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!