On Hiatus

I’m heading on my vacation to South Korea and Japan, so blogging is going to fall off my radar for awhile.

Until I return, may I offer a suggestion? Since I’m going to be missing the rest of the March Madness tournament, please watch the games and give me a play-by-play when I get back. Go Syracuse!

Also, if you're interested, check out the songs that I have on repeat…hopefully, I still like them when I return. :-/

Kesha – Blah Blah Blah

Taio Cruz – Break Your Heart

David Guetta – Sexy Chick

Jason Derulo – In My Head

Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

I’ll catch up with everyone when I get back. Bye!

Madness Continues

This weekend turned out to be a pretty sweet one for me.

I actually had time to watch a good portion of the March Madness games. For all you fools (me included) that had the no brainer pick of #1 Kansas easily making it to the sweet sixteen...well all those Northern Iowa fans laugh in our face as brackets crumble around the world and they all go up in flames (granted, I think even the most loyal N. Iowa fan had them losing to Kansas, but whatever). I got plenty of text messages from you poor souls who are out of the pools and down for the count. Aww. Been there, my friend, it's not a great feeling. Whereas (as of right now), I can still be optimistic since I don't have Kansas in the finals...but still, I’m mourning the loss of points with Kansas out leaving the midwest section of my bracket completely shattered. Yeah, I know, cry me a freakin’ river, right? Since I have Syracuse and Kentucky in the finals and they're still breathing...I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

You know, there is something to be said for the Cinderella stories of March Madness. It does make for awesome games and an even more exciting tournament. I have to admit that I was secretly thrilled that St. Mary’s was able to take out Villanova (well I guess it's because I didn't have Villanova making any farther anyway) and having Kansas eliminated so early on in the tournament...makes the championship anyone's game. It's actually pretty cool. And to be honest, if there was some huge Cinderella story that happened to upset the whole tournament...fuck my bracket, I'm all for it. Give it to the little guy and enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling that miracles can happen. Those games are always the games that keep those freakin’ announcers, wanna-be blogger experts, and gamblers completely grounded. Because as much as anyone can analyze stats, look at past records, and compare players...nothing is a guarantee and a sure bet…and no one really knows anything.

My Bracket

I finally finished my bracket for March Madness. This year was tough. Really, really tough. There are some great teams this year, which will make for some awesome matchups. Some of the games are total toss ups…and I’m predicting some upsets…and keeping my fingers crossed. My picks are below.

Games start bright and early tomorrow morning. Good luck to all...and let the games begin.

Back

I’m back from my long weekend in Scottsdale…and I’m feeling the pain of staying out too late, drinking too much and partying too hard. But I had so much fun and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

This weekend I walked around Old Town Scottsdale (lovely small baseball town), saw a concert with ballplayers as the musicians (they were pretty good), explored Sedona’s red rocks (totally amazing and gorgeous), did some drinking on my birthday (don’t remember too much of that night), saw the Giants play the A’s (too bad we lost), and then did some more drinking…haha.

Anyway, I really don’t have the energy to blog about the entire trip, so just check out my pictures instead.

Weekend

I’m chomping at the bit and totally ready to head off to Arizona for a long weekend. I’m so excited. You all know how I get with my vacations…I’ve been ready to go for weeks now and having to wait and push through these last few hours is just downright torture. Torture, I tell you!

The main purpose of our trip is to head down to Scottsdale for the Giants spring training. It makes for a good time to see the players up close and personal. I mean, really up close and personal…it’s almost like they’re close enough to touch. Haha. Last year we went, I had a great time. We caught a game, had some awesome food, and got to explore Old Town Scottsdale. This year, in addition to all that, we'll be taking an extra day to head to Sedona. Sedona is about two hours away from Scottsdale and is suppose to be super nice and very picturesque. So that should be fun and very pretty. And I’ve been checking the weather forecast in Arizona for this weekend and it looks like it’s going to be absolutely gorgeous down there. So Wahoo! I can’t wait.

As a happy side note, daylight savings begins this weekend. So hey, more daylight is something we can all enjoy, right?

Let’s get this weekend started already! :-)

Flashback

One of my closest friends is getting married in a few weeks. But sadly, I will be on my trip to South Korea and Japan and will miss the wedding entirely (really, really, sorry you guys…that’s what you get for only giving me a months notice shesh). However, I’ve been trying to do my part in getting together with the girls to help with the wedding logistics that I can assist with before I leave.

