Author Archives: megpatten

About megpatten

Living life one day at a time.

There’s No I in Team, But there are Best Friends

The past couple of weeks my Facebook has been inundated with pictures from the class of 2012’s graduation pictures, and I couldn’t help but think that it seems like yesterday that I was among the seven hundred-something students walking across the stage at Viejas Arena. It seems like only hours ago that I was boarding the plane for the first time, bound for New York City for NYU Freshman Orientation. And it seems as if this whole year passed by in a single New York Minute, but I guess in a way it has. Each and every single memory has been compressed into a tiny piece of information, stored away in my brain, only to be brought to surface again by a picture, a sound, or smell. It’s crazy to think how much I have experienced in a year, but I think it’s even crazier to think that I cannot even measure how great of a year it was, not by the number of wins or losses, nor smiles and tears that marked my face. I guess its not about the journey, rather about the people you meet along the way.

Love my club girls

Looking back, this year’s been great. Graduation, a trip to Europe, getting cleared to play, the beginning of college, an ECAC Championship, and so much more has happened in a little less than 365 days. But when I take away everything that happened, I find myself thinking about everyone who made it happen. As a military brat, I learned early on that the best way to survive the long deployments and constant moving was to have a strong support system, anchored by your family and friends who were going through the same thing. I employed the same tactics throughout the rest of my life in every challenge I encountered, because it simply worked. Being the social butterfly that I am, making new friends was never a problem, especially being on a team. For anybody that has been part of any team or unit, I think you understand when I say that the people you spend that much time become your family. You can do silly things in front of them, tell them your deepest and darkest secrets, and even conquer the world with them because they are with you through the thickest and thinnest of times. As for me, my teammates are my sisters, best friends, and some of the coolest people I’ve ever met. They’ve influenced me in more ways than I’d like to share and know more about me than I probably know about myself. So in honor of all of those teammates, I would like to dedicate this blog to them and share a few stories about them.

Part of our Freshman Class

During high school, I played for the San Diego Surf Soccer Club. Club soccer is interesting in the way that each person on your team is not only competing for a spot on the field but also on a college roster, it’s every man for themselves and can get a little cutthroat. Although I wasn’t on any given team for more than a year because I was a goalkeeper playing up (age-wise) I made a number of friends that I still keep in touch with to this day. I figure when you tear your ACL and your teammates are there, it’s sort of hard to get rid of the ones who held your hand when you were writhing in pain. These girls not only helped me during my whole ACL recovery (which is an entirely different story in itself) but were my bestest of friends in high school. We may not remember the wins and losses now, but we do remember the times we fell down laughing at each other in practice and super long road trips to exotic locations like Lancaster and Las Vegas (please note the sarcasm).

Captains

When I moved to New York the first people I met were my teammates. Rewind back to August…we’re all sitting in the Coles Conference Room for the first time as a team. I looked around the room and saw not only my teammates for the next season, but best friends, future bridesmaids and sisters for life. In the matter of only a few weeks, we had formed friendships that would normally take years to build.A few ice breakers and fitness tests later, we were more than just teammates. We bonded over doing extra running and the sun pounding down on our backs during two-a-days. Although we spent our first few days in New York dealing with extreme heat, an earthquake, and a hurricane, I wasn’t clicking my cleats together wishing I was back home. I was home, with 23 new best friends by my side.

My Sisters

I think it’d be fair to say that we’ve had a decent amount of adventures this past year. Ranging from our numerous travel issues to the All-Athlete Auction to even sitting in the training room catching up on everything that had happened since we had last seen each other. We’ve hung out in waiting rooms, patiently waiting for teammates to emerge from their surgeries, we’ve held each other in warm embraces when tears fall down our faces, and we’ve seen each other at our best and worst. We’ve done it all together.

Through Rain, Sleet, and Snow

Coming home this Summer I felt I experienced more changes than I ever have in any of my global moves. I wasn’t used to having a room to myself all the time or working out alone. A part of me was missing when I came home. It just goes to show that the people whom you surround yourself with are truly monumental in every little thing you do. I truly think the team does not get enough credit in a success of any given athlete. Sure, the parents drive the kids to practice, and the coach teaches them how to play but it’s the other girls on the field who push, inspire and persevere together.

