Nail Polish!

Hello Friends!

The topic of my blog for this year is…. NAIL POLISH! As I talked about in my blog last year, getting your hair done and looking nice is one of the womanly habits that make us women feel good about ourselves. Getting your nails done fits perfectly into that category as well. Unfortunately for us basketball players, we don’t have all the time in the world to go have a day at the salon and get a nice mani and pedi. Although I must say, when we do have that occasional day off, the salon on the end of California Ave, “Central Nails”, does know most of our names and our favorite colors! They also cringe at first sight of our feet! Haha Just kidding…kind of.

Let me enlighten you…

Our team's recent nail polish craze has undoubtedly stemmed from one key person: Jeanette!!! Now I know what all of you are thinking… “but Jayne is the one that is known for wearing her bright pink nail polish during games!” Yes you are right! Jayne has had articles written and pictures taken about her cute nails and great fashion taste. But let me tell you a little about my friend Jeanette.

First, some background info: I’ll start with her lovely parents. Cindy and John Pohlen are in the salon equipment and baking business. Cindy bakes our team the most amazing treats we have ever tasted and John runs the family salon equipment business in Southern California. With that being said, Jeanette has grown up around salon stuff and has made some really useful family friends. One family friend happens to own nail polish company OPI. If you haven’t heard of them before, OPI has the BEST nail polish ever with over 300 colors or something ridiculous!!

So now that brings me to Jeanette’s personal collection of nail polish. With over 50 OPI colors of her own, Jeanette has dark colors, light colors, bright colors, neutral colors, etc. You name it; she probably has something pretty close to it. From “Pink-ing of You” to “No Room for the Blues” or “Paint my Moji-toes Red!”, she literally has a lot, and knows the names of all of them! Her collection doesn’t stop with colors though. Jeanette has nail strengtheners, ridge fillers, base coats, rapid dry top coats, cuticle oils, and of course nail polish removers. Jeanette is very loyal to her OPI friends and only wears their polish, which is the best so I don’t blame her.

Like I mentioned before, Jayne is normally the one noted for her pretty nails and the variety of her colors. But as you can probably guess by now, Jeanette has played a key part in Jayne’s nail repertoire. Jeanette has lived relatively unnoticed with her nail polish by the public. For us teammates however, we have enjoyed her sharing the creative names of the colors with us for the last couple of years. We have all known about her extensive collection and hobby for nail painting. We admire her beautifully painted nails on the regular, which she paints herself most of the time! But for the most part, the rest of us on the team have pretty much sat back and observed the painting and colors that Jayne and Jeanette go thru.

It wasn’t until this last Christmas that our team took nail polish to the next level! You have heard our team’s crazy Christmas stories in previous blogs from my teammates and how much we all love the Christmas spirit. But this year, Jeanette decided to go the extra mile and reach out to us teammates even more. She gave each teammate a gift bag filled with nail accessories. We each got 6 color polishes, a rapid dry top coat, nail strengthener, cuticle oil, nail polish remover and a bottle of hand lotion. I guess you can say this is where our craze started.

Since Christmas, there has been a fetish amongst our team with painting our nails, especially for games. Everyone has taken part! It’s like we all wanted to become a part of the Jayne and Jeanette nail painting party without even knowing it. With Jeanette’s generous gift, it was like an open invitation for everyone to join in. Lo and behold, nail painting has officially become an important part of our whole team.

I will be the first to admit that I had rarely painted my nails before this year. I think I have had one or two manicures in my whole life. Painting my nails has never been a priority, let alone a hobby of mine, and I am positive that some of my teammates are the same way. I don’t know what it is or what happened to us, but I find myself, like my teammates, making and planning out my time before games so I can be sure to paint my nails. My teammates and I are often talking about who is wearing what color and what colors we like better. It has actually been very enjoyable too! It makes me happy when I have a new color on my nails. When we put our hands in the huddle at the end of practice, it’s like a rainbow of colors on our fingers. How can that not bring a smile to your face?

Nail polish and painting nails has really become another entertaining thing that our team just seems to engulf. But let me reassure that painting our nails does not make our team any less tough or focused. It is merely a way to remind us that we are young women and we like looking nice and taking care of our bodies. And honestly, it is really fun to have a nail painting party!

The coaches joke that they think that Jayne plays well in pink and Jeanette has good games with purple or blue, but we don’t actually rank our color preferences on how we play with that color on. I think the coaches just might be a little jealous because they didn’t get an awesome gift from Jeanette like we all did.

So that’s the latest craze with our team. Keep your eyes peeled fans. Bring your binoculars if you need to. But I guarantee that there is an array of colors that you are missing out on the court! It’s the little things in life that keep our team staying pretty!

Go Card!!!

-LuLu

Baxter

Hi Cardinal Fans!

