at any city we stayed in.

Hotel: Beautiful. Old. Perfect location.  Shower worked. Hairdryer stunk.

So that wraps up my trip to Italy in a blogshell!  Obviously, I had the trip of a lifetime and I am SO thankful and appreciative of KU for sending us.  There are a lot of expectations on us this year but I feel like everyone is up to the task. LATE NIGHT 2011 is only two short months away! Lord help us.

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

THIRD STOP: VENICE

VENICE

We started our journey to Venice later in the day then previously scheduled because we wanted to give the girls a little more time to rest their legs after two games in three days AND, more importantly, the coaches/staff had some last minute shopping to do:) Neither party objected.  It was a five hour bus ride to Mestri, Itay, where our hotel was actually located.  After a quick "drop (bags) and wash (face)" we headed over to our private boat that took us over to Venice.  It was about a 30 minute boat ride and along the way we got to see Elton John's house.  It it the yellow one connected to the church.  I know it doesn't look like much but it cost a pretty penny......10 million euros, which is rougly 14 million dollars. Gheesh....That makes Palo Alto look like a dollar store!

Anyhoo....we stayed in Venice for about 3 hours that night. Just enough time to grab some din-din, explore a little, and "hunt" for the treasures I wanted "gather" the next day.  Venice is known for it's glass so this shopping was right up my alley.....shiny and sparkly. I held off buying anything though until the next day because I knew I would have more time then and I wanted to make the right decisions.....my suitcase could only weigh 50 lbs total on the way back so there wasn't much room for excess!

The next morning we took a different form of transportation back to Venice.  This time, instead of a big boat, we took water taxis. The were so much fun, but gave a few of us motion sickness babies a little bit of a hard time.

It took about four water taxis to get our group over there. After a quick tour of Venice with a guide, we were on our own for most of the day. They had set up a tour of a glass blowing factory and it was by far my fave part of the day. At the end of the demostrations they were selling their products in the gift shop and everything was BEAUTIFUL, but extremely pricey. Seriously, who spends 100 euro on ONE wine glass? Even the most fabulous of the fabulous people, my Momma, couldn't afford to do that. At least one gets broken at every dinner party! $25 for a box of 4 is much more our style! But  I still wanted to go away with a rememberence of the glass factory so I got these little gems:

Our tour guide's daughter told me they looked like disco balls in my ears. PERFECT. They are my new everyday earing.

I got a couple of other little things that I won't mention on here because they are gifts for some of my blog followers, but one little lovie I WILL share is that I found another little red heart to add to my growing collection my Momma started. I also got one for her and my Auntie Chris....They are currently en route to Cali along with a couple of other prezies............

Oh yeah...I almost forgot....We got to take gondola rides while in Venice. LOVED those.  They even gave us a bottle of champagne to enjoy...YEAH BUDDY!!!!!

My only complaint about Venice is that I felt like it was kind of dirty.  There were birds EVERYWHERE so you can imagine the mess that they left behind.  Also, it was extremely crowded so, at times, this closterphobic girl was a little uncomfortable. 

We had our third game that night and, to be honest, it isn't even worth blogging about. We won 135-27.  But, then again, happy coaches = happy trip, so I guess it was kind of newsworthy. HA!

She started the game for the other team. I'm not joking.

Here are a couple random Venice pics:

Chester on the gondola ride. Love this guy. Always has a smile on his face.

Another pic for my bro and SIL....There are no cars in Venice, so this is how the po-po get around.

Venice Recap:

Food: The food was good. Bonnie got a seafood platter that looked pretty legit.  I stuck to my Caprese Salad and gellato.

Shopping: BEST of the whole trip! 

Hotel: The hotel was ok. Probably my least fave. Although it was newer, it was located in an industrial city so there wasn't much ambiance. The hairdryer and shower were functional so I didn't complain much.

Next up: Our final stop- Lake Como!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

NEXT STOP: FLORENCE

FLORENCE

Florence was by far my favorite stop on our Italy tour.  I can't really put an finger on exactly why, but I know for sure that I didn't want to leave.  Our first day in Florence we actually had a lot of free time to explore, shop and sightsee.   Florence is known for it's leather goods and I was determined to find a fabulous leather wallet to take away with me. Our Italian tour guide was buddy-buddy with a couple of the leather shop owners so he took us to a couple of different places. This was the "hunting" part of the day, as my Mother would call it:) We stopped and had some lunch....Caprese Salad AGAIN...and then I decided which wallet I wanted to so I went back with Tory to "gather". A huge part of Italian retail is bargaining with the shop owners. It's not something I am totally comfortable doing so I was pretty proud of myself when I talked him down from 120 euros to 60 euros...with FREE branding of my initials included. How do you all think I did?!?!?!

Our second day in Florence we actually spent in Pisa, Italy seeing.....you guessed it...the Leaning Tour of Pisa...

