The City of Brotherly Love

I woke up before the sun came up Saturday morning, to a bunch of rain... but that didn't dampen my mood. Usually when I'm being woken up at 5 am, I'm not too happy... luckily it was so I could head up to Philadelphia. After getting up and getting myself and the dog ready, we headed over to my parents house. Jonas got to stay the day with his puppy brother, while my Dad and me set off for the City of Brotherly Love.

If you know me, you know I'm obsessed with hockey.. and more specifically, the Philadelphia Flyers. I even have a tattoo on my leg. Anytime I get to take the 5 hour trip up the Eastern Shore, I never hesitate! Especially when there's free tickets involved, and a promise to see Mr. Mike and Mrs. Barbara. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time there, but any time is better than none. 

Dad and I got everything ready to go and set out on the road to Philly. My Jeep got broken in for her first road trip, as well. I've done the trip to Philly a million times, but some how we got to talking and completely missed our exit to continue up 13. Things started to look pretty unfamiliar to us, so I whipped out the phone and pulled up google maps. Sure enough we were headed up 50 instead of 13. But no biggie, thanks to technology I just plugged in the arena address and we were well on our way. I think, however, we found a new route to head up.. to us it seemed a lot easier of a drive. Higher speed limit, less traffic lights, and fewer little towns to go through. I think we made a great find! 

We got up to the arena and parked, then headed in to get some Chickie's and Pete's. If you haven't had crab fries from there, you're seriously missing out. It's always a must have when I go to a game. After devouring some delicious chicken and fries, we set off to find our seats. I absolutely loved our seats! We were sitting behind the goalie (which is where our season tickets are at Admirals games) and 12 rows up off the glass.

The name says it all.

Cutlets and Crab Fries.. && of course cheese sauce!

Though the Flyers didn't win the game.. I couldn't be upset. Being here in Norfolk with an AHL team, you see a lot of players come and go and Saturday was no exception. A good handful of guys that won the Calder Cup here in Norfolk, were playing against the Flyers on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Though I definitely would have liked to see the Flyers win, it's always a great time seeing the boys of the past doing really well in the show. 

After the game was over we fought the traffic and the rain to go get a delicious cheese steak from Geno's. Yes, you can get a great cheese steak in a million places around the city.. but the two most famous are Pat's and Geno's. They are on opposite corners from one another and no matter what time you go, there is always going to be a line and lots of people. The pouring rain didn't stop anyone that day, that's for sure. I've had both Pat's and Geno's and I definitely prefer Geno's... but that's just my personal opinion. I never go to Philly without making a stop at Geno's. If you're ever in the area.. come with an appetite and try them both and see which one you prefer. But be sure to order right... or you will get kicked to the back of the line. Me... I prefer mine to be, "Whit Wit". Gotta learn the lingo before you go. 

I got my fat girl on with this one! Delicious.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Mike and Mrs. Barbara, we hit the road again to head back home. We made sure we paid attention to the roads and came back down the planned route (13). Everything was going along just dandy and we were pretty much traveling alone, no cars around us. Randomly my Dad looks in the review mirror and here comes an SVU barreling down the road. By the time I looked in the side mirror, I see the car swerving straight towards my back bumper and at the last second swerve back the other way and drive past us... inches away from my car. I was completely freaked out! I was screaming and trying to climb out of my seat. After he went past us, we saw him swerve all over the road and we were sure we were going to see him splattered across the road way, but thankfully we didn't. 

After making it home in one piece, I headed home to bed. I don't know why... but something about being in a car all day traveling makes me exhausted! I was just happy to be curled up with my dog and not sitting in the seat of my car anymore. 

Now I'll leave you with some pictures to look at since you've now read a novel! Hope you enjoy! Sorry the quality isn't that great, I forgot my camera... rookie mistake. I have tons of pictures of the game, but there's too many to post!

Going through some of my Flyer's jerseys.

I look horrible, but this is our drive up!

Chickie's and Pete's.

Our seats! Not too shabby right!?!

Mr. Mike! Love this man!

Look! He has a Flyer's jacket on!!

This made me giggle... Gudas and Downie!

Snow... I don't do snow!
Glad it was all melted.

Mayhem! But the glorious Geno's.

Told you it's crazy down there,
but here is Pat's.

Mrs. Barbara and Mr. Mike! 

Ray's Happy Birthday Bar.
I just thought the sign was funny.

Rocking my new Hartnell hoodie!

Starting the New Year off right.

