soccer – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

Two Games In One

Posted on July 4, 2014 by LFFL

Today was a beautifully sunny day and the weather was perfection. So I decided to go out gallivanting to watch a game or two and have myself a nice lunch late this morning.

Low and behold, I found the perfect spot at this sports bar right directly at the bar itself (rather than a table)—front and center of two televisions just for me. A soccer game on one and a little bit of a Wimbledon tennis match on the other.

Could life get any better for me at this moment other than having the food I ordered in front of my face? Ahhh, the loveliness of life.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, I’d highly suggest you take some time out for yourself to get out of the house on a glorious day and enjoy watching a sport or two or three all at once with a few tellies surrounding you—and your own personal bartender to top it off.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Nothing like having a nice and somewhat quiet bar practically sans people all to yourself while you enjoy a few matches and food.

A World Cup Watch Party

Posted on June 29, 2014 by LFFL

Bread Pudding topped with caramel sauce; served with vanilla ice cream.

Another World Cup gathering and, naturally, I couldn’t resist having some good food. I started with a chicken quesadilla which was crunchy amazing. I just love a crispy tortilla. Then I had to move on to dessert—bread pudding.

This bread pudding was so huge in comparison to the bread pudding I normally get from my hometown diner. It was wonderfully delicious and helped with my nerves while watching a close game.

USA vs. Germany game outdoors.

Marinated & grilled chicken, onions, pico de gallo, and pepper jack cheese in a crispy tortilla; served with salsa & sour cream.

USA vs. Germany game indoors.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, enjoy a good game with good food along with other rambunctious people.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Loads of good food can always help when your nerves are shot.

The World Cup Excitement!

Posted on June 27, 2014 by LFFL

Ready for the game & some good food!

The GOAL dance!! Yeah, baby! Score USA!

I just love, love, love when the World Cup rolls around every four years! I actually wish we could enjoy it every year—I mean, four years is a long time to wait for the World Cup to roll around each time. Geez!

But when it does—I’m all over it! There’s so much excitement and adrenaline going all around. I love it! And to think it goes on for an entire month! I turn into a crazy person hooping and hollering all over the place jumping up and down—some of you would never claim me as your own.

These are times you have to plan your days off work so you can watch the games “live”—because, God forbid, you hear about what happened before you’ve had a chance to watch the game you taped before you get home. That’s the worst part, trying to avoid the media and people around you talking about it when you haven’t even seen it yet! So to avoid that problem—it’s much better to watch the games “live”—and it’s more fun that way anyway.

Vacation Martini made with Malibu Red, Hirman Walker Peach Schnapps, pineapple juice, and strawberry puree.

Potato skins topped with bacon, cheese, and scallions; served with sour cream.

Beef sliders with onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and cheese.

Chicken sliders with lettuce, tomato, red onions, cheddar cheese, bacon, and pickles; served with chipotle ranch.

Chicken Quesadilla made with chipotle tortilla with three cheeses, pico de gallo, and grilled chicken; served with chipotle ranch & fresh salsa.

Seasoned hand-breaded chicken tenders; served with macaroni & cheese, and onion rings served with ranch & honey mustard sauces.

Monte Cristo Sandwich made with sliced turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese on yellow bread dipped in egg batter; served with raspberry aioli sauce.

Vanilla ice cream ball rolled in cinnamon & crunchy topping, topped with honey & whipped cream.

Full slab of baby back ribs topped with barbecue sauce; served with loaded mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese.

I always hope the USA and England are two of the top 32 countries that make it to the World Cup to begin with—and, if so, I’ll start by following them. If and when the teams I follow drop off, I’ll start “picking” other teams to follow that I’d like to see win.

Sometimes it’s hard choosing because though I like to see the top playing “well-known” teams win, I also sometimes root for the underdog because those teams hardly ever win anything and aren’t as “popular.” I start feeling bad for them sometimes. It’d be amazing to see a small, lesser-known country beat a popular top-playing country that always seems to win. But I’m always USA and England first and foremost.

So far, I’ve been going to local sports bars to watch the games so I can enjoy some fabulous eating as well. As you can see, there was no shortage of food around me—and you know how I love being surrounded by food!

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. It was a vision of loveliness.