I wanted to take some time to talk about one of the most important members of my family, our English bulldog Baxter. And when I say most important, I mean he is the one that hogs all of the attention, is spoiled the most by my mom, and never gets in trouble. He is almost three years old, and one of the cutest dogs you will ever see. He is also one of the biggest terrors ever. My family isn’t necessarily the greatest at training animals, and Baxter definitely takes advantage of that. He will chew or eat anything he can get his paws on. If we don’t leave our shoes in a place where we know that he can’t get them, we can almost bet on the fact that once we return home, our shoes will be in a mangled mess in the center of our family room. There have been numerous times that my sister or I had left a rubber flip flop in the kitchen where Baxter could get it, and we would come home and see hundreds of rubber pieces all over the floor. Some other things that Baxter loves to destroy are pillows and couch cushions. There have been times when we haven’t seen Baxter in a while and go find him on with a guilty look on his face, buried inside of a couch cushion with the fluffy filling all around him. We tried to take him to obedience school, but I don’t think he learned a thing.


Even after all of this misbehaving, Baxter is still treated like a king, especially by my mom. She doesn’t like to admit it, but she spoils him rotten. She used to make him scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, and buys him a ridiculous amount of toys. One day, my mom was making meatballs for dinner, and my sister wanted to have one before she headed to practice. My mom said that she had to wait until after practice, as she was putting two meatballs and sauce into Baxter’s food dish. My sister was a little hurt to say the least. This past Christmas, my mom got him a coat because she was worried that he got too cold on his nightly walks. I had to remind her that he was a dog, and I doubt he cared that much. My sister, brother, and I always give her a hard time for how she treats Baxter, but we know she loves us just as much.

Go Card!

Ashley # 24

Game day rituals

Good day to all! It is a great pleasure to see that you have all joined me to celebrate a special episode of this week’s blog. As we explore this year’s Stanford Cardinal, we have and continue to divulge more about different niches. Amongst the several tendencies and characteristics of the players on the 2009-2010 Stanford Women’s Basketball Team, I have found that game day rituals or conventions are most prominent, unique, and widely dispersed. Shall we start with the eldest and work our way down? Indeed we shall!

Ros “Rah de Dah” Gold-Onwude – If you look for unexpectedness before a game, Ros is definitely your answer. Vigilance is the absolute key in catching her stealth. Not only is it game time, but the match tips off in about an hour and ten minutes. It is not until 5 minutes prior to stretching time that one may notice her slither into the locker room, shed her “bag lady” persona, and transform into the relentless #21 in full uniform.

Jayne “TT” Appel – This active player can be spotted in several settings prior to the onset of tip off. Most always, she proves consistent and meticulous with her game day habits. I have observed her in this order: Enter the locker room, change into her jersey, get taped or get hair done (always depending on training room traffic), relax outside on the chairs, stretch, hit some free throws, game day talk with Tara, and (one must never forget) a colorful handful of skittles! If you opt for consistency, opt for Twinkle Toes.

Michelle “Mich” Harrison – If you are more of an easy-goer before the game, Michelle can definitely assist you. Never too late or too early, Michelle always strolls in just in time and with no worries in the world. With Mich, you could expect a nice box of cookies before the game, a cute little puppy, or simply Michelle. Any will suffice for a down to earth game day preparation. I prefer the latter.

JJ “Ay JJ” Hones – Yes she is from Oregon and yes her major may be International Relations, but for those who are just downright Stanford advocates, JJ is your girl. She is the absolute definition of a Stanford gal, person, student, or whatever it may be! Whether she walks into the locker room with this week’s Newsweek, a textbook on World Geography, or the Bill of Rights, JJ is the definition of not just a student athlete but a STANFORD student athlete. She puts the “stud” in studious for those sophisticated Cardinal fans.

Melanie “Melly Mel” Murphy – For those fans that strive for a real Brooklyn style, outrageous, hip-hop, over the top type of game day convention, there is no better culprit than Melanie Murphy. Of the several extreme situations you can find Mel in prior to the game, she never fails to dance, pop, lock, drop, jiggle, and wiggle in any of these three circumstances: 1) Listening to Lil Wayne 2) Listening to Lil Wayne with Dr. Dre Beatz headphones and lastly 3) Listening to Lil Wayne with Dr. Dre Beatz headphones while harassing Kayla.

Kayla “O KKK” Pedersen – If you are a fan that enjoys concentrating and getting into the zone before the game, Kayla is your friend. From the moment she walks into the locker room to the second she steps onto the court, Kayla is poised and geared with iPod in ear and ball in hand as she shoots around confidently and comfortably before game time. Let’s GO!!!!!!!! O KKK!!!!!

Ashley “Ash” Cimino – If you are on a quest for diversity before the game find Ashley. Flexibility should be her middle name. She has several different looks. She can sport a cropped bun, a Japanese straight pony tail, one ankle brace, knee pre-wrap, or finger tape. Stay tuned people….

Hannah “Hana” Donaghe – Though good ole’ Hana has yet to join us on the court, she too entertains us with game day rituals. Even on a completely normal game day, she always adds an awkward quirk to the atmosphere. Whether it be an awkward finger wave or a “you’re mom” interjection, Hannah never fails.

Lindy “LuLu” LaRocque – If you are a fan that derives joy in yelling and screeching to get ready for the game, Lindy is your expert. Many have probably already witnessed LuLu’s screaming spells during warm ups. She can be yelling at you, with you, about you, or in the direct line of your eardrum. Any variety works; as long as she’s loud, you’ll like it.

