Erin Andrews- Just as perfect in person.Ugh.

Last night I went to Lexington to attend Coach Cal's Women's Clinic. It is a night set up just for women to meet the coach, the players and learn all about the "DRIBBLE DRIVE" and be schooled in all things UK basketball. In case you are not from KY, let me just tell you that people here are nuts for UK basketball. It is much like a religion and has a major following. Coach Cal is probably the number one celebrity in our state and I got to meet him!  I had a FABULOUS time. My friend Ginny and I went with her (my new) friend Cassie. We arrived to this:

But, while we waited in this lovely line which was directly across from Wildcat Lodge (aka where the players live) we got to see these guys headed home from practice.



I totally needed my sunglasses!



We did not wait long. Soon enough we were into Memorial Coliseum where we were given colored wristbands that would separate us into groups and some swag (swag: FREE Tshirt, and bag of random goodies). We then got into another line for food. Rafferty's provided the food for the evening. (I might or might not have had lunch at Rafferty's yesterday too.) It was a good thing I did eat lunch, because I am pretty sure the women in front of us were hungry and the girls serving food were afraid they were going to run out. I think I was served aprox. 4 pieces of pasta. Owell. I was not really that concerned about it. I was ready to get going and see what the evening had in store for us.

I might have gotten a little too excited about my FREE Tshirt.

After we ate we headed inside and noticed that Coach Cal was posing for pics, so we immediately went down to the court to join him. We all had our pictures made with him and I got  an autographed basketball.  I was pretty pleased with the event so far and we had only been there about 20 minutes. After my meet and greet with Coach Cal, we  Cassie and Ginny spotted Matt Jones across the court. I had no idea who he was until they informed me that he was the guy from KSR. KSR is Kentucky Sports Radio, one of the many sports blogs that my husband reads religiously. Once I had that all figured out we walked over and asked for a photo. I thought it would be funny and might impress Mr. Snyder.



Me & Coach Cal.
aka My new Facebook profile pic!



My photo opp with Matt Jones.

Cassie & Matt Jones

Once everyone arrived, Coach Cal  greeted us all and welcomed us to the event. He then introduced his guest of the evening, Erin Andrews. Now, I must say I have always envied this woman. She is BEAUTIFUL, knowledgeable about all thing sports, welcomed in locker rooms and the dream girl of most red blooded American men. In person she is no different. She was so funny, personable and DISGUSTINGLY GORGEOUS. Really, just take a look at some of these pictures.

See what I mean!

Erin (we are on a first name basis now) was the MC for the UK player's fashion show. The players modeled the new uniforms, warm ups and practice gear. They were quite the models and most of them loved the attention from the hundreds of screaming women. They danced and posed. It was quite entertaining. Josh Harrellson might have gotten a little to into it as he ripped off his tear away pants and danced around, but let me tell you it was a hit with the over 40 club and made for a good laugh for the rest of the team. It even earned him a pic and a tweet from Erin Andrews.

After the striptease fashion show we broke up into our groups. We had 4 sessions. One with the strength and conditioning coaches where we learned all about how the players work out and get gameday ready. This session took place in the practice gym, so not only did we get to hear the coaches and see them demonstrate these exercises but we got to tour the facilities too. It was very interesting and neat to see where they spend their day to day. Our next session was a Q&A with Erin Andrews. She was very open and down to Earth. She answered everything from how she got her job to inquires about her spray tan on Dancing With The Stars. We sat front row so I got to ask a question and get this picture taken for the mister!

I am pretty sure this picture will be placed over my picture on his desk!

After Erin's Q&A we had a photo session with Coach Cal. They took a "team" photos where we were posed with Coach Cal like an official team photo. He also took this time to sign more autographs and meet everyone. Once this session was wrapping up his family came in. They were just sitting around talking while we were all being moved to the next session. While they were chatting I approached them and asked if I could pretend I was part of the fam for a quick photo! They all laughed and agreed! I posed for the shot and told them I might make it my Christmas Card. Coach Cal told me he needed to send it to his daughter Erin and tell her she had been replaced! ha! It was pretty funny if I do so say myself!



Merry Christmas from The Caliparis.



After my Calipari family reunion our last session was with the assistant coaches. They introduced themselves and talked about their backgrounds and allowed questions. This took place in the media room. It was neat to see that room and get to know a little bit about the assistants. Many people asked recruiting questions and they answered them all. It was interesting and I might have learned a few things.

Are you kidding? Of course I had to take a quick pose at the media wall.

The last stop was back in the gym where the guys showed us all about the "Dribble Drive" and Coach Cal explained offensive and defensive terms and what they look like in a game. It was interesting and it was a good thing I video taped it so I can watch it again to get the full understanding. He used lots of basketball lingo and I might need Stuart's help translating. ha!

It all wrapped up at about 9:00 and I could not have been happier with the event. It was a good night with LOTS of laughs, I learned a few things and got to rub elbows with some fun, famous folks. It was such a good idea and I am so glad we went. 

Here are a few more pictures from the evening.

