Halloween Recap: USC vs. OR, Cookies, and Little Red

Happy November everyone. Hope you all had fabulous Halloween Weekends!

Ours started out with USC's Homecoming Game against #1 ranked Oregon.

USC lost, but we had a great time at the game. We tailgated with USC Alumni and our friends from Oregon who were in town.


Now I'm rooting for the Ducks to go all the way to the National Championship!


Sunday morning I made Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chip cookies. It's a little tradition of mine to make cookies on Halloween, I think it satisfies my Halloween sweet tooth!


I think I need to buy some new baking sheets. Why?

I made 1/2 the cookies on one kind of darker color cookie sheet and the other 1/2 on a lighter cookie sheet and they turned out totally different.

The cookies made on the darker sheet turned out like this:


The ones on the lighter cookie sheet turned out like this:


The ones from the darker sheet were much fluffier and rounded. I never realized the kind of cookie sheet matters so much! That said, what kind/brand of cookie sheet is your favorite? I am totally going to buy a couple of new cookie sheets.


Finally, my Little Red Riding Hood costume turned out pretty cute!

This is me before heading over to our church's Halloween Carnival to pass out candy to the kiddos.


The Mr. was an "80s Rock Star" like Axel Rose or something. Hilarious.


You can't really see my boots, but these are my new suede boots from DSW. I love them! DSW is go-to place for boots.

How was your Halloween Weekend?


PS - My CSN Stores giveaway ends today. Enter here!

It's Game Day Baby! Trojans!

Today is the University of Southern California's first home game.

The Mr. and I are huge USC fans. We met there. We go to every home game. We pretty much bleed Cardinal and Gold.

2009 was definitely not the best football season in USC history, but we still had a blast at all the games -- tailgating, cheering, and lovin' our alma mater.

{Best-of 2009 USC games montage}

But the 2010 off-season was downright awful, with Pete Carroll leaving and the insanely harsh NCAA sanctions against USC (note: I don't know who I loathe more, the greedy jerk Reggie Bush, or the NCAA for making an example out of USC). I know lots of people are happy to see USC fall from grace and that a lot of fair weather fans have abandoned the Trojans. But you know what....

I'm just happy that I can once again put my USC gear on and loudly declare that IT'S GAME DAY BABY!

Heck, even Judah's ready for the game!

(Maybe we'll leave the game on TV for him at home so he can watch. Just kidding.)

Seriously, for me there is almost no greater feeling in the world than walking through USC's campus as it's teeming with tailgaters, and then stepping into a jam-packed Coliseum to watch USC take the field.

I love the fall. I love USC. Sanctions be damned. IT'S GAME DAY BABY!

Christmas 2009 Highlights

We had a fabulous Christmas in San Diego. Lots of great food, family, and fun!


The best part was Christmas Day dinner that my parents hosted for 18 people at their house. Here is the amazing table-scape that my Mom and I put together.



Photos don't really do it justice. But I loved the floating candle & flower displays that we put together. (These are so beautiful, easy, and inexpensive to make!)



We also had a ton of fun opening presents on Christmas Eve.


And of course, we had to see a football game! We saw Utah vs. Cal in the Poinsettia Bowl. Great game!



Hope you had a great Christmas!

USC Football: A Love Story

It's a well documented fact that I love USC football, so I got pretty excited when Kelly announced that this week was "Favorite Teams" on "Show Us Your Life."

I may not be as hardcore as all of the SEC girls out there, but I do love me some Trojan Football -- everything from the tailgating to the sold out stadiums to game watching parties for away game. In fact when football Season ends and I suddenly have all of these free Saturdays, I don't know that to do with myself, since Trojan Football is an all day event.

The Mr. and I met at USC so we've both been avid USC fans for over 8 years now and sharing Football games is one of our favorite things.

Note: Unfortunately almost all of my USC pictures from College are not digital, so I'll have to show my love for USC Football through the last 4 years after college.

We usually tailgate for at least 4 hours before the game with the Mr's fraternity alumni association. Here are few of my favorite tailgating pictures from over the years. Lots of beer and BBQ!


{click to enlarge}

USC hate UCLA more than anything (way more than UCLA hates USC) hence the FUCLA shirt above. USC's band even has a whole song that ends with "UCLA Sucks" -- that they play at games where we're not even playing UCLA. Hilarious.

We have Season tickets and apparently I really like to take close up pictures of ourselves in the stands.

{click to enlarge}

Fun unrelated-fact: From 2005 to 2009 the Mr lost over 50 lbs! You can really see it in these pics.

I love seeing the Colosseum covered in Cardinal and Gold.


