Yikes!

I went to samba this morning, which I always look forward to. I briefly thought about not going because I was feeling pretty tired and the class is pretty intense, but then I just couldn't imagine not going. The hardest part of the class is always the warmup. Iya really puts us through the ringer. So, during today's warmup I twisted my ankle. I couldn't believe it...during the first 3 minutes of class! I thought maybe it'd just hurt for a few seconds and be fine after that. Nope! It continued hurting for the entire class. I couldn't do everything full out, but I didn't want to stop, so I just did the best I could. I kept checking to see if it started to swell, but luckily that wasn't the case. If it's swollen now it's only slightly. It's still hurting so it's time to take the advice that I'ved doled out to people so many times. RICE...Rest Ice Compression Elevation.

I've been having some problems with my feet anyway. During undergrad I started having knee pains and found out that it stemmed from flat feet. I was told to wear insoles and do ice cup treatment on my ankles at the end of the day. I've been wearing the insoles, but I haven't been using the ice cup like I should. Lately the pain has been coming back more. I'm sure starting samba hasn't helped any. Looks like I'm going to have to be more vigilant about taking care of my body.

Well, I'm off to put an ice pack on my ankle. Just like the good ole days. :)

Obama Couture

Well, it's clear that the whole country, the world for that matter, is still enjoying a honeymoon with Barack Obama. I mean, I still haven't taken my campaign car magnet off yet. But, I had no idea Barack was even having an impact in the world of haute couture.

The couture line Gattinoni revealed a Barack Obama Change kaftan at fashion week in Rome yesterday. Here's a quote from the designer, Guillermo Mariotto. "I was in Times Square when he was elected and it was like just such a beautiful emotion. I had the sensation of flying. He's definitely a fashion icon. He's brand new, he's a black president, and he's so handsome."

Barack wasn't the only Obama to inspire Italy's top designers. Fausto Sarli debuted a dress dedicated to Michelle Obama on Saturday. He says, "We dedicated this as a message of hope — that she can bring hope in the world during this period of crisis. It's a homage to the audacity of hope and youth."

I tell you what, I sure wouldn't mind some couture designers creating dresses for me. :)

JENNIFER HUDSON!

Here's the video of Jennifer Hudson performing the national anthem at Super Bowl 43. Simply AMAZING!!!!!

Super Bowl Ads

The crop of ads in this year's Super Bowl was really disappointed. It wasn't hit after hit as in years past. However, there were a few I enjoyed, and I'd like to share them with you. :)

The first one is for E-trade with the addition of a new baby.


The second is for Hyundai touting their high ratings and awards.


Next is a commercial for CareerBuilder.com


Finally a commercial for Monster.com

Conclusion

So, the Super Bowl is over and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the NFL's new champs. This makes them the first and only team ever to win six Super Bowls. It wasn't the outcome I wanted, but it turned out to be a good game. It went right down to the wire. The Cardinals looked like they were in over their heads at the beginning of the game, but they came back and fought, even taking the lead in the fourth quarter; thanks to some amazing plays by Larry Fitzgerald. However, the Steelers' Santonio Holmes matched Fitzgerald's acrobatics and athleticism with his own incredible touchdown catch that turned out to be the game winner (see photos below).

So now the game is over, which also ends the football season. I hate not having football, but I think it's also a good thing. It gives me a chance to rest my nerves.

After taking a Super Bowl break from studying and cleaning, it's back to the grind. However, I am a strong proponent of the Super Bowl Monday movement proclaiming that Super Bowl Sunday should be a national holiday and the following Monday should be a day of observation; which, of course, would mean a day off. The city of Pittsburgh is getting into the holiday spirit by delaying public school openings by 2 hours tomorrow.

I hope you had a great Super Sunday and a joyous Super Monday!

Thoughts So Far

It's halftime of the Super Bowl and here's a recap from my POV...

• I decided to go with the Cardinals
• Barack Obama's pregame interview with Matt Lauer was fantastic!
• Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem and KILLED IT! Honestly, I think it's the best I've heard. As soon as I can find the video I will most definitely post it.
• Larry Fitzgerald looked SO handsome walking into the stadium :)
• I was really concerned about the Cardinals at the beginning. It was looking like it was going to be a long night for them. They turned it around, but the last play before the half was over definitely swung momentum back to the Steelers.

That's all for now. Bruce Springsteen is about to perform.

Super Sunday

Today is everyone's favorite holiday not falling in November or December...Super Bowl Sunday!!! It's just one of those things that's as American as apple pie. Actually, I'd say Super Sunday is more American than apple pie. Did you know that after Thanksgiving the highest food consumption on a single day happens on Super Bowl Sunday. In addition to that, 58% of people who order out for food will order pizza. I will most definitely be contributing to that statistic by eating my fair share of Papa Juan's.

But now about the actual game. Today's Super Bowl has the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers have a chance to make history by becoming the first and only team to win 6 Super Bowls. The Cardinals have shocked the football world by not only making it to the playoffs this season, but making it to the Super Bowl, too. It's pretty incredible, actually. They haven't won a championship since 1947. Are they due? I dunno.