It's only six days into this new year... and already it's looking good. I'm just saying.. I ate my black eyed peas on Wednesday, and Thursday I was going through to make sure I got all the money out of my Christmas cards and guess what I found!?!  A $100 bill. Usually I take the money out of cards right when I open them, but for some reason I didn't. Thankfully I looked in the card before I threw it away! If this is what happens when you eat black eyed peas for New Years... then I'll be sure to eat them every year!

As everyone is making different resolutions for the year, I am just thinking about things I want to improve upon. I think the three things this year that I really want to work on are finances, happiness, and cooking more.

I've been doing much better when it comes to handling money and starting to save up instead of just blowing money on stupid stuff, but it's something I think I can improve on much more. Seeing as how cooking more is on my list, that will also help with not spending unnecessary money. If I don't cook dinner, I usually go out and by lunch, which wastes more money. I'm usually only cooking for myself, so when I cook.. I definitely have leftovers for lunch. I have a few basic recipes that I know really well, so I tend to just do those over and over. Broadening my recipe base is definitely something I'm looking forward to! If you follow me on Pinterest, I apologize in advance for all the pinning of recipes. If you don't follow me... check me out here!  I tend to find tons of great recipes and DIY projects that are fun to do! 

The third thing on my list of things to improve upon is happiness. Don't think I'm all depressed and sad all the time, because that's not the case. I love my simple, laid back kind of life. I tend to let things that I can't control affect my happiness though and I'm done dealing with it. My goal is to hold no grudges against anyone, for anything and just live the life I want. The only person that will be in charge of happiness from now on, is ME! 

This weekend is definitely going to be a good jump start on the year, seeing as how I'm headed to Philly. My Dad and I are taking a day trip up to Philly for the Philadelphia Flyers game vs the Tampa Bay Lightning. I can't tell you how excited I am for Chickie's and Pete's, a cheesesteak from Geno's, a good ole hockey game! 

Unless you've tried these... you will never understand how amazing they are!
Chickie's and Pete's Crab Fries!

What are you guys' resolutions, or what are you trying to work on!? 

Fly Eagles, Fly!

Since it's football season, I figured I would talk a little bit about the team I cheer for week in and week out. The Philadelphia Eagles. Go ahead, get your jokes out! I'll support them win or lose... and trust me... they tested that last season! I only started getting into football about 5 or 6 years ago, but have quickly come to absolutely love it. Football gives me a reason to be lazy and sit in front of the tv all day on Sundays. 

I didn't expect much out of the Eagles coming into this season, seeing as how it's a rebuilding year for us. We've swept the coaching staff, so everyone is still trying to get use to one another. Last year, the Eagles didn't do so hot. They went 4-12, so they've definitely tested my patience with being a fan! If you didn't know, the Eagles have never won a super bowl. With a season like last year, they definitely aren't anywhere near winning one either. Here's to high hope for this season with Chip Kelly in the head coach position. I was definitely proud of the way they came out in the first half of the game Monday night vs the Redskins... well minus the "backwards pass" thrown our first time in the Red Zone. However, after half time they started slacking, giving the Redskins a chance to get back in the game. All that matters is that we came out with the win though. 

Everyone tends to have a favorite player on the team. Mine happens to be the 28 yr old, 6'4", 225lb Tight End out of Cincinnati, Ohio.... Brent Celek. The only Eagles jerseys I own, have his name on the back. If you saw the game Monday night, you would have seen him in all his glory scoring a touch down. You can be sure, this girl went crazy! 

Hellllllllo Handsome!

Here's a look at the Eagles' schedule this season... Do they play your team this season? What weeks?

Week 1    Eagles @ Redskins   WON

Week 2    Eagles vs Chargers

Week 3    Eagles vs Chiefs

Week 4    Eagles @ Broncos

Week 5    Eagles @ Giants

Week 6    Eagles @ Buccaneers

Week 7    Eagles vs Cowboys

Week 8    Eagles vs Giants  My Birthday!!!

Week 9    Eagles @ Raiders

Week 10  Eagles @ Packers

Week 11  Eagles vs Redskins

Week 12         BYE

Week 13  Eagles vs Cardinals

Week 14  Eagles vs Lions

Week 15  Eagles @ VIkings

Week 16  Eagles vs Bears

Week 17  Eagles @ Cowboys

Here's to hoping we have a decent season this year, and giving me something to cheer for! 

...Until Next Time...

NHL Draft Day

Hello everyone and Happy Monday! 

For all my Virginia readers... no more texting and driving. Though it was illegal before, it is now a primary offense. If you get caught in the act you will get a $125 fine the first go around and a $250 fine the second time you're caught. I'm sorry, but no text is worth $125 when you can wait til you get to your destination to send it.  Also, state sales tax are going up today! If you are in the Hampton Roads or Northern VA areas it will be going up to 6%. All other areas will be only going up to 5.3%. Just thought I'd share those facts with you guys!

