Meet Mar!

It has been a long week but you've all made it! Today I have a special post from my sidebar sponsor, the lovely Mar from to&fro. She loves hockey (her husband is a pretty great player) and travel so what is there not to like? Enjoy getting to know her and show her some love!

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Hi, my name is Mar and I can be found over at t.o. & fro. I am excited to be taking over Missy's blog today!! 

I started this blog back in 2010 when an unexpected move took us over 4000 miles from home in Toronto to the land of the midnight sun, Alaska!  It was a great way to journal our adventures, as well as keep in touch with family and friends back home. Alaska immediately stole our hearts, giving us both opportunities we had never imagined and allowing us to meet some incredible life-long friends in the process.  We were absolutely meant for that place, but, like all good things, it had to come to an end and we decided it was time for the next adventure.  So now we are back in Toronto, surrounded by family and friends, and continuing to pursue our dreams.  

4 fun facts about me:

+ I work as an educator/animal handler at an aquarium.

+ I'm a total animal lover and have worked numerous animals including dolphins, walruses, birds and fox.

+ I love photography, camping, hiking, fishing and anything that involves being outside. + I recently got married! 
 

 
On top of being an educator/animal handler by day, I am also my professional hockey-playing husband's #1 fan by day, night and weekend. Living the hockey life is something I don't talk about often, because let's face it,  when the words "professional", "hockey" and "player" come out, it usually trumps everything else, and there is so much more to us and our relationship than just hockey.  You can say our life is a pretty crazy one and we definitely don't have your typical Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 kind of gigs, but we're both doing what we love to do, in a place we call home, and wouldn't change it for a thing!

So there you have it friends, a glimpse at my life in a [tiny] nutshell. To learn more about how we met and our adventures, pop on over and say hi!  I look forward to being friends!

Other posts you will love:

We're Moving to Alaska?!

This Isn't Goodbye

In the Blink of an Eye

Find Mar:

t.o. & fro     |     Bloglovin     |     Instagram     |     Facebook     |     Twitter


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If you would like to be a sidebar sponsor feel free to contact me:
takeallchances@gmail.com

  Find Me twitter/bloglovin/pinterest/instagram    I'm packing to get my ass to NYC tomorrow so another song to get me in the NYC frame of mind: Lana Del Rey - Chelsea Hotel No 2     Linking with Whitney
     

Fan Friday - NYR Henrik Lundqvist

First off, I am going to work REALLY hard to not make this post sound like a fan girl post. I can't say it won't happen, so don't judge me! I'm linking up with Sarah for Fan Friday and decided to write about a sport's star who is a favourite of mine. I have a few but it won't surprise you that I chose a hockey player. 

Not just any hockey player, a New York Rangers player. My favourite on the team (along with many, many others) is none other than Henrik Lundqvist. Why? Well let's see:

1] He's a goalie.
Since liking hockey I have always admired the goalies, from their warm up routines, the pressure they face being on the ice the whole game, the concentration they must have and their acrobatic skills to pull off some saves! Also, without meaning to, I dated a hockey goalie (French Canadian ladies - woo woo) who played for my local team and without realising, they became my weakness. Now when I see a hockey goalie skate out I can't help but swoon a little. I am sorry I have just undone all my good work of being a 'real' hockey fan! I'm not sorry!

[Source]

2] Charity
Henrik supports charities and works closely with the Garden of Dreams foundation. Not only does he host various charity events, give items to auction, but he also donates profits from his clothing line to the charity. 

Casino Charity Night -L-R Boyle, Lundqvist, Giradi and Richards [Source]

3] Style
What can I say? This man has style and lots of it. He seems to be able to wear anything and everything and still look good. He knows how to pull off a suit, and let's be honest, a man in a suit is always a good thing!

[Source]

4] Skill
He's an amazing goalkeeper. He holds a number of records and has won and been nominated for a variety of awards. In 2012 he won the Vezina Trophy ( this is awarded to the NHL's best goalkeeper) and he's also been nominated for this 5 years! As for Rangers awards, he was awarded MVP 7 years in a row. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. There's a reason he's earned the nickname The King!

[Source]

Linking with Whitney!

Who is your favourite sport's star?   Find Me twitter/bloglovin/pinterest/instagram        

But you're a girl ... hockey time!

