Fiesta Bowl 2016!

As I mentioned here, I kicked off 2016 with a fairly spontaneous adventure in Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl, and it was everything I could have dreamed it would be…minus an Irish victory, of course! David, Kelli, Andrew and I had way too much fun, and couldn’t have been a better travel group.

Is there anything better than a trip that just works out perfectly like that? For as little planning as we did up-front, everything worked out astonishingly well. All we had planned or booked in advance was our hotel, and of course we had our tickets to the game. Everything else, though? Winging it. And anyone who knows me, or reads here, knows that “winging it” isn’t naturally hardwired into my DNA.

We departed Minneapolis after plenty of cocktails around 8pm on New Year’s Eve, all smiles on the first leg of our Spirit flight…

After landing in Dallas, we had about ten minutes to take a bathroom break and immediately re-board our 11pm flight to Phoenix. The flight, interestingly, was pretty evenly split between drunk college football fans/New Year’s celebrants and families traveling with young children…which made for an interesting arrival at nearly 2am in Arizona! The family in the back of the plane had a three-year-old daughter who just really, really wanted to get off the plane. And who made it clear, at astonishingly high decibel levels, that she felt that way. After sitting waiting for a gate for half an hour, we all shared her feelings…just a bit less vocally. Between the alcohol and the sheer exhaustion, next thing I knew I was collapsing into one of the hotel suite’s beds for a quick nap before the game.

We were up by 6:30am, and out of the hotel by 7 to get to the University of Phoenix Stadium. Our Uber driver, who was delightful, filled us in on the fact that Glendale is pretty much a wasteland apart from the stadium and West End-like bar district immediately adjacent to it…which was pretty apparent when we pulled up to what felt like a stadium and some parking lots just plopped into a desert. Fortunately, we immediately found Hal and his family’s tailgate!

I felt like a bit of an asshole rolling up to a Notre Dame tailgate with three Buckeye fans in tow, but fortunately Hal and his delightful parents were more than welcoming…and willing to share champagne, vodka, and beer with the enemy. It was also one of the only times that weekend when green and navy outnumbered scarlet and grey, so I had to enjoy it while I could!

After a few mimosas, we met up with two more Irish fans…Michael and Ben! The Fiesta Bowl was Ben’s first Notre Dame game, and both he and Michael are lifelong fans. It was great to see them and catch up!

Easily the highlight of the tailgate: the fact that when you’re drinking with Undertones alums, you’re inevitably treated to renditions of the Glee Club's version of the fight song. Um, hi, let me just die and go to heaven and close my eyes and pretend I’m at Troubadours again, mmk?

We also couldn’t resist taking a few…creative…versions of the O-H-I-O picture. I can’t decide which is my favorite, so I’m including them all below. First, I sulked.

Then, I channeled everyone’s favorite leprechaun. O-H-I-Go Irish!

And finally, I just flipped the bird, which I think is a massive improvement on the usual "H." Clearly.

After a very unsuccessful shotgun of an ice-cold beer, we hit the stadium, picked up 40s, and found our seats…

…where I summarily proceeded to freak out over the marching bands. Let me go on record: while the Band of the Fighting Irish will forever have my heart and soul, Double Script Ohio is possibly the most beautiful/technically impressive marching maneuver I’ve ever seen.

Can’t leave that without a little love for my band. Our pregame still makes me cry.

Andrew and I had a blast talking shit to each other and watching the game...he was absolutely the ideal rival fan to sit with. I also freaked out over halftime, although I'd marched in the Notre Dame show as a student (C'mon, Ken Dye, America and the service academies again?!), and the Ohio State show happened to be the one from when I visited Columbus this fall! I sort of felt robbed...but quickly got over it because, duh, marching band (OMG). 

Before too long, it appeared the fate of the Fighting Irish was sealed. So naturally, I did what every masochistic Irish fan does, and let Andrew sneak me into the Ohio State student section. I was the only one wearing green, with the exception of the middle-aged man behind me who did his undergrad at ND and his graduate degree at OSU. Needless to say, I stuck out like a sore thumb...talk about diving right in to enemy territory. Thanks, Bud Light Lime, for liquid courage, but more importantly, thanks to these fools for being nice to me even in the face of defeat!