One Team. One Dream.

Quote of the Week: “Scars heal, glory fades, and all we are left with are the memories made.” – Chris Cagle

Jam of the Day: “My Life Be Like (Ooh-Ahh)” by Grits feat. Toby Mac

Meg and Yoga: A Deadly Mix

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Hello everybody – I know it’s been awhile since I’ve last posted but I’ve been busy with my internship and workouts. Regardless, I thought I should update everybody on my newest endeavor: YOGA.

When I used to think of yoga, the first things that came to my mind were breathing exercises, stretching, and soothing sounds. After my first couple of yoga classes, the things that now come to mind are headstands, the splits, and drops of sweat rolling past my brow into my eyes. It’s an experience entirely foreign to me, and quite frankly, I didn’t expect to be that hard. Turns out I was a tad wrong.

Being the incredibly inflexible soccer player that I am, I took up yoga to increase my flexibility and to improve my focusing and breathing skills because I thought it’d help in goal. As I walked into the Core Power Yoga Studio in Pacific Beach for Intro to Heated Yoga 1.5, I had my chin up, confident in my abilities as an athlete. I completely blew off the fact that the studio recommended that I take a few yoga classes before because I was a soccer player, and thoughts soccer players could do anything. My sanguine self thought too highly of itself and I ended up walking out of that class more sore than I had bargained for. Maybe it’s the athlete or even just the competitive side of me, that totally disregarded the fact that yoga is an athletic activity and requires some sort of athleticism and coordination – and everybody should know that I am the most uncoordinated girl around. I love a workout that makes you sweat and all of my previous yoga experience had turned me off because they were slow and comprised of me mostly laying on a mat counting my breaths, “ohmming” to myself, and closing my eyes – it put me to sleep faster than you can say “downward dog”.

The point is, I used to think that yoga was a sport activity for sissies because I had seen videos like this, but now I have the utmost respect because yoga is hard, like really, really, really hard. Hopefully next time you see me I’ll be able to do this, but until then, namaste.

Father by Blood, Dad by Choice

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Captain Eric Patten. If you don’t know that name now, you better know it by the end of this post. You may know him as a protector of freedom in our nation’s military, or even as the world’s biggest Facebook updater if you’re lucky enough to be his FB friend, but I know him more as my Dad. I’m incredibly lucky to call this man my father, and the world has been even luckier having to share him with me.

The World’s Most Interesting Man

I’m a Daddy’s Girl and proud. If you ask anyone who I’m closest with, their answer, nine times out of ten, will be my Dad. While living in New York, I call him almost twice a day and sometimes more to update him on everything in my life, ranging from what I ate for breakfast to landing my latest internship. He’s like a best friend to me, always knowing what to say and and always knowing how to cheer me up when I am down. I owe everything to him, where I am now and what I will continue to do in the future.

He love his Mani/Pedi time

As like most daughters, I share a special bond with my father (and his credit card).You could say my Dad and I are close, but that would be a humongous understatement – we’re thicker than thieves. You could say he spoils me, but that too would be an understatement – he pampers me with his love each and every single day. He’s been with me through the worst of times and through the best of times, always having my back when the going gets rough.

So True

Anybody can be a father, but it takes a true man to be a Dad. He’s chosen to take an active role in my life, supporting me in each mountain I choose to climb. I can talk to him about everything and ask him any question, knowing that he’ll have the perfect solution to the most complex of problems because “he’s cool like that”. He’s suffered more than enough drama a guy should have to deal with in a lifetime, and has to live in a house with three crazy women; quite frankly, I don’t know how he’s done it.

Proud to be his

In addition to being a great Dad, he’s served our country for over twenty-five years, a feat only a select few can own up to. He’s made my family and I proud in so many ways, words cannot even describe it. I could write out the list of accomplishments throughout his career, but even those could not attest to his character and essence as a great man.

