A WEEKEND IN CHICAGO

You know when you have one of those amazing weekends that goes by entirely, entirely too fast? This past weekend was one of those for me. I took a half day on Friday to drive (yes, drive) up to Chicago for a little reunion with some friends from college. I thankfully picked my good friend Sara Michael up in Louisville, which made the drive a million times more bearable!

We got in around 8:00 Friday evening and headed to Lan's Old Town. If you live in Chicago or are visiting with friends, I highly recommend. It's not the greatest Chinese food ever, but karaoke starts at 10, it's BYOB, and the owner Jimmy will inevitably pass out before the night is over. I may or may not have done a {fabulous} rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart. After that, we headed to Pour House, followed by a great dance session at Beaumont's.

On Saturday, we did a little Michigan Ave. shopping (can Nashville PLEASE get a Bloomingdales?!) and then headed to Joe's to meet up with friends for the IU game. Indiana lost (ughhh) but it was so great to be with so many friends. I laughed so hard on Saturday I think my abs might have gotten a better work out than last week at the gym. Sunday unfortunately brought driving all day long, but we did get to make a little stop in Indianapolis to see a good friend for lunch. The drive wasn't easy, but so, so worth it. Weekends like these remind me how lucky I am to have such great, lifelong friends, and how important it is to make time to see them. 

Hoo Hoo HOOSIERS

Today at 9:45 pm ET, my Indiana Hoosiers will take on New Mexico State in the first round of the tourney (I'm sorry, I can't get used to the new "second and third round" terms). It's been long awaited, this return to the tournament, the return to being a contender in the tournament, the return to the way Indiana basketball has always been. Except, unlike the beginning of the season, Indiana is no longer on their "innocent climb" as Jay Bilas so well put it. They're back. And they're a team to beat. If I know anything about Tom Crean and the Hoosiers, they will enter this game tonight focused, prepared, and ready to win to make Indiana, Verdell Jones, and their entire fan base proud. Let's go Hoosiers :)

"Tom Crean, who inherited the worst situation a college basketball coach could ever have found, stood on the edge of the court, near the place where on this night 18 years before Knight said he wished to be buried upside down so his critics could kiss his backside. The new coach smiled, remembering the moment he met each of the players who would stick with him when everything else had fallen apart." - Les Carpenter, Yahoo Sports

"It's Indiana. It's Indiana."