It was incredibly special to share this experience with David, in particular. I think he’s the first person who made me understand football, way back when in high school, and was for sure the first person who impressed upon me just what I was getting into by choosing Notre Dame. We shared college marching band and have both remained passionate lovers of college football, and watching our teams play each other is something I’ll remember (for the most part) forever. I was included in the OSU alma mater, and David hopped right in for "Notre Dame, Our Mother." Thanks for being my bud for going on 20 years, Davy. :)

Postgame, we headed over to the bar district near the stadium, where we stumbled into Salt Tacos and Tequila. After a fairly chill recapping of the game over tacos and beer, things went (rapidly) downhill when our crew decided to take a tequila shot before leaving the bar. And when I say “a tequila shot,” I mean “took a tequila shot, then decided to TAKE ALL THE SHOTS.” We hooked up with some mid-thirties Irish fans, and quickly became best friends (even though the husband lived in Zahm, gross). I’ll let the photos (mostly) speak for themselves…

How many college football fans does it take to frame and capture a selfie? 

Elizabeth, 35, kept telling me I was "fucking adorable," and in my multiple-shots-downed state, I totally believed her. Sharing this picture as a reminder to Future Lizzie that tequila does NOT, in fact, make you look like a Disney princess. 

THE ZIBBY JERSEY. 

With our new friends Rudy and Elizabeth, who were '02 grads and married in the Basilica in '03. They also had a cousin, somewhere around the periphery of this photo, who David kept calling "Katniss" because of her hair and who really, really wanted to go to a strip club. Because naturally that's how one always gets over Irish losses. 

Andrew, the vintage leather style football helmet really suits you.

Evenly split!

After way too much fun, we headed to Scottsdale for a nightcap at Michael and Ben’s hotel, and capped off the night in our hotel’s hot tub with even more beer and hilarity before the adrenaline of the day completely ran out. At this point, we had gotten about five hours of sleep in 48 hours…and our trip was just beginning! Day 1 Phoenix for the win. 

What are you doing New Year's Eve?

I’m ringing in the New Year on everyone’s favorite deep deep discount airline!

That’s right, I’m really getting in the “Spirit” of things this year…HA! You know you laughed. We’re headed to Phoenix to kick 2016 off in the best way imaginable…with an Irish win in the Fiesta Bowl.

Then again, “we” is David, his girlfriend Kelli, their friend Andrew, and me. So do the math on that one. Three Buckeyes, and one lone Irish fan…maybe I’m the only one who thinks a Notre Dame victory would be the best way to start this year, after all!

The second I saw that Notre Dame played Ohio State in this year’s bowl matchups, I texted David:

After a week of waiting, trying to work out logistics, and gasping in horror every time I checked flights only to see a $100 hike in price since the last time I checked, I got this text:

And then we started booking things, Andrew and I bought tickets too, and I officially committed to ringing in 2016 with Spirit. We land in Phoenix at 1am on January 1, 2016, and from there on out it’s a whirlwind of football, drinking, and soaking up sunshine. I have fond memories of Phoenix from going out there as a little kid to visit my grandparents, and can’t wait to experience it as a grown-up. We’re throwing a road trip to the Grand Canyon in for good measure, and if Columbus this November is any indication, I’m sure to have a ridiculously good time...although I'll be switching out my temporary Buckeye allegiance for my usual die-hard Irish fandom!

While I’m sad to miss the traditional New Year’s rager in the Twin Cities, I know this will be such a memorable, crazy-fun getaway that it’s more than worth it. What a great way to start off what I know will be a great year…

Go Irish, beat Buckeyes! 

Buckeyes and Dotted I's: Columbus!

Our next chapter in epic catch-up on life week: Columbus!

Oh my god, Columbus. Columbus almost killed me, and I would expect nothing less from David, who has pretty much singlehandedly contributed more to my understanding of normal teenage and twenty-something life than anyone else in the world.  The guy was responsible for my first Mountain Dew, Red Bull, Kraft mac’n’cheese, state school party…my god, the list is endless.

