take me out to the ballgame

Last night I went to my first Yankees game. I can definitely say, it won't be my last. I had so much fun.
My school offered tickets for $10 so a group of friends decided to go. I decided to buy a Yankees hat to wear to the game. A friend asked if I was a fan and I told her "No, I just like to accessorize for any occasion." So last night I put on my lemon yellow Yankees hat and prepared for another New York experience. I met nycJulie and we took the 4 train to Yankee stadium. The entire subway seemed to be filled with Yankees fans, and they all seemed to be male. I was very excited.
We headed straight to the concession stand for a hot dog and beer. I used to believe that beer and hot dogs were really the only reason to go to a baseball game. Once we had food, we began to search for our seats. Higher and higher we went, until finally we found our them- or nearly our seats. By that point I was so scared of heights, I refused to go any further. Not only were the seats high, but they were on a very steep incline. I just imagined myself falling to my death. Luckily my roommate had two seats in front of her, and we were able to move down. My new seat had a railing which offered a certain amount of comfort that I wouldn't tumble down to the ground. It was kind of like a safety bar on a ride.
The energy of the game was incredible. I have been to Rangers games, but they don't begin to compare to what it was like at Yankee Stadium. I found myself actually watching the game and cheering. My lemon yellow Yankees hat offered a comraderie with the other fans. It made me feel like I belonged. It also made me feel special because I was the only one with a yellow hat. I saw girly pink ones, but no other yellow.
Everything about the game was perfect. Except for two things: the Yankees lost and it was SO COLD. I don't understand. We went at the end of April, and I was wearing my new orange Northface fleece- freezing. It was part of the reason I couldn't stop dancing and moving and cheering. I wanted to warm up.
This New York experience taught me two things:
1. Baseball games aren't just about the beer and hot dogs- though they do add to the experience. It is also about traditions and passion and all that other stuff in Field of Dreams.
2. My lemon yellow hat wasn't just about making me look cute- though I did look pretty cute. It also kept my head a little bit warmer. Because even in April, it still gets cold in New York.

working girl

I finally got a job! I guess these New Yorkers don't hate Texans after all.
I am the new work-study Events Coordinator in my office. In the second interview, I actually did reference previous party-plannings, including my own birthday parties, as my event coordinating experience. I am now very busy filing papers, making copies, sending letters, creating mail merges, making spreadsheets, etc. I'm back to wearing business casual which means I might have to go shopping. My student look is no longer acceptable. The best part about my job is that it is on campus which means my commute is less than 5 minutes.

Girls' Weekend in NYC

This past Thursday evening I stood at the entrance of the 79th subway station waiting to meet my out-of-town guests. With each group exiting, I just listened for a loud group of Texas women.
Now that I live in New York City, everyone wants to come visit me. This time it was my family- my mom, sister, two aunts and a cousin. It was our Girls' Weekend in NYC. It was everything you would expect a Girls' Weekend in NYC to be- full of shopping, eating, drinking, talking and lots of laughing. That's the great thing about us- we really do enjoy being with each other.
Friday we started in Chinatown. There were lots of purses, sunglasses, and jewlery purchased. I even bought a purse. I think the rest of the group could have continued shopping there. But after a few hours, I reached my limit. We dropped off all our purchases at the hotel, then went to eat the best pizza I've ever had. Although the airport driver for my family had recommended a great little pizza place- Dominos- we went with the hotel's suggestion instead.
After our beer and pizza, we went to Broadway for theater tickets and 5th Avenue for more shopping. By 4:00 I had definitely reached my shopping limit, and I was anxious to take them to see my very fancy and presitigous grad school and make happy hour by 5:00. After walking across the campus and going up to see my room, we did make it to happy hour for margaritas and nachos. But in the spirit of New York, we were soon rushing off again. We had to go back to the hotel to change and make to our show in the West Village by 8:00. After walking at a very fast pace to the theater, we made it just in time to buy waters and settle in our chairs.
I Love You Because was a romantic comedy about dating in the City. I laughed without restraint as I connected with much of the story. After it ended, we walked around looking for a place to eat. We finally chose a restaurant that had outdoor seating available for six. There was more eating, drinking, talking and laughing. There was also some flirting with the waiter who happened to be from Texas. We finally left the restaurant a little after 1:00am to head back to our hotel- but not before I gave the waiter my number.
The next day we woke up to rain. Not exactly ideal for a day of sightseeing. After our daily Starbucks and bagels, we went down to see Ground Zero. Since I've been there at least four times and it was cold and rainy, I quickly headed to Century 21 across the street for more shopping. Everyone else followed not long after. It was too cold and wet for reading signs in the rain.
The plan was to do more shopping in Chelsea. However, the train we needed wasn't running. So we went took another and planned to walk the rest of the way. It was still raining in Greenwich Village when we exited. Not only was it cold and rainy, but it was also windy. As we fought our way towards Chelsea, we finally decided to escape the misery to rest and eat. (Because being cold and wet was so not fun...) Once inside, I eyed the subway stop directly outside the deli and suggested we change our plan. Instead of walking in the cold, windy, rainy weather, we could take the subway to the upper west side and exit directly in front of the store we wanted. That plan was quickly adopted.
By the time we finished our shopping on the upper west side, the rain and wind had stopped. We took the train to Central Park and walked along the south side over to 5th Avenue. We continued to do some window-shopping in places such as Tiffany's. However, after Saks and H&M, it wasn't long before everyone was admitting they were tired of shopping. We went back to the hotel to enjoy a bottle of wine and rest before dinner.
Our plan to eat in Little Italy was changed due to the weather and our tired bodies. Instead we went to a recommended Italian restaurant just two blocks from the hotel. For the first time, we sat and enjoyed a long meal full of more food, drinks, conversation and laughing.
Hosting guests in the City is always exhausting. However, with all the memories made and quality time spent together, it is always worth it. Our very cute family could easily have fun together anywhere. But I think our Girls' Weekend in New York City is the best. After all, NYC has great shopping, great restaurants, and great sights. I doubt we'll be doing Little Rock next year...

you know it's a good birthday when...

• you start celebrating at 5pm on Friday and your birthday isn't until Monday
• your friends, favorite bartenders, and two regulars at your weekly happy hour bar buy you three margaritas and two shots of Patron
• you wear a sombrero on your head
  
• you fall asleep at the bar by 8:00pm from too much birthday fun
• you fall asleep again mid-bite of your pizza due to too much birthday fun
  
• it takes you 45 minutes to walk 10 blocks home
  
• you wake up ready for another day of birthday celebration- there's no stopping this birthday girl
  
• you start round two of the birthday weekend at 8pm on Saturday
  
• you have a B-themed party full of birthday, burritos, booze, bruises and blisters
• your "birthday cake" is served in a BIG glass and is called a Mudslide
  
• you dance on a bar with your friends
  
• you end round two of birthday partying 8 hours after you started- at 4am (5am due to daylight savings)
• you reflect on your birthday party and know that you and your friends had a lot of fun
  
• you actually feel well enough to go to the gym after two days of birthday celebration
  
• you can return to the bar where you fell asleep on Friday for a beer on Sunday (and to flirt with the cute bartender)
• you wear your "It's not my birthday shirt" on Sunday so that when people ask if today is your birthday you tell them, "No, it's tomorrow"
  
• you wake up Monday morning on your actual birthday to find birthday wishes in text messages and emails
• you know that you still have the rest of today and possibly the rest of the week to celebrate your birthday
• you tell people your birthday was very "tex-mexcellent"
  
• you turn 27 and you realize you are happy