March Madness

What can I say? I clean up nicely.

Welcome to March Madness, well, it has nothing to do with college basketball and everything to do with my arts and culture lifestyle. Between my Writing Arts Criticism class sending me to art galleries, plays, dance concerts, the opera and the theater and my position with Main Course, covering art galleries monthly (now even more), I am overly exposed to Philadelphia's art scene. I love it but it makes for an extra busy MA between work, school and everything else.

One thing that has not suffered and I am so thankful, is my devotion to fitness. Even when I'm barely awake after working late at work on a Tuesday night, I still drag my butt to the gym to work out. As you can see from the photo above, I'm getting results. :) My 5K training has been on hold, so I need to get back to running, but the fitness relationship is still going strong. Oh, and I eat pretty well to. I'm a big fan of homemade smoothies and salads and lean healthy meats.

When I'm not running all over the city or working or in school, I'm actually out having adventures. On St. Patrick's Day I went to a bar by school for a Guinness to celebrate the day. I had to pay a $5 cover to get into the Irish Pub. I hate covers. I didn't think it would be worth my time, but I went in anyway. After ordering my Guinness...ok well two and a shot of whiskey, I went to pay for my libations. Luck of the Irish! The cashier lost my tab! I told her what I ordered, because I'm a very honest person. She handed me a receipt that undercharged my order by A LOT. She waved it off, wished me a good night and left! I paid less than half of what I should have, so I tipped well to make up for it.

I was about to leave when I met this really nice couple. They offered me a shot of tequila and how could I possibly say no to free tequila. One shot and a few beers later (which I didn't have to pay for either) I had made new friends, enjoyed the live band, tried to decipher a bunch of authentic Irish accents and just overall had a great time. A highlight was when the Irish bartender tried to pretend a bottle of Bud Light was a bottle of expensive wine when a guy ordered it. He made a big show of the bottle and poured a little bit into a cup for the customer to smell, swirl and taste it. It was hilarious and I'm glad I got to be there for that spectacle.

As I walked home, happy from a night of interesting interactions, I thought about how many of my great stories should start with "So Mary Anna walks into a bar..." Usually, good things happen and friends are made, albeit for just the night.

Until next time....