One of Our Nation’s Finest

I am my father’s daughter through and through. Impeccable looks (ha!), type-A personalities, and unique mannerisms are just some of the things we share. We take the same sides on arguments, have a love for athletics and I would like to think that I share his passion for all things in life. He’s smart, selfless and loving; always striving to give those around him the best. I can only hope to be half as great as he is.

You Could Say We’re Related

My Dad has been my coach, both on the soccer field and in the game of life, teaching me more than my fair share of life lessons. He’s been my rock when I need something stable to hold on to, my lighthouse when I’m sailing into the dark, and a big teddy bear when I need some loving. He pushes me when I’m being lazy and holds me back when I’m being reckless. He inspires me on a daily basis – I cannot ask for more. He’s my father by blood, but the coolest Dad ever by choice – and there’s only one of those in the world.

Love Him to Death

Dad, thank you for everything you have done and everything you continue to do. Have a Happy Father’s Day, I love you.

Dad and his girls

And to all the Dad’s out there, I hope you have a fantastic day as well!

Quote of the Day: My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.

– Clarence Budington Kelland

Missing Manhattan: A Compilation of Photos

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Two months until I’m back in the city and I cannot even explain how much I’m missing it. I love to take pictures and more often than not I love to pretend that I’m actually a great photographer. Whilst in New York, I tried to avoid looking like a tourist and carrying around my large Canon 60D, but hey sometimes you just cannot resist the beauty of the Concrete Jungle. Here are some of my favorite pics from both my Canon and my handy dandy iPhone.

: Flying into NYC

: There will never cease to be construction

: The Park in the Summer – Absolutely Beautiful

: One of my favorite places to indulge myself

: The park in the Spring

: Subway Signs

: I love stepping off the plane and seeing this

: Rainy Days

: Benches in WSP

: Fences around the Village

: My School

: Love the vibrant colors in the Fall

: On the way to our game

: The Park at Night

: I can’t wait until it’s all finished

: So early in the morning after a snowfall

: Our Beautiful Campus

: Beautiful Holiday Decoration

: A Birdseye view down 5th Ave

: The SE Corner of Central Park in the Snow

: Madison Square Garden

: The Highline

: Sunset on the Highline

: Times Square

: The Brooklyn Bridge

: Central Park in Winter

: Times Square is the place to be after any win

: The Flat Iron Building

Jam of the Day: “New York City” by The Peter Malick Group feat. Norah Jones

A Compilation: Days Two through Four

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I cannot believe it’s over. The tables are back in their places, our bags are packed and all of us are back to our respective hometowns and colleges. It’s a bittersweet ending to such an incredible trip. It’s hard to believe that in just 96 short hours I met tons of incredible student-athletes, collegiate coaches and AD’s, conference leaders, and NCAA officials. But I think it’s even harder to believe that it’s really done (and that I stay dressed up the WHOLE time.)

The past few days have been more than I could have imagined. The people, the information, even just the warm Summer Indiana air made this experience magical. Truth be told, I could probably write a very long, detailed blog on the whole trip, but I don’t want to bore you, so here’s my top ten favorite things (in no particular order) from this year’s 2012 NCAA Career in Sports Forum.

The Fellow Student-Athletes – As cliché as it sounds it’s true. Along with the future NFL and NBA players I had the pleasure of meeting I also met incredibly talented student-athletes who will be making strides in the future. A number of people offered great insight into the rest of my college years and the rest of my career as a sports fanatic wanting to work in this profession.
All 300 of us
The DiSC Assessment – Surprisingly enough I’m an “iD” in this behavioral assessment, which means I’m outgoing and a people person but like being in charge every so often – scarily true right? It was really a great tool for all of us and highly recommend everybody to take it to learn what sort of personality you have. By the end of the weekend, all of us were analyzing each other’s personality and making fun of it a bit, but hey it was incredibly useful and I’m thankful we were offered the chance to do it.
CSF Gear
Clint Bruce – This man epitomizes what every man should strive to be. A United States Naval Academy graduate who not only played in the NFL but was also a Seal who led some of our nation’s finest. He not only taught us to choose to be excellent, but also stressed to never make a decision without knowing the “why” to what you’re doing. My next blog post will be dedicated to his keynote speech.
A Standing Ovation and Some tears for Clint Bruce
Discovering Downtown Indy – Every night I was in Indy, I had the chance to walk around and explore this capital city. I saw Colts Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Stadium, the Pacers Arena, the Convention Center and so much more – it’s definitely a sporty city. After walking around, I realized how much I take living in both San Diego and NYC for granted.
Colts Stadium

