MARCH MADNESS

The month has come where everyone gives their undivided attention to College Basketball. We get to see the game of basketball played like its never been played before. After much thought into my bracket this year here are my predictions:

Some teams that are going to cause some trouble for those top 3 seeds will be: Notre Dame, Louisville, Marquette. Im a little bias towards Louisville since they are my favorite team so feel free to disregard them if you wish. I do believe though that they will give Duke a good game granted they beat California. The big east is a much stronger conference this year than the ACC so I would not be surprised with some upsets from the lower Big East teams against other conferences.

I also think Kansas St is finally going to get their revenge on Kansas in the final 4. 3rd time is a charm and it will for sure be a coaching battle this game.

Another game to watch is going to be West Virginia vs Marquette. They lost to them in the past by only 1 point so it will certainly be an interesting game. I think this could be Marquette's win.

I do not think Syracuse will make it to the final 4. I think they had their run and their run is over. Same thing with Villanova. Villanova dominated the beginning of their schedule, but since then they have been far from solid. They are coming off a rough past few games so I will imagine they will be coming out fired up so I'll give them a few wins, but not enough to make it.

The worst trip ever.

I drove home the other week from Baltimore all of my belongings in tow. I was approximately 90 miles from home when my tire fell off my car. I do not mean that I got a flat tire, I mean my tire literally rolled off my car. It was 11:30pm when all this happened. I sat in the pitch dark on the side of the road waiting for AAA to come tow my car. They finally arrived to tow my car and took me to a hotel where I would stay the night. The hotel was called "America's Best Budget Inn". Anything with those words in it should be a clue to everyone that the hotel cannot be that good! Sure enough my intuition was correct. As I checked into the hotel I received my key and my remote. They don't even leave the remotes in the rooms! 

After I got everything squared away with the tow truck guy and I got some of my belongings to bring to the hotel I was ready to pass out. I knew that my best bet would be to quickly just jump into bed with the lights off so that I wouldn't look at the sheets. I was assuming that by the appearance of the hotel the bed was not going to be in the best shape. After a few minutes passed my foot was itching. I tried to ignore it thinking it was all in my head, but after a few more minutes passed I jumped out of the bed. I turned on the light only to find the most disgusting sheets ever. They were covered with hair and there was a cheeto! I immediately freaked out and spent the remainder of the night on top of the sheets fully clothed. 

When I woke up I called the auto place and I was told they had to order a few parts and they would call me when the car was ready. I decided I needed to check out of the hotel ASAP so I walked across the highway to Dunkin Donuts. I had my book-bag, my purse, a plate of brownies and a tote in tow as I ran across the interstate. I sat in Dunkin Donuts for 4 hours before realizing I should move somewhere more exciting. I ran down the interstate to the outlet shops where I walked around for another 3 hours. At this point everyone hated me because I kept bumping into them at the stores. The people who worked in the stores were incredibly rude to me because they assumed I was some homeless girl carrying around my house. 

At this point it was around 4pm and I had just about had it. I was ready to go home and go to sleep. I finally got a call saying the car was ready and I was finally able to make the journey home. Needless to say I got rid of that car when I got home. I was so traumatized from the experience that I never wanted to step into it again. If you learn anything from reading this post please always check your tires and make sure they aren't loose because you do not want to be in the situation I was in. 

The Dirty...Jerz?

So a few weekends ago I travelled to New Jersey for my friends graduation party. I am a complete anti-New Jersey person, but she's a good friend of mine so I figured I would go. Well the traffic stunk.. literally. New Jersey just has a stench to it that I cannot get over. Once I got there I was met by a ton of her family members. It turned out to be a really fun party. Some of her family was singing, swimming in their regular clothes, you name it they were willing to do it. It was really cool to meet some of her family. Her family is one of those families you don't come by often. They are very generous people always offering for people to come over. There were so many people there that I had never seen before and whenever I asked my friend who they were she nonchalantly said, "oh thats a family friend!" 

I mean honestly..how many family friends can you have?!?! But thats really how her family is. Always so nice to everyone and did I mention her mom is a GREAT baker? I am in love with her moms food and I hope that I become a "family friend" so that I can eat her food for years to come! I also got the pleasure of hanging out with a few of her friends. They were very welcoming to me since I really didn't know anyone and they really aided to the successful NJ trip.

As I departed New Jersey I was able to reflect on her family. I come from a small family so its just amazing to me to see how big some family's are. I really thought it was awesome how inviting her family is to everyone. You could literally probably walk down the road and they would invite you in for dinner. Her family is like one of those families were you could be running about to pass out on an extremely hot day and they come chasing you down inviting you in for water. Or better yet, they are totally that family that gave out FULL candy bars on Halloween. You know those types of families-they're absolutely great! 