YES, Erin showed Coach Cal a few moves!

GO CATS!!



What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I have been reading a few blogs that link up with this lovely lady HERE for What I Love Wednesday and today I have decided to play along. It is FALL, my favorite season of the year so I am in love with so many things right now. I have decided to limit myself to 10 things in random order- so here goes!

1. I AM LOVING that it is FALL BREAK and I get to stay home and snuggle with this guy:

2. I AM LOVING Fall TV!! All my shows are on and my DVR is filling up. I have an addiction to TV and I understand that & I make no apologies for it. There are so many shows I watch and try to keep up with. If I did not have DVR my world would not be the same. I love so many it is hard to choose, but these 3 are up at the top of my list.

3. I AM LOVING This watch and think I need it for Christmas.

4. I AM LOVING that my porch looks like this:

5. I AM LOVING that today I got my hair cut and highlighted and got to have lunch with a dear friend. Both of those things are not easily done on a work day so is was sooooo nice to have a relaxing afternoon.

6. I AM LOVING that tonight I am going to COACH CAL's Women's Clinic. I am going to meet Coach Cal, Erin Andrews and the UK players. I get to tour the facilities and learn all about UK Basketball. I watch UK basketball, I love UK basketball and hopefully after tonight I will be schooled in all the offensive and defensive lingo and enjoy this season even more!

7. I AM LOVING that it is CANDY CORN season. I must admit that Candy Corn is one of my favorite foods. I made rice krispe treats with candy corn in them and they were heavenly!

8. I AM LOVING this blog HERE and love that this crafty little lady with the most adorable little one decided to award me with this award. THANKS MEREDITH!

9. I AM LOVING that my little man built me this:

It is a "Wobot with a big weg and a boo boo" aka A robot with a big leg and a boo boo!

He made this little creation while I was making cookies yesterday morning. He was at my feet working hard and I looked down to find THIS! I was so surprised. I love it so much. I snapped these pictures with my phone and the "Wobot" is still on my kitchen counter. I cannot bear to let it be destroyed just yet!

10. I AM LOVING this weather, these lazy days, the fact that somehow this 2 year old of mine has become so smart and gained his own opinion about things. I am loving that my husband enjoys his new job, that my kitchen is clean, the laundry is caught up and life in general these days. I wish I could bottle up this feeling of joy and contentment I have right now and drink it on days when things are not going as planned, when I am frustrated, whiny and overwhelmed. But for now, I am going to enjoy this life I am living and be thankful it is mine.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!





It's The Olympics for Horses

It is FALL! It is October! IT IS FALL BREAK!
Yes, that is correct a WHOLE WEEK off of school and I could not be happier about it. This is the first Fall Break in a long time that we have not taken some sort of trip. Stuart's new job is not allowing for vacation time just yet, so this Fall Break will be spent right here and that is okay. I do love traveling to fun places with my guy, but I also love low key and open agendas every now and then. I have big things planned like a full day in my pjs, a hair appointment, lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and train playing. Today was DAY ONE and we made the most of it.

Today we traveled about 15 minutes up the road to The World Equestrian Games. I have heard "It is the Olympics for Horses", and "It is a once in a lifetime experience", and "You may never get the chance again", so I gave in and went. We scored some FREE tickets from a friend of ours (THANKS KATHY) and we decided to go. C and I went with our friends Ginny and Jack. We set off with snacks, coats, cash and no expectations. It was a GREAT and I am so glad we went.

We left the house at 10:00 and it was a chilly day so we bundled up and headed out. We picked up Ginny and Jack and headed to The Horse Park. We paid our $20.00 to park and made the trek to the front gate. Once we found our way in we went straight for the Kid Zone we quickly learned we were there with about 6,000 school kids! It was a little hard to maneuver strollers through the droves of elementary school kids and being on Fall Break I did not want to get in Mrs. Snyder mode. A nice man noticed us and told us that if we came back about 12:30 all the kids would be gone so we took his advice and got out of there!

We made our way to the shopping tents and took in the sights. I did not buy any $600.00 cowboy boots, a new saddle or the newest horse feed on the market, but I did enjoy the people watching. The variety of people was much fun to watch. We waited in line (second in line) for about 30 minutes to meet Calvin Borel (The KY Derby winning jockey) but when he was delayed C and Jack could not stand still much longer so we headed out in search of food. The food tent was quite the amusement park like experience, but we made it through. After a nice meal by the pond we made our way back to the Kid Zone for some shark petting, FREE Dip N Dots and horse watching.

We left at 3:15, we were home by 3:45 and Clark slept until 6:30. It was a fun day. It probably is something we will never get to do again and it was a WONDERFUL opener to Fall Break.



I had to snap a pic of the lunch crowd.




A pic of the outdoor arena between events.




I think this chandelier would be great in my living room! :)





C touched a shark!





As you can see the boys LOVED the Dip N Dots.





I was a little fascinated with this sculptor.




These are for sale if you are interested.
Large one $20,000. Small one $5,000.