Football Hangover Part Two

Lightning does strike the same place twice.

When the Bears lost to the Packers on Sunday, it was like suffering a football hangover for the second consecutive week (luckily it was a figurative hangover and nothing like my punishment last Monday). The city showed the team tough love all season but after they beat the Seahawks in the opening round of the playoffs, Chicago was on a football high. All of last week, there was so much excitement and build-up for the Bears-Packers game (the oldest rivalry in sports I was told), that I actually started to despise the Bears by game time (well, kind of).

This over-hype was as annoying as it was interesting to watch. Everywhere I looked I saw orange and blue. Even Chicago's buildings boasted their color coordination (pictured, the Trump Tower and the Willis Tower as seen from the Hancock Signature Lounge).

On Friday, I got off the L and walked toward work, clutching my RedEye plastered with photos and packed with stories about the city's football team. As I approached my building, I noticed "Da Bus" was parked out front. Upon entering the building, I was greeted by a lobby decked out in bouquets of blue and orange balloons. At lunch time, the building was swarming with with workers decked out in Bears gear.

As I waited in line to get a sandwich, I ran into one brave soul donning an Aaron Rodgers shirt. After expressing my admiration for his gall, he revealed he was just doing it for fun. He wasn't a Packers fan, but he was a fan of pissing people off. His friend looked mortified to be standing next to him.

Come Sunday, I decided to watch the game with my Packer pal Ally and we enjoyed some wings, beer and a side of homework (and I can't get a boyfriend why??). I'm an Aaron Rodgers fan (well a fan of his backside more than anything), so I was pulling for the Cheeseheads. However, when the Bears' spirited comeback fell short, I could feel the air immediately sucked out of the entire city.

Monday morning's papers reminded me of the sting I felt when the Patriots lost the week before. The city is bear (pun intended). Those blue and orange decorations I once found so annoying are now gone, and the papers are back to boring black and white. The excitement is gone, the city is silent (well, except for an incessant infiltration of opinions regarding Cutlergate).

While I'm happy for Rodgers and the Packers, I thought it would have been fun to see Chicago in the Super Bowl, as it was exciting to witness the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. Now both my football cities have gone into hibernation. Looks like I might have to hitch a ride to Wisconsin to find that football feeling just in time for the Super Bowl.

The Weekend That Was

Last week, I got "dumped" by a Jets fan. A couple days later, the Patriots got dumped by the Jets. So how does one who is 900 miles away from her BFFs (and fellow mourning Patriots fans) deal with such a crap-tastic situation?

My mom’s going to hate this post…

Friday, 8 p.m.: My friend Greg convinced me to abandon a giant brownie, my sweatpants and a borrowed copy of “He’s Just Not That into You” in favor of a night out with his friends and my favorite margaritas. It was the first good decision of the weekend, starting it off right.

Saturday, 1 p.m.: Abby, my “colleague” (as she likes to be called), invited me to hang out with her for the afternoon in her ‘hood. We indulged in manicures and pedicures while drinking champagne. I didn’t realize you could drink alcohol while getting a pedicure, but at this place you can and it was great. During the pedicure process, we read applicable—and funny—excerpts from “He’s Just Not That into You.” I’m sure everyone in place thought we were crazy… especially during the parts when the massage chair would kick in and pound my back as I read aloud, causing my voice to sound like I was being rolled over an old-fashioned laundry board.

Saturday, 2:30 p.m.: After our treatments, we hit up a place called Hamburger Mary’s for lunch. This place has very unique combos of burgers and they are delicious. I ordered a burger that had macaroni ‘n cheese on top of it for two reasons: first, I thought it would be interesting, but second, and most of all, I just wanted to say “Can I have the Daddy Mac, please?” The burger turned out to be even more delicious than I could have imagined! (I mean, look at it!!)

After lunch, I went home, took a nap, finished my book and went to bed after watching a mediocre episode of Saturday Night Live. Saturday was a good day, a warm up for a Sunday I had been waiting for all week.

