SC v. Stanford

One of the hardest things about fall semester ending is knowing that this is my last time sitting standing in the student section at football games. With a crazy past season involving some major disappointments and the midseason firing Kiffin at LAX, these past few football games have been exciting as Coach O and our team made a comeback. Despite our few past successes,  I was still nervous our homecoming game against Stanford. As a senior, I have never seen USC beat Stanford--and if we lost, our class would only be the third class in the history of USC to have never seen at least one win against Stanford.

My goal going into game day was to get the best seats possible since this game was going to be special for a few reasons. One, Scott was here! I had bought him a student guest ticket early in the summer, and we had no idea how lucky we were about to be for choosing this game. After coming to a home game last year and getting some pretty terrible seats, Scott and I wanted to be as close as possible to the field. Two, this felt a little bit like my last real game. The only other home game would be against UCLA over Thanksgiving so many students would be home and frats won't necessarily be tailgating. I've never really put much effort into getting great seats, so this last game with a sold out Coliseum was my last chance. Scott and I left an hour and a half early to grab seats and were very happy to snag the sixth row in the student section. I was very excited for the game to start and to watch it from our seats.

After defending our seats from the crowd, the game was finally about to start and our friends all made it. The energy in the Coliseum was already crazy within the first quarter as USC went from being ahead and tied a few times as everyone realized how crazy this game was going to be. From our new Coach O chant (my favorite) to the "All We Do is Win" dance, this game was spent on our feet and screaming the entire time. It's rare that I get this invested in a game, but this was hands down the best football game in my life and I felt every emotion from excitement, anxiety, proud (Marquise won my heart when he went back in to get the last yard after being injured), and overall just amazed that Scott was here next to me for such a great game.

We won in the last 19 seconds by 3 points and the entire stadium freaked out. We quickly saw that all the students were going to rush the field, and being so close it wasn't really an option to opt out--and we didn't want to. After a jump off of the concrete wall (which I did more gracefully than I expected), I ran hand in hand with my friend Andrea to the middle of the field and joined in the USC and we are SC chants while not so cutely crying with happiness.

If this isn't a picture of me looking insanely happy, I don't know what is

I also quickly realized I had lost Scott in the process of jumping walls, but he ended up having an even more ridiculous adventure of his own. Luckily we managed to meet up by our seats, and headed back to campus to celebrate--aka pass around a handle of Fireball between a group of 12 people before Scott had to drive back (he opted out of the drinks).

The game was the perfect way to (almost) end my senior year football season. It was the type of game that only seems to happen in movies. Add our amazing seats and Scott being there,and it was honestly the best game of my entire life.

I know I still have to post my San Francisco blog post and one about hiking in Redlands, but this needed to be remembered too ;)

...Stays in Vegas

Saturday morning, we had planned to head to a sandwich place that multiple friends had recommended. Sadly, after walking across the room to grab water, I quickly realized walking the whole strip to get food wasn't in my future. Maddie and I spent the next few hours sleeping and watching Netflix on my Kindle, while the rest journeyed out to pick up lunch. They came back a few hours later with our caprese paninins (which could not have tasted more like heaven) and soon we were all fully recuperated. A quick change into our bikinis and coverups, and we set off for the strip with plans to go to Cosmopolitan's day club Marquee.

But after being told there was a $20 cover charge to get in, we quickly turned around and headed straight back to our hotel. Actually, straight back may not be the best phrase since we decided to cab it without specifying to take the strip back. The cab took us on a freeway and made no attempt to hide the fact that he was scamming us. As soon as we were close and recognized where we were, we demanded to get out and walk the rest. Finally, we made it to the Tao day club which was way crazier than we had pictured. There was a college travel company that had organized a trip for a university in Kansas, so we were already a little off put when we walked in. After grabbing a very expensive drink and hanging out by and in the pool for a little bit, we decided that 40 minutes was our limit. Vegas definitely has a potential to be creepy, but this was the only time I actually felt uncomfortable. There were men in their 40s in their bathing suits underwear just looking around, and I actually thought the night clubs we went to were much more fun. I also have a feeling that if everyone didn't already know each other and we had a few more drinks before, our opinion on the club would be very different.

