It's All So Exciting

The last few days I have been doing some majorly exciting things. Let me explain ...

Matt and the rest of HC Asiago left for Herning, Denmark on Wednesday morning around 6 AM to go battle it out in the first round of the IIHF Continental Cup 2011/12.

Each year the champions from the leagues here in Europe play in a tournament called the Continental Cup.  It's sort of the IIHF's way of determining who is just out right the best team in all of Europe. Last year while playing for Sonderjyske in Denmark, Matt and his team took the trip to (none other than) Asiago for the first round of the tournament. They won this round and headed to Belarus for the Super Final where they placed 3rd. Not bad.

Asiago won their league again last year and so Matt was able to go to (seriously) Denmark this past weekend for the first round of this year's Continental Cup. Pretty stinky that he didn't get a totally new country on his list for this tournament but it's okay.

This means that I have been left all alone for 6 days now and he doesn't return again until tomorrow evening. I wanted to make the most of this time, not just sit around the house sulking that my husband is gone. Actually, I don't ever do that. I sleep diagonal in bed, but in his spot (hahaa) and Lucy gets her own spot and pillow. I also get to watch whatever shows/movies I want while he's away. Cook whatever I want, clean and have it actually stay clean, sleep in until whenever and have plenty of girls nights!

I was pretty lucky that I got to spend Thanksgiving with some great people. It wasn't exactly a typical Thanksgiving, but it was awesome! I even got to decorate a bit for Christmas. We wanted to do something awesome while the boys were away too so that resulted in a girls TRIP!

Friday morning we set off for Ljubljana, Slovenia! {Pronounce that sucker: Loo-bee-yana} We met up with some girls from the team there, had some Thai food for dinner, headed out to the bar for the night and had an awesome time!

At TOP bar!

Saturday we woke up and decided to set out on the town and see everything we could. We grabbed some McDonald's, shopped the five story H&M, and headed up to the Ljubljana Castle. My camera died there but I got a few good ones before it did.

I tried some Slovenian beer:

Saw a movie in ENGLISH!

We even found ourselves a City Park, where I bought some avocados, sriracha, sweet and sour sauce, Toffifee, and a surprise for Matthew! I'd say it was a successful trip. Until we get a fine for 150 euro because we forgot to get a highway toll pass. Oops!

It was an awesome girls trip, that's for sure. We returned late Saturday night and decided we wanted to keep the eventful weekend going by having a legitimate Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday! We ordered a 15 pound turkey, made appetizers, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots and pumpkin pie!

We actually had to pluck the turkey a bit, clean it, gut it, and all that fun stuff before we could cook it. Tina the Turkey was quite gross but it had to be done. Along the way I may or may not have played with her a bit.

Here Tina tries to fly away..

I also may have said something along the lines of feeling like a gynecologist and got my picture taken for that but that one isn't available for viewing. Sorry, folks. Here's how Thanksgiving turned out:

It was delicious! Last night was also the final game of the Continental Cup. We were lucky to find a live game sheet to watch after dinner while we sipped some Brulé alla Mela! And guess what! THEY WON!!

Guess where the Super Finals are this year: Rouen, France. Just one and a half hours away from Paris! I'm thinking a few days in Paris then head up to watch the tournament. What do you think?

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Happy Thanksgiving Mi Amigos!

Did you know they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy?

That was a joke. You do know that, right? I'm not an idiot. I swear. :o)

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and you get to spend it with some awesome people. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend today with any of my family or my husband so that was kind of crappy. But I got to be with some good friends and Lucy was being super cute all day long. Which is always a plus. In fact she's half laying on my computer as I type this. It's bed time here.

Now I know turkey is the Thanksgiving staple, along with stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and I'm sure a whole bunch of other things, that are just going to make my mouth water and not accomplish anything other than lending to the length of this sentence, but I didn't have any of that. We may have a belated Thanksgiving on Sunday, but I'm not sure? We'll see how the schedule goes. We're very busy around here.

So instead we spent our Thanksgiving another way. Immortalizing another culture by way of food. Mexico, you deserve a round of applause.

Thanksgiving Fajitas!

Today was so un-Thanksgiving-like that I decided to put up some Christmas decorations as well. Normally this waits until at least the day after but I had nothing to do today. So why not? Plus I'm going on a little girls trip tomorrow. Can't be bothered with decorating when I have Slovenia to see!!

Love covering up that TV.

Our hutch. Yes, that's an old banana and a kiwi. Not exactly Christmas fruit. Maybe next time!

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Apples and Tureens and Scrubs {Oh My!}

As the Christmas markets opened in town yesterday I found myself perusing the shops looking for ... well, nothing in particular. Who cares! Christmas has come early to Asiago.

Now, I'm not spoiling Thanksgiving or anything. Decorations for the Ho-Ho-Holiday will not be put up in our house until after November 24th; so Turkey Day can have it's ... day. Okay, enough with the dot, dot, dots.

I did grab myself an amazing brulé alla mela (it's just hot apple cider, folks) and that reminds me more of Fall, pumpkins, hayrides, and Thanksgiving than it does of Christmas. It was also really nice to walk around town with my husband and some friends. There's nothing quite like it when the weather is nice and there are fun things to do in town.

I've also been on a huge apple kick lately. Hence the brulé alla mela. I can have myself a Fuji, Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, and (my all-time favorite) a Granny Smith any day of the week. They're all over the place! They're delicious. Grab an apple, add some whole-grain toast and a teaspoon of honey and there's breakfast.


They're not only tasty. Apples are so good for you:

• They're a great source of Vitamin C. You know what that's good for? Your immune system. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" You're mom wasn't yanking your chain.
• Apple eaters have lower levels of C-reactive protein. C-reactin protein causes inflammation which has suggested an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.
• For you athletes out there, an apple before a workout has proven to increase exercise endurance. Apples deliver an antioxidant called quercetin which makes oxygen more available to your lungs. Thus allowing you to work those glutes longer!

Yes, this could totally be a post for A Recipe for Fitness at this point, but it's really just this amazing little food that I've been loving lately and I wanted to share it with you. So go eat an apple. Do it.

Since Thanksgiving is coming up super soon I thought you hostesses might enjoy a little treat. Anthropologie has ridiculously adorable things for your wardrobe and your home and now they have this adorable little tureen. Tureen is new to my vocabulary and I feel very Susie Homemaker using it in a sentence.

I discovered something awesome a little bit ago: Homemade Exfoliants. I know, I know, it's not exactly brand new, or life-saving, but it works and I loved the way it made my skin feel! So here's the recipe I used: {notice how make-shift it truly is}

• 2 packets of Turbinado sugar (coarse brown sugar) that I stole (term used lightly) from a café here in town
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 drops of eucalyptus oil

     Mix together all the ingredients in a little bowl and there you have it! A homemade exfoliant.

Easy enough right? SUPER EASY! Here's a list of a few more types of at-home exfoliants you can use if you're just not that into mine. But you should be into mine. It worked you know.

During out trip to Barcelona I kept saying that I wanted to bring back something to always remind me of our time there. Matt wanted to get me a new watch (he's seriously awesome - and knows me oh-so-well), I was looking for a shirt of some sort (no, not an I ❤ Barcelona shirt), but I ended up with something totally different, unrepresentative and exactly what I've been wanting for awhile.

I don't care what they're supposed to be called, I call it my Russian Hat. I've been searching for just the right one for a few years now and I found it. This isn't mine specifically, but it's close. I discovered yesterday that I should really only wear it when my hair is curled, but that's okay. Looks like I'm going to start curling my hair more often this winter!

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