Emily's Olympic Highlights

Well, it's been 10 days since the Closing Ceremony.  I guess it's really over.

LONDON 2012, you were lovely.  Here are my official Olympic highlights.
 

Queen Elizabeth II: Bond Girl

Queenie starred in an Opening Ceremony video!  With Bond!  James Bond!



Gabrielle Douglas

This is my girl!  Loved her since the AT&T American Cup when she was only an alternate (and her scores didn't count for anything)...and outscored the actual winner.  Then she won the VISA Olympic trials.  Then she led the USA team in qualifying.  Then she was the only team member to count for every event in the team finals.  Then she won the All-Around gold.  (Then people complained about her hair? Haters gonna hate.) This is my girl!

And on that note...

USA Women's Gymnastics Team

Nailed it!  McKayla's perfect vault, Gabby's uneven bars, Jordan and Aly on floor, and Kyla to round out high numbers in each event...perfect well-rounded team.  You go, Glen Coco!

Will and Kate watching the Games

Look at them there, trying to be normal!  I am so thrilled to see them do very average things, like sit in $100ish seats rather than a royal box. Look at them being all adorable.

Plus they did the wave, and cracked me up.

 

Phelps/Lochte rivalry/bromance

It started with a bang when Lochte shocked Phelps in the 400m IM...and continued through the team's silver relay...and finally concluded with the 200m IM, when Phelps got his redemption.  Then they rocked it together in the 4x100 medley relay.



Men's Gymnastics little footie pajama pants

 

Little footie pajama pants!



"McKayla Maroney is not impressed"

 I can't hate on her silver medal smirk.  The girl is adorable.  And the meme is hilarious.



McKayla Maroney plays along!

"The pool is closed.. #notimpressed"
 
 
 
Triple Jump

Hop...skip...JUMP!  My boss actually introduced me to Triple Jump via a video shortly before track and field started.  Love it!  They're just like Super Mario in their approach.



Michael Phelps took his medals out to the club

Can you blame him for wanting to?


  
Victory celebrations

 

  
Mo Farah doing Bolt's thing, Usain Bolt doing the Mo-Bot.  I love seeing competing athletes being good sports, such as...


 
 Sam Mikulak during the vault finals

 

"I wanna see this guy!" "Dude, that was ridiculous!"  These were his competitors for a medal, but he really appreciated the talent there.
   

 
Sanya Richards-Ross's hair

LOVE that she had her hair mostly down while competing in an athletic competition.  Her little braid was like a little golden crown.  Golden, like her performance.

 
 
WE WON THE OLYMPICS...AGAIN!

#1 in gold AND #1 in total medals...USA!  USA!
 

Thank you, London, and goodnight.

Here it is - GOLD!

And here it is...
the winner of the first US gold medal/my heart is
Ryan Lochte

OLYMPIC FEVER 2012

LONDON, BABY!

It's finally here! Opening Ceremony day for the Olympics! I took the day off work (paid! full-time job perks!) and am PUMPED for the Opening Ceremonies tonight!

This is my board by the front door:

Alexa and I have been doing the Olympics together since TORINO '06, when we lived down the hall from each other in our college dorm. Tonight we celebrate another one.

Last Saturday, I met some friends at a bar in Hollywood.  By the time I got there, they had made friends with a random Australian...and somehow, the first thing I said to him was, "We are gonna KICK YOUR A** IN THE OLYMPICS!"  That was followed by, "We won Vancouver, and we suck at winter!" / "We're Australia...we don't even have winter. ...You have what, 127 million people?  We only have 26 million." / "Yeah, we have more winners! AMERICA!"

Oops.

Our medal tracker widget is installed on the blog sidebar!  My wine is ready for tonight's viewing!  I am home and counting down!

Who will be the first athlete to win my heart?  And by that, I mean the first gold medal...because remember, I love winning the Olympics.