The problem with Columbus was that I came to Columbus sick, and stubbornly refused to slow down even one tiny bit. So I arrived sick, and I returned home on the verge of death…like, miss-work-for-four-days, sinus infection/ruptured eardrum ill. It was, without question, worth it.

David’s fantastic girlfriend Kelli picked me up from the airport on Friday afternoon and whisked me off to her adorable house right near campus, where we settled in and caught up for a bit before heading to David’s bar of choice. I’ve been hearing about The Little Bar since he started grad school in the fall of 2011, so it was a complete trip to actually be there. He and his engineering classmates rolled in after their Friday seminars ended, and we slammed a beer before heading off to possibly the most insanely awesome Friday night activity imaginable.

See, Ohio doesn’t have stupid/insane liquor laws like Minnesota does, and that means that Giant Eagle, this insane fancy grocery store in the area, does Friday night wine tastings with snack pairings. You legitimately show up, grab a cup, and rotate through the store drinking (really generous) pours of wine and snacking on whatever they’re trying to sell you that night while listening to live music. We did this, and I probably sounded like the world’s hugest dork being super excited about it. But it was wonderful! Perfect way to meet and get to know a ton of David’s friends.

We headed back to David’s place after we finished up at Giant Eagle, and the night took a rapid turn for drunk. David literally lives in a church…well, the back part of the church where I suppose they held Sunday School once upon a time or something…but the fact remains that I spent my Columbus Friday night playing drinking games in a former sanctuary. See below:

You can see the remnants of the stained glass and the entrance to the church behind blurry Kelli. I was in heaven (HA). Turns out combining penicillin and PBR isn’t smart though, because after a while all I really remember is waiting in the longest line ever for my inaugural Taco Bell fourth meal experience, eating a Crunchwrap Supreme on Kelli’s couch, and passing out. Oops. Columbus: 1. Lizzie: 0.

I woke up feeling absolutely terrible the next day…the combination of a mild hangover and a throat that was literally swollen shut from strep/yelling all night the night before was lethal. I couldn’t even choke down Subway and ended up pretty much not eating all day…there was a random piece of chocolate chip pumpkin bread around 1pm, then a lot of beer and a Funfetti cupcake before the game.

We had the absolute perfect day for tailgating…crisp but not cold, blue skies, the whole nine yards. David took me to grab an OSU shirt so I’d blend in with the rest of his friends, and Kelli gave me a buckeye necklace…it’s the thing to wear on gameday! We ended up outside…

…where Boom, beer pong, and beerlay reigned supreme. Beerlay’s my new favorite…it combines Boom, flip cup, and beer pong in a relay-race style deal that is absolutely insane.

After a lot of beer, a little cornhole, and losing ignominiously in the final round of Beerlay…

…we HEADED TO THE SHOOOOOOOE

David and I decided that weekend that my default mode is “chatter,” which is really saying something when I actually did not have a voice. I still managed to croak/rasp/squawk out “OH MY GOD I’M SO EXCITED THIS IS SO COOL” about five hundred times on the less-than-a-mile walk to the stadium. I took about fifteen badly-lit photos…

…and David made my life by doing O-H-I-O with me. Although I apparently didn’t get the concept right away and so our O-H-I-O looks more like O-H-A-O. Oh well, I caught on fast enough inside.

The seats were flipping fantastic…I don’t think the novelty of being in a student section (instead of on the field with the band or in the nosebleeds like at ND games) will ever wear off for me.

And then I dorked out beyond recovery over Script Ohio.

Seeing the dotting of the I pretty much made my life. Marching band dork forever and absolutely no shame about that. There’s something about college football that is just electrifying on a level that, in my opinion, professional leagues can’t compete with.

(And Ken Dye would have been SO jealous of that giant, end-zone-covering flag. Just saying.)

The whole way through the game, the TV timeout entertainment was themed around celebrating Brutus’s 50th birthday. It was super cute…they pulled out the old Brutus costume (which literally looked like a giant turd), had players and staff wishing him a happy birthday on the Jumbotron, and did an endzone picture thingie…adorable.