 We had reservations to climb to the top so we set out in two groups....Group #1- the players....Group #2- the staff.  Believe me, at this point in the trip, nobody was dissapointed with the grouping. HA! The trip to the top was long and narrow.  We had a couple of people in our group who shall remain nameless,  Tory and Steve, who are afraid of heights so they weren't too thrilled with the activity, but nonetheless, they were troopers and everybody made it to the top safe and sound. 

Me and Bonnie at the top. Please ignore the sunnnies.  I forgot my Tory B's at the hotel and had to barter with a guy to buy these gems.  3 euro so don't judge.

The girls "waving the wheat" at the top of the tower. Rock Chalk!

Another pic of the girlies at the top of the tour.

We had a game that night so, after a quick pre-game meal, we hoped on our bus and headed to the arena.  I use the term "arena" loosly. It didn't have air conditioning, functioning toilettes, or seats with backs on them, but it DID have a basketball court.....so we gave the Italians the benefit of the doubt on this one. On a positive note, my cute officials from the first game were back.  I even got a smile from one of them. Probably because I was totally BUTCHERING their language trying to get them to call a travel.  Apparently the Italians get an extra step when attacking the basket.  Sorry for the mini rant.....I felt like the officiating was a leetle one sided:). It didn't really matter though because we won pretty easily. Again, happy coaches = happy trip.

That night, our last night in Florence, we had a casual staff dinner complete with drinks and dessert. It was probably one of my most favorite memories of the trip.  This is where I had my first experience with heaven in a cup gellato, the Italian version of ice cream. Thank goodness they don't sell this "crack in a cup"  in the U.S. because I would have a major problem. HA!  Walking back to the hotel, the city looked like something out of a movie.  The girls and I tried to find the Jersey Shore house, but our Italian guide refused to help because I guess they didn't put their best foot forward when they filmed there. Imagine that. Silly Americans. HA!

Florence Recap:

Food: Better than Rome. Gellato is heaven.

Shopping: Awesome.  The leather was beautiful and suprisingly affordable. They also had a million outdoor markets where you could pick up cheap, little souviners.

Hotel: This hotel had the best location out of all of them. It was right there in the middle of the city. It was older and the elevators were tiny, but the hairdryer was functioning, so I considered it Five Star. HA!

Next Stop: Venice! 

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

FIRST STOP: ROME

So I have decided that the best way to document my trip is to break it down into the cities we visited, in the order we visited them.  There is no way I could fit the whole trip into just one post and this way I will have a better chance not to leave anything out.  So here we go......................

ROME

Our first stop on "The Tour" was Rome.  We survived our 22 hours of traveling and got directly off the plane onto a bus that took us on our first sightseeing mission.  Our travel company wanted to keep us awake so we could try and conquer our jet lag. Lets just say, we were one tired bunch by the time we arrived at The Coliseum. But we fought through our fatique, grabbed some caffine, and slapped a smile on our faces. Hey, we're only in Rome once, right?!?!?! The Coliseum was really impressive.  To think that they built that so many years ago without any of the major machines we have today....Just their bare hands.  We had a fantastic tour guide who knew all the detailed history and fun facts about it.  The girls got a pic with the gladiators that are hanging out around the outside. I decided against getting my picture with the fellas.....It was all a little too "USC" for me:)   After the tour they allowed us to go check in our hotel and get some rest. 
It was, for sure, the best nap I have ever had in my life. HA!

The second day we were in Rome we visited the Vatican, St. Peter's Basicalla, and the Sistine Chapel.  As a lifelong Catholic and parochial school graduate, I was especially excited to visit the Vatican. With so much tradition and history, it was hard to take it all in. One interesting thing I learned is that the Vatican is it's own city, Vatican City,  complete with a post office and police force. Also, the Pope has an apartment in Vatican City. I'm not sure where I thought he lived. I guess I just assumed he lived IN THE VATICAN CHURCH. But, now that I think about it, it makes more sense he has an apartment. Huh, who knew?  Some of us stayed later and attended mass which was beautiful. I couldn't really understand it, since it was in SPANISH, but I took Holy Communion and that is universal.

.

 Our third day in Rome we had free time in the morning (hello, shopping) and then a game that night. It was perfect timing for a little rest since we had basically been going since the minute we got off the plane. I was especially glad we had some free time because I got to explore the city and discovered probably my most favorite monument of the whole trip, The Trevi Fountain. It was spectacular. Legend says that if you throw three coins into the fountain and make three wishes, all three wishes will be granted. You better believe I took my three coins and made my three wishes.....Fingers crossed that they come true!!!  After the Trevi Fountain, it was off to the game. The competition was okay, but we were just more skilled and better conditioned then they were in the end.  We ended up winning by a bunch, which made for happy coaches. Happy coaches= happy trip :)

Me, right before my coin toss. Shield your eyes from the outfit and hair. Not the most flattering, but the most comfortable.

The girlies, after the first game.

