Vienna!!!

Its been a busy few months since i've been back home!! It's so great to be back and reunited with everyone. I started my teaching job ( made me realize that there really aren't enough hours in a day)...and I haven't even started marking or report cards...i'm just hoping my hair stays thick after the month of june...had to cut her a few days ago...I didn't want my hair to be too heavy for the summer.

I became an aunt/self proclaimed Godmother in april to baby Jace. Nielder and my childhood bestie Lauren both gave birth the same day!! Two beautiful healthy babies. Nielder also got engaged so now we have two big weddings to plan for next year ( the Nield's and Marcello's).

I will admit that I do miss the laid back European lifestyle ( small glass of wine in the bath w my book and hand towel...kebabs after a late night...rolling to Austria to visit my kathy). We loved Europe so much we decided to stay there until jamie hangs his skates up....anddd I can't say I'm mad about it.  I mastered the oven, washing machine AND my Slovenian language while I was there. I can pretty much say I speak 3 languages now. Pretty much trilingual.

We decided to stay in the Austrian league seeing as Jamie absolutely loved it. Although I loved the city of jujubes ( Ljubljana) I was pretttyyy excited when Jamie's agent called him with the offer from Vienna. Not only am I an hour and a half away from Katy instead of four...BUT I fell in love with Vienna when Katy, Kyla and I went there this year. The city was breathtaking and it really had a canadian feel to it. Jamie did say he would take a large pay cut to have a subway near him last year...well his dreams are coming true....Vienna has a SUBWAY, forever 21 and a Starbucks....I mean.

So for those of you who are planning a European trip...apparently Vienna is one of the top 3 most beautiful cities in the world....just saying. Sooo...I am now spending my summer off with Jamie learning German by the pool ( he doesn't know it yet). Oh and I forgot to add that our apt has an indoor pool...I mean... who doesn't want to small swan dive in december. 

We are off to vegas this weekend!! If you've read my blog about our vegas trip you'll remember I fell asleep in my salad bowl after the casino over served me with their free drinks (rude)  which resulted in Jamie going to a concert solo. I'm getting a second chance. I am redeeming myself. Bless your soul Jame. Let's just say it's a good thing all of Sarnia will be there AND our friends Stef and Clay who we haven't seen since houston will be there too!!! 

Have a great long weekend...and i'll keep you posted on whether or not Jamie will want to do a trip with me again!

Things I have learned in Europe....

I have been in Europe for almost 3 months now ( crazyyy how time flies by) and i'd like to share with you some observations/ things I have learned while i've been here!! Now this might not apply for ALL of Europe but it certainly does for Slovenia.

-  Buying conditioner is a small task in Slovenia.....You'd THINK it would be beside the "sampon" right? Well NO that's too easy.... the "Balsam" is located with the body lotion as a hair mask...But here's the fun part...You totally get tricked on your way in BECAUSE you are shown a pack of two together and you THINK you are getting a Sampon and a Balsam but to your surprise you are get two flippin sampons!!!! Ahhh so now I am stuck with 7 bottles of sampons and no balsam.... AND to top it off...Jamie has banned me from buying anymore hair products till the end of the year seeing as I never bring home what I need.  If anyone wants to throw me some Balsam...I clearly won't be mad.

-  NEVER order hot chocolate in Slovenia/ I am guessing in all of Europe because you will literally get 8 melted chocolate bars (small heart attack) in a mug...NOW if you are a chocolate lover, power to you! The Sloves call our Canadian hot chocolate "Cocoa".  Jame and I have learned this the hard way more than once on our late night strolls downtown. Its SO upsetting.

-  Soup is not sold in a can. I was beginning to think they just didn't eat soup here... that was UNTIL I found the aisle filled with little packs I thought were packaged spices....The only downfall to this IS...I can't read the instructions. So... I just find the numbers and hope they mean add that much water. So far so good...small pro.

