Friday Letters

Dear Weekend - I am so glad you are finally here! Even though I didn't work on Monday, it seemed like you would never get here! I have all sorts of fun planned for you - hibachi tonight, a birthday celebration tomorrow, and Twilight on Sunday. I wish we had more time together. Why do you always go away so quickly?

Dear Christopher - I wish you were here this weekend. Although, I'm sure you are SO very excited to be missing out on the Twilight craziness!! Can't wait to see you mid-week though! That will be a real treat :)

Dear Thanksgiving - Why does it seem like everyone is completely overlooking you this year? I'm sort of sad about that so I can't imagine how you feel about it. Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to celebrating you. Bring on the turkey, sweet potatoes, and yummy pie!!

Thanksgiving 2010 - We went to watch Bengals-Jets at MetLife Stadium after a yummy dinner.

Dear 100th Post - Thanks for being patient and waiting for me to get around to writing you. It's only been a little less than a year, but I know it seemed like forever! I'm glad to finally see you!

Dear Brinley - You just get more adorable every single day. I can't wait to see you at the end of the month! We are gonna have fun playing with all your toys now that you can sit up on your own.  Your auntie loves you SOOOO much!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Andrea :)

Book #2 - Breaking Back

I studied abroad for a summer while I was working on my Master's degree.  I was in a flat in London with four other girls I had never met.  Needless to say, I had the time of my life.  I plan to elaborate further on my travels and experiences abroad in later posts, but it was worth mentioning here because the latest book I read as a part of my 30 before 30 goals ties directly to one of the experiences I had during my time in London...  

James Blake - Wimbledon 2006

It is difficult for me to remember all the details exactly now, but I think I was already loving James Blake prior to watching him play in London.  One thing is for certain, I had no idea what he had overcome at that point in his life when I cheered him on to defeat Yeu-Tzuoo Wang 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the second round at Wimbledon on June 28, 2006.  He was ranked #8 in the world at that time and he had just "broken back" into the tennis world.

Toward the end of his match...before I stalked him down to autograph my Wimbledon ticket!

His book, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life, was not only interesting, but it was also inspiring.  The book focuses on his struggles in the early part of the 2000's when his career was just beginning.  He flashes back to his childhood and various struggles from those days (he was diagnosed with scoliosis and had to wear a back brace for much of his youth) along with his initial strides and setbacks with tennis as a newcomer to the professional ranks.  The majority of the book is spent recapping his 2003-2006 seasons.  He deals with losing his father to cancer, a broken neck, and zoster (shingles) before his comeback season and breakout year (which I happened to see a small piece of live in London...even though he didn't elaborate as much as I had hoped on that particular tournament in the book).  Through it all he held strong to two main beliefs - working hard and getting better.  One particular theme that struck me was his coach/mentor's notion of instilling the idea that if you can win one set, you can win two sets.  I really think that carries over into life.  Being confident and refusing to beat yourself up when you make a mistake or things don't turn out like you wanted are crucial to success in the future.  There were many things in this book about life, family, and friendships that were transferable to everyday life outside of athletics. 

I truly enjoyed this book.  I am a huge sports fan (and I played tennis my senior year of high school), but I think anyone could appreciate it.  It is more about overcoming obstacles and fighting the odds than it is about tennis.  Although, I thought it was a nice touch that he included a tennis glossary in the back with many of the basic definitions and rules of the sport were explained.  James Blake's story is really about realizing your full potential even if others may doubt you or circumstances may try to prevent you.  It was truly inspirational.

What autobiography has made a lasting impact on you?

Andrea :)

Sunday Stadium Review - Cardinals

 Arizona Cardinals 

Name of Stadium: University of Phoenix Stadium

Capacity: 63,400

Game Attended: NFC Championship vs. Philadelphia Eagles in January of 2009

Worked a game at this stadium? Yes.

So far, this is the farthest west I have been for a game.  I totally loved being in gorgeous, warm weather in the middle of January for it, too.

View from our offices at the NFL Headquarters hotel for the week

I talked a little about my experiences working AFC and NFC Championship games here.  This particular trip was my first week long big event work trip.  It was a great time, but on to the subject at hand - the stadium!

We took a staff shuttle bus from the hotel to the stadium.  It seemed like we were on the bus forever, but when we finally arrived I remember thinking that the stadium looked very strange on the outside.  Unlike any football stadium I had ever seen.  It was silver with hardly any logos or branding.  Very strange.

We made our way inside the stadium where we headed directly for the suites. At this point in my career, I was quite reluctant to wander very far from my post so I spent most of my time there.  However, we did head over to a press lounge area where I ran into pre-gone out of his mind Tiki Barber.  I had written a paper about twins in sports during my undergraduate days and learned lots about Tiki and Ronde Barber in the process.  As a result, I struck up a conversation with him about my research.  He mostly listened to me talk, but did seem genuinely interested in the outcome of my paper.  Seemed like a nice guy.

After that encounter, I completed some tasks for work (mainly taking the game coin over to the visiting owner's suite) and then headed back to our home base suite for the game.  The game was a great one!  It was the first time that the Cardinals were playing for the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl so to say the crowd was hyped up is a MAJOR understatement.  They were psyched!!

Blurry picture, but trying to capture the essence of "Rise Up, Red Sea"!

Overall, the experience was electric.  I'm not sure it was your typical Sunday afternoon atmosphere, but it was fun to watch these fans get so pumped!  I think that the interior of the stadium was very nice, but the exterior was definitely lacking.  For a new(er) stadium, I think it could have been more impressive from the outside.  Also, the flow of traffic in and out of the stadium left something to be desired.  On my way back to the hotel after the game, I rode with a colleague and we were in traffic in the parking lot for at least an hour.  It wasn't as bad as the situation in New England, but it was a close second.  Here is one last picture of almost the whole interior of the stadium - very nice place...and almost all cheering for the home team!