We're so passionate about USC Football that we usually go to at least one away game a season. Here we are before the Stanford game last year and at the Berkely game this year.


But my favorite games are BOWL GAMES! Since I started at USC in 2001 the Trojans have been to SEVEN BCS Bowls!

Of course the best Bowl Game was in January 2005, when I traveled to Florida to watch the Trojans win the Orange Bowl and be named the 2004 Season National Champions! It was SO amazing!



And for the last two years we've watched the Trojans win in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

FIGHT ON TROJANS!


Update: Check out my bloggy friend, Julie's post on USC. Her little boy in USC jerseys just makes my heart melt! I swear, when I have a baby, the first thing I'm going to buy for him/her is a little jersey or USC tee!

"Yo fui al partido de fútbol Americano" - Football Weekend Recap

When I was in High School, every Monday morning my Spanish Teacher would ask the class "what did you do this weekend?" (in Spanish) and then if you raised your hand and answered (in Spanish) he'd give you like .1 of an extra credit point. So every Monday in the Fall I would raise my hand and say, "Yo fuí al partido de fútbol Americano" (I went to a Football Game). And it was true because I was always at either my High School games, San Diego State games, or Charger games.

Well, I'm starting to feel like my blog has become my Spanish class this Fall, because it seems that the major thing going in my life is Football games. So if you don't like football, just go ahead and skip this post. But for the pigskin lovin' girls like me, here's a recap of my Football weekend.

My cousin and his girlfriend arrived at LAX on Friday afternoon. Friday night we grilled out, drank wine, and went to the Laugh Factory Comedy Club in Long Beach. Good times!

Saturday morning we gave them a mini tour of Long Beach and LA and then headed to USC for to see the Trojans take on the Cougars!

I love seeing campus on Game Day! So full of energy and Cardinal & Gold. Here's the Mr. and I at Tommy Trojan.


The whole crew leaving home.


Tailgating.


I'm happy to report that the Trojans won this weekend!

Sunday morning we drove down to San Diego to watch the Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins!

We sat with a bunch of friends from San Diego in the first/second row of endzone. Great seats!

Here I am with my friend, Sarah.


The Charger Girls!


Right before the Chargers scored a touchdown!


I took a day off work on Monday to relax with my family in San Diego and go to Mission Beach.

Now it's back to the grind until next the Football Weekend, which actually starts this Friday when we fly up the San Francisco Bay area to watch the Trojans play at UC Berkely (Cal) on Saturday! And next Monday I can once again say, "Yo fui al partido de fútbol Americano."

Family & Football this weekend!

One thing that you may not know about me is that I have the world's smallest family.

Seriously. I've never met anyone with a smaller family/extended family.

Lots and lots of only children (including me). I have only two cousins (and one is by marriage, so she is really a step-cousin). Yes, I know this may be shocking to people that have like 25 cousins like many people I know.

So you can imagine how excited I am that my only blood-cousin is coming to visit me in Los Angeles from Illinois for the first time ever!

I saw him last here, where we cooked up plans for fun-filled football weekend in Los Angeles and San Diego since he loves Football as much as I do but doesn't have big-time college or pro sports in his small town.

He flies in Friday.

On Saturday we're going to tailgate on USC's campus and watch the Trojans play at the Colosseum.


Then Sunday we're going down to San Diego to see the Chargers play at Qualcomm Stadium


The last Charger game that I saw in person was this one. Check out the view from our seats. First row, end-zone! Yup, I've got the hooook-up with tickets.

Have a great weekend everyone! Go Trojans and Bolts!

Fight On for ol' SC

Our men Fight On to victory!

This weekend we went to the USC Trojans season opener at the LA Memorial Colosseum!

I heart my alma mater so much!


(That's us tailgating at the Mr.'s Fraternity Alumni Tailgate)

Our season tickets this year are the best seats we've ever had!

Really great, huh?!

Despite the 90-degree weather, the fans were still out in full force.

(Yes, yes, I know, Californians are wimps about weather. We're like Goldilocks, we can't have it too hot or too cold. We accept nothing less than 74 and sunny.)



USC won 56-3 and now we are ranked #3! In Pete we Trust!


But what I also loved on Saturday was seeing all of my bloggy girlfriends blogging and blowing up Twitter with College Football game day updates. (And seeing babies in game day gear makes me want a little one so bad! Like, tomorrow. I think that's the first thing I'd buy if I found out that I was pregnant).

From your blogs I learned so much about your College Football traditions and personal stories. Like from Kelly's Korner I learned about how SEC girls dress for games. Or from Kate at Elefantitas Alegres about what it's like to live in a "house divided". Or from Megan at In this Wonderful Life about how she decorates her home for Football season.