I have always been a fan of sports. Maybe it's because I have an extraordinary amount of energy on most occasions and this lets me burn it off or maybe it's because underneath all my pretty girly clothes, I am a bit of a tom boy. Either way, I like being a sports fan. I love the feeling of being part of a team (even if it's not me playing).

However, being a sports fan - in particular a female sports fan - can bring about it's own problems. I have encountered a number of men who seem to scoff at the fact that I am into 'their' sports. I always want to remind them not to judge a book by its cover!

My favourite sport is hockey (which I have blogged about before here, here , here and here) and this is something which I got into a bit later on in life. I had always enjoyed tennis and enjoyed the odd football game here and then. This was until a friend took me to a hockey game. In the UK hockey is not a prominent sport (to the point where my area no longer has a hockey team), I don't know why because it is quite frankly AWESOME!

My first game I was amazed at the speed, the sounds, the fights, the crowd and just the atmosphere and I knew this was going to be a love affair for some time. I went to the last few games of that season and then began with the new season. I attended pretty much every game. I was judged by the way I dressed but I didn't care. So what if I wanted to wear skinny jeans, knee boots and pretty coats - that's me. I would wear my jersey with pride and I brushed off the comments that I was only there for the men. I am me and I will always be me reagrdless of where I am and the situations I am in.

My standard Saturday night hockey outfit.

I remember one of the guys I went with (who we met as he sat next to my little group of 3) said to me, " I didn't think you'd last long here when I saw you come to your first game dressed like that but now you know more than me!" To say I proved him and others wrong was an understatement. I met a guy in NYC once who said to me after I talked hockey with him- and held my own - "Wow! You really DO know your hockey? Where I come from most female hockey fans look like line backers." Umm thanks?

So I saw out that season and in that time I even dated one of the team. Not by hanging around waiting for him after games, it just kinda happened. He made eye contact a few times on ice and around the rink. We passed each other once and he stopped me to have a conversation and it kinda led to a thing. Does that change your view of me? It shouldn't, I still cheered every game and continued to do so the following season when he didn't play there anymore. Sometimes those things just happen. 

I have even made it to a game at Madison Square Garden to my favourite team the Rangers take on the Flyers. Unfortunately the score line was not a happy one that day but I loved seeing an NHL game in action. But I have to say, I did love the dingy little rink my team at home played in. 

Let's go Rangers, let's go!

I sometimes feel men feel like they have some claim over sports but guess what men... it may be a man's world but it's certainly nothing without a woman! So appreciate us for the fans we are. 

My jam for today is one which takes me back to my hockey days. It was the team intro music and always got everyone up on their feet: 

 

Have you ever been judged for liking a sport?


Today I am linking up with another strong, female sports fan: Sarah at Venus Trapped. Today she is talking about jobs she'd be great at in football!  We'd love to see you linked up too!

I've also linked up with :

Time passes...

It has been nearly a week since blogging. It's not that I haven't wanted too, I just haven't had the time to sit and write. Once again I have the thoughts but just can't seem to get them onto screen and with having little time I just decided to have a break

I looked after my nephew last night to allow my sister and partner to go out and therefore I was up very early (too early in fact) for a Sunday!! He's been good but my goodness trying to occupy him is hard work. He's worth it though.

I thought I'd take the early morning as a chance to share my week...

Back to Work

After two weeks off it was ready to go to school and I loved it. I missed the kids and enjoyed hearing all their stories about the holidays. The week was manic and I worked a lot!! There was marking and planning and all other school related stuff!! 

Pamper Time

At the spa I go to there was a St Tropez event. As a regular, I was offered tickets. So I took Miss Twin and my Mam. It was basically the launch of their sun care range which also accelerates tanning. It also has melanobronze in it. This is something which 'tricks' the skin into thinking it's getting sun so melatonin is produced therefore you will begin to tan without being in the sun!! Now for someone with my pale skin this sounds pretty amazing. I am now giving the face cream a little go, after all it's nearly summer so I fancy the sun kissed look and not the Casper the friendly ghost look. So I treated myself to that and booked a spray tan... a girls gotta treat themselves every once in a while!

