The Ball

Can I be real with you folks for a minute?

When am I ever not real with you?  But that's besides the point.



I do not get excited about military functions.  Usually there's a lot of ma'ams and sirs and stand, sit, stand, salute.  I'm a down home kinda girl.  I'd much rather have everyone over for dinner than worry about if my dress is fancy enough or if I waited to let my husband introduce me in a receiving line rather than introducing myself.



I'm an army wife.  If I can take care of myself during deployments I can certainly introduce myself.  Duh.



But readers, I promised I would keep it real.  And the real truth of it is, I had a good time.  A really good time.

Since we're keeping it real I feel obligated to tell you: I also had 4 glasses of wine.

xo, nikki

Italia vs Fiji

Rugby is by far my favorite sport to watch.  Mostly because of those short shorts they wear and how manly they are.

I don't know about any of you other lady readers out there but I like a manly man.  The manlier the better.  Shew, give me a moment whilst I fan myself.



If you remember I went to see Italy vs Argentina in Verona a few weeks ago.  Last weekend we went to Modena (home of balsamic vinegar) to see team Italy vs Fiji.  It was a pretty amazing match.  Fiji does a haka dance before each match similar to the All Blacks.



We made a weekend of the match and stayed the night in Modena.  We were lucky enough to be staying in the actual same hotel as team Italy.  This monstrous fellow is Sergio Parisse, il capitano.  He makes me and my husband look like smurfs.



This is the BARBARIAN.  Castrogiovanni.  That's a serious last name for a serious player.  This guy was in a scrum one time and broke another person's collar bone.  He BREAKS BONES.  He was also really nice about posing for a picture with us.