Andrea :)

Long Distance Love

It seems like just yesterday that I made my first trip to Albany…well, Schenectady really…to visit my Aunt Mildred.  

We tried to work out a weekend for a visit for quite some time.  I was trying to balance a trip upstate with my crazy busy work schedule and all the other plans I had made with friends for fun in the city.  We settled on a weekend in March 2010.  The train ride was great…peaceful and almost serene.  I took some great pictures of the beautiful landscape. 

Once I arrived, we had all sorts of fun. We talked.  We ate out.  She took me to get a pedicure. We talked.  We went to church with her son/my cousin's family on Sunday.  We had a fabulous time.

Little did I know it would be one of the many that were to come.  Since July 2010, I have made more trips between New York City and the much smaller, but equally as interesting state capital, Albany, than most elected officials do in a lifetime or at least it seems that way.  Although I usually almost always take the bus now and the weekends are spent with Christopher instead of getting pedicures and listening to family stories with my Aunt, I now have a love-hate relationship with these trips. 

I love that I am able to spend 6 hours round-trip doing things I want to do – read, sleep, check status updates on facebook, sleep, get work done, sleep...ok, ok – so I mostly sleep…is that such a bad thing?  I love having built in time away from New York City.  Time that isn’t so rushed and busy and expensive.  Most of all, I love being able to spend time with Christopher.

However, I hate having to pack up everything I might possibly need for an often times not too pre-determined schedule.  I hate having to wait in the line at the station (usually sweating profusely from rushing there as quickly as possible so that I can get the best spot in the line).  I hate sharing a seat with a stranger and being all squished up next to them. 

Needless to say, the good far outweighs the bad.  While I will be overjoyed when these nearly every other week trips cease, I will be a little sad as well.  After all, you don’t spend over 2 years learning all the tricks of the trade for nothing, right?

Andrea :)

Sunday Stadium Review - Texans

Houston Texans 

Name of Stadium: Reliant Stadium

Capacity: 71,054

Game Attended: versus Ravens in Fall of 2008

Worked a game at this stadium? Yes, PPK.

I believe this was my first solo work trip.  I had been with the NFL for a little over a year at this point. When I arrived in Houston the night before the event, I took advantage of the nearby Galleria and went shopping.  I had a great time and got some good deals, but when I left the mall I was all turned around and couldn't seem to find my rental car anywhere.  I panicked a little, but then went about trying to retrace my steps and figure out where I had gone wrong.  I must have done this for quite some time because there were less and less cars in the parking lot each time I tried a new exit to the parking garage.  Good for narrowing down which one might be mine, but bad for being noticed by mall security.  Oh, yes.  Mall security came over to help me.  I was that lost.  Needless to say, we all had a good laugh and I eventually found the car.  Thank goodness the rest of the trip went much more smoothly.

The stadium was very nice and fairly new, but had been recently beaten up a bit by some tornado like winds.  The retractable roof took the brunt of the damage, but it wasn't noticeable on this gorgeous fall day.

Outside of Reliant Stadium.

To be honest, I don't remember too much about the game itself or the atmosphere of the stadium.  Since it was my first solo trip, I think I pretty much stayed in the press box and didn't wander too far from there for most of the game.  The most exciting part of the game was that former President George H. W. Bush (or as they called him "41") participated in the coin toss.  This was the first time I had ever been in the same place as a former President so I was quite excited to have that experience...even though I wasn't ever really in the same area of the field as him.

He is the one in the center with the cane.

Unfortunately, I also didn't get very good pictures of the inside of the stadium either.  I did take one of the PPK participants during their exhibition and another of the American flag and Texas flag that I thought was quite interesting.  In the end, I wouldn't mind going back to this stadium as a fan to get a better feel for the environment.  Maybe after I make it to all the other stadiums, I can loop back to this one for a better experience.

I thought it was strange that both flags were the same size.

PPK participants lined up for pre-game exhibition.  This is the best picture I have inside the stadium.

Andrea :)

The Nail Files: Mojito Madness

With all the downtime from Hurricane Sandy earlier this week, I was able to take some time out to paint my nails.  I decided to try Essie's Mojito Madness.  I received it in a polish swap with the lovely Mia at Chronicles of Chaos sometime ago.  It turned out very nice.  The color is perfect for fall and two coats of polish were plenty!

What color are you wearing today? 

Andrea :)

Little Bubsa...

Where do I even begin?  Our relationship is so much different from mine and Jordan's.  Mostly because we grew up in different eras, but also because I've been far more protective of you.  You are the baby after all :) And I know you know that big sis always had your back...and she still does!  In all seriousness though, I am so very thankful to have you as a brother.  You always seem to know just the right thing to say - mostly funny, but sometimes serious.  I know I can talk to you honestly and you seem to understand me...definitely wise beyond your years!  I can always count on you for an adventure or just a regular good ol' fun time.  In the more recent years, we have been paired up on family trips and for all the rides at amusement parks.  And although we sometimes hated got annoyed by it, I truly treasure many of those times because they were spent with one of my favorite people - YOU!  I know you aren't doing too much for your birthday this year, but I wanted you to know that I've turned it into a celebration here in NYC.  Hope you have a happy one!  I love you little Bubsa!

*Picture Disclaimer(s):
1) I may or may not have re-purposed the leftover Halloween cupcakes for this birthday celebration.
2) Those may or may not be my calcium vitamins for the numbers...I try to be resourceful.
3) This may or may not have been my breakfast.

Linking up with Sar and Meghan for Thankful Thursdays:

Andrea :)