We spent the rest of our time hanging out in the jacuzzi away from all the craziness until we decided it was time to grab food and head back to our room. I won the award for weirdest snack food again and ordered a salmon sandwich with fries as an early dinner/snack. A few Netflix shows and several shower rotations later, we got ready to go out again. Another celebratory shot of Patron, and we started to head out to dinner. Red 8 was an Asian restaurant at the Wynn hotel and was pretty reasonably priced. I ordered a mojito and lettuce wraps which were very average, but made me happy that I ordered food a few hours before.

During their search for food on the Vegas strip earlier, Andrea, Madison, and Joanna had talked to a club promoter and got on the VIP list for Excess. Afrojack was playing a set, and we were extremely grateful to be able to just walk in once we saw the huge line that was already growing at 11:00 pm. We grabbed our free drink and walked around admiring the outdoor table areas and the club. While Tao was definitely more flashy and Vegas, Saturday night ended up being extremely fun.

From watching Mario Lopez come in and celebrate his birthday, being front row for Afrojack, being invited up to the VIP area (before being asked to leave 20 min later--I guess not talking to people and just taking drinks wasn't the best idea), to meeting and hanging out with fun new friends, the night didn't end until 4 in the morning when we got in line for the cabs. At 5 am we were finally posted up in our hotel room eating a delicious slice of Pizza de Enzo cheese pizza (which I can't believe I had passed over for tomatoes the night before) before quickly falling asleep.

Luckily the four hours of sleep I got didn't leave me with a huge hangover, and we packed up our things while taking precautionary sips of powerade and pedialite (gross, but the most helpful thing we could have packed). On our sad walk to the car, we grabbed food from the Venetian food court--a breakfast burrito that I knew I would not have enjoyed under any other circumstance.

With that last goodbye, we started our road trip back home. As we passed the Bellagio fountains, I finally saw them going off from the car and decided that it counted for my "sight seeing."

The rest of the car ride was spent pitying those who were more hungover than me, drinking an insane amount of Diet Dr. Pepper, and laughing about all the ridiculous things that happened this weekend. While I didn't see any of the sights or even leave the hotel that often, I had the exact Vegas experience that I wanted. I'm so happy that living in LA (and the fact that I actually staid under my small $300 budget including hotel rooms) means that I will be back very soon.

What happens in Vegas...

Vegas is known for endless buffets, high stake gambling, extravagant shows, the Bellagio fountains, The Hangover, and crazy clubs. My Vegas trip, however, didn't involve much besides the clubs, drinks, and hangovers. Which means it was a perfect and hilarious vacation from school/work and the best way to celebrate us all finally being a legal age. 5 of us had planned a trip to Vegas the weekend of the final 21st birthday and we defintiely had a celebratory mindset going into the weekend.

We left on Friday around 3 after everyone got off from work, packed our bags (including an entire bag filled with drinks ranging from a birthday present bottle of Patron to hangover cures like Powerade), and started the road trip playlist. The drive is a short 5 hours, but we quickly changed our mind about waiting to get dinner in Vegas once we reached Barstow. After being stuck in the middle seat and with our phones dying, everyone was starting to get hungry and cramped. A quick stop at I' n' Out and one double double protien style burger later, and our group I was much peppier and we were back on the road.

As we pulled into Vegas, I attempted to take pictures of the strip from the car and got extremely excited for the weekend. We parked in the Venetian parking lot, and checked into our room. I have only been used to the Vagabond hotel by USC and budget hotels around Europe, so I was extremely impressed with the room. It was huge and perfect for five girls since it had two queen beds, large sofa bed and a huge bathroom to do make up in. Since I couldn't balance how badly I wanted photos and how embarrassed I was to be taking them, the photos aren't great.

It was already around 8pm and we were there to celebrate,  so we brought out our suitcase of beverages and set up our own little bar on the desk complete with a small bottle of patron (I don't normally touch tequila but I made a two shot exception this week). After a few drinks in our hotel room--we are college students on a budget after all--we headed down to the Venetian casino to try our luck at gambling. I intended to donate $20 to The Price is Right slot machines, but after my friend Andrea won $40 from a $1 bet and I had lost $7, I put an end to my high rolling ways. We walked around briefly before being approached by a club promoter and getting VIP tickets the hotel's club Tao and tickets for their day club.