- Dryers and Microwaves are not mandatory.  I have become an oven heating stove top PRO! I mean its super annoying BUT I am no longer afraid of putting tin foil in the oven!! As for dryers... our landlord told us our washer was also a dryer....well....turns out its not because i've literally tried everything....So we bought a huge trying rack instead....before I got introduced to conditioner, you could actually get a sand paper scrub with my crunchy towels!!!!

- Washers do not have cold water..unless mine does and I just don't know...So seeing as the water is boiling hot...I've made a few mishaps in the laundry/bathroom.

1000% not my fault. Admit the greyish blue looks good on Jamie's favourite white T :s

- Tipping really is a Canadian/ American thing...they don't even give you the option when you use a card so you awkwardly have to tell them you have no change to tip them....

- Red warm wine is probably the best thing that's ever existed next to KEBABS...for those of you who haven't had a kebab I can even explain how heavenly they are.... Jamie and I go for kebabs at least once a week...pretty much a gyro but 1000 times better.

- Patios stay open in the winter!!!!! Almost every bar in Slove has little blankets and heaters on their patios so they stay open all year around....is there anything better? Oh ya....hot wine.

- I really miss Franks Red hot sauce :(

- I have a small crush on Slovenia....


Heres of few Slovenian words I have learned/ will throw out in a jumble together if I've had a few drinks...


Hvala = Thank you ( pronounced VALA)
Prossim= Welcome, Your welcome/ they use this one a lot I think it has a million meanings...
Dobro=  Good
Dabo dan= Good afternoon ( pronounced DABERDUNG...I swear thats how I hear it)
Juio= Hello
Pivot= Beer
Opprosti= Sorry

I'm sure theres tons more stuff but I'll keep it at that....come visit, we can chat about it more!!!!!!!

July Blues...

FINALLY someone has chosen ME ( Prev) to be their child's Godmother....I mean....what better person than one of your best friend/moh's Lindsay Rebecca ( probably her GODMOTHERS name) Nield. Okayyy so I MIGHT be a SELF-PROCLAIMED Godmother BUT when she's got her back turned, i'm going to give little "Nield" my own swimming pool baptism. I (THINK) she's even going to surprise me and actually name her child Daniel or Danielle because my name should appear somewhere in there...right? ( okayy mayybeee that's a little aggressive..BUT  that's how the french do it..Denise IS my middle name AND my Godmother's...woahh what a coincidence ;) !!!) Shay is also going to share the duties with me so I am thinking something along the lines of
Nield DaniLyn Nield.

 2011 is the new summer 06 even thoughhhh as you all know... 2006 was my funniest year as a person ( Sorry Christy...but I think we both know the floating man dance move beats the slushy machine.. You win.)

Started off the month with a bang. Small wedding. That night itself was my favourite. I've already dedicated a whole blog about this event so I'm going to switch to the next big event.... I will however mention that Lindsay Nield's version of Champagne showers beats any version you will ever see on youtube....going to be a little hard to see her version when she's carrying a small child...but get her while she's still tiny ( she's pushing 5 months and she's still a bean) it will blow your mind. ALSO if you are planning on having a photobooth at your wedding..could you PLEASE invite Lauge Nielsen....best solo photoboother around...

Sooooo MY childhood bff Lauren Baarscheers conceived her child on my wedding night... I mean...clearly a great night had by all ( you should also throw my name in there Lauren )!!!!! Congrats you two I am so flippin excited for you two...you are already amazing parents to Jace and I can't wait for the new addition!!! ALSO a small shout out to my favourite/ most wonderful hair dresser Lynsey Bowles who ALSO indirectly conceived a child shortly before my wedding....congrats to you and Randy!!!! All these kids are giving me babyyy fever :) I'll stick to Godmother for a few more years though...

Shortly after the wedding, Marcello ( Shaylyn's second half) tells me he's going to propose. WOAH talk about a  double whammy ( well... at this point I don't know Nielder is carrying a child)....So I am over the moon and it's taking everything in me not to just tell her because between her, Linds and I... nothing goes unsaid...BUT on October 28th (talk about making a girl sweat thinking it's going to be anyyy dayyy now)... he made one of my bffs the happiest girl in the world!!! Stay tuned for the Shay Solinas Fairytale wedding!!!!

