Yee-Haw! September 21, 2011

I can’t believe I completely forgot to blog about our rodeo outing a couple weeks ago! Yes, people; I went to a rodeo. My first ever! Okay, well, it wasn’t a full-on rodeo. There was no roping or barrel racing or anything like that. This one was just Championship Bull Riding (you have to capitalize it, it’s that cool) at the Bergeron Rodeo Grounds in Davie, FL.

 

Fanless, Eric and I met up with our friends, the Dean and the Chin families, and took some goofy pictures before the event.

 

It probably would have been way more exciting if we weren’t sitting so far from the chute the bulls come out of. It’s that red gated area aaaaallll the way over to the right side of the photo. Who knew going to the rodeo is like checking in for a flight? Apparently you need to get there a couple of hours early because the place was super-packed. On the plus side, because we were so far away we couldn’t smell any bull poop, so that was good.

 

 

This was the part with the singing of the National Anthem.

 

I don’t remember what this guy’s purpose was. I think he was supposed to rope the runaway bulls?

 

Like this guy. (That was a super zoomed in picture, hence the graininess. But check out the size of that bull!)

 

A really terrible picture of a very hot and sweaty trio (Eric, me and Fanless). Seriously, they need to invest in some giant ceiling fans in that place. Oh, and do not adjust the color balance on your monitor; I really AM that white.

 

Poor Charlie. After an hour she was rodeo’ed out, sweet little thing.

 

After the rodeo, Fanless and I took Eric to Joe’s Crab Shack. He’d never been and it’s one of our favorite places. Here he is getting ready to wash down his steampot with a gigantic mug of Blue Moon.

 

Eric’s very first steampot ever! He did not leave a single morsel behind.

 

And this was Fanless’. He got his usual, the Ragin’ Cajun.

 

I got the crab nachos. They were huge! I think I ate about 1/8 of that.

 

And that was our night! We had a great time and we’re actually planning to go back in November for the “real” rodeo.

 

That’s all for now. Peace out, yo!

Wherein I Become a redneck February 14, 2011

Sharing some blurry pictures and a quick video from this past Saturday’s Monster Jam monster truck rally (the tickets were my Valentine’s gift to Fanless).

 

 

 

 

 

 

My battery died right after filming this.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Peace out, yo!

Thanksgiving Weekend November 29, 2010

We had a busy Thanksgiving weekend, starting with:

 

1) A hockey game on Wednesday. We went to the Panthers v. Bruins game with our friend, Eric, who is a huge Bruins fan. We got a great deal, paying $50 for seats that are regularly $90. And that included access to the Coach’s Club, which had an all-you-can-eat buffet and open bar!

 

My handsome dates, Fanless and Eric (blue cap).

This time I managed to get a picture when the Panthers scored a goal. (They lost 1-3.)

The Coach’s Club has access to a rooftop terrace, which makes for a nice night time photo.

 

2) On Thursday, we had a yummy Thanksgiving lunch at my sister’s house, with way too many carb-y side dishes.

 

My sister and my niece.

Turkey, honey-baked ham, and a whole lotta carbs!

 

3) Later that night, Fanless and I met up with Eric for our Thanksgiving tradition of having dinner at the 11th Street Diner on South Beach.

Took this pic with Fanless’ iPhone using the Instagram app. That is totally my new favorite app!

 

4) On Black Friday, we hit up Target and Best Buy, but decided to wait until later in the evening to avoid all the mass hysteria in the morning. That was pretty smart of us, if I do says so. Fanless managed to get all the following items for $200, and we never dealt with crazy crowds or ridiculously long lines.

(He ended up getting two more of the WD 2TB HDs at Target on Saturday morning. So four 2TB HDs for $70 each. Sweet!)

 

After leaving Target on Saturday, we picked up some Subway sandwiches for lunch, then headed home and chilled out the rest of the weekend.

 

I have the day off today (trying to use up all my vacation days before the end of the year), so I ran a couple of quick errands in the morning, then treated myself to some Starbucks coffee. I think I might try to squeeze in some scrapbooking now.

 

Hope everyone had a safe and happy weekend! Peace out, yo!

Miami Dolphins PS Game #3 August 28, 2010

Fanless and I scored free tickets (yay!) to the Miami Dolphins vs. Atlanta Falcons game last night. We went to the game with Fanless’ coworker and his son, and picked up our tickets at the Will Call. Although our seats were pretty good (section 129, right at the endzone), our “neighbors” totally sucked ass.