{Via}

Friends and Family

I managed to spend some time with my best friends this week. I'm trying to get  bit of a line between work and life. Before my two weeks off I was working non-stop and felt like I didn't have time. I wanted to see them but I was completely engrossed in work. I decided over Easter that that must be changed. I can't just have work. 

One of my favourite moments this week was taking my nephew to my sisters and having a night in with pizza and video games. He turned 17 last week but still thinks me and Miss Twin are pretty cool- woo!! We played Mortal Kombat and it was great fun. For the record I'm not too bad at it, I just press anything but it works! He's amazing at it though so I didn't really win a lot bit I tried. I could do a mean grapple and block combo! Haha! We also managed to win the tag team challenge.

{Via}

 My character- Johnny Cage!

Hockey

As I have been working late I managed to catch some Stanley Cup games. As my team lost in the first round - Oh Rangers...when will it be your time?- I was rooting for The Flyers. A couple of good friends of mine love them and they were rather pleased I was showing some interest in their team. One believes that he can change my allegiance and I keep reminding him that it wont happen!I don't think he is too bothered now since I watched the Bruins get rid of them in 4 games. I may be a jinx. So... Let's go Rangers!!!

{Via}

So that's a bit of an update and hopefully I will be back to blogging if I can get my mixed up thoughts out!

I am going to leave you with my little nephew's first blog post. When I was working I sat him on my knee for a bit and played with some of his toys but he seemd to think my laptop was more fun. He decided that he wanted to, at 10 months, join the blogging community! So here is Baby G's post...

xxxxxxxx    buyujrujhjhhyhgbdxcxtgthggg

Happy Sunday!!

I left my heart in New York City...

View from my hotel room...

It's me :-) I am back to the world of blogging. I arrived home yesterday and feel ill today. Typical!! Obviously I am better suited in NYC!I have missed catching up with you all so I am sure I will have a good nose around later!

What can I say... NYC was just amazing as ever. Do you have somewhere you love to visit and where you get there you just feel at home. Like you were made to be there? That's how I feel in NYC. The holiday itself has possibly been one of my most crazy and surreal holidays ever!

To help explain, I thought the easiest thing would be to bullet point some of my adventure:

- Being asked to do a mini fashion shoot at a fashion week show.

- A night of free drinks and after work drinks with bartenders - he was very cute ;-)

- Making friends with Flyers fans who then gave their Flyers t-shirt to my friend after explaining to some guy that he'd converted her to a Flyers fan for life (Since they beat the Rangers). This guy then gave him $20 to give his shirt away. It was possibly the funniest thing I'd seen!! 

- Shots of Jameson and getting my stomach signed by boys in bands and then signing theirs.

-Miss Faux Fur getting her head a bit messed up by one of the boys in band.

- Breakfast at 5am with said boys.

- Crazy photos in Plaza...classy I know ;)

- Getting subway out of Brooklyn, getting out of subway and after 5 minutes realising that we were still in Brooklyn.

-Being stalked around Top of the Rock by a security guard who then proceded to try and get in our photos and take photos with us. Very bizarre!

-Visiting a psychic who read my tarot and said: I was still not over a relationship from last year which had no closure but he would give it to me and not to worry about it, I had lots of work op's in March April and could see a move on the horizon for me. There was a lot more detail but I will say she was pretty accurate!

- I was on TV on MSG as the fist pumping block - woo!!

That is a bit of a run down of my crazy time. Needless to say I am pretty gutted to be back. I am now going to share a few photos from my time there. Hope you enjoy :-)

Go Rangers!

Plaza fun...

MoMA

Central Park in the snow...

Top of the Rock..

The City with snow...

Battery Park fun...

I love the City!

The look of the holiday..."It wasn't meant to happen..."

DIY...

I can't describe how glad I am for it being Friday night!! I hate that I have wished away this week but I have felt so crappy that I just wanted to have Friday night come soon and now it has! Yey! Since I've had a nasty headache hanging around for 4 days... yes 4 days... I planned in a night all to myself!

On the way home I stopped off at shops for Sprite for my Raspberry Vodka (Oh yea!!) and chocolate. I've indulged in a lovely bubble bath and face mask. Now it's time for nails - I may even paint my toenails which I never do unless it's summer. It's a period break on the hockey so I'm settling down for more live hockey (Thank you HDMI cable xoxo), alcohol and chocolate. Completely DIY pamper but oh so needed! I feel like I'm literally carrying all my work on my back but hopefully after a very selfish and indulgent night of doing nothing I will feel better.