A couple days after the wedding...Jame and I are hanging out in our loft ( clearly starring at each other in the eyes telling each other how much we love each other) talking about maybe going camping for the weekend. The fact he was moving to Europe a few weeks later didn't give us much time for a honeymoon... SO we decided we would wait and have it in Europe once we got there... Well...Jamie decided to book us a last minute flight to VEGAS for 5 days!! We left at 3am that night. The weather was amazing and we had such an amazing time ( hence why we are going back in may...) BUT the only small problem about this trip was that....I didn't know drinks were FREE at EVERY casino in Vegas AND to top it off  EVERY hotel had a casino :s   sooo...Jamie MIGHT have gone to see the steel panthers by himself seeing as at 11pm I was asleep in my salad bowl at the House of Blues...( okayy BUT Jamie hit a wall at some point during the day too AND recovered!) BUt really...who has a concert at 11:30pm??.....He did mention it was the best concert he's ever seen..!!! Come may, I promised Jamie I will not be in bed by 10pm

                                                       

Which brings me to my next event...BAYFEST!!! There's just something about best friends, palm bays and blarney chips. Nielder and I awaited Christy Max, Ash & Hyder as they graced Sarnia with their delightful presence. You can't go anywhere with these girls without making friends. It doesn't matter how old you are or if you creeping around with ripped jeans and an exposed bum...they don't judge and are always willing to go all out. Did I mention how good blarney chips are from Paddys? Between the 5 of us I think we ordered enough for a small community. OH and Lady Antebellum was awesome....

                         A girl of many talents!!! Christy Max<3

I wasn't lying when I say they meet friends anywhere they go....and they do NOT judge!!!!


Seeing as Bayfest was short lived....we decided to join all the girls together + Cindy & Shay and take part in PECKERWOOOD.
Now here's a little history on Peckerhood...My friend Gresham's family owns a beautiful barn and they throw a big party once a year ( themed) and it's just a night you don't want to miss.....SOOO this years theme is DISCO.

 Clearly I go ALL out ( I even get my mother in law to whip me up a nice pair of bellbottoms) and get my costume on before I go to the party...Well...don't I pull a legally blonde moment ( you know when she dresses up like the bunny and everyone else is dressed normal). Gresh's dad had a nice beautiful benefit dinner with all his friends during the day as Gresh, Nielder and other people hang by the pool and play games ( dressed normally).

So I pull up like this...

How do you explain yourself when all these business men and women see this THING creeping out of Marcello's white hummer? Well....the ONLY normal thing to do is grab Gresh's dad in the middle of the dinner and dance the salsa with him.

Two peas in a pod....I mean...we had danced together two peckerwoods ago and clearly he remembered my slushy machine...he came back for more!!!! Mr Bayley...I love you<3
So here we are with our coolers full of palm bays and quite possibly one of the best group of girls you can put together ( clearly.. minus the few that couldn't come)....

The wonderful girl on the left ( Hyder) found love in peckerwood ( I know...sooo romantic)...They have been dating ever since....

Girls like to eat. Soo...NOT knowing that Gresh's dad had a benefit dinner with his friends before the big party....we made our way to the food and lined up.... Little did we know... the people in the barn that were there early paid for the dinner as a benefit for a charity...oupps....but CLEARLY Gresh's dad told us to go inside and eat once everyone had their food...dear soul...we've already done that!!!! I'd also like to point out that we met a dolphin at Peckerwood. We met a guy that saved a guy that was drowning and we named him the dolphin...Small hero.

Finally...there are too many stories from Peckerwood and this blog is getting quite large....But here's a few more pictures from an UNFORGETTABLE night.