Downtown Indy
NCAA Hall of Champions – I only to one day to find myself among the amazing young men and women plastered to the brick walls. We got the distinct opportunity to not only eat dinner but also explore the museum all to ourselves. It currently ranks number one in my favorite museums, closely followed by the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
Hall of Champs

James, NYU Runner, and the XC Booth

Loving Me Some WoPo
The Social Media Session taught by @NCAADana – Along with the insightful information that the NCAA has access to all of our social media, I learned a lot about how to network via Social Media and how to market yourself correctly to future employers. As a social media fiend, (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linked-In, you name it) I really enjoy learning about the implications and importance of this rising phenomenon. It was also really cool to make a hash-tag live in the audience for the conference, #2012NCAACSF
The Four NYU Reps Instagrammed
The Alternative Career in Sports Panel – During this panel, we got to listen to a few professionals working in the gaming, broadcasting, marketing, and law fields. It was very eye opening for me, seeing as I didn’t even realize that some of these fields existed and applied to sports. It was interesting to note how much of an impact that even the gaming industry had on intercollegiate athletics.
With My Heisman Trophy, Pose And All
The Color Group Meetings – As I wrote earlier, we were each divvied up into different groups of around 35 people. I found these sessions to be very informative, not only about intercollegiate athletics, but about myself as well. Going back and looking through my workbook, my notes demonstrate a need for me to work in an environment that is active, team-oriented and showcases my outgoing personality. In these sessions I also learned how to effectively communicate, something I’ve been working on both personally and on the field. This aspect of the conference was very useful, plus I met some quality people I will stay in touch with from my group.
Red Team

Annie and I, Someday I hope to be like her
The Networking Tools – In a matter of four days, I did not expect a sudden change in any of my behaviors, but man, I sure do notice now how much my social skills have changed. I’m now more likely to start a conversation with a random stranger, and on the way home, as luck would have it, I began a conversation with an old NCAA swimmer from UNC Chapel Hill. He gave me a ton of advice on that short 55 minute flight and I greatly appreciate him spending the time talking to me, considering the fact that he was probably exhausted from the Bachelor’s Party in New Orleans he was flying from.
Roomie, Former teammate and fellow Surf Soccer player
The Inspiration – Looking back through my workbook, I have a number of inspirational quotes lining the margins of each page. You know me, I love quotes, so I throughly enjoyed each session filled with bits and pieces of motivation and advice. Here’s one: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”

I came to this conference thinking I’d come out of it with hundreds of contacts and a known career path, but it turns out that I’m even more at a loss. The thing I did find was that athletics is truly a passion of mine because it connects us all on such a deep level. Athletics are greater than all of us.

Hope all of my fellow NCAA CSF’ers got home quickly and safely!

Peace and Love

Day One: Complete

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The first day is done and I cannot emphasize how amazing it is to be here. The amount of people I’ve met is amazing and to hear everybody’s story is really quite interesting. I’ve met Polish twins, an Australian soccer player from Oregon State and even people from my own school who I didn’t even know before coming here. We’ve done so much, met so many people, and learned in depth about our behavior in just the first day, I can’t even imagine what’s in store the next couple of days.

After Sara’s and my shopping adventure, we headed back to the hotel and checked in to our groups. We then headed to lunch with some other early arrivals and after returned to our room to get ready for our long day ahead. Usually when you’re at an event as exciting as this one, time tends to go fast, however, we both got ready so quickly that we ended up waiting around the last hour before the commencement of everything. Similar to most other student-athlete events that I’ve been to, we had to lay out the ground rules and many speakers emphasized the “time is now” for us to push ourselves, network, and learn about whether or not we should actually pursue a career in athletics. I knew from that moment, sitting along with the other eight people I had never met before, that this was going to be a great weekend.