My pamper kit...Can't recommend Molton Brown bubble bath enough.

WIN! WIN! WIN!

I decided that I was going to have a break from the stress of job applications and all other school related stuff and have some me time. What best place to go than the ice rink to watch a hockey game! What a game it was too! Currently my team are doing pretty horrifically with financial instability, dodgy facilities and an extremely short bench to the tune of like 10 players! You thought I was being over dramatic with the whole not doing well but seriously .. it's pretty dire times. However.. in all that adversity, in all that chaos and standing skate to skate with ex-NHLer's they played bloody brilliant!! They won the game, played with so much passion and managed to rile the other team up who DO NOT like to lose hahah!! They actually resorted to trying to get our guys to fight to short bench them even more!! Proper underdog game it was. I have to say I am in awe of all players and do not think I will see a more hard fought, passionate, strong and gutsy team for a long time!! 

In the face of adversity and hard times, give it a big check and be on your way to your goal!

Proud hockey fan tonight :-)

Female sports fan...no way!

Yesterday I blogged about seeing my hockey team play and lose a match which quite frankly they were unlucky to lose. I made references there to being labelled a ‘puck bunny’. After a comment by one of my favourite bloggers (Hockey Wife) where she too admitted to some ‘He’s hot!’ moments it got me thinking about female sports fans.

I grew up in a house full of brothers and I have always been involved in rough and tumble games because of that. One of my favourite games when younger was to play wrestling. We would pile the settee cushions on each other and do various flying moves haha! It wasn’t just me, as you know I also have Miss Twin in my life. The two of us were a bit crazy if I do say so myself! So from a young age we watched football (or Soccer to my American friends) and wrestling. I loved it and in some ways that has helped me to be good in my jobs as I am able to relate to the boys I teach by talk of football and sports etc as well as fashion etc with the girls.

Bear in mind I have always had a love of sport and could have a technical discussion about cricket, football, wrestling (and by technical I mean discuss the story line haha) and hockey I still get judged. The first hockey match I attended I dressed like I would any other day: skinny jeans, knee boots (it was cold), pretty top, nice coat and a chained handle handbag (my favourite at the time). A friend who sat in front of us- Mr JD- (who now attends games with us) said he looked at me and thought – nah she wont last more than a few games. Now? I’m there more than he is, I can tell you which player has transferred and where to, the standings, the latest rumours etc. This is because I genuinely enjoy the game and have an interest in it. How do I dress now... further down the line since that fateful first hook up with hockey? Exactly the same- still the heeled boots and pretty tops. Obviously I own jerseys too which I wear regularly of course! However, as much as Mr JD knows now that I am there for the game it doesn’t stop random people around the rink looking at me like ‘Yep..you’re here for the players.’ As mentioned yesterday...of course I’m going to look at the players. They’re attractive but I can still recount the game.

Choose your weapon...

*Image from Every stock photo

The same with girls and football. If you say you like it, you get the usual...You just want to be a WAG look (that’s Wives and Girlfriends if you’re not familiar). Then when they mention the off-side rule and you recount it perfectly the face changes into an, ‘Ahh so you do like the game.’ If you want my opinion, I don’t actually find many football players attractive, except David Beckham of course! The thing is though, after they realise you do like the game, 5 minutes later they are back to thinking you’re eyeing everyone up.

The funny thing is, is that what seems to be a deciding factor in whether you are judged to be a ‘real fan’ or ‘puck bunny’/ ‘WAG’ etc seems to be based a lot on how you dress. Yes, I’m into the rough stuff of hockey etc but I still have many girly qualities and I am renowned at work and out of it for always looking ‘preened’. Now put this down to a confidence thing... my fashion, make up and clothing is like my mask, It’s something which I find comfortable to hide behind. To others, well I am perceived to be high maintenance. At sporting events this takes a turn into the realm of being ‘pretty for the players’. Strange or what? It’s something that’s never going to change. If  I’m going to a game I’m going to make sure my hair is done, my makeup is on, my clothes look nice just as much as I would when going out for a shopping day.  Will I start ‘dressing down’ just to not be judged? No way!! I am what I am and people can say what they want because I really don’t care.  I am quite content being a mulberry bag toting, preened and glam sports fan!! If the games good- well then I’m good. 

