Banks of the Red Cedar

 

"On the banks of the Red Cedar, there's a school that's known to all" 

This weekend Stephen and I attended our second wedding of the season. This wedding was special for us for a number of reasons. Most important is the couple and Stephen being a groomsman in his school friend's wedding. The other reason is that they exchanged vows at the Michigan State Chapel, the alma mater of 99% of the wedding party. 

To celebrate the MSU wedding, I donned my emerald green Kate Spade dress. I thought since I was on the campus wearing my green, that it only made sense to take photos along the banks of the Red Cedar. Plus, I didn't know that the school was actually on the banks of the river.

I have to say that I really love this dress. I'm a huge fan of Kate Spade because her clothing is classic, but has a really fun twist. This dress has the bow detail that's just off center, which keeps it from looking hokey and young. I could have also titled this post the Kate Spade post, because my shoes are also Kate Spade. They also have a fun bow detail at the toe and ribbon threaded through the gold chain.

Dress - Kate Spade

Shoes - Kate Spade

Earrings - Forever XXI

Bracelet - Actually a necklace, forgotten where I purchased

 

Longing for Texas

Even though we just got back from Texas (where it was a breezy 105 degrees each day we were there) it's August, which is about the time I start longing for Texas.

WHY would I long for Texas in August, when the heat is sweltering, you ask? Well, I guess it's not just Texas I long for in August. What I really long for is the feeling in the South that comes in August.

FOOTBALL!

That's right. In August, Texas is gearing up for holy season, aka football.

For the next four months my Saturdays will be consumed with (among others): my beloved Red Raiders, my beloved Spartans (my honorary team), Lee Corso, player stats, Tuberville's role in taking us to the next level and, of course, trash talking my Aggie friends (one of my favorite past times!)

Dirty Little Secret

Ever have a dirty little secret? You know, the kind that of secret that is really a guilty pleasure, but you'd surely be teased if anyone found out? Well, I'm about to spill one of those secrets. First though, some background.

It's no secret that Stephen is a bit of a nerd. He likes playing video games, though not the cool kind; he's really into RPGs - role playing games. He has his D&D cards tucked away in the house, and he's a not-so-secret fan of a little Syfy show called Battle Star Galactica. He's such a fan of the show that during March Madness last year, when Michigan State was playing Louisville for a chance to go to the Final Four, Stephen stayed home to watch the series finale of BSG while I went to the bar to cheer on the Spartans (and I didn't even go to MSU.) Like I said, a little nerdy (but I promise this is leading somewhere).

Fast forward.Stephen rented a movie called Caprica (or so I thought it was a movie.) You can read about the show here, but please know the gorgeous and very talented Eric Stoltz plays one of the lead characters. Anyway, the pilot is a 2-hour premiere and it's FANTASTIC! Instantly I'm hooked on this show (watching Eric Stoltz doesn't hurt) and each week I gladly sacrifice a Friday night to stay in and watch Caprica. So where does it fit in with Stephen's nerdiness? As it turns out, the other character, Adama, ties directly into BSG. In fact, Caprica is essentially the prequel to BSG.

So you see, Stephen tricked me into his world after all.

Wish Me Luck

Wow! What an exciting Monday.

I start my new job today, so wish me luck!

Also wish the Spartans good luck as they take on UNC in the NCAA Championship. Hopefully Canal Street in Boston will be going nuts later tonight when MSU wins the tournament. It's going to be tough, but they've beat 3 really great teams the past 3 games.

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Life

and I'm feeling good. I love that song! If you haven't heard it, check out "Feeling Good" - the Michael Buble version or Nina Simone's amazing version. Anyway, I digress. I just wanted to say that things are going really well in life right now.

Stephen and I have been watching MSU football with the Boston Alumni and I've met some awesome girls. It's so nice to have girlfriends in a new city - especially ones who are so friendly.
Speaking of girlfriends, Lindsey and I are getting our girlfriends together for a wine party this Thursday at my house for the Grey's premiere. It's going to be great to watch McDreamy on 52 glorious inches of high definition.

I started my part-time job yesterday and I think it's going to be fun. I'm going to channel Kaileen and hopefully have some good stories coming out of working at the Bruins Pro Shop that I can post on my blog. I love good stories.

On my way out of work yesterday I came across a Bills watching party. The Boston Bills Backers are a large group of die-hard Bills fans! It will be so nice to have another opportunity to meet more people in Boston who share the same passions as me, especially the Bills.

So cheers to feeling good!

Gaming Survey

Do you like playing video games?

Yes?

Well then, read on.

A friend of Stephen's is working on his Master's in video game design at MSU (go Green!) and needs your help. Please follow this link and watch a short trailer for a new video game that's coming out and then click on the survey link below the trailer to take a REALLY brief survey.

This would really help him out and would be super awesome of everyone!

Thanks all!

ROCK...CHALK...JAYHAWK

After a thrilling season, some minor upsets (yeah I'm talking to you Tom Izzo), some office trash talk and a really good finale, I'm thrilled to report that the Kansas Jayhawks defeated Memphis in overtime last night and won yours truly some money in the office pool!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I usually don't bet on sports because I never win, but I did win yesterday. Well, I won second place out of 27... not bad! And boy am I glad to have won. After hanging near the bottom of the brackets through the first and second rounds, my picks finally started to pan out. And thanks to the fact that virtually everyone else in the office had UNC going to the final, and even fewer who picked Kansas in the final actually had them winning, I sprang ahead from 7th or 8th yesterday to taking second place.

So, from one Big 12 alumni to Jayhawk nation, congrats on winning the championship last night!

Go Green, Go White

On Saturday Stephen and I participated in the Big 10 alumni pub crawl around Fanheuil Hall. What could be better than hundreds of drunk people yelling about whose school is better and throwing out their school chants? The pub crawl was 11 bars in 11 hours (since the Big 10 really has 11 schools) so I want to show a "before" picture of the two of us decked out in Spartan green and white and then with our friends Brian and Lindsey

My goal was to have a 1:1 ratio of beer and water, but that was thrown to the wayside when bars 2 and 3 offered $1.50 and $2 drafts. I think my ratio went 2 beers per bar for the next 3 bars (so 6 beers) before I even had one glass of water. Good job, Michele! Things just kind of went downhill from there.

All in all, it was a HUGE success. We met tons of new people, got to bag on OH-IO people with the other 10 schools, drank boatloads of beer, took crazy pictures, laughed at the den of cougars who tried to infiltrate our party and had a good time. Rumor has it there's going to be a "February Freeze" pub crawl coming soon... shorts and t-shirt required... brrr(ing it!)