Typically (at least I would like to think so), wedding logistics are something the bride and groom discuss and decide on to make the day special for both of them. But in this case, the groom doesn’t want to have anything to do with the actual details of the wedding and is leaving everything up to the bride. Haha. To each his own, I guess. So to keep the bride from completely losing her mind, the girls of the wedding party have stepped up and are helping her shoulder the responsibility of planning the wedding and working out the logistics.

Anyway, one of the tasks that I am assigned to help with is compiling the playlist of songs for the wedding ceremony, reception, and after party dance portion of the evening. So last night (the first of many playlist meetings, I’m sure) we all got together and were looking through some old cds, browsing through youtube videos, and doing random searches for songs to add to the list. And oh my goodness…hahaha. It was one of the best, most entertaining nights that I’ve enjoyed in awhile.

In addition to the typical wedding type music you hear, the bride wants to add a lot of those older songs that we grew up listening to as part of her wedding playlist…you know, those embarrassing boy band songs that us, girls, used to swoon to back in the day? Haha. You remember those songs, right? The songs of 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, and Nsync…Hahaha. Well, I know I remember those. I mean, I think I still have a lot of my old cds laying around somewhere. But anyway, I had such an awesome time looking through those old cds and then looking up the videos on youtube. Hahaha. OMG. Can I just say that a lot of those songs bring back some very awesome memories for me from back in the day? I’ve linked a few of the videos from the songs that were added to the playlist…and included some of my random comments on my flashbacks. Watching the music videos can be quite entertaining, I must say.

I Do (Cherish You) by 98 Degrees – A romantic song from the past (although not my favorite) and, I guess, appropriate for a wedding. Haha. What the heck did we know back then about the feelings you were suppose to have when you got married? This song was the closest thing that we could relate to, I’m sure.

I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys – I totally remember when this song came out. I cut class the day the cd was released and went to the mall with my friends to pick it up. Oh, and when the music video premiered on MTV, I think I cut class for that too. Haha.

God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You by Nsync – This song was THE song back in the day. I swear, anywhere you’d go on campus, you’d hear this song. The girls went crazy for it. I’m pretty sure this song was on repeat in most of the cars that I used to ride in because we loved it so much. And I hate to admit it, but I still kinda like this song. But…don’t tell anyone.

And for a bonus track, here is one of my favorite songs: I Want You Back by Nsync. Classic stuff. I love this song and the video is killer funny now that I look back on it.

Anyway…good times. Hahaha. Very, very good times. :-)

March

It’s officially March. My favorite month of the year. Hallelujah. It’s time to celebrate.

First and foremost, March Madness is coming. Hello? Need I say more? I love March Madness. Despite my not really caring about college basketball outside of March Madness and having my bracket go up in flames the last few years, I still love the excitement and the competition of it all. March Madness does a good job of keeping me pretty entertained and excited throughout the month.

Second, my birthday is in March. Now, as a kid, I always used to look forward to celebrating my birthday. But as I got older (and had to deal with the never-ending family drama that surrounds my birthday...ok, it’s really only a few people not the whole family, but still…it’s a big energy waster that just kills my mood and my desire to celebrate with family), it’s always been much easier and much more relaxing for me to celebrate my birthday with friends. So this year (similar to last year), I will be in Scottsdale, Arizona for the Giants spring training on my birthday. I can’t wait and am really excited to get away and enjoy some time with friends. It’ll be fun. Wahoo. And this year, it’s the big 2-9 for me. Yup, that’s right. I will be celebrating/mourning the last year in my twenties. You know, come to think of it…if I had decided to stick around town for my birthday this year, I probably would’ve wanted to throw a big bash just to celebrate…hmm, maybe next year depending on how I feel. Hehe. We’ll see.

Third, at the end of the month I will be embarking on a trip to South Korea and Japan…specifically, Seoul, Kyoto and Tokyo. I can’t wait. It’s been awhile since I’ve done an international trip and I’m so excited for this one. Plus, since I’ll be in Kyoto smack in the middle of cherry blossom festival, it should make for an awesome good time and some great pictures. Like I said, I’m so excited.

So anyway those are my fun upcoming plans for this month…and I can’t wait. It’s gonna be a shame that March is going to fly by, but I’m going to try to enjoy every second of it. :-)