After several weeks in Europe, I was back in New York City and wanted to do something very American. And because nothing’s more American than baseball, I headed to Citi Field with Jess, Becky and Ann to watch my team, the Chicago Cubs, play the New York Mets.

When I texted Becky to invite her, she responded “yes of course!” and then followed up a few minutes later with a “I got a new phone. Who is this?” which made me laugh. I asked if she always accepts invitations to Mets games from people that she doesn’t know. Her response: “Yes, do you NOT?!”

We had the best seats in the stadium!

Our seats were so amazing (and, who am I kidding, we are so amazing!) that it wasn’t long before we were featured on the Jumbotron!

After our moment of fame, I got a ton of text messages from other friends along the lines of “just saw you on the Jumbotron. I’m at the game too!”

One of those messages was from my friend Chris, and since he knows all of us, he said he would stop by to say hi. I joked that he shouldn’t show up without popcorn, and he actually brought some! You’re my new favorite, Chris!

The Cubs took the lead early on, but the Mets eventually pulled ahead.

So we distracted ourselves by judging the attractiveness of the players.

For the entire game, I saw people walking around with Mets helmets loaded with fabulously unhealthy-looking nachos. I really, really wanted my own helmet nachos, so Jess and I got in line at a nachos stand. We waited forever, and then we finally got to the front of the line, ordered and received our nachos.

And they were authentic, quality nachos with marinated chicken and fresh ingredients. I was so disappointed! Where was the fake orange cheese and the tacky Mets helmet?! I don’t want real nachos! I want gross American nachos!

The evening went further downhill from there (ok, I realize I’m being a tad dramatic about the nacho situation) with the Mets ultimately winning the game.

But that’s ok, I still had a blast with my friends!

It’s good to be back in America.

~A