Day 304: March 31, 2013

Easter Sunday this year brought a beautifully warm day in Bloomington. I do not really celebrate Easter, and I did not really even realize it was Easter until I saw the Happy Easter here chalked into the Sample Gates, but it made for a nice photo and a good afternoon run in the warm weather. Otherwise, it was a day spent mostly cite-checking in the cold, dark library.

Days 288-290: March 15-17, 2013

This weekend began with a fun-filled St. Patrick's Day weekend trip to Chicago. We started the afternoon in Bloomington watching IU win its first round Big Ten Tournament game against Illinois, and then left to join our fellow Hoosiers in Chi-Town, were we ran into this spectacular IU banner decorating the Chicago streets. The first night was a relaxing night enjoying our favorite Giordano's deep dish pizza, then getting a few drinks at a bar after walking past some pre-prohibition era liquor store museums.

On our second day in Chicago, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day, starting off with a trip to the Chicago River which was dyed green in honor of the annual Dying of the River tradition. We then went up to Lincoln Park to watch the Hoosiers sadly lose to Wisconsin, which while unknown at the time, was actually a blessing in disguise as it ended up keeping us out of the gauntlet that would become the NCAA Midwest Regional. We then spent the afternoon and evening celebrating St. Patrick's Day at a variety of locales, and ended the night by getting driven back to our hotel by a crazy cabbie that was blasting The Final Countdown and Eye of the Tiger with crazy neon lights. It was one entertaining St. Patrick's Day.

On Sunday, we finished off our trip by stopping at the most amazing breakfast place ever, President Obama's favorite, Valois in Hyde Park. I had my usual scrambled eggs with bacon, toast, and the best hashed browns I've ever had. We then left Chicago to head back to Bloomington, where we would sadly have to put an end to the Spring Break holiday, and get ready to head back to classes on the final grind before exam season begins.

Day 267: February 22, 2013

BATMAN! That is just the beginning of an amazing 25th birthday party that included a Giordano's special delivery from Chicago and a delicious two-layer cake guarded by none other than the Dark Knight himself. Almost a year after our spectacular impromptu trip to Chicago to have the amazing signature pies, Megan arranged for Giordano's to make its own impromptu trip to Bloomington to share with even more of our friends! After the very delicious surprise present, Batman allowed us to enjoy Anita's delicious birthday cake, and in the process passed out into a food coma himself from all of the amazing foods. I also received surprise Yankees tickets from home that we can use to continue our baseball tour, and a modified version of Tim's favorite "Worst State Ever" shirt that I can use next time we watch Michigan games with Tim. Thanks to everyone who helped put together an awesome 25th birthday and to everyone else who joined in the celebrations!

Day 215: January 1, 2013

Happy New Year! 2012 was a fun year that began for me on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, and ended in my hometown of Stafford, Virginia, on only the 20th day I spent in Virginia this year, by far the fewest of any year since I originally moved there in 2000. In between, the year included my first trip to Chicago, baseball games in Cincinnati and Detroit, and a summer trip to London, Munich, and Salzburg. Early in 2012, I dropped my glasses and contacts for good, as I underwent Lasik surgery and can now see perfectly without correction. 2012 also accounted for the most days I've ever spent in jail in my life. Don't worry, those visits were voluntary—a necessity of spending a summer working in a public defender's office in Lawrence County, Indiana. After going through the strenuous summer job search process again, 2012 also brought the news that next summer I will be returning to Washington, D.C. to work with the Securities and Exchange Commission (where I will presumably be spending far fewer days in jail). Also of note in 2012 was Indiana's exciting run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, followed by opening the following season as the preseason #1 ranked team in the country. Some of the things I am looking forward to in 2013 are having a great summer in DC that will hopefully shed some light on my future career prospects post-graduation, and continuing to be apart of Hoosier Nation and Indiana's quest to hang that sixth banner at Assembly Hall. Hopefully 2013 will be an even better year than 2012, and will bring some of these wishes and goals to light!

