busy busy... where does the time go?

I can't believe it's been over a week since I have written on here, but with the busy schedule, the cold weather, and the fact that I don't have internet in my apartment, I guess I'm falling behind!

So let's see, what I have done since I have posted last?  Well besides the temperature dropping to a mere 7 degrees, and more exploring with my new camera, it's pretty much been the same as it always is. Oh and I tried a blood orange- they're delicious and colorful!

I read a new book; Open; An Autobiography by Andre Agassi, which in my opinion, if you are an Agassi fan or just a fan of tennis, by all means read it!  It was fantastic!! Not to mention the fact that this year he is being inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame! Sorry- guess I'm in a tennis mood with the Australian Open being on!  When the times match up, that's all I've been watching!!!

Last weekend, I traveled to midtown to check out PJ Clarke's and Lincoln Center.  A delicious restaurant, that Agassi had written about in his book.  Their focus is mainly on good burgers and delicious seafood! Yum!

Bryant Park's very frozen fountain

rockefeller center flags

Lincoln Center; home of the NYC Ballet, Met Opera and Julliard School of Music

Lincoln Center

lunch at PJ Clarke's

menu from PJ Clarke's

This week was pretty uneventful in terms of getting out and seeing the city.  Last night I actually met up with Robyn in Park Slope for dinner at a place called Bogota Latin Bistro.  The restaurant was great; good spanish music, heavy influence on Colombian culture and phenomenal food!  I had some strawberry sangria and a traditional Columbian soup called Ajiaco.  Ajiaco is more like a stew, but it's pretty much a chicken and potato soup with a big hunk of corn on the cob in the middle.  It's made with 3 different kinds of potatoes and Columbian herbs and spices.  On the side it's comes with a mild cream, capers, cilantro and avocado for a refreshing, tasty addition and it also comes with a big serving of white rice to dunk into the delicious broth! It was the perfect, warm meal for a cold winter night!

Bogota Latin Bistro; Park Slope

I'll keep you all posted and updated on the week to come!! Hope you are all staying warm!!

Crab Cakes & Football; that's what Maryland does!!!

When IU announced last year that they would be hosting a game at Fed Ex Field in Landover, MD, the last thing on my mind was that I was going to be attending.  Flash forward to a year from then, and here I am now, writing about it!  Somehow, everything fell into place and I found myself staying with my best friend, Becky in her home in Columbia, MD and attending the game in the stadium where the Redskins play!  I took the day off on Friday and took a bus down to Baltimore and met up with Becky; it was absolutely amazing being able to see her!  For all of you who don't know, Becky was the first person I met at IU.  I remember sitting in the middle of Hundred Hall looking around at 250 faces I had never seen before, and after looking to my left, I was met with a smile and a very excited "Hi!".  The rest is history and now, she is one of my closest friends.

Now because we are friends, we are also complete dorks, which means we are two of the many obsessed with Harry Potter!  Friday afternoon it was decided in advance we would be going to see Harry Potter 7, Part 1!  First, we decided to go to lunch.  We ended up at a place called Clyde's located right in Columbia.  It was an amazing area; Columbia is gorgeous.  I found out that Columbia is split up into areas that all have villages within them.  So, for example, Becky lives in an area called King's Contrivance in a village called Huntington.  Confused yet?  I sure was!!  Well anyway, we were in some part of Columbia, don't ask me what village; and no I didn't see little red riding hood, but we had a nice lunch.  Seeing as how I was in Maryland, I needed to order the crab cake; and believe me when I say that all of my expectations were met!

Me with my crab cake sandwich! Yum!!

After lunch, we went to see Harry Potter.  I don't really have much to say about it since it can all be summed up in one word; EPIC!  Is it July yet?.. because part two needs to come out!!

Us with our tickets all ready for the movie to start!

On Friday evening, we spent the night playing cards with her mom and dad and waiting for the rest of our tailgate crew to arrive!  There were 11 of us in total staying at her house and we met up with even more people on the day of the game!

Saturday morning arrived and we were ready for a party!  With the vans packed, IU gear on, and the Marching Hundred CD playing in the background we set off for our tailgate at 7am!  You may want to play this while you're checking out these pictures: Indiana, our Indiana!  It gets me ready for game day!

Fed Ex Field where the Red Skins play!

ready for a party, IU style!!

Go IU, Beat Penn State!!

Now, we were definitely well prepared for an IU tailgate.  There's only two things you really need to know for an IU tailgate- our fight song and how to drink beer!  Sorry Mimi, but it's true!! Becky and I were preparing all night, we even had the marching hundred cd playing over and over again in the kitchen, marching around the kitchen and dancing.  Her mom even joined in!  We were reminiscing the days of being in the band and it felt so good!  We were lucky enough to meet up with our friend, Kevin and his girlfriend also!  Kevin played trumpet in the band and it was great to see him!!

Becky, her sister Patti, her mom, our friend John and I tailgating!

Becky, me, Kevin and his girlfriend!

Fed Ex field was huge- seating close to 92,000 fans!  We had great seats and we had a ton of fun cheering for IU!! The marching hundred was even there, so we had to pay them a visit!!

excited for the game!!

 a little dark, but Becky and I in front of the marching hundred- getting ready to split the I and cheer on our football team!

Fed Ex field!! 

the marching hundred spelling out indiana!! Now you'll want to play this one: Indiana, Fight

While we did lose, we had a great time!  Saturday night we relaxed for a while, completely exhausted from the day and then we went to a friend's house and I was able to meet all of Becky's friends from high school!  On Sunday, I took the bus back to NYC!  

I had an incredible weekend; it was amazing being able to see Becky before she ships off to the army and it was great being able to cheer on my Hoosiers!  I can't even explain how incredible it was to be able to sing my fight song and watch the Marching Hundred perform; it brought back amazing memories!

For some great videos on the Marching Hundred and to get an idea of what I was a part of; check these out, I was in all these videos too!!

Sing, Sing, Sing!

Drum line plays March to the Stadium!

IU Pregame