Chelsea vs Man City at Busch Stadium

Last night was a big night in St. Louis.  The English Premier League's Chelsea Football Club and Manchester City Football Club had a friendly game at Busch Stadium.  St. Louis is a huge soccer town (despite some haters) and the game sold out in record time.

This tent was the first thing we saw when we got down to Busch Stadium.  It was quickly apparent that Chelsea was the favorite team as it seemed everyone initially had Chelsea gear on.

It was really odd to see all of this merchandise at the Cardinals' merchandise stands.

Our seats were mid-field and they were great.  We could see everything.

The Cardinals donated $1 of every ticket sold (over $48,000) to the relief fund for Moore, Oklahoma.  Both Chelsea and Man City Clubs matched that donation.  There was a short ceremony before the game to show signs of unity.

This back up goalie warmed up during half-time and a few minutes in to the second half.  Unfortunately, it didn't do much good.  When he came in Chelsea was winning 3-0.  He gave up one goal within the first 10 seconds and a second goal about 2 minutes later.

Man City ended up coming from a 3-0 deficit and win 4-3.  In the end, I think that most people were cheering for both teams.  There were some die hards for each team but, for the most part, we all were just excited to see these premier players play the game of "football".

After the game, each team walked around the field and saluted the crowd.

One of the hot items of the night were these scarves.  I have seen them in soccer bars/pubs before so I knew I had to have one.  This one has Busch Stadium and the date, May 23, 2013, on it.  Then on each end are the coat of arms of each team.  I love it.

I really hope that we get more games like this to St. Louis.  It was good for the city and great for the fans to see the game played at this high of level.  

Madonna Comes to Town

Last night Madonna made her way back to St. Louis.  This show was announced a few months ago and seeing as how she was such an iconic figure growing up, I definitely wanted to cross this concert off of my list of "have to's".

 

I had heard rumors that Madonna is always late for her shows.  Apparently, she was on Ellen and even stated that she never goes on stage before 10:00pm.  The tickets said that the show would start at 8:00 but after hearing and reading so much, we decided to risk it and go out to dinner first.  We ended up at the venue right around 9:00 and, sure enough, the show had not started.

We took advantage of the extra time to do some people-watching and to take some pictures.

 

So, after 2 hours and 40 minutes later, Madonna FINALLY took the stage at 10:40pm.  Yes, you read that right, she was 2 hours and 40 minutes late.  Please take note that this is common with all of her shows so if you have tickets, DON'T show up before 9:30 or so.

I don't want to ruin the show for any of you who haven't seen it but I will just say that it had mixed reviews.  I was disappointed in the show while others in my group thought it was great. So, here is a bullet-point review:

  

-She only sang 3 or 4 old songs . . . but I expected that.

-The dancers were phenomenal.

-She definitely is showing her age.

-The show was not nearly as controversial or risque as I thought it would have been.

-"Vogue" was the best song of the night.  I loved it.

The one part that we all agreed on, though, was that it was great just to have a Mommy night out. 

 

Race for the Cure 2012

Last weekend we participated in the St. Louis Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  This is the second year that we have walked in honor of my sister-in-law, Debbie.  You can read her story, HERE.

The day started early on Saturday when we all met up to load the bus to get downtown. 

Since we had some extra time, of course, I had to take some pics:

All of the babies:  Ben (4), Gracie (4), Kenzie (3), Caleb (2), Ian (2), Kanin (8) 

Here is Scott with his siblings (minus his brother, Rick).  Jeff, Debbie, Scott, Sherri

We all loved this big head of Debbie.  We had a great time with it.

If you have never been a part of a large march, I urge you to find something you are passionate about and go to a march or a rally.  It is absolutely amazing.  See that blur . . .those are all people marching for a cure for breast cancer. Incredible.

This group of survivors always serenades the walkers right by the finish line.  I love them and it is very emotional to walk by them singing, "I Will Survive".

Here is Debbie crossing the survivors finish line.

The St. Louis Rams players and cheerleaders passed out roses to the survivors.

Here is our entire group after the walk.  It was such an inspiring day and we are so blessed that Debbie cancer-free!

I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World . . .

Did anyone else see this article about what a "real" Barbie girl would look like?

 In the latest issue of "O" magazine, model Katie Halchishick posed and allowed her figure to be compared to Barbie's proportions.

Source

For this model to have the proportions of Barbie, she'd have to have the following done:

-brow lift

-jaw line shave

-rhinoplasty (nose job)

-cheek and neck reduction

-chin implant

-scooped-out shoulders

-breast lift

-liposuction on arms

-tummy tuck which would also need sculpting

Halchishick co-founded a website, Healthy is the New Skinny, has taken on the hard mission of teaching that it is better to be healthy than skinny.  She is challenging to rethink the ideal body image and has opened a modeling agency for women with natural figures.

Like so many of you out there, I'm not completely happy with myself and my body image.  I look at magazine covers and movies and wonder why I can't be that way.  At the same time, I don't want my daughter to grow up worrying about her weight or comparing herself to the impossible.

I saw this picture and just thought it was fascinating when outlined on an actual woman how impossible it would be to be a real-life Barbie.

I think I'll just continue to focus on being healthy instead of skinny.