Now I know I started out bashing New Jersey, but where my friend lived was really nice. Her house was really cute and she was right near the water which was awesome. So maybe ALL of New Jersey isn't so horrible after all. So overall, my Jersey experience didn't involve any table flipping as seen on Real Housewives, but it was still a lot of fun. Ill have to let you know how my experience goes next time I visit because there will definitely be a next time! 

"Everythings Better on the Island"

Ok so the title might be a little confusing. I am not from Long Island NY, but I am sure that you all know someone..no a handful of people from Long Island that go to Loyola. In fact I bet you could name about 10 people right on the spot. Loyola is made up of massive amounts of Long Islanders and New Jersey goers. Now if you are anything like me you have asked yourself a million times, what could possibly be so great about Long Island. Long Islanders literally consider themselves their own state. Now I am from New York, but because I am not from the "Island" I am automatically consider an outcast among them. People who are from Long Island are constantly talking about the food, the friends, the beach, the family, you name it..its better in Long Island(according to them). Its always, Long Island this, Long Island that. So this weekend I couldn't wait to get my first taste of Long Island and here is what I have to say..

As my friends and I pulled into the "state" of Long Island we were not that impressed. We were actually looking for every flaw we could find because we did not want to be proved wrong. As we got closer to my friends house we were getting more and more impressed. Now here is where all my years of protesting Long Island comes to an end. Ok so the pizza was good, the bagels were good, the Italian families were extremely close so alright Long Islanders I guess you win..your area is pretty cool. I had an absolute blast at my friends house and I wish I had a few more days there. She threw an awesome party and it was really cool to see how large her family was and how close they were. Now if all the families in Long Island are like my friends then man I have been missing out. Her family went above and beyond for her party. Everything you could possibly think of they had. The hospitality was great and alright alright I'll admit it..not everyone on the island is a Guido (although a lot of them are). It was a great time and it has surely made me re think my position about hating Long Island..as for New Jersey, however, that place has yet to win me over. 

Who says traffic sucks?

The past few weeks have been interesting being back at Loyola. The first weekend I was here I went to my friends house for her 21st birthday. She had a pig roast which was pretty disgusting looking, but tasted really good. On the way home my friends and I got stuck in some traffic and got bored so we started messing around with some of the other cars. You know the usual, talk in random accents asking other cars if they knew what was going on. I mean doesn't everyone do that in traffic? Now before you think my friends and I are weird continue reading. So as we are stuck in traffic we see a really nice car next to us. We immediately start talking to him because well like I said before..we were bored. Now I bet you cannot guess the ending to this interaction so I will just go out and tell you it. The man was not just any man. He was Johnny Depp..no no I'm kidding, but he was a lawyer. I actually met a lawyer who owns his own law firm and before I knew it I had a job. Thats right..I got a job..in traffic.  Now unfortunately this is an unpaid job, but it still is giving me some awesome experience.

I had my first day the other day and I was doing a lot of paperwork, copying, etc. It wasn't exactly the most fun, but hey experience is experience right? Well on the bright side I get free lunch out of it. I mean everyone has got to start somewhere so I guess I cannot complain too much. I mean after all we did meet while being stuck in traffic. So if you take anything from this post know that you should make the best out of every situation..thats right even being stuck in traffic because you just never know who you are going to meet. So as much as you may hate your mother nagging you for looking like a mess while you're JUST going out to run a few errands just keep in the back of your mind this situation. You just never know when you will meet someone and well..get hired..so always look your best..you know-just incase.

Back at Loyola

Today I returned to Loyola College. I made the 6 hour trek from upstate NY. On my journey to Loyola I pulled over to get gas at the NJ Turnpike where I had asked the man working the gas station to check my oil. After I got the okay from him I went to drive away but my car stalled. I was stuck at a Jersey Turnpike rest stop. I was able to get my car going and traveled to the next exit to a Midas where I was told my car was okay to go onwards to Maryland. After the stressful drive I had the pleasure of unloading my car into my new dorm as well as transferring all of my things from my old dorm room. It was absolutely miserable. It was scorching hot and of course no one offered a hand. I do not understand what is so hard about offering to help someone move their stuff. At least hold the door for someone who has their belongings piled up to their neck. It took me four hours to move all my belongings into my new dorm. What I wondered as I made 20 trips back and forth was why Loyola wouldn't allow students to remain in their old dorm. It would make the process a lot easier for students thats for sure. As I am here at Loyola I cannot wait for the weekend already. I look forward to seeing what the next few weekends have in store as I will be sure to report any new exciting adventures.