*giggle*

This morning I read something online that also had a picture of a beluga.  Somehow, that led me to search for pictures of narwhals.  I giggled at each one I found.  Click to enlarge, giggle, find new photo, enlarge, giggle again.  They look so silly, like they shouldn't be real.  I love them.  And then I looked up other funny/cute animals.

Here's a recap of my morning:

Narwhals. *giggle*

Is it a beaver?  Is it a duck? What does a platypus think it is?

HELLO THERE, BABY HIPPO!

Baby sea turtle on a sand adventure

WE'RE ALIVE

What. happened.

So forever later...here I am!  We're both alive!

I got promoted to a new full-time position at work. I adopted the world's most adorable bunny. I registered for a half-marathon later this year, and I hate running.  Things happened.  And now we're back.

That's all for now though.  I leave you with the best photo I've seen on the internet all week:

Christmastime Is Here

The other night I watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and was struck by the fact that Christmastime is, in fact, here.

Also, Michigan got dumped on in a little mini-blizzard and that too, brought home the whole "Christmas" thing. We didn't get it as bad as Minnesota, but still. It took my dad nearly an hour to go ONE mile.
Needless to say, I stayed home.

Now, for those keeping score at home, I have been posting photos of the holiday shenanigans going on here in the Great White North on my brand new Tumblr. I've been posting some of the more choice ones, and we've moved from the library to the kitchen in the geography of the house.

Later this week is our annual trip to Chicago to go visit the people who still live in the city. I'm really looking forward to it, it's always fun to see a real city all lit up and busy for the holidays.

Also, we eat tons of delicious food.

It's Alexa's birthday!!!

KATE WINSLET & HUSBAND HAVE SPLIT

IT'S ALL FALLING INTO PLACE NOW.

KATE + LEO 4EVER.

Emily's Olympic highlights

So the Olympics came and went, and as much as Alexa and I LOVE THE GAMES...we hardly blogged about it. That's a FAIL on our part.

I now give you my Olympic Highlights:

The Opening Ceremony whales
I cannot find photos/video of it online, but oh man. Video whales on the floor, spouting up some mist. Awesome.


Canada's Mittens
They are freaking cute and made me happy.


Apolo Anton Ohno
Winning medals and hearts. (Okay, due to my extreme desire to WIN THE OLYMPICS, any athlete who can bring home several medals has basically won my heart.) I may have missed a few speedskating events' coverage, but I always watched Apolo's races. I also loved his announcements of his personal medal count after each win.


Moguls
Bump, bump, bump, launch...spin!...land, bump, bump. AWESOME. I never noticed moguls before, but holy cow this event rules. Plus, just look at that outfit: looks like comfy pajamas.


Charlie White & Meryl Davis
Silver medal in ice dancing! Their "Phantom of the Opera" costumes were amazing! Also, Alexa knows Charlie! GO TEAM!


Shaun White wins again
In the words of Alexa, "GOD Shaun White is just SO much better than everyone else." Seriously. He consistently gets more air and turns out better tricks than anyone. His "victory lap" was scored even higher than his first run. I feel like the event itself was just a formality—Shaun White was going to win, period. And I have to comment on team outfits again: USA rocking the plaid shirt and jeans? Of course we did.


Scott Hamilton's figure skating commentary
"Triple axelllllll....YEEESSS!" "Whooooa...ooohhh..." This is a man who loves the sport, and I love his commentary.


Lysacek pwns Plushenko
LOL RUSSIA. We beat you even without a quad!


Snowboard Cross
I just love how they jump and go whoosh.


Bode Miller wins gold
Hey, he finally got one! Way to turn around that "go big or go home" attitude from Torino. (Notice the trend: I love people who win medals.)


Closing Ceremony hijinks
It looked like a Thanksgiving parade threw up in Canada. Inflatable animals and mounties and singing maple leaves...I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. It was completely unexpected during what I thought was supposed to be a classy affair. WHATEVER, it was amazing.


