With the winter months coming faster, more and more people are prone to get colds, allergies and flu-like symptoms.  So here are ways to boost up your immune system without popping pills!

1.  Eat lots of nutritious foods high in Vitamin A like colorful fruits and veggies as well as zinc, found in seafood, nuts and whole grains.  Yes, it’s the holiday season and there will be plenty of amazing dishes set on the table, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help your immune system by eating just a few extra fruits, veggies, seafood and grains! (For more detail.) 

2.  Layer and dress warmly!  Simple as it sounds, not a lot of people follow that critical “Mom rule”… Either because of fashion or laziness, people end up going through the winter months with nothing but a sweater and jeans.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t work!  Without warmth, the body will be susceptible to viruses and other seasonal destroyers.

3.  Keeping up with hygiene.  I know the winter months are tough to get your cleaning mode on; however, this period is the most critical.  With everyone sneezing and coughing around you, be sure to wash your hands regularly.  At home, keep the countertops as dust-free as possible, especially since winter is dry season and dust bunnies come out of hiding.

That being said don’t forget to get your seasonal flu vaccination as well as H1N1 vaccination if eligible!  Click here for H1N1 vaccination locations in New York.

Criteria for eligibility for H1N1 vaccination:

• Pregnant women
• Anyone 4 through 24 years old
• People 25 through 64 with health conditions that make flu more dangerous. These include asthma, diabetes, chronic heart and lung conditions, kidney failure, or a weakened immune system.
• Anyone who lives with or cares for children less than 6 months old
• Health care workers who have direct contact with patients and cannot receive vaccine through their employers

Teetering and tottering, I arrived at Gate 11.  Through the dimly lit tunnel to the stadium, I saw blue-sweatered men and women jumping up and down, waving banners and pompoms, and yelling unrecognizable phrases, perhaps just a string of swears.  I pushed my way through the crowd formed at the entrance.  I could feel my head pounding, throbbing from the roars of intoxicated fans and dissatisfied coaches… or perhaps the half bottle of alcohol I consumed prior to arriving at the stadium.  Either way, my head was pounding… and so were the walls, floors, and any other concrete around me.  After avoiding drunkards staggering in the tunnel, I stood with full view of the stadium.  Was it that my eyes were blurry or could I really be seeing what I was seeing?  The stadium was packed… and a sea of blue engulfing the sporadic sprinkle of crimson red.  This was the annual Yale-Harvard football game, otherwise known as “The Game”. 

This year, The Game was held at Yale, hence blue dominating red.  And, as expected, everyone (and I mean, EVERYONE) was totally DRUNK!  Alumni ranging 35-60+ years old joked with their buddies over cups of beer.  The ones just a few years removed from college reenacted their college days by stumbling about the tailgates plastered.  And, the ones still in college… well, let’s just say, they were a jumble mess of drunken debauchery.

The whole event is fun, but if you ever go to Yale for The Game, you must do 3 things:

1. Tailgate
2. Have a burrito at the Burrito Cart
3. Go to Toad’s

What are tailgates, you ask?  One of the most exciting parts of going to an Ivy League football game.  (I mean, let’s be honest, they’re Ive-Leaguers…)  Before every game, but especially for The Game, residential colleges, frat and sorority houses, clubs and organizations from both schools gather with their U-Hauls outside of the stadium.  When held at Yale, each truck harbors half-a-dozen kegs, alcohol-infused fruits, hot cocoa mixed with Everclear, burgers, hot-dogs and other picnic goodies.  Starting at 7am, the trucks arrive with their treasures hidden from the eyes of the inspectors (of course, everyone, including the po-pos, understands that no one can keep out alky from the Yale tailgate, and thus turn a blind eye).  Once settled in their spots, the college students, frat bros and sorority sisters, club and organization reps all hang their banners high and mighty because part of this was a competition to see which U-Haul could attract the most drunken people.  Around 8am, the rest of campus plus all the alumni from the young twenty-somethings to the old sixty-somethings arrive to get the party started.  Remember, kickoff usually doesn’t start until noon.  So, for a good 4 hours, people are partying up a snowstorm outside the stadium.  By noon, everyone is drunk and ready to create a caucus at the game. 

Of course, after a whole day of drinking, everyone ends up starving.  The burgers and hot-dogs can barely contain a drunkard’s hunger.  Thus, everyone moves back to Yale campus for dinner.  You have your cheap but tasty Thai food, super cheap Chinese food, cook-as-you-order burgers, diner-type places, etc.  But no place, I mean, NO PLACE, beats the deliciously satisfying burrito from the Burrito Cart.  It is literally a cart standing outside Elm and York.  For $6, you get a large, expertly wrapped burrito full of marinated veggies, guac, sour cream, hot sauce and meat.  The taste is very distinct.  (After living in NYC for the past 3 years and getting burritos every chance I get, I still have yet to find a burrito as delectable as the burrito from the Burrito Cart!)  When I tasted the soft tortilla wrapped around the fresh and lightly marinated veggies mixed with the hot and tender carnitas, I was in food heaven!  Unfortunately, no verbal description of the burrito will do it justice.  That burrito has to be tasted and enjoyed.  Yes, it is THAT good!

Normally, after filling the stomach with food, most young alumni and college kids roll back to their dorms / hotels / crash pads, etc. for a mid-evening nap before embarking on a crazy night of fun (and skeeziness).  The skeeziness occurs at Toad’s, the only bar/night club in New Haven that regularly houses partying students. The club opens Wednesdays and Saturdays, and trust me, it is ALWAYS full.  The seniors usually go on Wednesdays, since no one goes to class anymore, and the underclassmen sneak in on Saturdays.  For this particular Saturday, the place is packed with people of all ages: college students who are barely (if at all) legal, alumni in their mid-twenties to early thirties, grad school students from both schools, and even townies.  They all gather in the dark and dirty room, looking and oftentimes succeeding in finding a hook-up for the night.  Each time you exit the premises, you immediately want to shower away all the griminess from the sleazy people in the club as well as the cups of alcohol accidentally thrown on you by drunk people.  You might think that you’ll never go back… but you always end up there.  That’s the beauty of Toad’s.

If you missed your chance this year, no worries, Yale will host it again in November 2011… so MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Yes, the weekly reflections are back!!!  However, I feel my laziness increasing with the holiday season right around the corner (yes, I can see people ringing bells outside of the plaza literally right around the corner…).  Thus, my weekly reflections will most likely be short and sweet.

1. Even though I cannot cook for crap, I love cooking shows because of the singular hope that someday (when I get a bigger kitchen), I will be able to cook my own dinner.  Okay, who am I kidding, I’d be amazed if I could just cook 1 dish…  but, nonetheless, I can dream, can’t I?!?!
2. Corporate vs. Services world are quite different.  It is definitely true when people tell me that the corporate world is nothing like the financial services world I had just left.  The corproate world is slower, more monotonous and not sexy; however, the benefits include regular hours (aka better pay-to-hour ratio), 4pm Fridays, and simplicity of life.
3. Lotus Notes as email browser is so 1995!  I am fine with old technology… but Lotus Notes is horrible!  Not user-friendly.  Horrible fonts.  Old ass display.  My goodness.  When I first saw the program, I was jolted back to my youth when I played MS-DOS games and saw Windows for the first time.  Just like then… The angular display screens.  The gray palette.  The nauseating font.  And the inability to adapt to a user’s demand.  OMG!  Disgusting.  I definitely miss Outlook… too bad I can’t do anything about it since it’s work email…