Day 214: December 31, 2012

Last year for New Year's Eve, I went to watch Virginia play in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta and after the game we scrambled from the Georgia Dome to (more central) downtown Atlanta just in time to watch the peach drop. It was a pretty busy and crowded celebration in the streets of one of the larger cities in the South. This year, it is a much quieter and more relaxing celebration of New Year's Eve by spending the evening inside with the family. After watching IU earn their first Big Ten victory of the season on the road at Iowa, we will be celebrating Indiana-style by playing some Sink the Biz and enjoying a freshly chilled bottle of champagne. For those non-Hoosier followers of this blog (making a strong assumption that there are in fact, any followers), Sink the Biz is a traditional Bloomington staple that can be found at Nick's English Hut on Kirkwood. The game involves floating this small glass in the larger bucket after it is filled with beer. Then, each player pours beer from a side-cup into the floating glass, trying to get it close to sinking but without actually sinking it. The player that does sink the glass has to finish off the beer that fills it up, then they refloat the glass and the game continues. I wonder if a Biz would float in champagne...

Days 209-212: December 26-29, 2012

Gianna seemed to enjoy checking out the new Naughty or Nice ornament on the tree, which moves between the choices on a sliding scale from naughty to nice when you press the button until it stops on its final "determination." Here, she didn't seem to agree with the outcome when it came up on the naughtier side of the scale. But, no one ever said you can't press it twice! Also, there must be something wrong with it, because I think she was very happy with all the presents Santa brought the day before, and it's his determination that counts!

It is never too late after Christmas to decorate a few gingerbread cookies, especially when they turn out as IU Gingerbread Santas! We had a fun time decorating and then eating all the gingerbreads as dessert following another delicious and filling dinner at Italy's Finest, where this week we have tried appetizers, New York-style pizza, lasagna, stromboli and Chicago-style deep dish.

I took a walk down the road to get a few shots of the water. I am sad that I have missed two snows already in Bloomington, including one blizzard, but having the beautiful water to look outside at makes it feel a little better. Much better than being stuck in the cold Virginia weather without any of the good Indiana snow, and plenty of good company down here in Florida as well! You can see in this photo a couple of the crazy mini-palaces that one of the residents set up on his multiple lots, which "complement" the crazy giant palace-like structure that is supposed to be his actual house. Fortunately, the questionable aesthetic choices do not mess up the crystal clear blue waters on this beautiful day.

So far after every semester of law school I have checked-in to Chuck E. Cheese's on Facebook, but never actually was there. This time, however, I found a buddy to come with me to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate the end of exams for real! She seems to know her way around there much better than I do too. Here we are battling it out on the water guns, even though I originally thought it was a team game. The determination is evident on both of our faces, but the veteran Chuck E. Cheeser dominated me in the end and came up with the stirring come from behind victory.

Day 208: December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a fun Christmas with my cousins coming over to get all their presents. Here is a great shot of the two sisters sitting in front of the tree with all their presents. I love it because the looks on their faces are priceless. Fortunately, they didn't have to fight over any gifts as they both got plenty of fun presents! And afterwards, we all had plenty of delicious food (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green beans), and all the Christmas wine. I think it was a fun and enjoyable Christmas, and hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas as well! Hoo Hoo Hoo...Merrrrry Christmas!

Day 207: December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas Eve! Today we got this Elf on the Shelf thing for my little cousin. Apparently these things are all the rave these days, and I'm still a little confused as to whether they are new things or whether they were around when I was a kid. I definitely do not remember ever having one of these or ever hearing about them when I was a kid. Apparently they are supposed to move around to random spots in the house so that they will always be watching kids to make sure they are being good for Santa.

Here the Elf is at the restaurant, hanging out on some of the beer taps. He clearly has good taste in beer, jumping straight for the Blue Moon. It was pretty fun moving the elf around and watching my cousin surprised at him showing up in random spots, especially when he ended up holding one of her crayons. And then later, magical notes from him to her kept appearing in his hands. Santa is clearly employing top of the line forces this year to ensure that kids are being good enough to get all their presents.

Today at the restaurant I had this delicious giant stromboli. Cheese, sauce, pepperoni, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and black olives. So much noms. This is going to be a fun food week. I can't wait until the wine bottles start opening.