WE WON THE OLYMPICS
Okay Canada, you got more golds than anyone...but we won more overall medals than anyone, and we all know that's what I really care about during the Games! 9 Gold, 15 Silver, 13 Bronze...37 total medals...USA! USA! USA!

Krav Maga Orange Belt

Last Saturday, I passed my Krav Maga Orange Belt test! Five hours of hook punches and side kicks and bearhug defenses and ground fighting—glad I had a great partner to work with!

Before test...

...and after.

More Paris

I suppose I had finish the updates on Paris, because while Emily hasn't asked for them, I really should record it all as best I can.

This takes us back to last Tuesday. On Tuesday I slept even later (which was really nice) although awkward, as I was totally interrupted by French room service trying to clean.

I finally dragged my sorry ass out of bed and wandered over to L'arc de Triomphe. I stood in line for a bit and then walked up the 284 steps to the top.
Let us ponder that for a moment.
284 STEPS.
Man is that a lot of steps. It nearly killed me, but the view is worth it once you make it. I took many many photos. Taking pictures was a great way to record the trip and gave me time to recover.

I walked down the 284 steps (which is easier than going up) and had lunch. At McDonalds. Yes, I know, I ate at McDonalds. The McD's on the Champs-Elysees no less. It was delicious and unbelievably busy. Busier than I have ever seen any fast food place ever. I only went there out of convenience and price. I spent way too much on dinner the night before (at a nice place on the Champs) and this was my way of making up for it.

I wrote a few postcards while I ate and then moved on to La Tour Eiffel. I waited a long, long time to go up, bit seeing as I had promised a friend of mine I would, I waited. Although once I got to the top, I kind of wondered why I did (being vaguely afraid of heights and all).

Dinner was quite the affair that night, as we went out with her work crew. Mom and I tried Fois Gras, which wasn't that bad. I don't think I'd jump to have it again, but it was an experience and now i can say I've done it. Mom had ratatouille, I had a pot of fish. Literally. It was delicious. For dessert I also had Creme Brulee on a Waffle. Best decision ever. Better than everyone else's lame-o ice creams. The only thing potentially better than the food was one of Mom's work friends kind of getting in a snit with the waiter. But I would've done the same thing-the waiter was all...I guess "uppity" is the word.

We got back super, super late.

Wednesday entails going out with her work peoples around the city. Stay tuned.

Short Paris Recap

So back to that whole "I went to Paris" thing. We shall recap briefly.

So on Monday I went around the city by myself, while my mom worked.
I slept a bit late (which was nice) and took the metro into the city. I started at Notre Dame, the first stop of the day. The church is gorgeous. Just so stunning. I took photos as best I can. I also caught the end of a tour in English (which was nice too) and informative. I wandered around the church and spent about an hour and a half there.

Upon leaving the church I decided to find this street that my mom read about in the Delta Flight Magazine. It's the Rue Sainte-Louis en L'ile. It's a charming little street with boutiques and little restaurants. I didn't eat there, I instead had a yummy sandwich from a take-away vendor and ate in the park behind Notre Dame.

Wandering over to the Lourve took longer than expected, but I found it. I feel that's impressive, being as I'm completely and utterly geographically challenged. I pretty much closed the place down, seeing everything as best I could. I did the high points, even taking time to see La Joconde (AKA the Mona Lisa). She's impressive, although smaller than most people realize.

After closing the Lourve, I walked further than I should have. I ate at a restaurant off the Champs-Elysees, which was delicious. It took me a long time to get there and got rained on pretty hardcore in the proccess. The waiter was nice to me, especially seeing as I was alone, kinda gross and American.

And thusly ends my Monday in Paris. I will include pictures and return for Tuesday soon. With pictures.

Alexa is in L.A. - Disneyland Edition

There are more pictures here of me than Alexa, but that's because these are from my personal camera.

And also because I am adorable.

Please click to enlarge this photo, and check out Alexa's face.