the summer traditions.

two years ago our very first date was the midnight showing of transformers 2. i wanted to see the movie really bad and my original date (my brother) was in california, so i figured that this new guy would want to see it too.  it was a great first date! we were able to talk since we had to score seats pretty early and able to do the movie together. i tried to give him the signs to hold my hand throughout the movie, but it didnt happen that night. we did share our 1st kiss though. obviously being the hopeless romantic that i am it became an instant tradition i wanted to continue whenever i could.

last summer we added another tradition with the mens world cup.  one of the things that struck me about richard was his love for soccer. i had never met a guy that was into it at all, let alone as much as me! for multiple world cups i have been up at all kinds of hours to watch us matches and having any game on in the background while getting ready in the morning. most of the games were on during the week which makes it hard to watch with others.  finally we were able to gather together during the us vs ghana game at hennesseys on fremont street. vanessa decided to join us and we cheered the hell out of that place! we scored bar seats and even had a small crowd behind us. we lost the game and that ended our time at the cup, but it was really fun!

USA! USA! USA!

this year we had a full schedule continuing our traditions we began the previous 2 summers. transformers 3 was coming out this summer, so was harry potter part 2, and the womens world cup was all happening!  we began with transformers 3 which i could not wait for. like i said i am a hopeless romantic so the fact this was happening almost 2 years to the date of our 1st date i could not be more excited.

we bought our tickets a few weeks in advance sure they were going to sell out. many people thought it was really silly that we were going at midnight, i mean who does that at our age. but as it got closer it seemed like so many people tried to join. i was so proud that richard (with a push from me, lets be honest) stood firm and said it was going to just the 2 of us. i arrived at about 10pm to stake out our spot with goodies in tow...

i was there in plenty of time to grab a good spot in line so we could have prime seating. richard showed up in perfect time as were just getting ready to go into the theater. he was so worried about getting good seats after the harry potter part 1 disaster in november in which we ended up sitting in the 3rd row because we were late. the movie was great, i am still partial to the 1st one and think the 2nd one had a better story line, but the movie had more than 1 meaning for me. by the time we got home at 315am, yes am, i was beat. i had scheduled my late work day for the next morning but that tuesday night midnight showing kicked my butt for the rest of the week! soooo worth it.

the womens world cup holds an extremely special place in my heart. playing most of my childhood and seeing women succeed in a man driven sport warms me all the way through. i also had the amazing luck to attend the 1999 womens world cup final at the rose bowl to watch the us vs china game that ended in penalty kicks of all things. it was an amazing game and amazing experience.

brandi chastain

this year i felt was our time to take the trophy back. the team hadnt had much luck in the world cup since and the team was finally looking strong enough to take it. the first game was on a tuesday so i was able to watch it at home with richard. the second game was on the saturday of fourth of july weekend so we made the trek back to hennesseys. this year the group expanded and expanded. not really my favorite idea, i liked it just being the 3 of us. but what a game to watch together! and the spirit of our group was awesome.

getting his war paint on!

USA! USA! USA!

harry potter part 2 was our next big adventure. i am a HUGE harry potter fan. i mean i went to the midnight parties with my mom (another HUGE fan) to pick up the books so i could start reading them the second i woke up in the morning. then there was the trip to florida last year where we got to be one of the first people to get into the wizarding world of harry potter.  thank goodness richard loves my quirks and obsession with harry potter and has hopped on the train even more since we started dating.

all ready at platform 9 3/4

we couldnt decide which theater to go too, of course we were going at midnight. i was very strong in my stance to go by ourselves and that worked, for a little while. this time people were actively asking and wanting to go with us. after going by ourselves to transformers richard was also strong on the side to go on our own. then we found out some friends of ours had already bought tickets for the same time without even talking about. once there were some going more jumped on board and we were going with a group. i still went equally as early so we could score some sweet spots, which we did. while waiting i got to give anthony the readers digest version of the first movie, accompanied by the 13 year-old in front of me. richard joined with plenty of time and nick saved the day by bringing a ton of chicken nuggets (and by a ton i mean 90, no kidding) since we were all starving that late at night. the movie of course was phenomenal.

movie time goodies, yes that is a capriottis sandwich.

since the us women kick ass we secured our spot in the final after the crazy quarter and semi-final games. we decided to skip hennesseys for the quarter final, it was too rich for my blood after the 1st round, plus we were holding out for the final instead. and it was very cool to stay at home and celebrate on our couch:) once we made it through to the finals we knew we were headed right back to the bar. it was already the plan when suddenly "the group" started to expand and expand. one of the things we really loved was the small group we had to do these things. we thought about staying home, just going to a bar nearby, or going to watch with my parents and brother from another mother instead. in the end i know we made the right choice by heading back to hennesseys.

we got there super early with american spirit in full force, had some breakfast, and a few drinks. we met up with kassen and mark who had staked out spots on the couchs while we sat at the bar. i rarely ever get to sit at the bar, plus you cant mess with the mojo. it was a really tough game and i think the women even underestimated japan a little bit. they had so many opportunities to put the game away that they did not capitalize on. unfortunately japan did capitalize and even the score every time they were down sending us to penalty kicks. after 3 unscored goals by the us and 3 scored by japan, we pretty much knew we were done. after all the heart and determination and fans they had acquired to watch them walk away with 2nd place was heart wrenching. 

richard and i learned this summer to always keep our traditions alive. that we sometimes start trends. no matter how many people jump on board even if its only for the moment we are the 2 most important people in the equation. and of course, silly traditions keep things interesting.