Fishing is Definately a Sport

Football and crabcakes...that's what Maryland does!  I'd experienced the first before (Redskins football), but had yet to experience the fishing part of that boast...so this weekend I set out to rectify that situation by fishing off the pier on the Chesapeake Bay.  Luckily for me, it was one of the prettiest September days you will ever see.  Sun was out, the squid were ready to be eaten by some fishies, and the crabs were biting. 

Pier fishing is definitely different than fishing in the ocean off of a boat, the only other way I'd ever fished.  You have to be careful about not tangling up your lines with other people fishing off the pier, as on a nice day you really cram yourselves onto that thing.  Me?  I just let the bf handle the casting...and the putting of the gross squids/blood worms on the hook...and the touching of the fish.  Ha that's what boys are for right?

My favorite part of the experience though?  CRABBING!!! Ha it was soooo much fun.  You tie these chicken livers up in the middle of the little nets, then you slowly lower down the net (always keeping tension) and then you wait.  Every 20 minutes or so you go over to your net, and quickly pull it up.  When the net breaks the water, and you see those little blue buggers sitting in the middle of the net, the excitement is enough to make you dance!  Or at least, it made me jump up and down.

Be careful though as those crabs do not mess around.  They come out of the water struggling for their lives.  Snapping their claws, and running around, they are anything but happy to be part of your fishing party.  One time mine escaped, but again boy to the rescue!  Stepping on the crab seemed to quickly settle it down.  I, unfortunately, was unable to step on it myself as I was wearing sandals.  Lesson learned...sneakers or bust while on the pier.  It's a dangerous world there above the water ;)

An American Tradition..The Football Tailgate!

Is there any other country that accepts drinking at 9 am, as long as you are doing it in preparation for the most American of sports, football?  I'm guessing not...another reason the good old USA is my favorite place to be.  This weekend I went to my first ever NFL tailgate, and let me tell you it was an event!

Waking up at 8 am, the preparations begin.  Skins keg grill? Check.  Bloody mary mix?  Check.  Beer? Check.  O..and food...lots and lots of food!  Once we have made sure everything has made it from the house to the car, it's time to roll out and head to the Skins parking lot.  You would have thought leaving the house at 9am and arriving at the stadium at 9:30 am, we would be the first to arrive.  Well, you thought wrong!

At 9:30 am, the parking lot was already packed!  RG3 Mania has hit DC hard, and the Skins fans were out in numbers to celebrate having a franchise QB for the first time in...well...ever!  So pulling our van into a lot between a group blaring music from their redskins-decked out truck, and one playing drinking games, we jumped out and joined in the fun.  The first thing to do? Bloody Mary's of course!  What is better than drinking spicy Bloody Mary's before 10 am?  I can't think of many more things I'd rather be doing...except possibly grilling.  And that's exactly what we did next!  Fire up the grill and get down to killing all of our diets...but hey, if you can't relax while sitting outside in beautiful, sunny 80 degree weather before the first game of the season, then Hunny you don't know how to live!






What was on the menu?  Sausages, Hot Dogs, Chili, vegetables, and Chips/Dip!  Hungry yet?  Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face!  So for the next 2.5 hours we sat around the grill and ate/drank like there was no tomorrow.  After what felt like the best morning ever, it was time to stop dancing and pack up the food.  What could induce us to actually put down our forks and get a move on?  GAME TIME BABY! 

And the tailgater of the game goes to the people next to us...who had a full scale bar set up and everything! 

Fall's A Coming

Can you feel it?  That crispness in the air?  That feeling that summer may be over, but better things are just around the corner?  Not many things can console me over the loss of my tan lines that fall brings...but playoff baseball?  Well I'll trade a tan for Yankee stadium in October any day!

Baseball playoffs without the Yankees is just boring. Love'em, Hate'em...doesn't matter which, all that matters is that you care.  Some sports (aka Football) can survive with small market, random teams being the main events.  Baseball though, relies on its glamor franchises to keep interest level up.  Do you remember last years World Series?  Me either...and you know why?  Because there wasn't a team that either inspired you to root for them, or against them.  That's why you should root for the Yankees to beat out the Orioles and Rays to make it to the baseball
playoffs. 
Sure, it's cool to have the last 20 games of the Yankee games matter.  As a season ticket holder, going to the games the last week have been super fun.  Every game feels like a playoff game, as Yankee fans are getting to the stadium early and are engaged cheering on every at bat as if it is the most important one of the season.  Which is why as a baseball fan you have to hope that the Yankees at least make it into the playoffs...so that they continue to play the evil empire spoiler to the Orioles, Rangers, and White Sox.  Without the Yankees, how boring would the AL be? 