Who am I picking? I still don't know!!! I've been going over this again and again since the matchup was decided a couple weeks ago. I don't have an attachment to either team, so in situations like this I usually go with the team with the most Gators. The Steelers win this one by default because the Cardinals have zero. The Steelers have Max Starks, who was a senior my freshman year at Florida. I really admired him more than for his playing ability, but for the fact that he was truly a student-athlete. The Steelers also have former Penn State player Scott Paxson. I didn't even realize he was playing for them until I was watching Leno the other night and saw him being interviewed on the Ross the Intern segment at Super Bowl media day. Anyhoo, the year I worked for the Orange Bowl Committee with Penn State he was really nice to me when I was working in the game room. I played him in a car racing game and kept losing, so he put his car on manual transmission so that I could at least beat him once. So, factoring in Max Starks and Scott Paxson, that would lean me toward the Steelers.

But, I also think it'd be great for the Cardinals to win. It's been so long since they've won anything. Heck, it's been so long since they've actually been good! And now here they are in the biggest game, biggest event in the country. I also love Larry Fitzgerald; not just recently, but back from his college days at Pitt. He's been phenomenal in the postseason. I just think it'd be a wonderful time for them to win. I mean, the Steelers just won in 2006, someone else can have a shot, right?

So yeah, I'm stuck. I might not even decide who I wanted to win once the game's over. Maybe I'll decide right before the game or at sometime after it starts. Maybe I'll just hope for a good game. Either way, it's the Super Bowl and I'm feelin kinda Sunday! :)

Swamped

Tonight the Florida Gators men's basketball team played the Tennessee Vols in Knoxville. I was really excited about this game because the Vols are one of our biggest rivals, and the basketball rivalry has gotten a lot more intense over the past few years. The plan was for Sopeany and I to watch the game at Buffalo Wild Wings. I had never been there and wanted to see what it's like. But(!) the thing that's been a thorn in my side at sports bars struck again. We couldn't get in to watch the game because of the UFC fight that was coming on later that night. They had the main area of the restaurant literally chained off and said the wait was going to be between 2-3 hours. Ridiculousness.

So we decided to go to Hickory Tavern. Sopeany had never been there, so it seemed like an excellent choice. I love the food at Hickory Tavern, so the change of plans was a welcome occurence. When we got there we didn't have to wait and they already had the pregame on the big screens. The food was great, but the game? Not so much. It was a blowout right from the start. We honestly couldn't believe what we were seeing. The team killed Vanderbilt last week, but, as Sopeany said, it looked like they'd never played before. I hope we can get it together before Tuesday's game against South Carolina. The last South Carolina game was a one-point loss. Let's try to turn things around.

Samba!!!

So I just got back from my samba class. I absolutely LOVE it! I started a few weeks ago and was hooked instantly. I love Brazilian music and culture, so this was just something that seemed natural for me to fall into. I found the class through the Dances of Brasil meetup on Meetup.com. The class is taught by Iya Silva, who's really great.

The class is excellent, but it's also intense! I think today was the hardest. I didn't know how I was going to make it through the entire class after only doing the warmup. Although today felt like the hardest it was also the best. I knew it was going to be a great day when Iya played a song by Jorge Ben Jor. He's one of my favorites, so I was excited. Then we did a bunch of batucada, which got me even more pumped up. Batucada is the really percussion-intensive type of samba, and once the music hits it's pretty much impossible to stay still. (I've included a batucada song at the end of the post). The class makes me sore, tired, and out of breath, but it's one of my favorite things ever! :)

Samba Batucada - SAMBA

Back at It

So I knew it had been a while since I've written in my blog, but I didn't realize it's been almost a year! How irresponsible. ::shaking fist:: There has definitely been A LOT that has gone on since I've last posted, so I'll try to get caught up.

The most monumental thing that's happened is the loss of my mother. She passed on Novermber 10, 2008, and it's still something that's hard for me to believe that it's actually real. She fought cancer for four years but never wanted people to know. So for the most part, outside of immediate family, no one even really knew she was sick. She amazed me every step of the way when she was in the hospital with how optimistic she was and her unending fighting spirit. I'm continually amazed at how many people she touched and still continues to affect. I am so incredibly blessed to be her daughter.

Also since my last post I started in the Sports MBA program at UNC Charlotte. I moved to Charlotte at the end of June and started summer classes in July. Over the summer I took the two prereqs (Business Statistics and Financial Accounting) I needed before classes officially started int he fall. Over the summer I worked for the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team, which I really enjoyed. The fall semester started out well but became turbulent once my mom got really sick. I missed about five weeks of school and am still trying to get caught up with everything.

I couldn't mention the events of the past 10 months without mentioning the presidential election!!! So, those who know me may know that I really enjoy politics, so I really enjoyed the election season. It was great once the primaries were over because that just became overkill. My candidate was Barack Obama, and I was lucky enough to see him three times in person. The first was in Ft. Lauderdale in May, second in Charlotte in September (when I was a volunteer), and the last was on the UNCC campus the night before the election. I also met Joe Biden, which was really exciting! I was thrilled on election night and overwhelmed on Inauguration Day.

So that's just a general overview. I can't include everything and didn't want to overwhelm this one post. I intend on getting back into the swing of things and try to post at least once a day. That's all for now!