Following the first few speakers, we were then split up into our color groups. The red group is certainly a wide variety of athletes, from all reaches of the United States, all with a unique story to tell. It’s pretty incredible what some of all the athletes around me have achieved – there’s actually one of the pitchers from the Oklahoma Sooners softball team, who was in the WCWS Championship. They unfortunately lost to ‘Bama and the pitcher took the soonest flight out of OKC, without sleep straight into the things. The rest of the student-athletes are incredible and I’m so honored to be with them, learning and admiring everything they have accomplished. It’s interesting to note, however, that I’m actually the youngest at the conference. I have met a lot of people, but none of them have been younger than a junior – most people are seniors or graduated already. I’m really enjoying asking them the keys to being successful at the next level and learning what makes them tick.

After what seemed like an eternity, we had dinner which was absolutely delicious and then listened to DeNita Turner, President and Founder of Image Builders. She explained to us that the first fifteen seconds that you meet anybody creates a lasting impact and can define your career. In addition, she gave us a number of tips on how to sell ourselves, including a thirty second spiel in the elevator. I really liked her stories and think that her tips will be useful, especially in all the elevators in NYC. Following her speech, we returned to our color groups and went over some points we had learned throughout the day. It was mostly just a recap of everything in less than thirty minutes. Maybe it’s just me, but the best part of the night came last. We ended with a student-athlete social, where I got to interact with everybody using the handy dandy skills I had just learned. It was beyond incredible to meet everybody and learn how they came to school. I met a lot of people from around the country, including some SoCal people I hope to keep in touch with. Overall it was just a terrific day, but I have to get to bed considering I’ll be up at 6 tomorrow to workout.

Looking so official and stiff – ya know?

Howdy from Indy!

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Howdy y’all from the Hooiser state! I’m currently in the midsts of settling in and getting my bearings of Indianapolis, but other than that everything is great. Last time I left off, I was not too happy with my airplane situation, but things quickly shaped up! Fortunately for me, I sat next to a cute little Sheltie headed to Washington D.C. Much to my surprise, she was extremely calm the whole flight and didn’t get out of her bag! After I got off the plane in Denver, I found out that my club teammate, Sara, was on my flight and headed to the same conference. We ended up hanging out with each other and meeting two other student-athletes. Once we landed in Indy, the four of us jumped on a bus headed to our hotel downtown. We were pleasantly greeted by so many NCAA officials awaiting our arrival, and then were checked into the hotel. Funnily enough, Sara and I were roomed together which made things a lot less awkward. After we unpacked and found the gym – only a door down from our room, we set out to explore the city.

Flying over some Colorado Mountains

Waiting in Denver

The Cute Lassie Dog Next to Me

On our little walk around the city, we found the Capitol building, the Civil War Museum, the Mall (oh yeah!) and some other fun places. Downtown Indy is very quaint, especially compared to Manhattan – I don’t know if I could live in such a small town. Following our stroll, we had dinner at Champions, a little restaurant in the hotel with the Devils/Kings game on. Before we knew it, it was 10PM and we hopped into bed, falling asleep to Friends.

Exploring Downtown

The next morning we woke up and first thing we did was head to the gym. Even though it was 8AM and many hours before everything was supposed to start, the gym was already filled with student-atheletes trying to get a workout in. I wonder how it’s going to be later tonight with all 300 of us trying to get a sweat on. Following a great interval set and stretching routine, we took showers, got dressed and headed down to breakfast. It was nice to see some more athletes hanging around the hotel and meet people outside of my own athletic department. Once we finished the incredible fruit spread, we set out for Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the Indianapolis Colts and the 2012 Super Bowl, where the Giants won. (Go Giants!) We soon realized that we had five hours before we had to be anywhere, so we walked around the Indianapolis Convention Center, where there was a Methodist Conference going on – who knew they had such a thing? Following our little stint in that huge building we found the mall and stumbled upon a cute little boutique where Sara and I got some cute shirts – don’t worry Mom and Dad, they were on sale! We finally turned to head back and check into the conference and got our polos and other cool stuff necessary for the forum. I got assigned to the Red Team and Sara got assigned to Orange, so I guess we’ll finally be split up.