Sunday, 1 p.m.: After going for a run in order to get some chilly Chicago fresh air, I headed to the Patriots bar clad in my Wes Welker jersey to meet my fellow Patriots fans. We finished watching the Bears game, but were too distracted with anticipation to care about Jay Cutler or to talk about anything other than the Patriots-Jets rivalry.

Sunday, 3:30 p.m.: Patriots kick off.

I think it’s best to end the timeline here. The rest of the night is a blur of rage, sadness, shock and vodka, an attempt to counteract the first three feelings (please re-read first paragraph for a reminder). I’m still really sad about what happened with the game, as basking in the glory of a Patriots victory was the only thing I was banking on to get me through the following week.

But, luckily, thanks to the help of my friends, I’m doing just fine.

I'm Back! Time to Play Catch Up

Hey everyone! I apologize for the extremely long hiatus. In the fall, I was juggling full-time school and full-time work, and like last year, was sick for the entire month of November (and half of October this year). Needless to say, I was unable to come up with any creative blog posts in my very spare time.

I have resolved in 2011 to get better at writing on the blog to sate the appetite of my fans (or just Monika hehe). So in case you really care, here’s a quick rundown of my top news since Chicago Hopeful went silent in August.

1. At the end of September, I attended the first game of the Red Sox/White Sox series. My friend Greg who works for the White Sox comped me great seats, and my friend Ryan and I snuck up a few rows, ending up with seats just three rows behind the Red Sox dugout. They were great seats and the Red Sox won, making the night even better!

2. In November, my sister Megan came to visit and we ran the “Hot Chocolate” 5K. After a chilly jaunt around downtown, Soldier Field and Lake Michigan, we enjoyed Ghirardelli hot chocolate and chocolate fondue. I was in the midst of being sick, but if you temp us with chocolate fondue at the finish line, we’ll run real fast to get it. My friend Greg also ran the race (he ran the 15K), that's us after the race.

3. I played in a co-ed flag football league this fall. Our team was named Boozers ‘n Bruisers—we drank beer on the sidelines during the games, which we usually lost, but had a great time doing it. I was great on defense and even scored a touchdown in the only game we won! (And caught a two-point conversion in a tight playoff game…loss).

4. I spent my Sundays watching Patriots games at a local bar along with other New England imports. Through MeetUp.com, I found out which bar in the city was hosting weekly Patriot parties for the games and it just so happened to be a 15 minute walk from my apartment. One of the best decisions I ever made since living here was going to these meet-ups, usually accompanied with my friend and classmate Ally (we were usually found doing homework at the bar during some of the games, but no one ever made fun of us!). The bar felt like a home-away-from-home this season; it was great to be able to talk sports and drop Boston references without someone looking at me funny. I could say: “this soda tastes wicked flat” and everyone knew exactly what I meant. I’m now friends with several of the people I met at this bar during the season and I hope to keep in touch with them.

5. In December, Ally’s boyfriend, John, gave us his tickets to the Bears-Patriots game. The day of the game, it was blistering cold and blizzarding snow (those of you who watched the game on television know what I’m talking about). I dressed in 3 pairs of pants, seven shirts (each representing a different Boston sports team), a heavy jacket, two scarves, two hats, two pairs of gloves and three pairs of wool socks covered by boots. After halftime, I busted out my Patriots blanket and put hand warmers in the back pockets of my jeans to keep my butt from freezing off. Ally (a Packers fan) and I lasted the entire game and had a blast, especially seeing it was such a rout by the Patriots.

A lot of other things have happened in the last five months since I’ve written, including three great visits home and to Maine in which I was able to spend a lot of quality time catching up with family and friends and a few friends flying to Chicago to visit me. I've also mastered a great chili recipe in my new crockpot. I apologize for the absence and vow to do better in 2011… starting now!