Rose Bowl 2009

The Scene

For the fourth year in a row, we spent New Year's Day at the Rose Bowl.

This year we brought along a sweet saint and a brown devil. Ugh. I can't get enough of them.

Today marked the 95th Rose Bowl. USC versus, um, Penn State. Beautiful weather for a smack down.

Poor Penn-loving Monkeys. Never stood a chance.

Read WeeMo's tale of Rose Bowl woe here.

Before the game, we tailgated with Fancypants and Mr. Roboto. They brought the lox and bagels for breakfast, we brought the deli sandwiches and pickles for lunch. Apparently we are all Jewish in 2009.

And old. Before packing up and heading into the stadium, all six of us shotgunned. Everyone EXCEPT ME did it wrong and got beer all over themselves. See the evidence on Mr. D's t-shirt? HAHAHHAHA!

Thank goodness Mr. Roboto is a great napkin walla.

Upon entering the stadium, I looked up and saw this in the sky. Clearly a sign. The game was in the bag :)

The four of us managed to pay attention to the game for - oh - about a quarter and a half.

But after that the game just became background noise.

The Great Cup Caper of 2009 had officially begun. You see every year Mr. D is obsessed with amassing Rose Bowl collectible cups. OBSESSED.

Sure, he'll buy a couple of beers and get a few that way. But mostly he'll go around like a homeless person and grab cups people leave behind.

Today the Brown Devil was his dream partner in crime -helped ZOINK quite a few from unwitting drunks.

The result? An amazing hoard of suhweet cups for the Diabolina and Saint/Devil households. YAY!

While the boys were on the hunt for cups, St. Jude and I went on a hunt for chicken. MR. CHICKEN NUGGET to be exact. We found him chowing down on a churro. Ugh. I'd like to chow down on those cheeks.

Caught up with his mom Chowmein and nabbed wristbands for the football team's afterparty. At last year's party, Pete did the Souljaboy. I nearly died.

As night fell, the Trojans won their third Rose Bowl in a row. FIGHT ON! Suck it, Trojan haters. No end in sight to our reign.

After exchanging words with obnoxious seatmates (I HATE ROSE BOWL DRUNKS!), the four of us headed to the official Trojan celebration.

The spread per usual was amazing. This year, St. Jude and I were particularly impressed with the mounds of shrimp.

Apparently, "recession" is not in your vocabulary when you are Rose Bowl champs three years running.

The drinks were flowing and the music was OFF THE HOOK.

All the star players like Rey were getting their party on.

Especially this playa.

He was snarfing ribs and cupcakes.

And playing hide and seek with the other coaches' kids.

While all our friends partied

I decided to give Chowmein a break and chased after her Chicken Nugget. No easy feat.

At one point to channel all that energy in one direction, I suggested we find Coach Carroll and take a picture. He liked this idea and beelined for Pete. Then proceeded to SLAP the butt of the top coach in college football, the man who was on 60 minutes a few weeks ago, the object of my not so secret crushing. Yep, our Chicken Nugget slapped the great Pete Carroll square ON THE ASS. As a hello!!!!!!!!!!!

I blanched, mouth agape, immobilized by shock. But Pete loved it. After all, he and Mr. Chicken Nugget go waaaay back. Laughing, Pete scooped him up and swung him around. I managed to snap this pic. I think Chicken Nugget will cherish the picture and be mortified by the story when he's older. YAYAYAYAY!

St. Jude and Brown Devil wanted their own pic with Pete and were patiently standing in a receiving line when he suddenly got called onto stage by his players.

And before you could say delicious


He had his shirt off. I DIE!!

That darn Pete. He not only knows how to play football. He knows how to play the ladies. Best Rose Bowl victory yet!

The Outfit

Madewell jeans

Target long sleeve tee and USC zip up

USC short sleeve tee

The Accessories

Stella McCartney bag

Forever 21 sunglasses and turquoise rosette ring

Tory Burch flats

Faux Van Cleef and Arpels turquoise earrings

Marc by Marc Jacobs charm necklace

The Grade

C

The Commentary

The last four years my game day outfit has been standard USC fare. Jeans and layers of USC tees and sweatshirts or zip-ups. Sometimes I'll bring a Big Bird hat or a Harry Potter scarf.

But today I just wasn't feeling the Ronald McDonald.

Opted instead for a white USC zip up. Scored it at Target a few years ago. Just $24. Unheard of for official Trojan wear.

Paired it with a Southern California tshirt I got last spring. Loving USC gear that is a bit more subdued, tasteful, kinda fashionable. Plus I figured there was no need to beat anyone over the head with my Trojan pride today. Those poor Lions were going to be beaten over the head enough on the field.

Tried to sass things up with some punchy earrings and an index finger ring. Love turqoise paired with chocolate.

The ensemble still felt pretty blah. So I added some bling on my feets. Gold Tory Burch flats. Garnered a few compliments and lots of looks all day.

They are always a simple but comfortable way to stand out in a sea of tennis shoes at games. Though I must say Chicken Nugget's Cars sneaks were pretty fly...

Depressed at the idea of looking - horror of horrors - so casual, I thought about wearing this fabulous hat to our tailgate. But Mr. D nixed the idea. Wah!


St. Jude was also going to wear a cute hat but the Brown Devil teased her about dressing up for the blog so she refrained. FFFFFF!

Mr. Roboto gets an A+ for keeping his trap shut about Fancypants' fab bonnet and red rabbit scarf. Adore all my friends who over the last year admit to stepping up their sartorial game whenever they are going to see me.

In the end, the Brown Devil redeemed himself by modeling alternate headwear at the afterparty

Those darn cups - sooooo many applications.

They were also useful for snapping furtive pics of Pete as he ate one table over from us.

But the best Pete bait today? A Chicken Nugget.