It's so fun to be friends with so many college football fans across the country! Although I don't know if Mrs. Everlasting and I can still friends next weekend when our teams play each other! Ha! Fight On Trojans!

Did you go to a College Football Game this weekend? What College Football Traditions do you have or love?

Falling in Love with Fall

Even though the first day of Fall is officially September 22, I've always felt that the day after Labor Day marks the end of summer and the start of Fall.

When I was young I loved summer so much that Labor Day was a day of mourning for me. I'd mope around the house and sometimes even cry over the loss of Summer.

Now that I'm "an adult" working for "the man" in an air conditioned office every day, and I don't go back to school, seasons matter less to me. And since I live in a Southern California beach city where the weather rarely drops below 60 all year, and the palm tree leaves don't turn to shades gold and brown, the concept of Seasons is sometimes irrelevant. But nevertheless, in recent years Fall has grown on me.

So since "Fall" is right around the corner I've been thinking of the reasons that I've fallen in love with Fall.

1. College Football! Specifically, my Alma Mater, the USC Trojans!
I love the excitement around college football in general. But there is almost nothing I love more than tailgating on the USC campus with my alumni buddies and watching the Trojans demolish a team in the Colosseum.


PS- Can you believe that a true Freshman, Matt Barkley will be starting at quarterback on Saturday? It's the first time ever in USC history a true Freshman has started at QB.


2. Holidays
I've always loved Halloween. And now I love Thanksgiving because it is always such a fun and special time with the Mr's family in Oregon (where they actually have seasons). Plus my MIL is a great cook and does a lot of fun dishes with the leftovers too.



3. New Fall TV Shows
I don't watch a TON of TV, but I am excited for new episodes of three of my favorite shows (my other favorite show, LOST, will not back on until January)

The Office premires on September 17.


How I Met Your Mother premires on September 21.


Grey's Anatomy premires on September 24 (thank goodness for DVR!)


What parts of Fall do you enjoy? Or do you still hate Fall like I used to? What are you looking forward to in Fall?

San Diego Super Chargers Heading for the Super Bowl!

Despite JUST getting back from San Diego -- we just couldn't stay away and headed back to my beautiful home town for the Chargers vs. Colts Playoff Game on Saturday.

We scored some free tickets from a family friend in the FIRST ROW of the Charger End-Zone and the winning touchdown made by Darren Sproles was scored right in front of us! It was an AMAZING game!

For those who don't know, the Chargers won the game in overtime and now have a chance to go to the Super Bowl after a very mediocre early/mid season. As one SD U-T Reporter said, "We can start by saying the Chargers’ ridiculous season has become harder to kill than the hardiest cockroach to crawl the earth."

Some pictures from the game:

The Charger Girls!


Game Winner Darren Sproles (note: this shot is not of the winning touchdown)


The Mr. and me in our seats. It was COLD (well, cold for San Diego).


The sold-out stadium


Now the seemingly-unkillable Chargers have to get past the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 11th. Go Bolts!!!

Who do you think is going to be in the Super Bowl? Does anyone want to bet on the looooong-shot Chargers with me?

I Heart 2009 - Rose Bowl and NYE Recap

Happy 2009 everyone!




We started the New Year off right by watching our USC Trojans destroy the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Rose Bowl!!! Go Trojans! In Pete We Trust.

Side note: Seriously, enough of this controversy, USC and Texas are just as good at Florida and Oklahoma, let's have a PLAYOFF already!

The game was a blast! The only bad part is getting to and from the Rose Bowl (for those who don't know, the Rose Bowl is UCLA's home stadium and USC plays at the Colosseum). I feel bad for the Bruins who do that commute 6 times a year.

Here are some pics from the game.

The start of the game


Me in our alumni end-zone seats


The Post-Game Celebration!


Also New Years Eve was fantastic. A really fun and pretty perfect night. We walked to the Party on Pine Street in Downtown Long Beach. We had drinks at Smooths and an amazing pre-fixe dinner at L'Opera. There was also a band at L'Opera, so we did some after-dinner dancing and surprisingly ran into an old sorority sister of mine and split a bottle of champagne with her and her boyfriend. We then went outside to the town square of the big NYE Countdown. It was a great way to start our first full year as Mr & Mrs.

Some pictures:

The Mr. and I at home leaving for the Party on Pine (I wore my new Red Coat for the outdoor festivities)


At L'Opera with my sorority sister.


Hope you all had a great New Years and have a divine 2009! It's been really fun getting to know all of you out in the Blog world, and I can't wait to connect with you all more in 2009!