Hanging with the Colts

NCAA Swag

Now I’m sitting in the lobby, watching the influx of student-athletes come in, bags in tow. It’s really cool to think that I’m part of a group looking to continue their career in athletics post-college and it’s really cool to actually meet real live college football players, but hey that’s what you get when you go to NYU! That’s it for now but I’ll be sure to update tonight after my first few sessions.

Jam of the Day: “We Are Young” by Fun feat. Janelle Monáe

Adiós San Diego, Hello Indy

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Good morning from the oh so comfy seats in Terminal One of San Diego International Airport. Today I’m headed on my first Summer adventure to the NCAA Career in Sports Forum, and I could not be even more excited, minus the super long flights. As with most adventures I embark on, there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, and I of course had to start this one out the same way. Whenever I fly by myself I more often than not fly American Airlines, which ensures that I’m one of the first to board with Priority Access. When I booked these flights to Indianapolis I was informed that I’d be flying Southwest, which is totally fine by me. Little did I know, however, that you need to check in online to secure your seat and boarding time. Southwest: 1, Meg: 0. By the time I found this out and checked in online, I was ecstatic to find out that I was last to board – woo hoo! (Please note my sarcasm right now) No worries though, I’m still having fun and promised myself I will check in exactly 24 hours before hand to ensure that I’m first on that plane home. As a very smart person once said, ” Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, Shame on me.”

It’s all good in terminal one!

Anyways, sitting here in the terminal, I’ve been playing myself a great game of “People Watching”while jamming out to music and blogging on my computer. It’s one of my favorite games to play, especially in NYC with friends, but an airport is just as fun. We all try and guess what people do for a living and what their “deal” is – it’s very fun, especially when you’re bored! There are some very interesting subjects in the boarding area, here are my top three so far:

The thirty-something couple sitting across from me, making out with their hands all over each other. Headed to Sacramento; it’s interesting to note that they have no luggage with them, she has a ring, he doesn’t… Maybe he just proposed?
The Mom with the four kids all under the age of ten. Each kid not only has a humongous oversized backpack, but also a matching pillow pet to match. I’m surprised World War III hasn’t broken out yet, but who knows maybe she’s bribing them with candy.
The business man yelling loudly into his blackberry with his iPhone in the other hand, probably looking up sports scores from last night. I just want to say, Hey it’s 9 in the morning, can you take it down a notch, I’m still sleeping.

That’s it for now, time to board 🙂 Next up Denver, Colorado!

Jam of the Day: Airplanes by B.o.B feat. Haley Williams from Paramore

Sisterly Love

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Maybe three posts in a single day is too much, but I’d rather write than pack. So for today, I am the Packing Procrastination Princess 🙂

In less than 24 hours I will be in Indianapolis, Indiana for the start of the NCAA Career in Sports Forum. It is essentially a conference about college athletics, coaching, and administration with a couple hundred other NCAA student-athletes chosen to represent their school. NYU was extremely lucky and had 4 student-athletes chosen, and I believe we’re one of the schools with the most participants. Because there are not many flights that arrive before 11AM in Indianapolis from San Diego, I have to leave a day early, which means I have to start packing in about 15 minutes.

Anyways, today’s post is about my younger sister, Twist. She’s a spunky, soccer-loving, super athletic, sixteen year old sophomore who’s dreams are to go to University of Oregon (Go Ducks?!). Even though we may not get along, she’s my sister, and I support her because I love her and she will be famous one day, hopefully on an international soccer platform. Here are few facts and cool pictures about my soccer fanatic sister.

