Preppy Runner – Theodora Blanchfield

Is it possible to fall in love with an ad network? Because I think I fell in love with mine this weekend.

I switched to Glam last December, and I don’t regret it for a second, because I love how they take care of their bloggers and all the opportunities available through the network.

A few weeks ago, they emailed asking if I’d like to go to the U.S. Open with them.

UM, YES!

I was obsessed with tennis growing up, and I’ve gone to the Open every year since I moved back up here in ’08. (Past blog recaps/mentions: 2011; 2010; 2009) I thought I might be too busy to go to weeknight matches because of work, so I JUMPED RIGHT ON IT when Glam emailed me. The U.S. Open is actually also a client of my company’s, but they had literally nothing to do with this.

From lunch…

The master game plan was to start off with lunch/brunch at The Smith and then head to the U.S. Open for the women’s finals, but that tornado last weekend had other plans for us, so we just had an extra-long brunch.

To NYFW…

Amex was sponsoring our experience, and they also sponsor New York Fashion Week, so they were able to hook us up with a little trip up to the tents, where we saw a few shows from the Ameircan Express Skybox.

The first show we saw was VLOV–hello sexy male models.

In between, there was a quick Q&A with Mimi Lombardo, the fashoin director at Travel + Leisure magazine. One of her best packing tips was to pack things you’re worried about wrinkling in the dry-cleaning bags. I’ll have to give it a try sometime when I’m traveling somewhere that requires more than my New Balances, Garmin and some running clothes.

Next up was Monique Lhuillier. I won’t even pretend to be a fashion blogger, so let’s just say that her line was gorgeous–very mermaid-like and ethereal.

The designer herself walking out onstage at the end.

Here’s what le box de sky looked like. See the curtains on the left side? They opened up to look down in the tent when there was a show going on.

While all the other girls were heading out partying, I went home to prep for my 18-miler. (And honestly, I was more than happy to go hop into bed anyway!)

To Flushing…

We met up Sunday afternoon to head out to Flushing to see Serena Williams dominate.

Remember this globe? I ran two very hot races last summer–Queens Half and the NYRR Sprint Tri–which ran around this bad boy.

YESSSSS!

Before going to check out the match, we went to check out the American Express Fan experience tent, a 20,000-square-foot tent with all kinds of fun stuff.

Like the only indoor court out there, which Andy Murray practiced on one day when it was raining.

And little booths where tennis pros analyzed your swings. I had them analyze my serve, since right before I stopped playing seriously, I remember switching to a Continental grip and never quite mastering it.

This kind fellow said that I tossed the ball too far out in front. Duly noted.

They also showed us this cool interactive touchscreen powered by an IBM supercomputer that is completely data-driven and shows you all sorts of different info when you touch it, such as when the next train is coming, what speed the ball’s being served, at, etc. Really cool!

These are some of the lovely ladies (+man) I hung with all weekend: Victoria, Katie, Lauren, Jor-El and Hallie.

Hallie insisted I take outfit photos, so let me play style blogger for a second:

Dress: Nanette Lepore on super super sale (Thanks to Amex for providing a gift card for a little pre-U.S. Open shopping! )

Shoes: Dolce Vita

Watch: Michael Kors

WOO! Let the games begin.

The Billie Jean King tennis center is huge, and there are quite a few courts. Earlier in the tournament, there are matches played on each of the courts. It’s fun, sometimes, to go watch the matches with the less-famous players–and those tickets are usually really cheap, too.

Carnage of our meal.

Oh, these Honey Dueces (their signature cocktail) weren’t bad either.

As far as the actual match, Serena Williams played Victoria Azarenka, who’s number one in the world right now.

The first set, Serena beat Victoria handily (6-2); the second set, you could tell Victoria was pissed, and she won 6-2; the last set, they were both fighting tooth and nail for the match, but Serena ultimately prevailed, winning 7-5. I was bored during the first set, but this match really heated up. When she won, Serena (maybe a little overdramatically?) laid down on the court and then got up and started jumping up and down–you could tell she was crying and was filled with emotion.

It was such a fun match to watch and such a fun weekend to spend with some fun bloggers–and I have to thank Nola and Bianca for helping us have such a fun weekend!

What’s your favorite sport to watch? Any sport you played growing up you wish you still played?