Grace “the face” Mashore – Well the name is already self-explanatory, therefore a combination of any of her three faces are abundant in the winding minutes of the game. However I have noticed that if you cbast Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, or Sheryl Crow prior to the game, this girl is more than ready to play. Hmmm… unusual.

Sarah “Boothie” Boothe – When we shoot before games, she is effecient at rebounding our shots. On the contrary though, sometimes she gets hit with so many balls you would think the balls were rebounding her. If you seek hilariousness before the game follow all the loose balls.

Mikaela “Sunny” Ruef – I am not sure if Mikaela would call out to many on the Stanford Women’s Basketball Game Day Craig’s List. If you crave weirdness, randomness, and spasticity, Mikaela will suffice.

Lastly, Joslyn “ Tink Tink” Tinkle – Her name says it all. To find that twinkle in your star, Tinkle’s smiles, grins, giggles, and twinkles in her long lashed eyes will get you ready for the game.

It’s game day. Are you ready?

New Year's Eve competition

So I know some people already wrote about the holidays and what they did over break but I am just going to add to it. Overall, I would say that Christmas break was a success for our team. We got some big wins, a break from school, the chance to hangout with each other more outside of basketball, and some great sleep in the very comfy beds at the hotel.

On another note, one very important characteristic of our team is how competitive everyone is, and I mean everyone. For New Year’s Eve we had planned a nice lay back get together so that everyone could enjoy the evening. There was great food, lots of laughs, and the enjoyment of everyone’s company.

Then, as we were all finishing up our dinner, Tara came into the room asking everyone if we wanted to play a fun little game that she knew. As she started explaining the game we were all a bit unsure about it and how it would turn out but decided, “what the heck, why not?” We did not know what we were getting into. The team split into two teams, including the coaches, and went to separate rooms. If anyone has played the game Taboo, it was along the lines of that game. Each team had to come up with as many names as they could for the other team. The other team would then have to take those names and describe them to their team as best they could so their team could guess the name. I was on Tara and Bobbie’s team along with Ros, Mel, Nneka, Hannah, Lindy, Ashley, Michelle, and Mikaela. To say the least, we pretty much dominated, mainly because we gave them some of the hardest names to describe, names that they had never even heard of. As we were all writing down names, we could hear Tara saying, “Make them as hard as you can so that it is hard for them to describe.” We were just following directions.

As each person on the other team pulled out the little pieces of paper you could see the confused looks on their faces as they were trying to figure out how to describe it. This probably made us laugh the hardest. Most of the time they would just move on to the next one because they had no clue what the name was. We were using names anywhere from painters, authors, and politicians to cartoon characters, singers, and actors from any time period. Things started to get competitive when they couldn’t get a good amount of the names we gave them. But to be fair, the other team did write down some easy ones to “make the game fun” as they kept saying. After the game people were still asking who some of the names were because they had never even heard of them before and all we could do was just laugh.

I am sure there will be a rematch in the near future because no one on our team likes losing. I guess that is why our team is so competitive in basketball too. I love our team and this is definitely a memory I will have of our team for 2009.

Jeanette

All about the (406)

Howdy y'all! I'm here to tell you all about the (406) and what goes on over there on my home front. I hope you will become a little more familiar with the Treasure State and show you all what it is that I find so special and unique about my state.

My daily routine in my homeland is quite different than the Cali routine I'm currently adjusting to. In Montana, I wake up every morning at 5:15 a.m., slip on my boots and go milk my cow, Agnes; she's a stubborn heifer. After I've provided milk for my family I go to feed the chickens and hens before I head to the barn. Next, I go to the barn and brush my beautiful thoroughbred horse (her name is Ruby). She loves the long rides to school with my sister and her horse, Mr. Ed. The two horses dread being left out in the cold all day waiting anxiously for our return, after a laborious day of school and basketball practice. As we gallop through the forest on the way home, my sister and I stop to gather firewood, that is used for cooking, heating, and good ol' family fun in the Tinkle tepee! and NO, we don't have electricity.

Okay I apologize, who am I kidding? Contrary to popular belief, not all Montanans live on farms in the middle of nowhere, nor does ANYONE ride a horse to school. I'm here to debunk the many myths associate with Montana!

Nicknamed the "406", the state has endless blue skies which I often admire late at night during trampoline sleepovers. Below the wide-open skies stand the beautiful snow tipped mountains that fill the chilled lakes, creating a visual oasis. Montana is popular for its recreational amenities that people nation wide come to take full advantage of. From the mid-afternoon river floating trips to the extreme snow sledding races, there is never a dull moment in the "Zoo".

We may only have one area code, have line dancing as a requirement for passing high school P.E., and often get the snarky reply, "Montana?" when asked where we're from. But if you ask any resident or visitor to this great state, everyone will agree Montana is a beautiful place, full of awesome people who YES, have running water.

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE California and Stanford, but home sweet home does and always will hold a special place in my heart.

Love Always,
Jos