 

Unfortunately, we were seated smack dab in the center of the most obnoxious children ever. Directly to my left were about 30 of the most ill-behaved adolescent boys (if I had to guess, I would say they were probably between 10-14 years old) I have ever seen in my life. Apparently they were some kind of sports team or something, and I guess this was like a field trip for them. However, it seemed to me as if they were completely unsupervised by any adults, as they were yelling loudly and throwing ice and popcorn at the other fans in our section, and no one bothered to reprimand them. (Seriously, they could have served as a PSA for proponents of pro-spanking!)  The kid right next to me really needed some Ritalin or Adderall or something, as he could not sit still and ended up smacking me in the head and arms at least three times, with all his jumping around. Then directly behind me was a chubby, 7-year-old that was screaming obscenities in my ear (and let me tell you, this kid’s voice makes Justin Bieber sound like a baritone) the entire time. My ears were ringing as if I’d just spent the night sitting behind the speaker at a Judas Priest concert. Oh yeah, and his dad was with him, but was just as annoying. Fanless was seated to my right and next to him was a mother and her teenaged daughter, both of whom were so trashy they make Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears seem like the Princesses of York. So THAT girl kept jumping up and getting into screaming matches with the ADULT male seated a couple of rows behind us, who also appeared to be the only Falcons fan in the immediate area.

 

It was the most miserable sporting event experience of my life. If you ask me what happened in the game I could not give you one single detail, as I was completely unable to pay attention with my blood pressure rising and the latino rage building up inside me. I was ready to leave after the first 5 minutes, and if I’d had my own car with me, I would have. The entire time I kept imagining my dad, with the black leather belt I used to get spanked with, just swooping in there like the Tasmanian Devil and laying down “la ley.” Trust me, every single one of these kids needed to be sent to Cuban Parents’ Boot Camp for a couple of weeks, as there is no disciplinary training in the world tougher than a Latino parents’!

 

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took in order to distract myself from my surroundings.

 

Oh yeah, and the Dolphins lost.

 

Peace out, yo!

Date Night with the Heat February 24, 2010

Just over a month ago, Fanless found a really sweet deal on tickets ($150 seats for $35 each) for last night’s Miami Heat v. Minnesota Timberwolves game. He purchased the tickets and we made a really fun date night out of it.

 

We got there pretty early, so we managed to get a parking spot in the garage at Bayside, and avoid any crowds or long lines going in to the American Airlines Arena. After making a quick restroom stop and grabbing some food and drinks at one of the concession stands, we made our way to our seats, which were just slightly off the center line, right behind the “sports dudes.” (Awesome!)

We also got to watch both teams go through their warm-ups.

After an amazing rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” by local gospel diva, Maryel Epps, and a Welcome Home tribute to two members of the Air Force, it was time to kick off the game. Or should I say tip off? Eh, whatever.

 

While the defense played really well, the Heats’ offensive strategy was really off last night. The Heat missed so many shots that the Timberwolves managed to score almost all of their points off rebounds from those missed shots.

Although Dwyane Wade wasn’t playing due to injury, he was present at the game. (Sorry for the lousy picture; it was taken with super-zoom.)

There was a halftime performance from the Coral Park High Cheerleaders, which was fun to watch. I was really hoping one of those little girls wouldn’t fall and crack her head open on the court.

And this appeared on the big screen just before the second half. So cute! I hope Gigi said yes!

During the second half, the Heat really put their game face on and closed the point gap. They kept the scores really close until – literally – the very last second. But, alas, the T-wolves got that last basket in right at the very last millisecond and managed to beat the Heat 91-88.

 

No matter; it was still a really fun game to watch and – with the exception of the drama caused by the wannabe “Jersey Shore” cast that tried to steal the row of seats in front of us, not knowing that almost all were already taken, and their owners were merely on a potty break – it was a great time!

 

And, of course, the only way to top off the evening was with a visit to Hooter’s. We ordered twenty wings (for the price of 10 with our Heat ticket), buffalo shrimp and a pound of crab legs. Needless to say, it was way too much food for just the two of us and about 14 of the wings and all the shrimp ended up going home in a styrofoam box.

It was really an awesome night. We hadn’t had a Date Night in a really long time, so it was nice to just do something fun and out of our routine. Yay for Date Night!

 

Peace out, yo!