MADNESS!!!!

You guessed it.....its MARCH MADNESS TIME!!! Last weekend began the beginning of conference tournaments to set the first round of automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament!! I mean, who doesn't love this time of year?? I will tell you who does....THIS GIRL!!! There are many reasons why I like the month of March, obvisouly, March Madness is one huge reason, the weather begins to warm up and baseball season is just around the corner...but that is for another post!

I have been a college basketball fan for as long as I can remember. I am sure it stems from just being a huge sports fan in general. In middle school, I began to obsess over Michael Jordan, so clearly for that reason alone I was a UNC fan. As I got older, I began to pay a little bit more attention and fell off that bandwagon. I will be the first to admit, I was not a UNC fan for any other reason than it was where Michael Jordan played, not a true fan at all. When my sister went to University of Illinois, I figured I would just follow them. Made sense, my mom went there, my sister went there and turns out, so did my brother and other sister. Now, when I went off to college, I clearly had to support my school...The Murray State RACERS! Not sure if any of you have been following them this year, but they are the real deal! Sadly, Illinois is not. Bruce Weber was actually just fired this morning. Sad day.

What I look forward to most about March Madness is getting together with my friends, drinking excessive amounts of beer and watching basketball for 4 days straight. I mean, to the tune of I would schedule "meetings" from 12-4 on the first Thursday of March Madness and go to a local Casino Bar with one of my Best Friends Ever, Sarah Buss!! Last year, I drove straight to that same bar from Chicago after a bachlorette party and joined in the festivities! By the end of this weekend, the field will be set. Right now there are some teams that have punched their tickets but there are so many spots up in the air! It is so exciting! Who is going to get an automatic bid, who will the surprise team be this year, will there be a cinderella team that busts brackets all over the country?!?! As of right now, no one knows. But, by this time next week, the tournament will be in full swing and productivity will be at its lowest point! I have no idea who I think will win and quite frankly, I don't care all that much! I am looking forward to a weekend full of good hoops, green beer and great friends!

Last year we had our March Madness get together on the same day I had a bridal shower. I was a little late to the basketball gathering and I was a little bit over dressed, but I caught up quick! I am pretty sure the last warriors standing went to bed after about 12 rounds of apples to apples at 3 AM. That meant there was not much time to sleep and get back to the bar for tip off of the games on Sunday. I clearly didn't think ahead because all I thought to bring with me was a pair of flip flops so I didn't have to wear my heels all day. Needless to say, I did the ultimate walk of shame, I slept on the floor in my friend's basement, in my dress and made my appearance at the bar the NEXT MORNING in the same dress...at least I had my flip flops right?? One of my finer moments that make my parents hold their head high with pride! HA!!!

I will close this post with one final thought.......GOOOOOOOO RRRRAAAACCCCCERRRSSS!!!!

Until Next Time,

Eat, Drink, and Be Mary