So here's to playoff baseball...the Yankees...and the ultimate glamor series, Yanks vs. Giants happening!

Sweating Up a Storm....And Loving it!

So I'm always looking for another type of exercise to do.  Running is my go-to exercise type, but even someone like me who really enjoys the act of running gets bored every now and then.  Which is why I'm always looking for something different, to ensure that I don't burn myself out by doing only one type of activity.  So my most recent exercise fad?  Bikram Yoga!

Yoga before has always felt...well...lame.  If I am going to go work out, I want to feel as if I've really worked out.  Yoga just didn't give me that feeling of accomplishment I'm looking for after exercising.  Bikram Yoga though?  Wow!  An hour and a half of contorting yourself into weird poses, while sweating in a 100 degree room?  Believe me, you know you've worked out when you're done.

The best part about my experience doing yoga so far has been how much improvement I've seen in just a month of practicing.  For the first 5 times, I couldn't make it through the class without stopping at least 3 times.  Now, I can do everything without feeling sick!  And even better? I'm no longer constantly falling over!  Instead of having to work at just balancing on one leg, now I can actually work on getting deeper into the moves and pushing myself.  I notice a huge difference after the class as the ability to actually do the poses means I'm extremely sore after class...and that's a good thing!

Secretly though...my favorite part about finding this new workout has been getting to shop for yoga clothes. They are SUPER cute!  My favorite place to pick up some hot outfits?  Victoria's Secret.  Who knew they had hot, but functional, workout clothes? 

Drinking at the Open

So I've now gone to the Open in two different ways.  I've bought tickets for Arthur Ashe stadium and have bought a grounds pass, and I have to say that grounds pass is the way to go! 

If there is someone you absolutely have to see (aka Federer), the it is for sure worth it to shell out the money for Arthur Ashe.  But if you just want to spend a day sitting outside, watching good tennis, get the grounds pass! It's the best value for your money and is really a great way to spend your labor day weekend.


The best part about the grounds pass are the random games that you end up going to.  My favorite part of the day wasn't watching Roddick or Sharapova on the big screen...nope it was cheering on my new favorite American sibling duo, the Harrison brothers (who literally look as if they have come straight out of an Abercrombie ad)!  Court 17 was the find of the day, as its one of the bigger outer courts, but it still is small enough you feel like you are right on top of the players and has the challenge system in place, so you get the suspense of challenges throughout the match.  Even better? It has its on bar right outside the stadium! So you can go out, grab a beer and watch the match on the TV's at the bar while waiting for three games to pass before you are allowed back into the stadium. 

When you go, find the doubles matches that involved Americans as they crowd will get WAY into it.  I mean  Bethanie Mattek?  The only thing I knew about her prior to watching her doubles match was that she wore those crazy outfits at the open.  Yesterday though, I was a huge Mattek fan!  And i wasn't the only one.  We left after the 1st set to go watch the aforementioned Harrison brothers, but we knew exactly what was happening as you could hear the cheers coming from the Mattek court throughout the grounds.  As well as the American pride going on, being on the outer courts means you get to be close enough that you notice funny things about the athletes.  For example, my bf became obsessed with one of the Italian doubles players as she had the most intense look on her face ever when serving! When he pointed it out, I literally laughed out loud upon seeing her open mouth..which really wasn't appropriate as she could for sure hear me, but o well. 





As we spent the entire day there, we had the opportunity to sample most of the different drinks options there.  What I discovered was that beer, wine and champagne are your best bets.  The cocktails? Really not worth the money.  Our mojito felt a little watered down and the US Open Signature cocktail had absolutely no alcohol. So my advice, stick to the beer.  And for sure check out the bar overlooking the big screen outside Arthur Ashe stadium.  It's a great place to grab some food and some big-cupped beers while soaking in the atmosphere of the Open.  Seeing Ashe empty after Roddick won his match was pretty sweet as you saw exactly how many people were there watching it with you.  Get there early though! We were lucky to grab a table on the outer part of the bar, as the tables without the view overlooking the grounds really don't give you the same feel.

If you are in NYC for Labor Day, make some time to go see some tennis.  Even if you don't know anything about the sport, I promise you'll have a great time.  The crowds are great, the tennis is amazing and the alcohol is flowing.