AND THE HALFTIME SHOW. It was “Back to the Future” themed and it was everything I dreamed of and more. The fireworks!

The Jumbotron video integration!

The flying Delorean!

I was in heaven.

Randomly, after the halftime show ended, for some reason the fans in the north end zone started turning on their iPhone flashlights. Eventually about half the stadium was in on it…I have no idea what started it or whether it was meant to represent something, but it looked crazy cool.

In a turn of events that shocked absolutely nobody, the Buckeyes defeated the Golden Gophers, 28-14. We headed home to thaw out and ended up grabbing Raising Cane’s before going to bed around 2am.

Sunday was a super low-key day, primarily because I was entering the “barely functional human” phase of illness. David and Kelli took me to the North Market, a cool collection of food vendors all under one roof. The combo of Thai chicken noodle soup and Jeni’s brown butter almond brickle ice cream probably saved my life.

They took me on a lengthy campus tour and pointed out everywhere of note, and then I legitimately crashed out and fell asleep on Kelli’s couch until it was airport time. Two delayed flights and a ruptured eardrum later, I was home and ready to recuperate. What a killer weekend.

Can’t wait to do it again in Phoenix, this time when the Buckeyes take on my beloved Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl! Here’s to returning home from that one with eardrums intact, hmm?

Off to dot that I...Columbus!

I've been gone more than I've been in the Twin Cities lately, and I totally don't hate that when it's as much fun as this weekend is going to be...I'm headed to The Ohio State University for football, alcohol, marching bands, and some time with one of my oldest friends! 

David and I go all the way back to kindergarten...we got married in the sandbox and it's been a fantastic, dysfunctionally delightful friendship ever since then. From high school band, French and yearbook...

...up to present day...

...he's been one of my favorite voices of reason, sources of endless amusement, and sounding boards. We both did marching band in college and paid each other visits in the fall, so making it to OSU is pretty much mandatory to keep our streak alive. David's currently pursuing an engineering PhD there, and I've been talking for years about making it out for a visit. Thanks to some late-scheduled work travel and a Southwest voucher begging to be used, it's finally happening! 

I can't wait to experience a Buckeye weekend, especially after hearing about it from him and various Ohio friends for years now. As an added bonus, they're playing the Gophers, so there's a little hometown pride thrown in the mix as well! The Shoe, the campus, the tailgating (all day, it's a night game, hooray!), and most of all...THAT BAND. 

Here's to a fantastic weekend. May my toes stay warm and my liver not hate me too much by the end of it! 

My favorite post-game ritual

I know it's been a little "all-Irish, all-the-time" around here lately, but after Saturday's decisive 38-3 steamrolling of the Longhorns, I'm feeling a little extra Notre Dame pride. What better way to start off a lazy Labor Day than indulging in my favorite Sunday (okay, Monday) tradition? 

Ever since freshman year, I've done the same thing on Sunday mornings: wake up, obtain caffeine, obtain breakfast, watch the band's halftime show, go to Mass. The finer nuances have changed...freshman through junior year, I'd walk across the quad to the campus Starbucks, conveniently located less than 100 yards from my dorm. Senior year, fresh off a semester in London, my beloved roomie and I would make tea. These days, I'm loving iced coffee, courtesy of the good old Keurig. My Mass venue is different too...I may long for the days of strolling over to the 11:45 am Folk Choir Mass at the Basilica in college, but now I take a stroll across Loring Park (just as pretty) to another basilica (can't complain on that count). 

What hasn't changed? Usually breakfast is sugary cereal...Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Apple Jacks, or Reese's Puffs were the poison of choice in college, and these days I'm on a pretty intense Fruity Pebbles kick. It's a once-a-week treat I'm kind of in love with. And of course, there's these guys... 

Pretty proud to say I was part of that once. It never stops feeling like the nerdiest and coolest thing ever. 

With another post-game (Monday) in the books, time to start looking toward next week...go Irish, beat Cavaliers!