Sisters

Her real name is not Twist, rather Melissa Ann Patten. She probably will kill me for putting that on the world wide web, oh well! She got her name when she first started walking, and you could follow her path of destruction, just like a Twister.
National Hug a Soccer Ball Day
Her juggling record is 2813. I don’t know how she does that, but she does. She loves juggling and constantly points out that she is infinitely better than I am.
The Queen of Rainbows
She is a health-nut through and through. I cannot even sneak a sip of gatorade without her telling me that I probably need to run another 30 minutes to burn it all off.
Nutrition Nerd at Heart
She is a wonder twin with her best friend Sam Staab who is practically a part of the Patten family. When they came and visited me at school, they pretended they were twins and everybody bought it.
Sam winning Nationals
She can recite every women’s national team and national pool player and their college. She loves the beautiful game, what can I say? Plus she is now Rachel Buehler’s training partner when she comes into town – how cool is that?
At the Women’s World Cup with her training partner and Surf Alum Rachel Buehler

Jam of the Day: The Champ by Nelly

What to Pack When Visiting San Diego

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I was recently asked by a childhood friend, Veronica, if I could guest write on her blog on what to pack when visiting San Diego, she posted it on her blog so I decided to do the same and add some pics. I’ve never been into fashion, but since moving to NYU, I’ve somehow channeled my inner fashionista and decided to start wearing clothes that are a little more becoming than the typical soccer shorts and hoodie I donned all four years through high school. Even though San Diego is pretty laid back in terms of style and clothing choice, there are some must have items before visiting America’s Finest City. Here are my top ten must haves whether you’re visiting for just a few days or a few months.

Bikinis, Tankinis, and Swimsuits galore! – San Diego is a large beach town, with some of the best beaches in the World and currently the number one beach in the United States. Even if you’re not a big swimmer, wearing a bikini is a way of blending in with the locals–you never known when the ocean will call or when the marine layer will clear out.
Shorts – Short Shorts are a go-to staple here and I know my closet is filled up with a billion of them. Whether they’re athletic shorts or fun multicolored jean shorts, they are a go-to item in San Diego.
A swimsuit and shorts – a great combo
Your Favorite Pair of Jeans – San Diego is a casual city, and along with that comes a casual dress code. Whether I’m going out to dinner or going to a kickback, I’m pretty much always in my jeans – they’re cute, comfy and never out of style.
I’m addicted to my white jeans
Sweatshirts – San Diego is beautiful 11 months out of the year, however there is a one-month period known as “June Gloom” that simply stinks! The marine layer seldom leaves the coast and a sweatshirt or hoodie is absolutely necessary, especially if you head to Coronado or La Jolla in the morning or late at night for a bonfire. I always have a stash of sweatshirts in the back of my car just in case.
The Patten girls in sweatshirts on the bay
Rainbows Sandals – Or a pair of casual sandals for the beach. Over the course of my high school career, I developed a pretty extensive tan on my feet from wearing Rainbows everyday. They’re super comfortable and perfectfor any occasion. If you don’t have any and you’re in San Diego, head to your nearest surf store or up to the Rainbow Factory in San Clemente.
Rainbows for Big Foot
Sundresses – Although SD is super chill, it’s nice to get dressed up during summer every once in a while. Knee length dresses to maxi dresses are totally fine, as long as you have a smile intow.
A Wide of Variety of Outfits to Choose from for a night out
Workout gear – San Diego prides itself in being one of the most fit cities around, so if you plan on spending any time here at all, I recommend bringing running shoes and some workout gear. Anywhere from the mountains out to the East to the beaches out west offer great options for workouts, plus if you find yourself in Coronado you might find yourself running among some of our nation’s finest Seals and Naval Personell– what’s better motivation?
Workout gear can be used for climbing mountains or jumping on them
A Camera – Whether its on your iPhone or Canon, I highly recommend bringing a camera along for all of your San Diego adventures. Maybe it’s just me but I’m a photo bug and would much rather have a bunch of pictures to remember my travels by than just memories. San Diego is so photogenic; why not take a few pics?
Smile for the camera!
Sunglasses and Sunscreen – Also known as Sun Diego, the sun is always out and I highly recommend protecting your skin and your eyes. I’ve been a victim of a few burns myself (must be my Irish heritage), and would hate for anybody’s vacation to be ruined by just forgetting to put some lotion on.
Everything’s all good when you protect your eyes
A Sense of Adventure – There are so many amazing things about San Diego, so many places to explore, so many foods to try, and one who wants to truly experienceSan Diego at its finest must be open to new things. Although I recommend this for any sort of travel, this is especially true in San Diego, where you’rebound to run into something weird and exciting, especially in Mission Beach.