I got caked

To finish off my July Blog... I got a call from Nielder... She couldn't wait to tell me in person....but she is PREGNANT... I almost dropped the phone I was so exciteddd... We met up with Shay at Starbucks to tell her the news and I'll never be able to go there again and not picture that moment... three best friends on a couch screaming and crying. There is no better feeling in the world then sharing special moments with the people you love most in the world.  

To those of you who made my July the most amazing month of my life.... Thank You!!!! I would also like to add that the month's MVP goes out to..................... Christy Maxfield. 

OH AND Lauge Nielsen for his STELLAR performance in the photobooth

OH MY GOOODNESS I almost forgot.... The BIRTH of my second nephew!!!! On July 4th my sister in law WALKED herself to the hospital ( I mean...she wasn't 3cms or anything...with her bff Lyns Bowles.)....We were able to literally stay at the door and listen to the whole thing go down... Lyns had a silent birth w no epidural ( totally was being her own person)!!!! Fraser Anthony Philipsen was born and I might be bias but tied w cutest baby with my other nephew and niece ( clearly!!) Love you baby Frase<3 

Lake Bled & Slovenian Caves

Lake Bled is one of the most beautiful places i've seen in Slovenia...not that we've been too far...BUT this place was absolutely breathtaking!!! Jame & I decided to take a day trip to this wonderful place we had googled before we even came to Slovenia. We took a small row boat and away we went...I mean...I mayyy have had my very own personal rower for the day...what girl wouldn't want that???

Jamie & I also creeped around this amazing cave with my new Slove bestie Kyla Jean and her boyfriend, Scott. We were warned to wear coats and warm clothes seeing as the caves temperature is 10 degrees. I think the cave was 3.5km long...2 of those km were by train and the other 1.5 we walked. We had an english tour guide who did NOT want you to take pictures...but being the child I am..I snuck a few under my armpit....Jamie was clearly embarrassed but come on... you only creep in a cave a few times in ur life.... Here's a few pictures of our Slovenian cave adventures

I wouldnt be mad if Slovenia was on your bucket list!!!!

Venice!!!

When we found out the team had the weekend off, we quickly tried to plan a two day trip. Having the weekend off just doesn't happen in the hockey world. I tried to be SO organized and research all there was to know about Venice before our trip. Why Venice? Well its only a 2 hour drive and its Venice! I probably looked at every review and hotel in the city to show Jamie I can plan QUITE a trip!! Well....for one night in Venice last minute...you are looking at 600 euros ( cheapest) a night for a hotel in the city... So how does this work when Jamie and I have planned a budget every month?! OHHH and I also had planned to go on a motor boat tour of three islands but CLEARLY totallyyy forgot to book it and when I went to book it two days before...wait for itttt....it was sold out....I mean...really?????? So our cute little getaway was beginning to annoy me because I told Jamie to let me take care of all of it....And I mean...clearly I was doing a great job!

Soo....what's the easiest thing to do? Wing it!
Cause that always works amazing...thank God for my patient husband...you can't really park in Venice because its an island and the parking line up was insane.... Soo...small Uturn on the bridge to park in the city before Venice.  But wait...clearlyyy the parking guy wouldn't speak a lick of english and waves Jamie and I to leave his parking lot...OKAYYY....adios to you too!!

We finally find a parking garage. Trying to find a bus ticket....woooff...another story in its own. Here I am kind of judging Italians because I am not feeling the love from them...I mean, I did not want to judge Marcello's ancestors so I decided to give them a chance and i'm glad I did...clearly changed my mind once we got to Venice!!!! We got a bus and water taxi day pass and then started our adventures.

When we finally got on the bus we were excited to explore and be our own people. We took a water taxi to Marco Polo and literally just walked around and drank wine and beer all day.  I can't even explain how beautiful it is because there aren't any words. The streets were tiny and it was so packed. After dinner we set up shop at a restaurant and just soaked it all in w few drinks and some gelato. I realized I really didn't need to plan anything. Being in Venice and with the most amazing strawberry blonde man really didn't need to be planned...it was a perfect day!!!!