USA vs. Portugal game.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, pick a team you’d like to see win and follow them throughout the World Cup. If they drop off the map, pick your next favorite team and follow them. Keep doing this till the very end. You may be overly surprised by how much you actually enjoy the World Cup even if you’ve never been a big fan.

Take-Away Life Lesson: When you act like a crazy person over the games, your friends, family, and co-workers may not claim you as their own—especially if they don’t “get” what all the fuss is about. But WHO CARES?!! You’re enjoying life, BABY!

How I Love A Good Game

Posted on January 11, 2014 by LFFL

I just love watching Manchester United play soccer/football. The games rarely show on a local television station here so I was pleasantly surprised that it was on one today. I usually have to watch them on a sports channel on cable.

I can be a bit of a nut during gaming season with all the hooping and hollering at the telly, but I enjoy myself SO much! And that’s the point of it really—to have a grand old time enjoying my life, isn’t it?

But, oh, how I love to see them win a game. It’s even more enjoyable then. They won the league last year and in so many prior years. So even though they’re in 7th place in the league so far this season, I have faith in my boys that they’ll hike right back up to the number one spot before the season is over.

Oh, this gets me so excited for the World Cup games this summer!! I’ll be rooting for both England and the USA. They both were lucky enough to get a spot in the World Cup and it pleases me so.

I can already foresee taking off work so I can watch the games “live” in real time—or at least so I can watch England and the USA in real time. It’s more fun that way.

Plus, it drives me absolutely mad to accidentally overhear people talking about the game and who won when I haven’t even seen the game yet!!!!! I don’t even want to accidentally see or hear media coverage of who won or what happened BEFORE I’ve had a chance to watch the game first.

I’d have to cover my ears all day or stay in isolation until I can get home to watch my recordings of the games. I tell you—it’s like walking around on pins, needles, and eggshells all day.

It’s enough to drive me insane before I can get home to watch my recording of the game. So in order to avoid myself going completely coconuts, I’d just rather watch the games live in real time. And with the big time difference there is, I’m sure I’ll be up bloody early in the mornings on some occasions.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, watch your favorite teams play their games throughout the year. Whether at home on the television or live at the stadium and in person is neither here nor there.

Take-Away Life Lesson: It’s perfectly normal to go a little coconuts while watching your favorite teams play during the gaming season. Aw yeah.

When Manchester United Came To Town

Posted on March 12, 2013 by LFFL

Talk about a happy day! I was so excited when I found out Manchester United was coming to my hometown. I finally didn’t have to travel out-of-town to go see them. Yes! I made sure everything was in order immediately:

Tickets bought on the first-day sale—check
Great seats—check
Sexy Man United shirt personally made for me—check
Track players’ flight itinerary—check
Stalk out their hotel—check

No, no—not that last one really. I’m not that crazy I don’t think. I just love them in my own sweet way! Ahhh. I root for them all the way.

And how cool is it that I was sitting directly behind their bench at the game? Yay! I mean, these are my boys after all.

But the only thing I don’t like about watching them play when they come to the States during their hiatus from their regular season is the fact that not all the First Team players are playing. What is that about?

I mean, I want to see the actual players I see on the telly each season who I actually root for when I’m watching it. I don’t particularly want to see the new recruits just because they need some ‘experience’ and ‘practice’ playing with the team during the off-season. I paid money to see the real deal, baby—my First Team BOYS! Don’t mess with me. But at least a few of the First Team guys actually played—just not all of them like I would have liked.

Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United — The one and only–Sir Alex Ferguson

To all my people that know Sir Alex like I do—I swear to God if he wasn’t chewing gum I wouldn’t even recognize him.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, expose yourself to the world of Manchester United and watch a game or two. These boys are good at what they do. Check their stats.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Eventually make it to see a home game at Old Trafford in Manchester, England and scheme to buy the team from the Glazers at some point.

When David Beckham Came To Town

Posted on February 28, 2013 by LFFL

Could my life get any better than this?! The man, himself, came to see me. O-M-G! I remember it clear as day. I was prepared WAY ahead of time for this as soon as I heard about it—I had my tickets, DB shirt and outfit picked out, camera ready to roll, and running shoes in case people needed to be pushed out of the way. (Yeah, you heard me.)