So that was basically Rome in a blogshell.  Below are a couple more pics from Rome that I thought were fun:

One of our freshman, Bunny (Catherine), celebrated her 18th birthday in Rome.  Here she is with some of her birthday loot.

I took this pic for my bro and SIL...I thought the cop cars here were hilarious. I mean, how can you take these guys seriously?!?!?!?!

The officals for our first game. SO cute. Why can't we get any of these guys for our conference games!?!?! I would pay WAY more attention......................

Recap Rome:
Food:  The food was OK- I stuck mainly to the "caprese salad" which is tomatos and fresh mozzerell drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinergrette.  Yum Yum.
Shopping: Rome was probaly my least favorite shopping city. There weren't too many shops that fit my budget! HA!
Hotel: Our hotel was nice. It was def one of the newer ones we stayed in. But our shower didn't work correctly and our hairdryer was busted.  Two MAJOR negatives in my book:) 

Up next: Florence! The adventure continues.........

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

CIAO BELLAS!!!!!!

Trip of a lifetime. That's all I can say.  I'm working on an "Italy post" but it's going to take a couple of days to get that together. I have a ton of pictures and stories to tell and I want to make sure I do the trip justice...if that is even possible....

I don't have much to report from the weekend.  We got home Friday night and I pretty much slept, worked out, and ate my way to Monday morning.  I didn't really dig the food in Italy so I had some major cravings to give into once I hit American soil.  I knocked out the chicken finger/ranch craving with Bonnie in the Atlanta Airport first thing.  The mexican food craving was elimintated Saturday at El Mezcal, and yesterday, I got my sugar fix at Miss Emma's birthday party.  Needless to say, I am starting no-carb/no-sugar again this morning and even bought a brand new Diet Minder to motivate me. 

School starts today at KU and I'm really excited to get back to my routine.  Summer is basically over and, although I am bummed there are no more lake weekends, they will be replaced by one of my most favorite pastimes, COLLEGE FOOTBALL. 

Italy was amazing and I was a little sad the trip had to come to an end but that sadness was quickly replaced by happiness when I woke up the next morning to this darling face.......She missed her Momma and her Momma def missed her!

(I know this pic is sideways.  The blog Gods are not co-operating with me this morning. UGH)

Dorothy said it best, "There is no place like home."

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

ARRIVEDERCI!

ITALY coundown:  0 days! WHOOP! WHOOP!

Today is the day and I couldn't be more excited! Watch out, Italy, The University of Kansas Women's basketball program is headed your way!   My bag is packed and loaded on the bus and, I must say, I am pretty impressed with myself.  I didn't quite get everything in one bag :) OOPS!  But the teasing I'm going to get for having two bags is NOTHING compared to the anxiety I would have if I didn't have all my things :) Anyhoo, Things I'm excited for- Shopping, sightseeing, shopping, games, shopping, bonding with the girls and staff, shopping and eating.
I will try to blog a little while I'm over there, but can't promise that. What I CAN promise, though, is that I will take tons of pictures and post them all when I get home.

25 people +10 days + 5 cities + 4 games =1 HUGE adventure. I can't wait.

NDIAMO! (Let's Go!)

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BESTIE!

Isn't the cake cute? I asked them to make a huge beer can with her name on it. It turned out perfect and, most importantly,  delicious!

Last night was Hudy's birthday party and it was a BLAST.  RyRy and I hosted it at a new bar in town, Six Mile Tavern. I picked up Hudy at 6:15 and she was ready right on time.  Funny how she is ready promptly when the party is for her.  Every other night I would have been waiting on her FOREVER.  HA! First we took her out to dinner at our favorite mexican place and then headed over to the bar. It was soon filled with people from work, friends from the lake, and others we know around town. I just floated around and took pics of the crowd, fufilling my hostess role. Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face and a drink in their hand so I think I did  my job well.  The happiest of everyone was Hudy. Boy, she loves to be the center of attention. HA!   The only thing missing from the night was Coach O.  It's situations like last night that make me realize how much I miss her and used to rely on her socially. We would have been posted up in the corner discussing everyone's outfits because we, after all, are perfect!  HA! 

Here are some more pics from the night.  I'm only in just a couple because I prefer to be behind the lense :)

Notice the poster behind everyone. I got it made at Kinko's and had everyone sign it. I didn't get a pic of it though. Shame on me.

Coach Self came.  Love him, but he needs a shave. I may have even told him that:)  

I sometimes daydream about what I would do if I weren't in college athletics.  Usually, I decide that I would be a high school teacher and athletics director. But, after last night, I think I could for sure be a party planner.  When I was leaving the owner of the bar came up to me and thanked me for deciding to have the party at his bar.  I just looked at him and said, "I bring the people." HA!

Italy preperations are in full swing.....Four days and counting.....I pretty much have everything I need except an outfit for the Vatican. They just told me there is a dress code and no v-neck shirts are allowed. I seriously don't think I own a non-v-neck shirt.  GAP, here I come........  


Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA