let the games begin

the olympics are amazing. 
the way the world comes together to celebrate athleticism and good sportsmanship is impressive, and downright inspiring.   and personally, i will always remember attending a cycling event with my dad when the olympics came to los angeles in 1984, and holding my newborn twins as we watched beijing from our couch in 2008.  yeah, i get a little emosh about the olympics.
so of course, i watched the (very theatrical!) opening ceremonies and the parade of nations the other night.  i'll admit it, there were even a couple countries that i'm not sure that i've heard of before, and quite a few more that i'd be hard pressed to place on a map.  but all that aside, from albania to zimbabwe, i watched them all, and did what everyone does- critiqued their olympic fashion!
here are my standouts, in no particular order:

 finland- don't understand the "zebra stripes" as my daughter called them, but i likey

sweden rocking the national colors in bold stripes and lookin' fresh

 love the green and yellow minis on the brazilian girls

 the polish team went a different direction with their poppy dresses- cool symbolism for the games

kazakhstan with the all-over logo print- visors, messenger bags, aviators and all- my #1 favorite!!

spain bordering on flight attendant, but still so cute in that yellow

and did you notice that team USA isn't on my list?  sorry, ralph, but your boring, psuedo-military uniforms are lame.  berets?  seriously?

and in case you are all fired up about this like i obviously am, here is a look at our team through the years, and here is a fun rundown of this year's looks.

i guess on kobe, the hat kind of makes sense...?!