My weapons of choice... :-)

To all you female sports fans out there...it’s tough but whatever you wear, whatever people say, whatever people think just don’t let it bother you. Laugh it off, enjoy the game and by all means check out those hot guys!! After all, that’s what they’re there for surely?!

 

CHECK HIM!!!

I was out last night and had great night and today I went to the hockey with my friend Miss Hockey. We decided we would have a girly session and go without the guys. If you have never been to a hockey match before, then my friend, you are missing out! If you have and you love it then you will know what I mean when I say the sound of blades slicing the ice and the whoosh of players zipping around is one of the best things in the world.

Myself and my friend also like to put a girly slant on things. Mr Hockey and Mr JD who come with us always say, “ Missy, I would love you to present your own hockey show. It would be filled with so many funny stories and gossip but you actually know exactly how the game goes so it’s the best of both worlds.” Haha!  Now we are by no means ‘puck bunnies’ (Definition: Woman who go to hockey matches with the sole intention of sleeping with players). But as woman we can’t help notice when a good looking man walks, or in this case, skates by.

We discuss the game, the passes, the goals the goalie wants back, the goals the goalie had no power over, the amounts of checks thrown etc etc. We also pepper our conversations with ‘Ooo he’s looking hot... look the goalie is ‘dancing’’ and other various hockey termed jokes.  Yes, it can be childish, it can be extremely girly but what are we to do? Pretend the guys aren’t hot. I will hold my hand up and say I have a thing for goalies haha! I actually have more a thing for them when they’re in their whole get up however haha! I think it’s the whole fact that they look big and look like they could take care of you. It’s the rough and ready look!

Hot!

The game itself was a fantastic nail biter of a game! The score didn’t go our way but it was a game of passion and hard work. I was elated at our goals, angry at the refs, gutted at the goals against and was shouting for checks on more than one occasion. All in all it was a great night and made me feel renewed and relaxed. It was also nice just having a girly session. We will be there next Saturday with Mr Vodka as it’s not a school night. So hopefully we will get a win next week, possibly a fight and I am sure we will schedule some player talk in there too.

Any other hockey fans out there? What’s your favourite thing about the amazing sport that is hockey?

*Image from every stock photo

A break away...

So... today is last day of my Christmas holidays. I’m back to work tomorrow...imparting my wisdom and knowledge (although some, including myself sometimes would beg to differ with that) to the future politicians, sports stars, teachers etc. I’ve worked rather hard the past couple of days as I did my usual trick of leaving work till the last minute. However, the cabin fever set in. I hadn’t done a lot else and most of my friends were busy (the usual boyfriend business) or away travelling. Now I’m not complaining about the boyfriends but it’s almost like a club. If you’re single you’re not in it. After last year’s trials and tribulations I’m having to try and keep myself busy but that’s proving harder than I thought!!

What could cheer me up? Hockey of course!! My passion...unfortunately I had no one to go with. Hmm...what could I do? Go alone?! The thought alone made me feel nauseas. I can’t go to a coffee shop alone without a magazine to keep me busy and here I was contemplating go to a hockey game, 3 - 20 minutes of action (longer obv with the stops) with 2 breaks!! Then a little something inside me thought...go for it!! Although I didn’t make any resolutions I decided to challenge myself more and what was more of a challenge than doing something that quite frankly scared me. So i got myself dressed, make up on and with jersey in hand put faith in myself and you know what...it felt great.

Now, I know you may think but it’s only a hockey game...but for me it’s definitely something I am proud of. Growing up with a twin and large family meant I never really had to do anything alone. Times are changing and my passion for hockey may just give me the get up and go I need. After last years season it has been difficult to feel comfortable in the rink and it hasn’t exactly helped me ‘let go of HB’ but my disillusion is starting to fade and I’m actually allowing myself to enjoy it. HB has gone and I only thought of him twice through the whole game...woo!! Oh and I made a couple of new friends. Good evening all round and hopefully this will be my 'break away' to a more confident me...

Cold, a bit dingy but my team's rink! Happiness!