Who needs a planner??? Now... we are off to Barcelona in two weeks and I've got our trip planned down to what we are eating....i'm going to show Jamie I ain't no dud!!!   Here's some pictures from our romantic little unplanned getaway....

Thank you, Venice!!!

My First Trip To Austria

My first big girl trip all by myself in Europe!!! I have to admit my paranoia/ anxiety ( i've just diagnosed myself with this disorder even though Jamie shakes his head when I tell him I have it) kicked in in high mode on my first train ride.

I get to the train station 30 minutes earlier with Jamie in my arm telling me not to talk to stranger and not to make too many friends on the train...He leaves for practice and i'm in a small panic starting to question if i'm in the right gate... I meet this Chilean lady who's english is medium and we become friends instantly. The only small problem to all this is that she has paranoia and anxiety as well. So there we are two stress balls wondering if this train will take us to Salzburg. CLEARLY i'd make friends with a lady who never takes a train and questions herself.  The train arrives and we both put our shoulders up and say "alright well we can always get off if it takes us somewhere else".... 

Okayyyyyyy.... so it WAS the right train. BUT in the middle of the trip we have to switch to another train... The sweat starts kicking in as the Chile and I look at each other thinking ohhhh man... so we follow traffic and hope for the best.... We got on the other train and made 2 other friends... a dear soul of a German who kept wanting us to try his pastries and an American who left his wife to travel the world when she took half of his money. It's so interesting the people you meet on these things....I have absolutely NOTHING to bring to the table when they ask about me....the only thing they care about is my husband plays hockey for a living and my little sister Carolyne plays for team Canada...okayyyy...not annoying

FINALLY I get to Salzburg and the Chilean lady and I say our goodbyes...always a tough one...Everything is going great, i'm SOO excited for dinner with the girls BUT there's a small problem...I turned my phone off and when I went to open it up, I didn't know the flippin pin number to unlock it!! I panic thinking how is Katy ever going to find me...all I hear is German from the intercom....What would we do without technology?? I see an internet cafe and set up shop trying to get a hold of Jamie knowing he had pregame nap...I found Katy's number in a private message and Jamie finally gets on skype...We are back in business!!!!

So I didn't spend my WHOLE time on a train, meeting new friends and losing pin numbers....BUT the moral to all that gibberish is that YOU WILL GET THERE dont sweat the small stuff!! So the purpose to my trip was to visit some dear souls in Salzburg that I met in Houston & CT and spend the weekend with my Katy ball in Linz.  At this time, I was the only wife/gf in Slove so seeing girls was SO delightful...even though i've got my BEST girlfriend back at home ( you really are Jamie ) Katy and I checked in to the hotel and went around sightseeing drinking processo and cappuccinos and met up with Kori!!! We met up with all the ladies for an amazing steak dinner. I hadn't seen Tracy since Jamie played in Connecticut and serenaded me with his Prev Fallin...So we were so excited to rekindle over some wine and goss about our times in CT....I also met a new bff, Bianca...I mean..there's something about french people.. I can't even explain it but its the arms flying, boob grabbing, loud talking... amazingness. Long story short...Amazing dinner and amazing company. 

Can't wait to go back and do it again ladies!!! Katy and I decided to go out to a bar after dinner and we got Salzburged. Long story short...Katy was preggo the year Jamie and I were in Houston. She was our mc with Andrea for our wedding and although she dabbled quite a bit...I finally got to meet tequila Katy this weekend. We creeped around downtown and bar hoped until we found a hidden gem of a kareoke bar. I'm not lying...i've never seen a group of guys ( Austrians) sooooo excited to sing highway to hell...Katy and I sang " I want to dance with somebody" by whit.... and if the place had fireworks, it would have been blown up. 

The group of girls I met in Linz made me a tad bit jealous. The girls were amazing and I mayyy have even stayed up with Avery ( who I called Aubrey the whole trip thinking that was her name) until 3am while tequila katy took a small cat nap on the couch. I'm asking for a trade but taking Kyla Jean with me.

Thank you Austria.