After using our complimentary drink cards from check in, we headed in to Tao relatively early at 11 with no line or fee. Ends up being a group of 21 year old girls has it perks, and we made our way to the VIP area and were invited to drinks that included a massive bottle of Grey Goose--aka the best way to feel like you're living the luxurious life. From our spot we could see the whole club and it was crazy. From the girls in bikinis in glass boxes to the dancers in the bathtub with shell pasties literally three feet away from us, Tao definitely gave off the Vegas night club feel.

The night ended on the earlier side around 2:30 with some late night food of pizza tomatoes because apparently I am an extremely strange person. Don't worry, I fixed this issue and went for the pizza slice the next night/morning.

Going into Vegas I was excited, but didn't have any real expectations of what we would be doing, how the clubs would be, or even what the hotel would look like. The result: by the first night I was blown away by the extravagance of the clubs, how I wasn't spending a million dollars, and just how much fun we had from getting ready (stressful dress shopping the week before paid off) to dancing in the clubs. My worry that the next night wouldn't live up wasn't necessary either--we would be up to 5 am, seeing celebrities, and partying to Afrojack soon. 

A Night In Downtown LA

From working full time this summer to starting my senior year at school, I've been pretty busy. Although I've done many blog worthy things in the past few months (hello, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake concert), my night out in downtown LA was the weekend that finally prompted me to get my camera out again.

My roommate Madison had her friend Ashley from study abroad--both visited me in Prague this March--fly into LA, so we wanted to take her out. After a full day of work on Friday, we spent our time getting ready, picking out outfits, and having a drink before leaving. I was mostly excited because I finally got to wear my new Asos leotard I had been looking for an excuse to bust out, and borrowed Ashley's leather skirt to go with it. An all black outfit made me feel cooler than I actually am--which is always a sign of a good outfit.

We has reservations for dinner at a trendy restaurant downtown called Baco Mercat. It was our first time going, and we'd all heard the food was amazing. Our priorities were in the right place since we focused on picking and drinking a cocktail (Pimm's 408) before looking at the menu.

The waitress suggested to order the meal tapas style, and we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the dishes. We split everything between 5 people and the dishes were still big enough to go around (which cannot be said about the similar style restaurant by campus). Every single dish tasted amazing. Even food I don't usually enjoy like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower were incredible. It takes a lot for me to say I truly crave Brussels sprouts, but the "ceasar" brussels sprouts salad was one of the highlights of the meal. Along with the Brussels sprouts was a caramelized cauliflower dish, and we ordered two flatbreads to share. The first and table favorite was the bacon and egg flatbread with tomato, farmer's cheese, and pecorino. The dippy egg in the middle may have caused some fork wars as we all tried to attack it, but it was super delicious. The second flatbread was the carne picada with spiced beef,  yam, pine nut, and feta--also delicious but nothing could compare to the first. "Dessert"was a sugar snap and pear salad. It was warm and had cinnamon, goat cheese, and pomegranates seeds--I ended up pouring the remaining sauce into my spoon before we left.

Like most trendy LA restaurants, the lighting was terrible and my photography skills are rusty. So while my pictures are terrible, it was still a great meal and worth blogging about since this is essentially my journal that only I, Scott, and sometimes my Mom read.

Since our guest of honor is an English major, we grabbed a taxi and went a few blocks to the Library Bar. It's a small bar with large bookshelves and cocktails inspired and named after literary pieces. Although I ordered (a painfully strong) vodka soda, Madison's drink tasted delicious. After we fought our way onto a couch, we sat and hung out to waste some time before it was late enough to head to our next stop. We also managed to grab a few photos by the book case before heading out.

Less than a block away was The Standard- a swanky roof top bar that is surrounded by the downtown LA skyline. We waited in line and mingled until we got to the door. I think there is a $20 cover charge, but as a group of 5 college girls, we weren't asked to pay it (wee, perks!). Once inside the building you head up the elevator to the roof where the bar is set up. The whole place is incredible--lights and skyscrapers surround the building, the pool is lit up, and waterbed couches surround the upper deck of the roof. It was the perfect place to spend my first night out in downtown LA and to take an out of town visitor.

The best part about the swanky night is that it continued into our way back. Instead of taking a taxi, we ordered an Uber car to take us back to the house. The first time you sign up is a free ride for students and a chauffeured black SUV comes picks you up and takes you back home. It was such a fun night and definitely was the highlight of my week--although working 20 hours and taking classes Monday-Thursday didn't give it much competition. I'm already excited to visit a few other bars and restaurants downtown soon!