Now on to what consumed my day yesterday.

The 2013 NHL Draft!

Oh what a day it was. I know you probably think I'm a loser for sitting in front of a tv and watching a draft all day. But hockey is my passion, so I follow along with this stuff. There was some big moves made yesterday. And some that I didn't quite understand, but to each their own. 

Two major trades went down yesterday, so I'll tell you about them first. I never would have seen either of the two coming.

First, Vancouver traded Goalie Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils for the #9 over all pick in the draft.Vancouver ended up getting Bo Horvat a 6'0' 200lb Center from the London Knights.  This came as a complete shock to fans and to Cory and to starting goalie Roberto Luongo. Luongo was already cutting ties with the team and looking for a new place to play this season, leaving Schneider to be the starting tender this season. But with Schneider gone, what does Luongo do now?  I think this will be a good move for Schneider though, seeing as how Brodeur is at the end of his career. It's going to leave Schneider as the new franchise goaltender. There won't be the uncertainty in Jersey like there would have been for him in Vancouver. 

Second big trade was Chicago sending Dave Bolland to Toronto for their 2013 2nd round pick (# 51), 4th round pick (# 117) and a 2014 4th round pick. I get that cap space was a major factor in this trade and that Bolland will be going back home to play, but I think Bolland got the crappy end of the deal. ONE WEEK ago he scored the game winning goal to win the Stanley Cup, now he's going to a team that he's not going to get a chance to win the cup with for quite some time. Toronto is a great city, I love Toronto... but they don't have the best hockey team. But maybe he's happy with it, I wish him the best in Toronto!

The two teams I keep up with are Philadelphia and Anaheim, here are the picks that they received in yesterday's draft. 

Flyers:

Round 1 #11 overall

Samuel Morin

6'7" 205lb Defenseman

Round 2 #41 overall

Robert Hagg

6'5" 205lb Defenseman

Round 3 #72 overall

Tyrell Goulbourne

5'10" 195lb Left Wing

Round 5 #132 overall

Terrance Amorosa

6'1" 185LB Defenseman

Round 6 #162 overall

Merrick Madesn

6'4" 177lb Goalie

Round 7 #192 overall

David Drake

6'3' 155lb Defenseman

For Anaheim:

Round 1 #26 overall

Shea Theodore

6'2" 179lb Defenseman

Round 2 #45 overall

Nick Sorensen

6'1" 172lb Forward

Round 3 #87 overall

Keaton Thompson

6'1" 170lb Defenseman

Round 5 #147

Grant Besse

5'9" 177lb  Right Wing

Round 6 #177

Miro Aaltonen

5'10" 172lb Center

Good luck to all the kids who got drafted yesterday and thanks for making me feel old. All these kids were '94 and '95 babies... who just signed HUGE contracts for lots of money. I don't know about you, but it makes me feel old...and VERY jealous. :) 

For a full list of draft picks, go here!

...Until Next Time...

For The Love of Hockey

Hockey is my #1 passion. I've grown up going to games all my life, I worked at a hockey rink, and I even started to play when I was younger. I'm that crazy fan who has the hockey tattoo on her leg and wears it proudly. If you read my last post, you saw that I'm a Flyers fan. For those of you who don't know much about hockey... Flyers fans are known to be the worst in the league. We are absolutely brutal.

I went to my first hockey game in Philly some years ago with my Father. It was actually for an AHL game though, so you figure it wouldn't be as bad. The team that plays here in Norfolk was playing against Philly in a playoff game so we decided to go. Mind you, neither of us had been to a game in Philly before. We were there to support our team... so what did we do? We wore our teams jerseys. We quickly found out that was a huge mistake. We got opened ketchup packets thrown at us, beer thrown at us, cursed out, and any other horrible thing that could happen. And that's where my love for Philadelphia blossomed. 

I know you're probably thinking I'm a crazy person. But to me I saw an arena full of people who cared passionately for their team. If you wore anything Philly, you were accepted. But god forbid you wore nothing sports related or a different teams stuff... they were literally going to kill you. 

I am a very intense hockey fan. Nothing comes between me and my hockey....  except this lock out. Come on guys, let's get it together. While the owners and players feud...the die hard fans, like me, are about to pull our hair out. Want to know why they are feuding?  There's $1 billion extra in revenue and they are trying to decide who gets the cut of it! Come on now! How about you just shut up and play hockey! I end up going to Philly for hockey at least once a season. I already had my game for this season picked out... and now they just want to crush my dreams. 

If there is anything that have learned from this post... I hope it's to never go to Philly with a different teams shirt on. You won't come out alive.